6

   Next thing I know, I’m on the ground. My eye still hurts, but not as bad. Layla beside me on her knees with tears in her eyes. Did I pass out? Cas and Jax glance over at me as I start to slowly sit up.  Layla rubs her eyes and smiles at me concerned. She helps me to sit up right. 

      “Are you ok? You passed out.” Layla sat crisscrossed beside me. 

      “You gave us quite a scare there,” Jax sighed relieved.  

      “You know, you look dehydrated. Let’s go get some water,” Cas suggested, holding on to Jax. 

       Layla helps me up and gives me a sincere smile. At first I almost fell but Layla caught me by my arm. We walk down the hall and get a bottle of water from the vending machine. I sit down on a nearby bench and we slowly drink our waters. Layla sits beside me and Jax and Cas sit on the bench beside us to the right.  When we finished our water we stood up and threw the bottles away. 

      “That movie wasn’t that bad,” I say. 

       “I liked it,” Layla agreed,” Did you guys?” 

        Caspian and Jax nod. 

       “We spent almost all day here,” Jax sighed,”I’m beat. You guys just wanna crash at my place?” 

        “Sure,” the rest of us say. 

         Jax gets up and stretches with a loud yawn. He then signs for us to follow. 

          “I can drive again if you want,” Cas insisted. 

          “Sure,” Jax said, “knock yourself out.” 

         We then got in the car, Cas driving, Jax in the passenger seat , and me and Layla in the back. We slowly pull out of the parking lot and as we do I finally notice the sunset. I never really paid attention to it, but now that I look at it, it really is something. 

           “Isn’t it pretty, Ash?” Layla points to the sky. 

             “It sure is,” I say. 

         Layla rests her head on my shoulder and grabs my hand. Is this what friends do or is she more than that? Does she know that I like her? Does she like me? What if I asked her if she did? Although if she did like me, would she still like me if she saw what was under my eyepatch? Would she call me a demon like Kev did sometimes? 

      My thoughts are out of control as I watch everything pass by through the windows. I think we all fell asleep besides Caspian. 

   We’ve arrived at Jax’s. I tap Layla lightly as she slowly wakes up.  Cas looks over at us all with a kind smile. Jax wakes up on his own slowly as Cas puts the car in park. We all get out of the car and Jax takes a key out of his pocket. Last time I saw a key it was the one kept for the door of my room. He said it was to keep me safe.  So, is Jax’s key for  keeping things safe too? Jax then opens the door and invites us in. 

       The walls are painted crimson, and the floors are  light brown and wooden. There  was the living room to the right and then the kitchen to the left. Infront of the doorway was a hallway with that ends at a set of stairs. First I look at the living room. It has soft tan carpet, and a  gray chaise couch, light gray camelback couch, and a black tub chair. A flat-screen T.V sits in front of them on the right on the wall.  

      Then I looked to the left. The kitchen was bigger than I imagined it would be. The same crimson walls as every room, with black and white marble tile. With many cupboards and wall to wall counters. All topped with a shiny black marble. To the right was a french-doored fridge and in front of it was a black flat top gas stove and a matching dishwasher in between the stove and sink.  

        I walked out and joined Layla on the couch.  Cas sat down next to me. Something about Cas gives me the impression that he is gay. If he is, I support him. I however just hope that he won’t end up liking me. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a nice guy and all but, I just don’t swing that way, and I already have my eyes set on someone, and there’s no replacing her. I am happy that I met her, that I met all of them. I am truly happy that I have friends. My life seems to be finally turning around. 

        “I’ll go grab some blankets and pillows,” Jax sighed, “If you want or need anything don’t be afraid to get it, or ask.” 

         We all nodded. My eye still hurts a little. I should go check it out. 

         “Be back,” I say as I make my way towards the bathroom. 

          “Ok,” Cas says as he sighs. 

      As I close the door, I look around. This bathroom is different from the one that I had. However, mine was more or less a closet with a tiny shower head, drain on the floor, and a small toilet beside it. Above it was a towel rack, toilet paper  holder, and a small mirror. Jax’s house is very nice. His bathroom is not a closet. I sighed. Is it weird that I’m admiring his house so much? He even has a sink in here. My sink was my shower.  He has a nice glass walk in shower. It all makes me a bit jealous. 

     I look at my reflection. Me. With my fluffy black hair. I slowly take off my eyepatch. When I get it fully off, I look at myself again. What is that? It changed. What was pure black is not the same as before. Now somehow my once pure black eye now has a red iris. How did this happen? Why? 

     I put my eyepatch back on and went back to the living room. 

    “Alright, I’ll crash down here will you guys,” Jax yawns,”If any of y’all want a shower or whatever go ahead.” 

    “Can I take one?” 

     “Yea, go ahead Ash.” 

     Jax handed me a towel and then started to make beds on the couches and the floor. I then headed back towards the bathroom. I walk back in and close the door. I take a deep breath and remove my eyepatch, and put it by the sink. I slowly undressed and got in the shower. I would say I have a lean or what some people call a cut body type. I guess it’s a good thing. I’m not really sure, all I know is that I read about health and different body types in a book before.  I turned the shower knobs and allowed myself to unwind. I think this is what you would call a good shower. I’ve never really had a “good shower” before. The water coming down on me seemed to be the perfect temperature. It was warm, and kinda comforting. 

     I get out and wrap the towel around my waist. I don’t have anything to change into, so I’ll just put what I had on. I dried myself off, got dressed and then ran my fingers through my hair until  it looked ok. I then look in the mirror and at my red, black, eye. I think that it looks a bit creepy but, the really creepy part is how it changed all by itself. 

      I go to reach for my eyepatch but, when I reach for where it was, I feel something wet.

      “Ugh,”I sigh. 

      My eyepatch is all wet. 

       “Just my luck,”I say under my breath. 

      I move my hair over to cover that eye. 

         “That should work. Hopefully, it lasts till I can get a new one.” 

      I walk back out and go with the others. Cas laying on the tub chair, Jax on the camelback couch, and then Layla on one side of the  chaise couch.  

      “You can take the chaise couch if you want,” Jax yawned. 

     He hands me a blanket, and pillow. I put the pillow on the other arm of the couch. I got the side that goes out and Layla got the long side. I lay down on the couch and got comfy. Jax turned off the light and layed back down.