You agree to help Ms. Pruitt and tell her Ash will be staying with you.
She locks the front and side doors. The side exit will lock automatically
after you leave; it can only be opened from inside. The librarian
reluctantly agrees to let your friend stay, making you wonder if she's
afraid Ash is the rowdy type. Your eccentric boss then departs through the
western door with an admonition to be careful. Your speech must have
made her worried. You nod and promise that you will be, thinking with
sympathy that she seemed both distracted and cranky today. Those boys
must have really rattled her.
Turning around, you see Ash climbing a ladder to get at the upper shelves,
appearing as if her thoughts are far away. You begin to feel a bit
guilty about telling Ms. Pruitt Ash would stay without asking your
friend about it first, and decide to apologize. "Hey, uhh... Ashley?"
She's off in dreamland somewhere. You repeat her name more loudly,
then finally snap your fingers. The abrupt sound jerks her out of her
reverie, and she blinks, then turns red. "Oh, gosh! I'm sorry, Rach, I
was totally spacing out."
You frown mildly, uncomfortable to a small degree. You're not the type
who has anything to apologize for very often, and you therefore don't
like to do so. You're almost nervous about it, which is totally out
of the ordinary for someone of your serene disposition.
"I'm apologize for keeping you here without asking," you mumble.
Ash stares at you for a moment. She the hops right off the ladder, coming over.
"Are you kidding me? You ARE kidding me, right?
"What?" You ask blankly, confused.
"Rachel..." She throws an arm around your waist, which is about as high
as she can reach at her height, and smiles up at you. "You don't have
anything to be sorry for, not in my mind. I can't blame you for not wanting
to be by yourself when some nutcase hacked a person we know limb from limb."
Her face sobers, realizing what she said, but she goes on. "You'd do the
same for me if I was worried, so why would I mind? Grabbing stuff at
the store is nowhere near as important as making sure you're okay. There's
safety in numbers, after all."
You are unexpectedly warmed by her remarks. She doesn't look very threatening,
in fact, she's about as frightening as a stuffed bunny, despite the self-
defense classes you know she's taken. But still, she wants to protect you
if she can. Ash has just proved herself a true and loyal friend. And, when you consider it, you see she's right... you would have done the same for her without any problem. You're almost like sisters.
The pair of you goof off in the library for a while. Nothing of any
real interest occurs, and you feel safe when you shut the door behind it,
hearing the click of the lock. You know Ash has got your back and you've
got hers.
Le Masquerade, our curious little costume store. I
haven't been there yet.