Chapter 1
Chapter 1
LUCAS
Twelve years later Lucas Delacroix was in the change-room after practice. Football practice had gone well; coach was really pushing him hard as the team’s ace wide receiver and the results were really starting to pay off. He had just finished changing when he noticed Dylan was waving his hand in front of his face.
“Oh, sorry Dyl, I wasn’t paying attention,” he gave an apologetic shrug. His parents considered football a hobby for him but he was hoping if he worked hard they would notice and take his interest seriously.
Dylan gave him a light punch on his shoulder, “Ya I noticed. So, what time do you want me to come over tonight?”
He checked the time on his cell phone and said, “Mom is leaving at six so you can come over around nine for rehearsals.”
“Alright man,” Dylan said, as he pulled his hair back into a ponytail. Dylan was his best friend at school and was the one that suggested that they form a band. He played the guitar, along with his brother Tristan, who played the keyboard. Siobhan played violin and did backup vocals, and her brother Will played Bass. Dylan was the lead singer, and with his long hair, he looked like a cleaner version of Kurt Cobain.
“I’ll bring the beers and vodka for Siobhan. You get the snacks,” Dylan reminded him.
The two finished packing their football equipment away and parted ways in the school parking lot. Lucas got in the car and drove to the grocery store. He was in his final year of high school and it was supposed to be all about going out with girls, breaking up, trying new things, and having fun. But the one person he wanted to be with, he wasn’t with. Ashlinn was the girl across the street, and despite being the same age and living on the same street, they didn’t go to the same school. Ashlinn went to a private school, the kind that wore sexy school uniforms; the kind that got boys in trouble. He never talked with Ashlinn because his mom had told him she was trouble and his mom was always keeping an eye on him when Ashlinn was outside. How his mom could possibly know that Ashlinn was trouble was a mystery to him. His mom never spoke with Ashlinn or her dad, yet from the moment they moved in, his mom disliked them.
However, this didn’t stop Lucas from trying to get to know her. He tried on several occasions to catch her going to and from school to talk to her but her school started earlier and by the time he finished football practice she was already home. He knew she had friends because he always saw her going out dressed up and had friends over at her place often, not that he was stalking her; he was merely drawn to her like a moth to a flame. That was how he learned her name. He used to only know her last name from their mailbox and from his mom’s comments, but after one of Ashlinn’s friends left her house she accidently dropped her bus pass. He had been outside at the time and went to return it to the girl. He chatted with the girl, maybe even flirted a bit to get the information he wanted and found out that his neighbor’s name was Ashlinn.
He was stopped at a red light when he smelled smoke. When he looked down, his hands were glowing, and the steering wheel had started to get soft. Marde he thought. He was really going to have to keep practicing control. If anyone ever saw him start a fire with nothing but his hands they would say he was a freak for sure or lock him up. Not to mention he would have broken hundreds of laws revealing his gift to regular humans.
Lucas finally made his way to the grocery store. He grabbed a basket and immediately headed to the snack aisle. He picked up Oreos for Will, jalapeño Doritos for himself, Cheetos for Siobhan and Dylan, and animal crackers for Tristan. Tristan would probably punch him for sure for buying them but he loved to tease his big brother. Not that he would do anything to seriously piss Tristan off. Tristan was a nice guy but he could literally bite your head off if you upset him.
His mom was going to a conference this weekend which is why they were having their little party/band practice, so he headed to the frozen food section knowing that she would forget to leave dinner for them so he figured he would pick up a frozen pizza for himself, Tristan, and Max, his six-year-old brother. As he turned into the frozen food aisle, that is when he saw her, and he couldn’t believe it. After all the times of purposely trying to talk to her, he accidentally ran into her at the grocery store. Ashlinn was wearing skinny black jeans with black knee high boots, and a navy-blue bomber jacket. Her long brown hair was up in a high ponytail. He started towards her, unaware that he had started moving at all, and she turned towards him. Their eyes met and like the first time he saw her, he was captivated by her evergreen eyes. She smiled at him with beautiful full pink lips and he had to be very careful he didn’t burn the whole store down.
“Hey, it’s Lucas, right?” she asked. She was holding a basket in one hand and had a piece of paper with a list of things to buy in the other hand.
“Ahh ya.” Marde he felt pathetic. He finally got to talk to her and he could only mumble out incoherent filler words. He had no idea what to say and at this rate he was going to waste this opportunity.
“I’m Ashlinn but people usually call me Ash. I live across the street from you.” He noticed that she seemed nervous talking to him. She kept looking around as if she was unsure if she should be talking to him.
“Ya I noticed you. How did you know my name?” He tried not to come off as rude. He was generally curious at how she knew his name. So that he didn’t seem weird, he tried to act casual as he asked the question, and shifted his weight.
“Oh, my school’s football team hates yours. So, everyone knows you’re the ace wide receiver and I’ve seen you play so you sort of live up to your reputation,” she smiled again and he laughed. He was impressed that she liked football and he felt his ego grow.
He didn’t know when he would get another chance to talk to her. With his inflated ego, he asked without any hesitation or fear, “What are you doing tonight?”
She hesitated and said, “Well my dad’s visiting family and he won’t be home until tomorrow, so I was thinking of making fajitas and having a Resident Evil marathon.” She looked a little embarrassed as she said it- as if he would think that she was a loser. But it was the opposite: A girl who liked sports and zombie films was awesome.
