Rising From The Ashes of Her Past

Mouthy Maye

The rest of the school day goes back in a blur. Something keeps nagging at me about Holly being the one that Ashe is supposed to end up with. Well, maybe Ashe, he seems to be into her well enough, but Echo and Lynx belonging to her does not sit well inside my mind. I am so distracted by this throughout the day that I don’t even realize when the final bell rings. A sense of dread washes over me, being in the same car as the triplets, and Holly doesn’t sound like anything I want to do. I debate just leaving, walking to their home, but a small part of me doesn’t want to make Rachel worry about me.

I don’t know why Rachel’s worry would bother me, but something inside of me felt that I shouldn’t make her feel upset by my actions. I had even called out of my shift at the cafe for the first time ever. I cautiously made my way to the car in the parking lot, I was surprised to find that all of the triplets were already inside. Echo and Lynx sitting in the front, leaving Ashe alone in the backseat. My heart pounds in my chest, they can’t possibly expect me to sit next to Holly. She hasn’t made it to the car yet, but if she does I can’t sit next to her. Ashe senses my apprehension and scoots into the middle seat. Sitting next to Ashe sounds almost as bad as sitting next to Holly. Since learning Holly is his fated Ashe feels like an extension of her. I take the seat behind Echo as his presence seems to be the least intimidating. The middle seat is relatively small, so Ashe’s thigh presses against mine. My breath hitches in my throat as our skin makes contact.

Holly appears very suddenly ripping open the car door. If looks could kill I would be dead. She is glaring daggers at me, her face a shade of red. My blood no longer coats her pretty face, but I let myself smile satisfied, remembering the look of it this morning. Holly presses her entire body into Ashe, making him shift unconsciously towards me, more of our legs touch, a fire igniting inside my skin. Echo reaches for the air conditioner making me wonder if everyone else can feel the heat inside of me. Ashe has sweat beading on his forehead, and I wonder if that is my fault.

“Looks like the little charity case will be sticking around a while then?” Holly asks, her voice vicious, but her eyes measuring Ashe’s reaction. Ashe has a look of pity again, and this again ignites something primal within me.

“Don’t worry Holly, I have no interest in eating from the same plate as you.” I say keeping my tone indifferent. “Ashe is all yours, I can’t promise I will keep my hands off the others though.”

Echo lets out a chuckle, and Lynx tenses in his seat. Holly’s face has deepened to a burning red, “YOU b***h”

“You really are easy to rile up.” I say rolling my eyes, unsure where this newfound confidence is coming from.

“All of the triplets are mine.” Holly is practically shouting now. Ashe is tense against my leg. “You will keep your hands off of all of them!”

“Okay Holly, I will keep my hands off of them, but I can’t promise I will keep my mouth off of them.” I say throwing a wink her way. The car stops in front of her house, but Holly doesn’t move. Her eyes are locked on mine, staring me down. I won’t let her win this time. I won’t let her humiliate me again today. I don’t back down. The tension in the air is palpable, with every second her face deepens a shade.

“Well this is your stop Holls.” Echo finally says, cutting through the air like a hot knife. Holly blinks at his casual tone. I have won this round.

“Walk me to the door Lynxy.” Holly says, running her finger over his neck. Lynx doesn’t move. His head whips around meeting my eyes, I offer a simple smile. Lynx is torn and you can see the debate inside of his head. He has hesitated for too long, Holly changes tactics, “Or maybe you could Echo.”

“It’s too hot to get out of the car.” Echo retorts, you can practically hear his eyes rolling in his head. Holly doesn’t like this either, she changes tactics one final time.

“Ashe baby, can you walk me to the door?” Holly is laying it on thick now, her eyes batting lightly. “Like you always do?”

Ashe gives in, I am not surprised by this. He follows her out of the car, not bothering to spare another glance in my direction. As soon as the door slams closed both Lynx and Echo burst into a fit of laughter.

“I didn’t know someone’s face could be that color.” Echo laughs heartily. “She is going to have an aneurysm.”

“Maye I didn’t know you were such a badass.” Lynx says between laughs. “I have never seen anyone stand up to Holly before.”

Before I can say anything in response Ashe starts on his way back to the car. He is wearing a scowl on his face, and I feel a little intimidated now that the moment has passed and the laughter has died. Ashe throws the door open wordlessly. Surprisingly he slides back into the middle seat, returning his leg to the previous position where it rests against mine. No one says anything, but the atmosphere has shifted. There is something in the car that I can’t read, possibly unbridled fury. I gulp audibly, I don’t know what I was thinking antagonizing Holly. The triplets had never shown even a small amount of interest in me, and I was sure Holly knew that.

The car ride back to the house seemed to take twice as long as it had this morning. I keep my eyes trained on my lap, but I can feel Lynx throwing glances at me every now and then. Ashe doesn’t move, or speak. He keeps his leg pressed light against mine as if it is the most normal thing he has done. When we pull into the garage I notice two of the cars are missing from the driveway, Jackson and Rachel must be working still. I hear the car shift into park, and I am desperate to escape the awkwardness, but nobody has moved.

Ashe is the first to break the silence, his words, and tense, but hold an air of joking, “Please don’t even talk about putting your mouth on my brothers again.”

Everyone bursts into a fit of laughter, and I release a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I relax lightly and my leg presses against his more.

“You can keep that mouth to yourself missy.” Lynx says with a laugh. Echo catches my eye in the mirror and throws a wink my way.

Everyone piles out of the car and into the kitchen, I don’t know what to expect. I don't think I have ever had a normal day where I come home and don’t have to prepare myself for a fight with my moms boyfriend. My body is tense, and every second that draws out makes me think something worse than ever is coming.

