Prowess

Trip

The van had a lone occupant. A tall woman in the driver's seat. She was thin, with long straight dark hair. Her almond shaped eyes hidden by a pair of sunglasses.

–Sweet ride—Abigail commented with good natured irony, as she slid into the passenger seat.

The driver's eyebrows arched.

–Are you kidding me? I had to rent a car! How was I gonna fit your entire football team of kids?

Abigail saw Austin's eyebrow raise through the rearview mirror. She sensed the turbulence.

–Kids,—she decided to introduce—this is Kiyomi Miyazaki. Kiyomi, these are Austin, Blaze and Carlisle.

The atmosphere was apathetic, if not for a bit of fear.

Far from Kiyomi to blame the kids for their unenthusiastic responses. Especially given the circumstances. She nodded to them as a greeting.

–How do you do? Arthur, Lucas! How you've both grown!

The healer rolled his eyes fondly.

–Great to see you, Kiyo. Radiant as ever.

–Hi, aunt Kiyomi...—Lucas accompanied shyly.

The woman smiled fondly at him, and then turned the car back on. Carlisle and Blaze sat next to each other, at the very back of the minivan. Arthur was in the middle row, sandwiched between Lucas and Austin. In the front seats were, of course, Kiyomi and Abigail.

–Alright, let's head home then—Kiyomi said.—We have a six hour drive ahead of us, and-

Austin, Blaze and Carlisle groaned, bringing a confused frown to the driver's face.

–It won't be that bad! I got some music! And if you don't like that, you can always choose something from Spotify or something!—she rushed to pacify.–A podcast, maybe?

Austin squirmed a bit, and Arthur wrapped an arm around him in an attempt at comfort. The charmer leaned into him, keeping his eyes on the floor.

Abigail smiled at her best friend, shaking her head dismissively. The idea of joking about the reason why the kids were being so fussy crossed her mind. However, she would never embarrass them like that.

One hour into the trip, things got messy.

–Blaze is bored!—Carlisle called from the backseat.

That earned them an elbow to the ribs from the shape shifter.

–If you reach into my bag, there's a book in there—Austin offered.

No one did so. Instead, the offer raised some doubt.

–W-w-where d-did y-you g-g-get a book?—Blaze asked.

The charmer shrugged.

–We're moving away and changing identities. I don't think the library will miss the one book.

–Y-y-you s-stole f-f-f-from t-the li-library?—the younger boy parroted, guilt and anger, as well as the tiredness of being in the car for so long and still having so long to go mixing within him.—A-a-are y-you s-stupid?

–Blaze!—Abigail scolded, surprised.

–B-but i-it's WRONG!—Blaze argued.

Austin frowned.

–You're really passionate about libraries, uh?

–L-libraries a-are community s-s-spaces w-with l-l-limited re-resources!

–That's true—Lucas validated.—Maybe we can ship the book back by mail?

–Hey, who said I wanna give it back?—Austin insisted.—Just because you're all worried, doesn't mean I have to agree.