SEVEN
2454 Words
Jada
“First I need to speak with you Ava” Noah grabs Ava’s hand and pulls her away from us. I am about to stop him when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“Let him” Cleis says, strangely composed. Maybe he is right, as long as Noah doesn’t break his promise of keeping his mouth shut about the whole mate thing.
“Fine” I mumble, still avoiding Cleis’ eyes. He was pleasant to look at in the beginning, but after a while, his collected attitude made me uncomfortable half of the time. I look at Emi, she is avoiding him too and I am guessing it's because of what happened yesterday.
“Listen, now that you are done with school it is best if you leave the home and stay closer to work. Here is a report of what you’ve made so far and how much you still owe me” he removes folded sheets of paper from his coat pocket. Couldn’t have he just emailed me this? He hands one to Emi and one to me. I open it and my eyes scan it quickly. Somehow the debt tripled? That’s impossible. I look at Emi and she is staring at the piece of paper, eyes bulging from her sockets.
“What are the charges right here?” I point to the list of items that had apparently been added to our initial debt.
“That’s the cost for your everyday transportation, uniforms, accessories, lunch, interests, and yesterday’s gift” his response sounds so reasonable that for a moment it makes sense. But...I thought those things were free?
“You didn’t mention that--”
“Jada, I know that responsibility is new for you, but you must understand things are not just free.” I turn to him with a frown and I can’t avoid his gaze any longer, he puts a hand on my shoulder again “this is why I want you closer to work, I have arranged a place for both of you”. He smiles and I remember why I let him help us in the first place. He is a knight in shining armor, I mean he is only trying to help us, no one else has tried to help us ever.
“Thank you” That’s all I can get out. I am lost in his gaze, I wonder what he tastes like? Why does he like Ava and not me?
“You are welcome” he says so politely, and the spell is broken. f**k why was I even thinking that again? I turn to Emi quickly and she is still staring at the page in disbelief. I hug her and try to sound reassuring.
“Don’t worry we will pay it off in no time” she nods and I look around for Ava. I see Noah holding her and smelling her hair. No f*****g way. I decide to walk their way quickly and see a random girl interrupt, thank God. But now Ava looks hurt as hell. Stupid Noah I am going to kill him. Ava walks off and waves at me frantically but Noah catches up. I speed up.
“Ava there is something--”
“There you are babe!” I push Noah off before he can continue, I know what he was going to say. I hug Ava tightly feeling guilty for looking at her man with hunger just a second ago.
“Ready to go?” Cleis talks to Ava, startling me. I avoid his face again.
“Yea I am” Ava says and Cleis takes her hand.
“I don’t think so” Noah’s growl has no effect on Cleis. That doesn’t mean Noah will drop it.
“Back off Noah” I say and grab his arm, I feel my wolf on the surface.
“J! There are a lot of humans around here” Ava sounds alarmed and I try to calm down.
“Sorry, my wolf has a thing for jerks. Go on guys, I think my baby brother needs some company from her big sis” I look at him threateningly, and Cleis and Ava walk off. Noah looks at me for a moment but then turns to watch them walk away. His expression is full of longing.
“You were going to tell her, weren’t you? I thought we had an agreement” he ignores me and continues to stare their way. I continue, trying to soften my voice
“She actually loves you. She has since we were kids. She will turn 18 right after you and she has no wolf to rely on, and no guarantee of a mate if you are wrong and break her heart. I’m not going to let you baby brother, we’ve all had enough of that” I look at Emi and she smiles faintly in understanding.
“If I’m right--” he finally looks at me
“If you are right we will all celebrate okay?” I try to sound as honest as I possibly can and he narrows his eyes.
“Okay. Now, why don’t you tell me about yesterday Jada? What the hell were you thinking?”
I turn to Emi and she smiles apologetically. f**k! I can’t believe she told him, I told her not to!
“What about yesterday?” I walk towards the exit
“Don’t play dumb J. Emi showed me and says you have one too” He stops me and I blow loudly, making a rude sound
“It's not a big deal it's just a tattoo. It’s smaller than the palm of your hand Noah” I try to play it down
“You have never expressed a desire to do that, and Emi hates HATES needles, how did she manage that?” He is furious now, and I get why. Emi watched her parents use needles all her childhood and it wasn’t for tattoos or medicine.
“It wasn’t so bad, Cleis’ helped me through it, and all the girls working there have it” Emi spoke softly, trying to help but actually just making it worse. Noah’s face tightens visibly
“Oh, I feel better.” His face doesn’t match his words “I do feel better because this reminds me of that petting farm they used to take us as kids. Remember all those cute cows? They branded those too, they were really cute with their marks of ownership” he crosses his arms
“Noah!! You are such a f*****g jerk and you are way off! Branding? you have to be shitting me! All the girls have it because we are a family. Even Cleis has it, it just means we look out for each other” I try to explain, but it sounded way better when Cleis said it. He murders me with his stare “Family? Seriously J?” he turns to Emi. f**k me.