“Mom likes for us to be done with school work and studying before dinner starts at six.” Lynx says, my shoulders relax a bit, “We usually work on a few things together before breaking off and doing our own thing.”

Ashe and Echo have already chosen a seat at the table and began to pull out their books. Lynx starts to do the same thing. I am frozen in place, I don’t know what to do. My feet refuse to move, my brows knit together.

“You can join us if you’d like.” Ashe says, his eyes stay down on his book, “I am no good at Calculus so we usually work through it together.”

Relief floods my body, I don’t know why I was waiting for an invitation, but I was. I drop my bag next to a chair and pull all of the things I need to work on. The triplets keep up lighthearted questions, bouncing ideas off of one another, and problem solving together. I find myself more engrossed in their conversation than the work that sits in front of me. I watch the Echo’s brow creases when he is wrong about an answer, the way Lynx always squints when he laughs. Ashe transforms to a different person with his brothers, the hard outside melts away, his eyes sparkle, and he even shoves their shoulders when they make bad jokes. It almost feels as if they forget I am here, an outsider watching their dynamic, but occasionally one of them will bring me into the conversation. Ashe surprises me with how soft he talks to me when his other half isn’t a looming threat hanging over us.

The door to the garage bangs open, and Rachel stumbles in. Rachel carries in four shopping bags under her arms, the boys all instantly stand to help her with them, but she bats them away.

“Boys, can you give me and Maye some space for a moment.” Rachel says in a soft tone, they all instantly react to their mother, stuffing books and papers away quickly. Once they have gone Rachel turns to me.

“I don’t want you to try and object to anything,” Rachel starts giving me a measured look, “I went out and bought some things to make your stay here more comfortable.”

“No! You shouldn’t have done that.” I object, but quickly bite my tongue. The look on her face tells me to keep quiet.

“Just some essentials! I got you under clothes and a bra to start with,” Rachel says smiling brightly at me. “And just a few clothes to get you by until you get your own.”

“Th..tha..thank you.” I stutter out, tears filling my eyes. Rachel surprises me by throwing her arms around me pulling me into a tight hug.

“One last thing, Maye, I got you a phone, I already put all of the important phone numbers into it.” Rachel says, my eyes widened in shock, “You don’t have to use it for anything, but I like to be able to reach you, and you can use it to set alarms.”

“This is too much!” I exclaim, the tears spilling down my cheeks now, “You don’t need to do this for me.”

“No, but I wanted to.” Rachel says, patting my back, “We want you to feel safe and secure here. We won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

A sob breaks through my throat. I can’t hold back anymore. My body shakes with the sob, and Rachel throws her arms around me, pulling me into her warm chest. I hear footsteps making their way back into the kitchen, and I try to hide my face in Rachel’s shoulder unsuccessfully. The triplets come into view, concern etched into their face. Rachel simply shakes her head at them, beckoning them to leave us alone. I feel ashamed, but I can’t stop the tears dripping from my eyes. Echo is the first to move, he presses his hot chest into my back wrapping his arms around me, and his mom. Lynx moves in next, he comes to my right side snaking his hands around my waist putting his head on my shoulder. Ashe hesitates for a moment, fighting something just below the surface, but he joins in the circle, pressing his warm chest against my shoulder resting his cheek on the top of my head.

I am taken aback by the gesture, but it doesn’t stop the sobs. Somehow their hold has broken the wall I put in my mind to block out how much it hurts to lose my mom and sister. My legs give out, but Lynx’s strong arms around my hips keep me from hitting the floor. Rachel is moving her hand in soothing circles on my back against Echo’s chest, and Ashe is making a soothing shushing noise against the top of my head. Somewhere in my mind I feel a slight stirring, suddenly I am very aware of every part of my skin. I feel as if I am going to catch fire.

The garage door opens, a very concerned Jackson walks into the kitchen. Suddenly aware of the current situation, Ashe pulls himself away from me. Echo is the next to let go, but Lynx and Rachel linger for a moment. Lynx drops his arms and gives me a reassuring pat on my shoulder. Rachel is the last to let me go, she places a small kiss on my cheek before turning to greet her husband.

“Everything alright?” Jackson asks hesitantly, his eyes never leaving my tear stained face.

“Yes I was just showing the boys the proper way to do a group hug.” Rachel says with a lighthearted tone. “Marci needed the evening off, should we order some pizzas?”

“Sure, better order five this time, the triplets won’t save any for the rest of us if you don’t” Jackson says with a deep laugh. I have never seen him anything less than serious, and I think I like this side of him.

“Uhm, Mr. and Mrs. Solis, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute..” I hesitate to ask.

“Call me Rachel, but what’s on your mind?” Rachel replies with a small smile.

“Well. uhm. For the last five years I have worked at the cafe in town, Helen’s” I start, still hesitant. “I would like to keep working if that is okay with both of you..”

“Of course! What are your shifts there Maye?” Rachel asks excitedly.

“I usually work every day after school from four until around 9:30 or ten on Fridays.” I tell her, smiling brightly. “Then on Saturday I usually work from eleven in the morning until six.”

“Do you drive at all?” Jackson asks, his brow furrowed. My heart drops.

“I took drivers ed like everyone else in year eleven, and got my license, but I don’t have a car.” My voice is barely above a whisper. I should have known they wouldn’t want me walking that far.

“Well do you think you could take one more day off from work so we can get you added to our insurance?” Rachel asks me earnestly, “You can use my old car.”

My eyes snapped to her face, was she being serious right now? “Wh..what?”

“You can use my old car, it is a bit of a beater, but we just never got around to selling it.” Rachel smiles brightly at me.