Now You See Me, Now You Don't

Now You See Me, Now You Don't: Chapter 5

     Okay, calm down!  Ashlyn instructed herself. She could get through this, she could get away...after several moments of struggling against the strong hands, she finally bit down on the hand covering her mouth -- "Shit!" her unknown attacker cursed -- and whipped around to face the assaulter. 

     Standing behind the couch, rubbing his bitten hand using his other hand, stood Ryan Pierce.

~~~

     Scar burst out laughing. "I can't believe you bit him!" She giggled beside Ashlyn.

     Ashlyn glared at Ryan, who sat across from her. "Well, what else was I supposed to do? He was practically assaulting me!"

     "Was not." Ryan snapped back, his eyes on his plate of food. "I was just trying to scare you. You know, for fun."

     "For fun? You assault people for fun?" Ashlyn retorted, digging into her plate of salad and chicken.

     "I didn't assault you!" Ryan muttered.

     "Whatever."

     "I swear -- "

     "Okay, that's enough now, guys." James Knight interuppted, a small smile on his face. He sat beside Ryan, his empty plate in front of him. He'd managed to finish his dinner before any of them had managed to even finish half of it, which was sort of piggish, but still cool.

     After Ryan had assaulted Ashlyn, Ashlyn had burst out in a flurry of curses and shrill screams, apparently arousing everyone to her sounds, except for Jack. Oh, that Jack. He could sleep through an earthquake. Scar and James had stumbled across one side of the apartment to the other, quick on their feet. After finding out that Ryan had just played a mean joke on Ashlyn, which was why Ashlyn was throwing such a fit, James had calmed down Ashlyn and then proposed dinner now that they were wide awake.

     Ryan and Ashlyn had already taken showers and brushed their teeth, and James wasn't on jet lag -- since he lived in France -- and he hadn't even been sleeping apparently, so he'd been ready to head straight to the kitchen, so in the end they had just silently waited for Scar to freshen up so they could have dinner. Now they were sitting around the dining table in the kitchen, and after introducing each other formally, Ashlyn had finally finished telling Scar and James exactly what had happened.

     James glanced at Ryan and commented, "Here's a piece of advice, dude. The ladies don't like to be the victim of any sort of stupid or mean joke. They prefer to be treated in a more chivalrous manner, if you know what I mean."

     "She overreacted." Ryan protested. "It was just a harmless joke, but she had to be a drama queen and throw a hissy fit!"

     "I'm right here, you know." Ashlyn snapped. "Whatever you have to say, say it to me, moron."

     A pained expression floated onto James face. "Guys, please. Relax. Ashlyn, Ryan was just having some fun, and he's right, it was just a harmless joke...you kind of overreacted, in my opinion. However, Ryan, you still shouldn't have played such a...joke. It obviously scared Ashlyn."

     "It never scared me." Ashlyn snapped again.

     "Okay, I'm sorry, it didn't scare you." James quickly replied.

     Scar laughed again. "Wow. You guys are just...hilarious."

     "Some one's in a good mood today." Ashlyn muttered. "Surprising, considering your mood earlier."

     Scar rolled her eyes. "I was tired this morning. And you're obviously tired right now."

     Ashlyn sighed. "No, I'm just annoyed." She muttered. With another sigh, she glanced up at James. "I'm sorry." She mumbled swiftly. "You're right. I overreacted." She felt so grumpy, and she had just realized it. She was really acting like a downer, which, to be honest, was not an emotion she liked to feel. She was usually laid-back and chill, and she hated how for some reason, Ryan made her feel so touchy and sensitive.