Infinite

Chapter Three

"That's the last of it." Nick hauled the last box out of his truck and dusted his hands off. "Are you sure you don't want help getting all of this stuff inside? I don't mind waiting with you."

"No, it's fine." So far, my roomie and I were not off to a good start. She wasn't even here- maybe it was a sign. Or maybe my Gramps was screwing me over somehow. He always seems to be behind every bad thing that has ever happened to me. Well, minus my mom. At least the creep had enough heart to-

"Really, it's not a big deal for me. Kim texted saying that-" Nick interrupted my thoughts.

"No, really. It's fine, I swear. Go, set up your new house with Kim." I said, maybe a bit too bitterly. Nick was being nice- too nice. He was making it hard for me to hate him for kicking me out.

"I'm sorry about moving you out. I made sure that you had a place to live and with some one I could trust before I agreed to anything." Nick said, opening his truck door and getting in. He leaned out of the window. "Ashtyn's a good person. Ash may be a bit, uh, grumpy, but once you get to know him he's a teddy bear."

"Oh, that makes me feel better- wait, did you say 'him'?"

But Nick had already roared the car to life and was pulling out of the long gravel driveway, calling "Keep in touch!" and speeding off, leaving dust in his trail.

It must have been a slip of the tongue, I decided. Nick trusted her, and I trusted Nick enough to not leave me with some guy who could easily take advantage of me. Especially with the house so far away of civilization.

Okay, I was exagerating a bit. The driveway branched into a dirt backroad that led straight to the main road of the city, only about a ten minute drive. It was actually quite beautiful, even if I wasn't exactly comfortable with the silence. I was used to the hustle-and-bustle of the city. But the house itself reminded me of one of those old southern plantation houses. It was big and old, and from the looks of it, was three stories. Maybe the white paint job was a bit shabby, but it gave it character, along with the uneven porch steps and creaky porch swing. I would have liked to swing to pass the time, but my boxes of junk were blocking it. But the large, gnarly tree next to the house looked like it was fun to climb...

Five minutes later, I was wedged in a large branch about a good twelve feet above the ground, wondering how I was going to get down. Climbing was the easy part, but the dismount I had never mastered. And that's when I heard the roar of a truck and the crunch of gravel and dead leaves. Oh, crap.

The slam of car doors followed, then a deep "What is all of this?" Oh no, no, no. Don't tell me, please God... "Hello?" The voice called, and there was no mistaking it. It was deffinitely a guy. Please tell me that Ashtyn didn't have a boyfriend, too. I couldn't take two ejections in one day.

"Up here!" I called out, then immediately regretting it.

"Wait- who- what are you doing in my tree!?"

"Your tree?" I peered down through the autumn leaves and saw the last person that I wanted to see.

It was the coffee boy from the other day. The hot bad-boy with a badass motorcycle and amazing hazel eyes. "Why is my life just a huge cliche?!" I groaned, adding a few explatives about Kim and her idea of roommates. Ashtyn was an Ashton. Not just any Ashton, but bad boy, coffee-loving and hardcore flirt Ashton.

"Now that your done, could you please tell me who the hell you are and why your in my tree and why there is a bunch of shit on my porch?"

"Hey, that's my shit. Nobody calls it shit except me."

"You lost that right when yor decided to dump it on my property. Now, tell me what's going on, or I'm calling the cops."

"I'll explain it all once I'm down there." I began to edge out of my little crevice.

"You can't be serious. You're going to break your neck."

"Thanks for the support, I really- woah!" I slipped and scrambled to grab hold of something.

"I wouldn't put my foot there."

"No, really? Was my slip-up not enough of a give away?" I said sarcastically, desperately clutching to a branch.

"You're gonna die."

"You know what, I'm just gonna block you out, cuz your distracting me." I searched blindly with my legs to get a better footing, but I could only hold on for dear life.

"Did you just quote Frozen?" Ashton wondered aloud. I glared at him over my shoulder. He was watching me in amusement, his arms folded.

"Maybe I did. Are you just going to stand there or are you going to get a ladder?"

"But you're doing so well."

I huffed. "Never mind, I'll get down by myself." I tried to use what little upper body strength I had to pull myself up, but it only made matters worse. Now I was holding on by my fingertips with my hair falling out of my ponytail into my face. I blew it out of the way in frustration.

"Hold on, I'm coming up."

"No, don't! I don't need your help." I said stubbornly.

"Too bad, I don't care." I heard him start to climb up. I could practically hear his skinny jeans straining with the effort. "What I don't get," He grunted as he pulled himself up to the first branch. "Is if you didn't know how to get down, why did you climb up?"

"The porch swing was occupied." I began to feel my hands slip. "If you have to help, could you at least hurry up?"

"No great-fullness is lost with you, is there?" I didn't bother replying. He continued to climb, possibly even slower. "So let me get this straight..."

"Oh good, your still talking." I muttered, willing the sweat from my hands to disappear.

"You come, nobodies home, you pile your stuff on some strangers porch, and decide to climb their tree?"

"Well I'm glad that you've caught up. Now can we deal with the problem at hand?"

"It's your fault. I hope you've learned your lesson-"

"Yeah, yeah, don't climb stranger's trees. I'm about to lose my grip and I don't think I-" I felt as if the wind had been sucked out of my lungs as one of my hands fell away completely, and I was only holding on by a few sweaty fingers.

"Holy- okay, don't freak out, I'm almost there."

"Do I look like I'm freaking out?" I said, my voice a pitch higher then usual.

"A bit, yeah."

"Oh, great. Didn't want to let you think I was calm in this life threatening situation."

"Are you always this sarcastic, or is it just when your dangling from trees?"

"I'm not in the greatest of moods right now."

"I can tell." Ashton's voice was closer now, and I could see his figure only a few feet below. 

"Ashton, I don't think I can-" The last thing I saw was my fingers sliding off the bark of the tree branch, then blackness.