Jane started to get very fidgety after Asher said this. 'He said he likes me the way I am. Does that mean he is confessing his love for me? Or does he just want my body?...Does he have that kind of fetish?!' The crazy thoughts that fell in to Jane's mind were uncontrollable.
"Hey, Jane! Jaaaannnneeee!" Art waved his hand in front of her since they had all come to a stop in front of Asher's house.
"Ah, oh sorry. I was thinking about something." Her thoughts had turned her face bright red but not a single one of the boys knew this because of her mask. She was beginning to believe that her power may be a blessing in disguise for this very reason.
"We asked what time you wanted to meet up to go shopping? We will be up early to workout anyways so any time is fine. We could even get lunch while we are out." This brought Jane back to reality fully.
"Well I can come by around eight then. We can get to the hero corp design department store before they get busy."
"Sounds good to me, I'll see you then." Asher said this, making a whole new wave of embarrassing thoughts fly through Jane's mind. Her walk towards her house made it look like she wasn't even paying attention to the road.
"That was weird huh?" Art had no idea what had completely stopped Jane from replying but he was curious none the less.
"Dude, girls are complicated. I would hate try to understand a girl's mind…" Asher had grown up with a sister and he still was at a loss for some of the things that happened.
Bang!
The front door flew open as Cara sprinted out. "Move!" Her shout was too late though. She had already bumped in to Art completely toppling the unsuspecting boy.
"Ahgggg" Art's cry as he fell and hit the ground was pitiful but soon the sight of Cara pinning him to the ground took up Asher's vision.
"You stupid monkey, you didn't move." Cara was in a rush and struggled to get up. She managed to roll off of Art and sprint away down the street. She had her backpack filled with clothing and was headed off towards a friends house.
"I guess she is heading to her classmates house for a sleep over. Don't get your hopes up because we are still working out." Asher feared that Art would try to escape the early morning if he didn't say this.
Sadly Art was not even hearing his words. He was still laying on the ground stunned. The fact that Cara had knocked him to the ground and pinned him had sent a shock through his mind. "It's OK, once we train more you will be able to react to something like that without thinking. Did she hurt you when she knocked you down?"
Asher got his attention and caused Art to start to stand back up. "No...it's just that...it didn't hurt. Your sister is really light and like, soft. I thought she would be all muscly you know? From the workouts and stuff…" Art looked at himself for a few minutes then spoke again, "You don't think I'll stay soft do you?"
He was having a small crisis and feared that he wouldn't develop any visible muscle from working out. "Ha! Dude if we keep working out you will gain muscle whether you like it or not." Asher thought there was something wrong with him but realized he was just being weird. "Why is he so worried about muscles anyways?"
"Well would you want to be rescued by a soft looking hero? Or would any girls want to… eh whatever let's go inside!" Art left Asher in the front step with no choice but to head inside the house too.
"Art honey come on in to the kitchen. I could use a little help!." Asher's mother took the chance to steal Art away as a second cook. Art who wanted to avoid more questions from Asher was more than happy to run there and wash up.
"Hey mom, I have a permission slip for camp that needs to be signed!." Asher left it on the table and could hear his mother from the kitchen.
"Art honey, will you be able to get your permission slip filled out?" She was worrying that Art would miss out on camp.
"I should be fine. Tomorrow while I am out shopping with Asher and Jane I will stop by my mother's work and have her sign it. Just because I can't go in the house doesn't mean she won't help me." he even went so far to show Asher's mother the texts he and his own mother had sent each other regarding this permission slip earlier in the day.
"Oh that's good. I am glad it worked out." She spoke with a much more relaxed tone. "So what are you three going shopping for?"
"Well Asher told me it was Cara's birthday tomorrow so I thought I should get her a gift. I also made her kind of angry the other day and need to apologize properly…" Art sounded like this really hit him harder than Asher had expected. "We also have our vouchers from the lunch contest so we want to put in for the free gear. If we can get it before the camp then it will be a great way to break it in." His voice became much more excited at this.
"Ah, well if you are looking for a good gift for her I would suggest finding some good ingredients for a chocolate cake. You have the best cooking talent in the house now and she will need a cake." Asher was surprised how his mother was speaking. It was like she was trying to hint at something.
Realizing that he was just eavesdropping at the point Asher felt embarrassed and headed upstairs to do some home work. He emptied his bag and found the little cotton fluff. He tossed it on his bed with his bag and got to work. Before he knew it dinner had come and gone. Art and him had gone out back and practiced all the basic moves they had earned along with a small sparring match in slow motion.
The exhausted pair collapsed in to their respective beds. They didn't even have a chance to change before they fell in to dreamland. While he slept Asher had the strangest dreams.
He was in a great open field. Tall green grass flowed in the wind and little wool sheep pranced about. "Hello? Anyone here?" His shout caught the attention of every sheep nearby and they converged towards him. There were countless sheep moving around all with different numbers on their wool.
They did not seem to be after him but the sheer amount of sheep made Asher nervous. There was no place to run, however as they came close they just looked at him while bouncing in place. "Um...hi. I don't know where I am or what's going on." The resounding Baaaaa from every single one nearly caused him to go deaf.
"I was in bed and now I am here. I am supposed to workout in the morning and train but.." He was more talking out loud but the sheep seemed to have heard him loud and clear. They backed away leaving a wide circle and a sheep with the number 75 on it's side entered.
"What's up?" Before Asher could ask anything else the single sheep was charging at him. He jumped and rolled out of the way but the sheep had started in on him again. This time it turned and kicked it's back legs at him. Asher crossed his arms to block it and was knocked back. He rolled like he had learned in class.
'Ah this is a nightmare where I am beaten to death by a sheep…' Asher had decided that it was the only possibility. Knowing this he gave up on logic and just went with the flow. He dodged, kicked and jumped around the sheep. The footwork he had learned from coach Winters was becoming less sloppy and he found he was using it better. He had practiced the proper way to punch and kick and could feel that he was faster in using them.
'This might only be in my tired brain sleep but I wish I was actually training like this in real life.' Asher found that other sheep were jumping in here and there and he was able to improve rather quickly. This strange dream was all too real, he could feel the sweat dripping down his face and the harsh breath in his throat.
Before he could continue and really start to give the sheep what for he heard the loud echo of his alarm clock. The field turned white and faded in to smoke along with the sheep. "Ah!" Asher jumped from bed slamming on to the alarm clock to stop the noise. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. 'What the heck was that all about.' He didn't notice the little wool fluff dissolving in to white smoke near his pillow.