“Would you like to come over to hear my band play? I know that sounded like a cheesy pick up line from a movie but it wasn’t. We’re planning on practicing, then hanging out,” he told her.
She looked surprised by how forward he was and he had to admit he was a little surprised as well. She told him, “I figured you had a band or you liked to listen to music really loudly. I can hear you guys play from across the street. What instrument do you play?”
“I play guitar and my older brother Tristan plays the keyboard. We’re not that bad. We play mostly punk Québécois. Do you like music?” If she didn’t like music then all he had to offer was booze. If she didn’t drink and didn’t want to come over then he was going to be disappointed fast and he would have lost out on his opportunity to get to know Ash. Plus, he would have made a huge fool out of himself.
“Ya, I don’t really have a preference. I usually like anything I can dance to. You guys going to have drinks?” she asked.
Phew he thought, this was going well, “Ya, our lead singer Dylan is bringing some.”
“Well, I’ll make you a deal,” she smiled coyly at him. “Since I plan on drinking your beer, I’ll come over early and cook dinner, or are you planning on eating that for dinner?” she gestured to his basket full of junk food.
“Ha-ha, these are snacks for after we practice and you really don’t have to cook anything.” Mon Dieu, she could cook! Could she get any more awesome?
“I insist. Plus, it will give me a chance to get to know you guys better. We’ve lived across the street from each other for what, like twelve years, and know nothing about each other,” she said shyly.
“Okay deal.” He hoped he wasn’t making her feel too self-conscious, because he was starting to feel self-conscious himself.
“Will your mom mind? I don’t think she likes me very much.” She didn’t seem upset, but just said it as casually as if she was mentioning the weather. He felt kind of bad that she had picked up on his mom’s attitude. He knew his mom wasn’t subtle but he had hoped she wasn’t blaringly obvious with her disapproval.
“It’s not that she doesn’t like you, it’s just that she doesn’t know you.” In truth, his mom really didn’t like Ash. “Mom is leaving at six for a conference so you can come over at seven.”
“Awesome. Do you guys even like fajitas?” she asked him, gesturing to the food in her basket.
“Ya, Tristan and Max will eat anything and I love spicy food.” I guess both Tristan and I are what we eat, he thought, thinking back to the animal crackers in his basket.
“Great, I’ll see you guys at seven.” She waved goodbye and went to continue shopping. He couldn’t believe it. Not only had he finally talked to Ash but she also agreed to come over and hang out. It wasn’t an exact date but it was close enough. Tonight was going to be the best night ever. He paid for the snacks and drove home in a daze, smiling the whole way home. When he got home, he was greeted by Max. Max was six years old and looked like a mix between both his parents. He had curly brown hair and brown eyes. Max was the type of kid who was very much into the fantasy world and could always be found reading a book or playing video games. Right now, Max was wearing a Link costume complete with shield.
“Hey Lucas, did you buy me anything?” Max asked.
“Sorry little bro. These are for the band but you can have all the snacks we don’t eat tomorrow. I’m sure Tristan won’t want his animal crackers anyways.” Max snickered at his last comment.
He could tell Max was disappointed, but he nodded and went off to watch TV. He started to unload the snacks when his mom walked into the kitchen.
“You seem to be in a good mood. Are you guys that happy to get the whole house to yourselves?”
He went over to his mom and kissed her on the cheek. “Of course not mom, I’m just looking forward to band practice.”
“Well you make sure everyone gets home safe and don’t let anyone drive home drunk.”
That’s what he loved about his mom. Even though it bothered her that they drank underage, although only by one year, she didn’t mind as much if they were safe and responsible. There were plenty of times she let Dylan crash for the night because he was too drunk to drive.
He left the kitchen and joined Max on the couch in the living room. The room still smelled like paint since their mom recently painted it a pale blue color. According to her, the color matched the couch best. Personally, he thought anything matched white. There were several school photos of himself and his brothers and even one of Tristan’s paintings. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too embarrassed when Ash saw them he thought. Tristan came down the stairs and stood in the living room doorway, leaning against the door frame when he said, “Really? You’re just excited for practice? You’re not a very good liar.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were eavesdropping. Not everyone has super hearing.”
He glanced around to make sure his mom wasn’t nearby.
“You’ll be happy too. You know that girl from across the street?”
This got Tristan’s interest and Tristan pushed himself off the wall, “Ashlinn?”
“Ya,” he said a bit confused. He wasn’t sure how his brother knew her name since Tristan was also told to stay away from her. He kind of felt a little jealous that he wasn’t the first one to know it.
“Well, I ran into her at the grocery store. Her dad’s gone for the night and she agreed to come over tonight to hang out.”
“Really? I’m surprised you were brave enough to talk to her. You’re not the smoothest with girls.” Tristan was trying to come off as not too jealous that he wasn’t the one to talk to Ash but Tristan really wasn’t fooling anyone. He could tell Tristan was also interested in Ash.
He was feeling a little annoyed by Tristan’s comment, so he said, a bit too snarky, “Ya well I did. She’s coming at seven and she offered to make dinner in exchange for some beers.”
“Ha-ha, I like a girl who knows what she wants.” Then Tristan left and went into the kitchen to talk to their mom. Tristan wouldn’t tell their mom about Ash coming over. Tristan was just as curious about her as he was and he suspected Tristan had some level of interest in her too. The real challenge was making sure Max didn’t accidentally tell mom. He turned to Max and began to explain how it was okay to keep secrets from mom.
