Fearless ≫ Zach Mitchell

iv.

f o u r

~

At one o'clock, Ashton and the Mitchell's began their short journey to the Innovation Center, where they would be having a brief meeting with Claire Dearing. Ashton walked beside Gray at a fast pace, listening to the younger boy as he rambled on about the genetic makeup of dinosaurs. Though she admired his knowledge, it was all a bit overwhelming for her. It made her head spin, and she couldn't help but wonderexactly how the twelve year old knew the information.

Ashton's head twisted around for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, checking to make sure that Zach was still behind them. Whether fortunate or not, she did not know, but the sixteen year old was a good distance away from her and Gray, though with occasional glances up from his phone, it was clear that he was following them. His gaze lifted, and much to her surprise, his eyes locked with hers. The seemingly-permanent scowl that was previously stretched across his face twisted into a smirk, his brown eyes sparkling in the artificial light of the Innovation Center.

Giving Gray's shoulder a gentle squeeze, Ashton slowed her pace to where she was now walking beside the older boy. Zach's eyes were once again glued to his phone, the scowl returned to his face. At first, he didn't acknowledge the girl's presence, which only made her scoff rather loudly. At the sudden noise, Zach's head shot up, his eyes widening at the sight of her beside him.

"You don't seem to be having a good time," Ashton commented flatly, a bit of edge in her voice. As she spoke a group of kids ran past her, one of them ramming into her side and causing her to stumble into Zach in the process. His hands quickly reached out and grabbed her waist, steadying her before she had the chance to fall on the ground. She sent him a thankful smile, flattening out her ruffled shirt when she realized his hands gently gripped her waist. Cocking an eyebrow, her eyes traveled from his hands to his face and back again. Zach quickly released his grip, bringing one hand up and scratching the back of his neck with an awkward cough, though his lips still curled into his signature half-smile.

"Just a little friendly advice, if you'd not have your face buried in your phone for once in your life, you may actually enjoy yourself here." Focusing her gaze ahead of her once more, Ashton realized that she could no longer see the curly blonde hair of Gray. He must have seen something that he took interest in, and it wasn't very hard to loose the young boy in the crowd. "It seems as if your brother is missing. If he's dead, I hope you enjoy explaining this one to your mom. ' Sorry mom. I was too busy looking at some hot girl on Tinder to actually look after my brother. He may or may not have fallen into the Mosasaurus Lagoon'." She lowered her voice to mock his, earning yet another eye roll.

"Stop telling me how to live my life," Zach muttered bluntly. Despite his hostile tone, his eyes shone with faint humor as he turned to look at the girl beside him. "And just so you know, I don't need Tinder to find any hot girls. Especially when there's one standing right beside me."

~

Zach's words replayed in Ashton's mind as she watched him disappeared into the crowd, more than likely going to search for his missing, overly-excited brother. He just called her hot. Her lips curling into a grin, she flipped her hair over her shoulder, rushing to catch up to Zach with a strut in her step.

Ashton found Zach and Gray pretty quickly- after all, how hard was it to find a twelve year old boy who was literally bouncing in his shoes with a sixteen year old standing beside him with his face buried in his phone, again. Though it surprised her to find that the two brothers were no longer alone. She didn't have to see her face to recognize the red-haired woman as none other than Claire Dearing. Ashton stepped up so that she was standing beside Zach, shooting the older woman a smile in greeting.