Descending from Ordinary

Chapter 7

Jace and Jacob couldn't see Ace's face, but they could tell by the way he suddenly lowered it that he was trying to hide his embarrassment. "Duh, for the maker's sake. Not now..."

Jacob raised his eyebrow. Da? Another word for dad, he guessed. So that was Ace's dad? The man chuckled deeply. "Alright, alright. I'll be right back. All three of you?"

Ace nodded once again and the man hurried to the back of the shop, disappearing behind the swing doors. His dad seemed the polar opposite from Ace—bubbly and full of energy and optimism. It was funny, actually, because it seemed by just being around his father's lively atmosphere he was tired out. Letting out a sigh, Ace leaned back on the front counter lazily.

"Have you been planning to go to the Enchanted Forest for a long time or something?" Jacob asked, recalling what his dad had said. It sounded as if he was expecting Ace to come into the shop and ask for a load in three more years or something.

"Yeah," Ace said. "It's every kid's dream, but rarely anyone's reality."

"It's hard to believe that absolutely no one has tried going there before," Jacob eyed him suspiciously. "Especially when you talk about how special it is."

He shrugged. "Okay. Maybe people have tried to go. But they didn't know where the hell they were going and walked in circles for months. The king doesn't just give the map to anyone, you know. Besides, everyone ever known to get a map never come back."

Jacob gulped. Never come back? Ace's dad pushed back through the swing doors, returning from the back with three plain brown backpacks in his hands. He put them on the counter and slid them forward with a smile that complimented his shined rosy cheeks. "All set!"

"Thanks, dad." Ace said with the faintest smile. Come to think of it, Jacob thought it was the first time he'd actually seen him smile since they'd met.

Ace grabbed the bags off the counter and handed two to Jacob and Jace. As they slipped them on, Jacob noticed they were actually pretty heavy. When Ace said a load, he must've really meant a load. Ace's dad made his way out from behind the counter in a flash, standing in front of Jacob and Jace to get a good look at the two new faces.

"I'm Mr Fallentine," he introduced himself., putting his hand out. Jacob and Jace took turns giving the friendly man a handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you both."

Jace returned a big smile. "Nice to meet you, too! I'm Jason."

"I'm Jacob," Jacob smiled, he nodded towards Mr Fallentine.

Mr Fallentine turned to Ace, who had walked over to the shelves full of weapons during their introductions. Rummaging through the different weapons, he grabbed multiple tiny knives and daggers to slip into his pockets, shoes and sleeves, along with two big daggers he slipped into his belt. When he was done equipping himself, he waved Jacob over.

"Jacob, come here." He did as he was told and hurried to Ace's side. He reached on the shelf and grabbed a few other small, hand-held weapons before turning to Jacob and slipping them into his belt.

He was standing extremely close to Jacob—close enough that he could feel his warm breath on his cheek as he was focused equipping Jacob's belt with weapons. He felt his face begin to burn up as he took a glance at Ace's concentrated expression. He'd never really thought otherwise, but Ace was actually reasonably attractive. It sucked that he had such a contrasting personality from his soft and gentle facial features- girls must hate that about him.

When he was done, he lifted his gaze to Jacob, making Jacob feel somewhat envious. He couldn't tell why, but it probably had to do with the fact that their faces were only a small distance apart.