Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 

Gwen knocked on 205’s door the next morning.

“I come bearing a welcome basket,” she said when Doug opened the door and saw the wicker laundry basket floating beside her on a layer of light.

“People around here are impressively generous when you catch them during their first cup of coffee,” she added entering the apartment and letting the basket float down onto the counter.

It was filled to the brim with all kinds of food, Doug couldn’t believe his eyes.

“What’s with the levitating basket trick?” he asked watching Gwen move items into the fridge.

“The basket got too heavy for me to carry so I used my powers,” she explained. “Lightbearers are very versatile.”

“Too heavy?” he laughed. “After last night I doubt anything is too heavy for . . .” His expression changed in a flash. “Oh God, you’re hurt, aren’t you?”

Gwen slowly closed the door, her face blank.

“I don’t want to scare Les, is she still asleep?” she asked glancing toward the bedrooms.

“Yeah, once the excitement wore off she slept like a log,” he said looking at her concerned.

Gwen stepped up to him with a sigh and pulled back one of her long sleeves. Doug swore with such volume that Gwen expected Lesley to yell at him from the next room. Not that she was surprised, the forearm she showed him was more shades of blue and purple than any paint store stocked. He didn’t need to see the other one to realize it was just as bad.

“It’s just a bruise,” she said letting her sleeve drop.

“Just a . . .”

“I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt,” she interrupted returning to the counter. “The point is it isn’t serious.”

She pulled some rags and all natural cleaners from the bottom of the basket without even gazing in his direction.

“Anyway, we should start cleaning,” she said taking a rag and the squirt bottle. “My place doesn’t have carpet so I don’t own a vacuum, but my friend in 820 does. She’ll be around after breakfast.”

As she scrubbed the stove Doug understood she wasn’t going to speak about her injury any further and moved on.

“I was wondering,” he said grabbing a cloth. “Were you dating before the night I tried to mug him?”

The sides of her mouth curled into a grin.

“No,” she replied. “He didn’t even realize I existed.”

“What about you?” he asked wiping down the table.

“We have first and fourth period together, but I try to stay invisible at school. To be honest I was afraid of him,” she said opening the oven expecting something furry to come scurrying out, but nothing did.

“Why?” he asked accidently kicking the table leg.

“Actually, it’s not so much him as his family,” Gwen explained her voice echoing around the sides of the oven. “Zach’s parents are officers.”

“What!?” he half yelled, then quickly lowered his tone. “No wonder he didn’t take his eyes off me yesterday.”

“I don’t believe that had anything to do with his upbringing,” she said attacking a stain on the inside of the door.

“Oh?”

“Do you think they have a clue about me? Zach goes against his family everyday we’re together,” she said closing the oven with a snap. “He was watching you out of concern for me, he’s seeing the world through new eyes and can’t help being a bit gun shy around other Hexes, particularly those who have shown aggression toward me in the past.”

“What’s all the noise?” Les called from her doorway.

“Sorry kiddo, cleaning can get loud if you do it right,” said Gwen balancing her elbows on the counter.

“I wanna help!” she said cheerfully skipping over.

“Certainly, take a rag and dust off the stuff in your room,” Gwen told her.

“Okay,” Lesley giggled grabbing a cloth and running back to her room.

Before Gwen could begin her next task there was a knock at the door.

“Hmm, that should be her now,” she said as Doug approached the sound.

“Good morning,” Pinky said when he answered. “Reinforcements have arrived.”

“Hi Pinky,” Gwen said watching her drag the oversized vacuum inside.

Doug took one look at her bright pink tee and bandana and didn’t bother questioning her nickname.

“Hey, this place is pretty good,” she commented leaving the vacuum on the carpet to search the room. “Your first was downstairs, right Gwen?”

“Yep,” said Gwen light heartedly. “Not bad for a beginner, but I was happy to move up.”

“So, you must be Fireball,” said Pinky causing him to hesitate as she moved to shake his hand. “Er sorry, Doug.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you.”

“How much caffeine have you had this morning?” Gwen asked pointedly.

