The Wilde Expedition

22. remembrances

Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.

〮CHAPTER TWENTY TWO 〮

 "So Emma..." Good Lord I'm starting to hate the sound of that phrase... "I hear you're from Texas."

"Um, yeah."

"What area?" I swallowed hard and tried to think straight. It was getting tough to do that when all I could hear was the beating of my own heart, and feel the tension between Harley, Gavin, an inadvertently me. I hadn't meant to cause a feud between them—they were having such a great time before I was stuck with Harley.

Scarlett, on the other hand, was oblivious to it. When she came, a cap was put in the fizzing argument, and now the can was only expanding. I couldn't handle much more of this, so I was thankful when Gavin suggested that after dinner, he'd take me out for a walk around Haight Ashbury.

"I live in western Texas. Ya wouldn'n't've heard of the town," I explained. I knew I sounded like a downer, and that wasn't exactly the best way to introduce myself to Scarlett, but I couldn't help it. Gavin had said they were on the strange side, but the last thing I expected was to find someone who actually knew about me. I wasn't prepared for that at all.

"That's nice. You know, I've spent some time in San Antonio before I moved here. It's a lovely place, really," she told me, a wide smile spreading across her lips. I wasn't normally one to judge based on teeth, but I was half expecting them to be rotted through. Harley was missing the second to the right, but everything else seemed to be in place. Instead, Scarlett had pearly whites, and blushed cheeks with an array of freckles. At the moment she wore a wool shall with tassels on the edges, and a brightly patterned shirt underneath.

I looked between the two of them as I managed a weak grin and an even weaker, "Yeah, it is."

"We were thinking about going to a party tonight, it's just up the road," she announced, and upon taking a second look at me must have realized it wasn't my type of party. "It'd be great if you came, but no pressure. You could hang around here no problem."

"I'm not sure if I should go if-" Gavin said, but I promptly interrupted him with, "You three can go. I think I might go for a run or something while you guys are gone."

"Run at night? Isn't that kinda dangerous?" Harley said, and there was an edge to her voice like she was expecting me to wolf out in the middle of suburban San Francisco.

I gave her a dull look. "I'd just need to borrow athletic shorts, if you don't mind. Besides, I can handle myself around here."

She dropped the argument while Scarlett agreed to lend me a pair of her shorts and shoes—Harley was a bit small for my size anyway. After dinner, then, I followed Scarlett to her and Harley's room and waited while she rummaged around their closet. It was fairly neat, for the most part, except for the array of books stacked on one end of the room, and the disoriented blankets on the double-sized bed. There was a window over the headrest that overlooked the back of another building.

"Ah, here we go. How's this? I haven't worn them in forever—I'm not exactly the sporty type," she said with an adorable giggle, tossing me the pair of shorts. "Are you sure you don't want sweats? It might be cold out there."

"I can handle it," I said, holding up the shorts to my waist. They seemed about right, and the waistband was elastic. "Thanks."

"Oh it's no trouble at all. And afterwards if you need to use the shower, it's just through that door. Towels are in the closet," she told me, and kicked out her largest pair of sneakers before leaving me to change. I promptly shrugged off my jeans and instantly felt like taking a breath of fresh air. I couldn't remember the last time I'd changed pants—it probably hadn't happened since leaving Washington.