“Emi, did you ask for this? Or did someone else suggest it?” he asks sweetly because of course, he can be sweet with everyone but his sister. I try to shake my head ‘no’ without being obvious
“Well, at first I wasn’t so sure, but the way he put it, I mean, it makes sense” Emi looks down and I reach for her chin, bringing it high again. It drives me insane when she looks to the ground.
“He? As in Cleis? Did he talk you into getting this tattoo? Did you actually want it?” Noah raises his voice, and Emi lowers her head again. I smack him in the back of his head.
“Yo! Seriously? Why do you love hitting me?” He rubs his head way faster than necessary
“Just quit. It’s not a big deal.” I say and push past him, taking Emi along with me.
“Ava doesn’t have one does she??” his voice lowers dangerously and he keeps up with us
“No, she doesn’t work there. And she doesn’t know, I didn’t get a chance to tell her” I lie. I don’t really want to tell her. I am still trying to understand why I even agreed to it.
“What does it even mean? An apple inside a circle? That’s just pointless” he asks and I honestly can’t remember exactly what Cleis said
“I don’t know, something about eternity or timelessness I think…”
…
That night
I try to jam all my clothes on the small suitcase that lays open on top of my bed. Emi is sitting by it patiently waiting and listening to Ava tell us about her afternoon
“It was the best date I ever had. We just have such a strong connection I don’t even know how to explain it. He laughs at my dumb jokes and I swear I could melt every time I hear him. I can’t help but think fate brought us together somehow” She sounds like she’s really got the butterflies for this guy
“That’s really nice Ava. I am glad you had a good time”
“Thanks Emi. I just think he--”
“Cut the crap babe and tell us if he kissed you already!” I put one hand on my hip and pucker my lips, Ava looks at Emi and then me
“He did, several times actually.” She smiles widely and I feel happy for her.
“What does he taste like?” Emi blurts the question out and immediately blushes. I can’t believe she also thought about that!
“Taste? That’s a weird question Emilia! But let me think” Ava says so and nibbles her thumb
“Hmm like a cool ocean breeze. Fresh and salty” she smiles triumphantly
“Salty? What?” I ask, confused and curious at what that even means.
“Yeah I don’t know how else to put it...though I wonder what Noah tastes like” Ava says, but instantly regrets it when she sees my face. She shakes her head, almost like if she is trying to rewind what she just said or erase a mental image. I try to lighten the mood and throw a pillow at her
“Gross Ava. I don’t want to think about how my brother tastes.”
“I bet he tastes sweet and addicting, like a chocolate-covered strawberry” Emi responds with a giggle and I grab the pillow from the floor and throw it at her this time.
“Eww stop. Not you too! You’ve ruined chocolate-covered strawberries” We all laugh and I continue “you could actually run a poll. Most girls here would know the answer to that question” Emi continues to giggle at my joke but Ava stops laughing. Her expression is so pained that it seems like she never even went on a date and kissed another guy just hours ago.
“Does he know you two are leaving tonight?” she asks Emi, avoiding my face. I answer
“No, I’ll send him a dm as soon as we leave” I did not want him to lecture me again with his paranoid attitude. I had enough of it this morning.
“Are you sure it's a good idea to go there? You don’t have to pay a cent to live or eat here for another five months. You too Emi.” what Ava says is reasonable, but I can’t wait to get out of here.
“No babe, we both need to get out of here. Besides, it will give us a better chance to find a pack that would take us or find our mates if we spend more time near different supernaturals” I say confidently and look at Emi for confirmation, and to remind her with my stare not to say anything about the debt or the tattoos to Ava. I don’t want her to worry or give me crap like Noah.
“Okay. I’ll miss you though” I know she means it
“As soon as you turn 18 you can come live with us, only three more months before they let you. Or who knows, maybe you will be living with Cleis” I tease her, hoping she will forget about Noah and his fuckboy ways. She shakes her head
“He actually...he mmm he asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend” She confesses and nibbles on her thumb again.
“Wow Ava! Congrats!!” Emi says happily
“Yea babe that’s awesome!” I give her a hug but she breaks it up really quickly
“I told him I had to think about it.” she admits, diverting my questioning stare
“Think? Didn’t you just say that fate brought you together? What is there to think about?” I exclaim, angrier than I want to be. I know exactly what or who she is thinking about and it starts with N.
“I just think maybe we are going too fast and Noah said...” she trails off, kind of embarrassed. For f***s sake not this again.
“Babe where is this coming from? Noah has no problem going too fast whenever he wants to with whomever, I thought we’ve established this. Besides, Cleis waited a month to kiss you and you talk to him every day. That’s twenty-first century slow” I tease her, hoping she will stop thinking about my brother.
“Maybe you are right. I do like him a lot, his voice is weirdly soothing and he understands my... umm... anxiety with closed spaces” she says, clearly thankful.
“I like the way he looks at you.” Emi offers sincerely
“How?” Ava asks and I wonder the same thing
“Like he’s known you for a long time. No! Wait… more like he’s known you for centuries.”
- Writer