“Okay, I get the message,” Pinky replied turning to her. “I’m on vacuuming duty, right?”

“Yes, please,” Gwen said sweetly. “I’ll finish the kitchen, could you do the bathroom, Doug?”

“Sure,” he said.

He walked out of the room as Pink plugged in the vacuum. The moment she started the machine the talking began again.

“I heard from Vera,” she yelled over the noise.

Gwen tensed.

“Really?”

“I cannot believe you did that.”

“What, may I ask is so surprising?” Gwen asked testily. “Considering the situation you were in when we met.”

“I remember,” she said. “However, there’s a huge difference between a wannabe mob and an eighteen wheeler.”

Gwen was floating a foot above the ground to clean the top cabinets.

“Truthfully, I’m not sure how many wheels it had, but I see some similarities.”

“Like what?” Pinky asked trying to get under the couch.

“They both tried to run me down for starters,” Gwen replied. “I could only hope it would be worth the risk and you would both respond to my actions.”

“Hmm, I guess I understand what you mean,” said Pinky thoughtfully.

Just then Lesley stepped out of her room with a sneeze.

“Hello,” she said to Pinky who kicked the vacs’ off switch.

“Hi, Lesley right, my name’s Mona, but everyone calls me Pinky.”

“Pinky, I like that,” Lesley said happily, then turned to Gwen. “I got all the dust.”

“Good work,” Gwen said returning to her feet. “Why don’t you do your Dad’s room so Pinky can vacuum yours?”

“Kay.”

Lesley went into the next room, Pinky finished the living room and Gwen cleaned the grease and dust off the top of the fridge. When she was done with the kitchen Gwen tossed the filthy rag in the basket, picked up a fresh one and moved on to the windows.

“What did Zach have to say about last night?” Pink asked from Lesley’s room.

“He was so worried, he’ll be over at noon,” Gwen said delightedly.

“You two are such a cute couple, I’m totally jealous.”

Gwen laughed, but as she stepped toward the next window her arm bumped the sill and it took all her willpower not to yelp in pain. Pinky noticed the laughter ended abruptly and peered into the room to find Gwen doubled over, clutching her arm.

“What happened?” she asked.

She turned the machine off and walked over as Gwen tried to regain her composure.

“Hit my funny bone,” Gwen chuckled. “Not so funny.”

Pinky stared at her sceptically and grabbed her sleeve too quickly for Gwen to stop her. One glance at the bruising and Pink blanched before stumbling back.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered, her posture mirroring her shock.

“Take it easy,” Gwen said calmly. “I’ve been worse.”

Pinky slowly returned her hand to her side sighing.

“Please, tell me you’re not going to work like this,” she said softly.

“I’m not,” Gwen told her. “I already called Tony, he’s letting me take today off, it’s been a long time since I’ve spent a Saturday at home.”

“No doubt Zach will enjoy the opportunity,” Pinky teased, patting Gwen on the back.

Gwen pushed her aside with a laugh and they both went back to their tasks.

A couple of hours later the cleaning was done and Gwen was back in her apartment relaxing on the couch with Zach. They were watching a made for TV movie and feeling the warm sunlight through the windows. A knock at the door woke them from their day off dream state.

“Come in!” Gwen called unwilling to leave Zach’s side yet.

Lesley charged through the door well ahead of her father in a fit of giggles.

“Vera just left,” Doug explained as Les leapt onto the couch.

“It went well?” Gwen asked grinning.

“As if you didn’t know,” he replied with a chuckle. “She gave us an advance to get settled and is going to find a school nearby for Les.”

“Awesome.”

“Yeah, not too sure how I’m going to do this job, though,” Doug said scratching his head.

“I think I can help with that,” said Gwen thoughtfully.

She rose from the couch and walked to her bookshelf.

“I had to learn a lot to live comfortably on my own,” she told him feeling along her books spines.

Doug stood next to her as she pulled out DIY guides for everything from electrical to plumbing, passing them to him.

