World Ashen

Chapter 1 - Jensen

I sat at the red light in my blue Toyota, tapping the steering wheel as I waited. Thoughts of my twin brother, Jace, made me think about the book sitting in the backseat. Green wrapping paper covered the gift. I knew Jace enjoyed reading, but I wasn't sure if a signed copy of Jace's favorite author's recent novel was enough. I shook my head. What was I thinking? Of course, it was enough.

The light turned green, so I continued driving to my mother's house. Jensen and I lived a few hours from here because it was closer to our army base.

I sighed, parking my car in the driveway. I grabbed my brother's present, got out, and stood there for a moment. Orange lights sat in the oak tree growing in the front yard. Carved pumpkins sat on the banister. Plastic skulls, spiders, and Frankenstein monsters hung in the windows. I smiled as I remembered how much my mother loved Halloween.

Seeing the gray van and red Malibu, I knew only some others were there. Walking up the stairs, I took a deep breath then turned the doorknob and walked into the house. Then an explosion of footsteps ran toward me. They belonged to my two younger siblings. Jadance buried her face in my stomach as she squeezed the life out of me. That made sense because I hadn't seen them in about a year.

"You're going to hurt him," Ash said as Jadance released me from her grasp. Ash hugged me gently. "Like this." Ash let go and stepped back.

I choked back a laugh and tears. Jadance stood with her arms crossed, her bottom lip sticking out, and a small scowl on the little girl's face. She wore her black hair in pigtails, bangs resting on her forehead. Jadance's big blue eyes still showed a hint of happiness behind that scowl of hers. "My hugs show I love him more!"

Ash still looked like the young, smart gentleman he was. He had styled his black hair, and his blue eyes sparkled.

I placed a hand on each of my siblings' heads. "You two are funny. I love you too, equally. Now go play." I felt a little bad; I knew I just had a few hours until Jace and I had to go back to base.

The two kids ran off to the playroom as I made my way to the dining room. Laughter came from the kitchen. After placing Jace's gift on the table with the rest of them, I walked to the kitchen. Someone had closed the door to the room. Fair-skinned, red-haired, green-eyed, and thin-lipped Piper van Laar smiled, blocking the way. "Sorry, mister. No birthday boys allowed."

I laughed, "oh, come on, Piper."

My girlfriend now grinned. "No can do, Laura said." She held the doorknob behind her back.

"Mom said so, huh? Well then, I guess I'll just go back to my room."

Piper shook her head, making her red hair fall out of the messy bun sitting on the back of her head. "Jace is there right now, busy. Why don't you go to the living room and watch something? I'll come and get you when we're ready."

I nodded, walked back to the living room, and sat down on the couch. My thoughts returned to my brother. Was Jace not that lazy, after all? Maybe I was the lazy one. I went to the bookstore, bought the book, and had someone else wrap Jace's gift instead of wrapping it myself. Then again, if I had wrapped it, it would look like a kid had just slapped bits of paper on it and tape. Maybe I should be more grateful I had spent the little extra money.

I reached for the TV remote, pressed the power button, and watched White Collar, even though I had seen it before. About forty minutes later, Piper called for Jace and me as my parents rushed toward the front door and left. Getting up, I walked over to Piper, hands in my pockets.

"Everything alright? Mom and Dad just left in a hurry," I asked, taking my phone out of my pocket. Turning it on, I saw it was a quarter past three.

"They just forgot to meet Shaun and Ellie at the gas station."