The Elements

Chapter 3

Ashley lay on her back on the first floor living room's sofa in complete darkness. She'd been waiting for at least 2 or 3 hours; she hadn't really been paying attention to the clock, though it ticked and tocked every second to remind her that time was still crawling forwards, however slowly. She twirled a leaf she'd picked from Gina freshly bought flowers, delicately placed in the centre of the coffee table. The white lilies complimented the pale blues and aqua tones of the rest of the room in a way which made Ashley feel surprisingly peaceful. Unfortunately, this made it moderately hard to fight sleep.

Getting fidgety, she sat up properly, and checked the clock. It was nearly midnight. He should be home by now. What if something's happened?

Ashley had decided to wait up for Joseph that night. She hadn't properly seen him in over a week; the only confirmation she'd had that he had actually come home each night was the fact that the calendar on his desk was always flicked over to the next day, and there was always a new apple core on the top of the his bin's rubbish. She was beginning to worry about him. There must be something serious for him to be away for so long each day, but what did he possibly have to do for over 12 hours every single day? Even at the weekend he wasn't in. It wasn't like him. Before they'd inherited the powers, he'd been lazy in a typical teenage boy's kind of way. He watched TV for hours on end, sauntering around the place in no rush, and taking the piss out of anyone and everyone he saw. She missed it. Even though at the time, he could be positively irritating, Ashley still missed his comments, his cheerful energy getting her through the worst of her moods. It had felt as though she'd known him for years, and now he was just slipping through her fingers and she had no idea why or how to stop it.

All of a sudden, the front door's lock clicked open quietly. Ashley sat up straight, and looked towards the living room's doorway curiously. She glanced at the clock. Five minutes past midnight.

What the hell had he been doing?

Carefully and silently, she slid off the sofa onto the balls of her sock-covered feet, and crept to the doorway. He didn't seem to be in sight, although she'd purposefully kept the house dark to catch him as he normally entered the house. There was rustling around the kitchen for a minute or two before his footsteps advanced up the stairs.

Ashley hid herself in the shadows of the doorway, wishing that she could turn herself invisible just like Evelyn for only a minute. She peeked around the corner as she heard him ascend the stairs. He had no idea she was there as she watched.

Strangely, he didn't actually go to his room first; he silently opened the door to Ashley's own room and peeked in. He had watched her sleep? What if she had snored? Or done something equally embarrassing?

Even through the darkness, she noticed his eyebrows furrow a little as he realised she wasn't there. However within an instant his whole face relaxed and he turned to face her full-on with a smirk on his lips.

Crap.

"Are you spying on me?"

Ashley stepped into the corridor, trying not to show her excitement of finally seeing him again. "I'm not spying on you."

"Then what are you doing?"

Ashley shrugged. "Checking up on you."

Joseph chuckled a little. "That's one in the same thing, Squishy."

Squishy?

Ashley hadn't heard him call her by her nickname for ages. Joseph turned to walk into his room when she didn't respond, and she suddenly felt all her original anger at him crashing through her blood. She strode down the corridor in a rage and straight into his room after him, shutting the door behind her carefully before she woke up the whole neighbourhood with her shouting. He stood by the desk with an innocent but baffled look on his face.

She couldn't get the words into her head straight away, and he cocked his eyebrow. "Are you alright? You look as though you're about to shit a brick."

She glared at him, trying to force herself not to do something stupid. "As if you'd care. Where have you been?"

Joseph smiled his devil's smile. God had she missed that smile. "Where haven't I been?" Then he winked. That just did it. She ran at him and shoved him as hard as she could, slamming him into the desk with a loud crash. "What the hell was that for?!" he squeaked as he stared at her in annoyed confusion.

"Would you stop making jokes and just get a grip? You haven't been home for ages, and I want to know what you've been doing!" Her shout ended up lowering to a hiss as she realised she would wake up the others. That was the last thing she needed.

"Relax Ashley," he said calmly as he stood himself up from the desk. "I've just been talking to some people."

"About what?" she demanded. "What people?"

"Just about what I've missed since I've been away. I've been catching up on the gossip. Got to keep up with the crowds, Squishy." He tried to smile at her again, but she felt the heat in her fingertips. She lifted her arm and a ball of fire appeared in her palm. She threw it with full force at Joseph's head.

The second it left her hand, she regretted it.

Joseph instantly opposed it with a ray of water, drenching the carpet, but putting out her fire. Neither of them said anything for a minute or two.

"Why are you so upset?" he finally said with strained quietness.

Ashley fought the urge to either shout or cry, she couldn't tell which. "Because you're never around and you come back at ridiculous hours and leave again before anyone wakes up. There must be a reason." She sighed, desperately trying to calm herself. "You've changed. And I want to know why."

For once, Joseph didn't seem to find it funny, or take the piss out of her. He looked at her seriously through the darkness with an intense stare. "I haven't changed. I've just been busy. I'm still the same Joseph, just improved. Think of me as Joseph version 2.0." He almost smiled, but at Ashley's dejected and angry expression, took it back.

"You didn't need improving." Ashley turned away to go back to her room, but just as she reached for the door handle, a crackle hit the door knob and froze it stiff. She whipped around. "What are you doing?"

"Why do you care so much? What does it have to do with you?" He sounded upset, though she couldn't see very well through the dark midnight light.

"Because you're my friend, Joseph. Friends are supposed to care for each other."

"I don't need anyone to care for me," he said in a sad whisper. "I'm fine on my own. I have been for years."

Ashley's insides burned. "Fuck you!"

"What?"

"Saying you don't need friends, that you don't need anyone. That's bullshit. You're just pretending, you always have done. Pretending that no-one can upset you. Pretending that you're always so happy-go-lucky. Pretending that you don't give a damn about anyone else and that you don't need anyone else. You're just so selfish that you can't see that so many people here care about you and you're just worrying them for your own selfish ends. And you think that I don't see through your lies? I don't know where you've been but you definitely haven't been to catch up with your friends, or whatever shitty excuse you thought I'd eat up this time!"

"None of you need me to mess up your lives anymore! That's all I've been doing for the last few weeks, Ashley. Can't you see that? Cale was my friend; he was after me for my mistakes. And if I hadn't have dragged you after me then you'd still be exactly the same as you were before I brought you here, in a normal life without the worries you have now with your brother and your family and not being able to go back to living like a normal person, and having to be careful with the new powers that you have to cope with. It's my fault that you all are like this, and whatever you say won't ever change that!"

Ashley was flabbergasted. She hadn't realised that he felt so strongly that it was his fault. "It's not your fault that."

Of course it is. He wouldn't have been able to find you if I hadn't have brought you back here.

"He wouldn't have even come looking for you."

There was a short silence. "Stop it..." Ashley whispered. "Stop it. This isn't you."

His eyes shone through the dark. "I'm sorry if you feel that way. I think it's best if you just let me get on with my life, and you get on with yours."

Ashley felt a tear run down her cheek and her chest rip wide open.

Angrily, she melted the ice off the handle and strode out across the corridor, slamming the door to her room shut.