𝐍𝐎 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐒, ꜱʙɢ

20

"There she is." Tyler spoke up from leaning on the rail of Ashlyn's house. The group perked up at his acknowledgment, and turned to see Dominique making her way over with an embarrassed look on her face.

"Thought you weren't going to show based off the way you left the caf." Aiden spoke next, pushing on Dominique's shoulder lightly as he teased her. The embarrassment left Dom's face as scowled, flicking Aiden on his arm before sighing.

"I'm sorry for ditching you guys today. I just needed a minute to breathe." She said, looking between the group as they all shared a knowing glance between each other.

"You're here now. So it's doesn't matter!" Taylor reassured, peeking up from her place on the porch steps before walking over to Dom, walking an arm around her shoulder as she smiled.

Ashlyn cleared her throat as Logan made his way over to Dom's side, greeting her.

"We should head in." She suggested, turning around on the steps of her house and opening her front door, leaving enough room for everyone to get inside.

Everyone sat around on the couch, Ashlyn's parents included as they chowed on a snack platter prepared by Ashlyn's parents.

But, they couldn't get a word in before Aiden started chewing loudly, burping as he picked up another sandwich.

Dom knocked the sandwich out of his hand, catching it before it fell on the floor and smacking him lightly on the head, nagging him about his manners.

"So, what'd you kids want to talk about?" Ashlyn's father, Mike, started, sending a concerned glance toward the quietly bickering duo as Ben inched away from them to the other side of the couch.

Tyler was smirking, happy it finally wasn't him who Dominique was reprimanding.

Ashlyn, with a conflicted look on her face, stood up out of her seat, pulling Dominique up with her who was in the middle of tugging on Aiden's ear as whined.

Dominique sent a questioning look towards Ash, who walked over and turned on a lamp that was on the coffee table. She guided herself and Dominique to a wall where she held out her plaits in front of her and pointed to Dominique's shadow, which only had two eyes this time.

"Do you notice anything weird?" She asked her parents, Dominique just looking nervously between them, not wanting their first real impression of her to be that she was crazy.

"No, not particularly. Why?" Ashlyn's mom spoke up, confused and slightly concerned at her daughter's actions as Mike placed a hand over his eyes, trying to see if there really was something off with them as he squinted.

The group looked down in disappointment on the couch, while the only thing going through Dominique's mind was how she now probably looked like a kook to Ash's parents. She sweat dropped.

"Are we supposed to notice something?" Ashlyn's father asked, his eyes narrowed in confusion. As ash parted her lips to speak, Dominique quickly pulled her by her arm, sitting her down back on the couch as she took her spot next to Aiden.

"No. We thought our shadows looked a bit different than usual but I think it's just the Georgia heat getting to us." She quickly uttered out, sticking to her excuse as her eyes discreetly searched Ashlyn's father's.

Ash sent Dom a thankful look, not having come up with an excuse if it didn't work out as planned with her parents.

"Actually, there is something else, too." Ashlyn spoke up, turning lightly so she could make eye contact with her parents.

"We were wondering if you could teach us some self defence." She started, fiddling with her hands lightly as she held her parent's eyes with her own. 

"Logan has been getting bullied. That's how he got the bruise on his cheek." Ash explained, nodding her head in Logan's direction who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Dominique discreetly waved her arms at him, getting his attention and sending him a subtle thumbs up and a reassuring smile. He sent a shaky one back.

"I told him you guys would maybe teach him the basics. He was a little nervous to try himself, and we offered to come along and learn too for support." Ashlyn continued to her parents. As she finished, they both looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"I mean. I don't mind-" Ashlyn's father started, looking to his wife who smiled at the group.

"I don't either. But are your parents okay with that?" Dominique froze in her seat, not thinking of this happening before the group had decided to ask Ashlyn's mother and father. Aiden noticed her pale figure, and sent a look toward where Tyler was sitting, gesturing silently toward Dominique who zoned out the rest of the conversation that had happened.

'How am I going to ask my dad?' She thought frantically in her head, raising her hands to her lips and chewing lightly on her nails, anxious.

The group was huddled in the graveyard, each of them working their own knack of supplies as they discussed the plan for tonight.

"Isn't it funny how we chose the graveyard as our camp because of the walls, but now we have to go around and fortify them?" He asked, lifting a jug of water and filling up a large drinking canister of water.

"We couldn't exactly predict that phantoms would find their way around the wall and start scaling it." Aiden joked, leaning on the back of Dominique's seat as she sat with Ben, discussing and drawing where would be the best spots to set up the solar panels and lights on the peak of the walls.

"There's more than just the benefits of the walls here. We can have stuff delivered here with no questions because my dad owns it." Ashlyn fired back at Tyler, who just grunted at her remark, tapping the jug against the canister to make sure all the water was poured in.

"You voted like the rest of us, Tyler. Quit your yapping." Dominique piped up, looking up from her and Ben's sketched lazily as Tyler turned around, pulling on Dominique's hair as he argued with her childishly.

"But that night we all got separated, we all had to run through town desperately while you just had to run through your backyard. That doesn't seem very fair, does it?" Tyler argued to Ashlyn, letting go of Dominique and turning to face her with his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed.

They were outside the bus now, everyone gathered around Ashlyn as she pulled out her phone, tapping on her locations app.

"That wasn't my intention. I was thinking we could all meet up at this convenience store if we ever got separated. It's an equal distance between all of us." Ash spoke, gesturing to the pin on her maps. Dominique paled as she realised she was the farthest away from the store because Ashlyn, not anyone in the group knew where she lived.

She kept her lips sealed though, not wanting to inconvenience the group.

"I'll also be able to grab my dad's rifle for Logan since right now, he's the weakest." Ashlyn spoke, gesturing to Logan as he just sighed.

"But! you carry us in smarts." Dominique reminded him, running up beside him and jumping on his shoulder, tackling him to the ground as he freaked out and she laughed.

Sat back in the bus, everyone had gathered around their weapons that were in the box at the front of the bus. Dominique rubbed her waist, knowing that her no-staff wouldn't be in the box as it was tied to her belt loop in the phantom realm.

"Another benefit of the graveyard, though, is that we can set up traps during the day without raising any suspicions against us."

fin.

1302 words