Aspen Juniper Veata has only ever known Beacon Hills to be a quiet and dainty town. Herself, along with her best friends Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski, had gone unnoticed by their peers in high school for as long as they could remember. Aspen ha...
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Aspen rose with the sun, the orange and pink morning sky painting a beautiful canvas along the mountain tops. She had opened the shop early that morning and was always moving around to serve the next customer. The afternoon rolled around, and she took her available time to head back home and spend time with her grandfather. She hoped to fall upon the subject about the marbles and her new powers.
Sitting on one of her legs, Aspen let her other leg dangle from her chair as she stared intensely at the chessboard set in front of her. Grandpa Sam sat across from her with a smug smile on his lips, amused by Aspen's frustration in her possible losing. She's never been good at the game but always picked up a few moves from her grandfather. Just as she made a move that was sure to get her closer to winning, Grandpa Sam didn't give it a second thought before he captured one of her knights.
Aspen's mouth gaped open and slammed her hands on the table. "You can't do that," she argued, pointing toward the black knight he had captured.
"I can because I just did." he shrugged, taking a break to sip his tea, sporting his blue robe that snuggled around his body.
"How? I had you in a blockade."
"Yes, and I discovered your attack. You were open."
Aspen nibbled on her thumbnail, pausing just before realizing her mistake. Throwing her head back, Aspen let out a frustrated noise while Grandpa Sam laughed.
"I hate this game," she mumbled, looking back at her grandfather.
"I quite enjoy it," he shrugged.
"Yea, because you always win."
"Precisely." Grandpa Sam winked, earning a smirk and an eyes roll from Aspen. "So, you said Isaac and yourself are friends again?" Grandpa Sam asked, continued the chess game.
Aspen smiled to herself. "Yea, we're good now. You know they have a game coming up soon. You should come."
"Oh, I don't think my back could handle that," he chuckled.
"Come on, when was the last time you went to a lacrosse game? I know you're getting bored from just watching them on tv. I think you would enjoy yourself."
Grandpa Sam pondered the thought as he slowly captured yet another one of Aspen's knights, bringing her to scowl. "Yea," he said, convincing himself, "Yea, I think I'll go. It might be fun."
Aspen kept her eyes on the board, drowning in her unnoticed failure. "I hate you," Aspen snapped, narrowing her eyes at her grandfather.
He put his hands over his chest in mock hurt, "Oh, you're breaking my heart, Julia."
"I was being facetious."
"Oooh, look at that vocabulary."
That's when Aspen paused her laughter, pondering her grandfather's previous words. "Pa, what did you call me?" she inquired, her eyes soft with worry.