“Hope you don’t mind homework, hmm I’m not sure if you’ll want this,” she said holding a book entitled ‘What’s a Kitchen?’ “It has a bunch of easy to follow recipes that are really good plus a list of items to keep in your fridge at all times.”

“Sounds great, cooking was never my strong point,” he said adding it to the others.

Gwen smiled and turned away from the shelves.

“Now, shopping, you two will have to get the essentials,” she said holding up her hand to count off. “Cookware, dishes, cutlery, clothing and toiletries which include toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and shampoo.”

“Right,” Doug said staring passed her to something on the bookcase. “What are these?”

Gwen looked over, he had noticed the handful of leather backs on the far side of the shelf.

“My Hex books.”

“What!?”

Zach jumped from the sofa and came to see.

“Other Hexes wrote them,” Gwen explained.

Lesley was admiring the figurines that dotted the shelves while her father dropped his armful on the table. Zach was stunned, the books were dark leather with thin golden writing on the cover and clearly named. Hex Almanac. Myths and Legends. Controlling your Gift.

“This is incredible,” he said making Gwen giggle.

“They aren’t widely available, Hexes hand them down to others,” she said fingering the shelf’s edge.

“Did Vera give them to you?” Zach asked.

“Oh no, Vera has her own kids,” Gwen replied. “They’re from my grandmother.”

Zach stared at her in stunned silence, prompting Gwen to squirm against the case.

“She’s the only other living Hex I’m aware of in my family,” she said quietly. “It’s funny, even though she’s been dormant for decades, she was sure I would be a Hex long before I sparked.”

Zach was confused, Doug spoke up.

“Why did she go dormant?” he asked.

“She and grandpa were starting their family so she thought it was best,” Gwen answered, Zach still didn’t understand completely.

She noticed and focused her attention on him.

“People don’t become Hexes, you have to be born one. However, we can’t use our powers until they ‘spark’ or activate, before then we’re considered dormant. The only other instance would be if one were to stop using their powers.”

“I see,” Zach said slowly.

“Nothing simple about us,” she laughed nervously.

Zach’s face softened as he cupped the back of her head in his hand.

“Who said the best things in life are simple?” he asked leaning forward until their temples touched.

A familiar charge ran through her into him.

Doug saw them and instantly said, “Whoa, civilians still in the room. Time to go Lesley, we have a lot of shopping to do.”

“Aww,” Lesley whined, but followed her dad to the door.

Gwen walked behind them with a giggle and caught Doug by the shoulder when they stepped into the hall.

“Don’t forget to get her school supplies and make sure Les knows not to use her powers there no matter what,” she said seriously.

“I’ve told her before, she doesn’t use her abilities in public,” he told her. “I’ll go over it again when she starts.”

“Daddy!”

“I’m coming.”

Gwen closed the door and twisted around to face Zach.

“I thought they’d never leave,” he said.

She grinned as she stepped up to him and wrapped her still tender arms around his neck.

“So if you two are that close how come I haven’t met your Grandmother?” he asked holding her against his chest.

“By some strange coincidence almost immediately after I left home she was accepted to a classy retirement community on the coast. She wasn’t even aware she was on their waiting list,” she said with a hint of attitude.

“You’re kidding.”

“That’s my parents for you,” she replied lightening her tone. “The joke’s on them though, Gran’s the one who got me in here, all she had to do was call Vera to learn my number.”

“She helped you find the apartment?” Zach asked surprised.

“My job, too,” she said. “I basically inherited her connections when she left, but I didn’t get any special treatment. I was on the first floor here and washed dishes in the back at the restaurant.”

“Hey,” Zach said giving her a squeeze. “You don’t have to be defensive around me.”

Gwen froze, she realized, maybe for the first time, he was right. She didn’t have to prove herself to him like she did with Hexes on the street. Zach was different, and that was exactly what she loved about him.

Reviews

[Lost in Wonderland]

Aw:) I love Gwen and Zach's relationship, and Lesely is soooo adorable

[NinjaPi]

gwen is such a dear. i cant wait to see what happens to that Lazer dude.