Sparkle Baby, Shine

Alex had a way of surprising people. Even himself.

For the last couple weeks, his mother had been giving him a hard time for coming home each night hours past curfew. At one point, he had to sweet talk his way out of getting his phone taken for two weeks. His marks had gone down, due to the fact that he never left any time to do his homework and his house received calls every day notifying his parents that he had been absent from yet another one of his classes. It was his senior year and he agreed with his parents. It was time for him to get his act together. He wanted to graduate this year and he wouldn't, the way he was going about things at that moment.

But there was Ashlynne. She was wearing only a sheer tank top and her lacy boy short panties. She was kneeling on the bed in front on him, her tiny hands rubbing his sides up and down. She had a playful glint in her eyes and her lips were turned upwards in a mischievous sort of smirk. Alex stood before her, his t-shirt long gone and sitting in a heap in the corner of the dimly lit room. Her fingertips were trailing down his abdomen, following the thin line of hair that disappeared beneath the waist band of his jeans.

His ears felt hot and he could feel the blood pumping in his temples. Ashlynne looked so incredibly hot at that moment. He had hooked up with her plenty of times before, but it was different this time. She had been touching him and whispering dirty things the entire night. He had been waiting to get her naked since dinner.

He looked just past Ashlynne, his gaze meeting the red, glowing numbers of her digital clock that sat on the bedside table. He felt his heart sink when he saw what time it was, knowing that there was a large stack of textbooks at home, calling his name. He was supposed to be home in ten minutes. He was supposed to be shaping up and making his mother proud.

As Ashlynne unbuckled his black, leather belt, Alex was fighting an inner battle. He wanted to stay. Oh God, he wanted to so badly. The idea of leaving was absolutely crazy to him, especially when her lips followed the same trail her fingertips had. However, he knew that if he didn't stop now, he wouldn't be able to stop later. He would never get his life in order. He wouldn't graduate and his mother would probably take away everything he held dear.

He also wanted to do it for himself. He wanted to feel accomplished.

So, he pulled away from her. Ashlynne was shocked as he put on his shirt and buckled up his jeans. She never expected him to deny her, especially when she was almost naked and practically begging for him.

Alex was shocked too.

----

She patted down her almost knee-length floral skirt of her dress, smoothing out any wrinkles and creases. She locked the doors of her car, dropping the keys into her messenger bag. A gust of wind caused her loose curls to whip past her face, the air still warm like a summer breeze. She had difficulty believing that autumn was in their midst, for there wasn't a single sign of the upcoming season. She didn't mind, though. She was looking forward to being able to step out of her house without her jacket for a little while longer.

She crossed the parking lot quickly, having been several minutes behind schedule due to being stopped three times on the way out of the school by a boy in her Advanced Functions class that just couldn't seem to wrap his head around their homework for the evening. She always liked to be punctual. Being late made her palms sweat and her skin crawl. It didn't even matter who was waiting for her behind the heavy, wooden doors. It wouldn't make a difference to her if, behind that door, there was a room full of puppies waiting for her or the president of the United States. She hated being late.

Once she stepped inside, she was instantly hit with the warm air that reeked of stale paper and the floral potpourri that was in a dish by the door. The sunlight coming in through the sky light in the ceiling cast a yellow glow across the dark wood of the towering shelves. She felt herself smiling as she looked around, for she always felt most comfortable when she was surrounded with quiet and old books.

She smiled at the woman behind the desk as she walked past, toward the door across the room that was decorated with flower stickers and paint hand prints of varying sizes and colours. She could hear muffled shrieks and giggling from behind the door as she turned the knob, only getting louder as the door was opened to reveal a room full of children. They were running back and forth, faces sticky from grape popsicles and the air reeking of white glue, pink soap and a little bit like pee.

She laughed to herself, wrinkling her nose at the odd smell. Miss Nannery, the elderly woman in charge of the after-school program, stepped out from around the corner, looking rather frazzled. Her white hair was in a state of disarray and she had blue paint finger prints on her face and her white blouse.

"Oh, Amelia. Good! You're here." She breathed out in relief. "Dear lord, they're rowdy today."

Amelia set down her bags, jumping out of the way as a pair of boys came barreling in her direction. "I can tell!"

Running a wrinkled hand down her face tiredly, Miss Nannery turned her attention to the children. "Everyone, calm down! I need your attention." Though rowdy, they were obedient for the most part, other than the two boys that were rolling around on the linoleum floor as they fought for the blue dump truck. "That means you guys too, Joseph and Adam!" Reluctantly, they pulled apart, but not before sending each other one last vicious glare. "Amelia's here to read to you guys! Grab your mats and let's let's sit around the comfy chair."

Amelia sent them a small smile and a timid wave as they stared up at her with large, curious eyes. Then they all rushed toward the back of the room, where the foam mats were kept and grabbed the first one they got their chubby fingers on. "H'lo 'Melia." She glanced down at the girl that came up to only her waist, the ponytail that held her white blonde hair bobbing as she walked beside her. She appeared to be chewing on something, but Amelia didn't bother asking what. Instead, she smiled warmly and replied with a simple, "hello to you too, Abigail."

The children were all crowding around her feet as she let herself sink into the plushy, blue material of the old chair. She could feel the imprint of the much larger person who used to own this chair and sat in it very regularly. Though it was dusty and smelled a bit like feet, Amelia found comfort in that chair. She felt comfortable reading to this group of children that she had been reading to weekly for almost six months. This was pretty much the extent of Amelia's social life. She didn't go out and visit anybody else. She was content with that. These children didn't have the best home life, for a variety of reasons. They have parents who works too much, parents who don't work at all, parents who were constantly fighting and some couldn't remember ever having real parents. She was happy if her visit made them even slightly happy.

Amelia liked really did like making people happy.