Till the end || Ashtray

011.

Word count: 1021)

I was out, dreaming of god knows what. It was one of those lucky nights where I had managed to sleep on my own in my own bed. I was so rudely interrupted by a small knock on my window. "What the fuck?" I groaned, climbing out of my bundle of blankets. I was met with Maddy staring back at me through the glass, she smiled as she motioned for me to slide it open.

"What do you want?" I asked. I rubbed my eyes, unlocking my window. "Just let me in you little ass." She laughed. I pointed to the latch, showing her that it was unlocked. She put her hands up and pushed it to the side, falling onto my bed with a thump as she climbed through. "Jesus Christ Maddy! Mom will kill both of us if she hears you." I whisper yelled. "Relax it wasn't even that loud." She brushed it off as if nothing happened.

She laid down then, stealing my favorite blanket and cuddling up with it. "Anyways... I got you something!" She smirked. "Well what is it?" I asked as she had just continued to lay there doing nothing. She threw the blanket off of herself suddenly and started rummaging through her jacket pocket. She held up a small white box with a smile. "Here. Now you can text your little wannabe gangster boyfriend." She giggled. I took the box out of her hand with a glare. "He's not my boyfriend." I mumbled under my breath. Maddy just gave an amused 'hmmm' as she closed her eyes.

I opened the box, revealing a slightly old looking phone, it sorta looked like Maddy's old phone. I smiled being beyond grateful for my best friend. "Thank you." I said as I swiped through the phone. "No problem babe. I gotta get going, sleep is calling my name." She answered while sitting up. "Bye Mads, I love you." "Love you H." With that she climbed back out of the window and I was left with silence once again.

I never fell back asleep that night, seeing as I had Ash's number memorized. He didn't really have a scheduled sleeping pattern so I honestly didn't even know if he was awake but I texted him anyways.

Unknown:
Hey :))

Bitch:
?

Unknown:
That was rude

Bitch:
Who tf is this?

Unknown:
Hint, ur a bitch :))

Bitch:
How the hell are you
texting me right now
Hayden

Dumbass:
Maddy's old phone

Bitch:
Ohh ok

Dumbass:
Damn ur a dry texter

Bitch:
What tf u want me to say?
Omg that's so fucking cool!
I can't believe you have her
old phone rn!!

Dumbass:
That would be great thx

Bitch:
Nah but fr I'm glad
life has been boring
as hell lately.

Dumbass:
*gasp* Ashtray
misses me?!

Bitch:
Stfu or I'll block u

Dumbass:
Bitch. Anyways did
Fez tell you about
when I saw him??

Bitch:
Ye.. and I'm glad ur
ok

Dumbass:
Thx Ash. I'm sorry
I can't see you anymore

Bitch:
It's ok. Night Hayden

Dumbass:
Night Ash :)
Read: 3:32 a.m.

I let the phone fall to my chest as I laid there with a smile, I hadn't realized just how much I actually missed him. I never really thought about it much before but Fez and Ash were my family, my people.

I sat there awake until the sunrise was painting my walls a pretty orange and pink. I was brought back to reality as I yawned, my body begging for sleep. I answered it's needs and curled up under my blankets, falling into a peaceful sleep. My mind replaying the night of my birthday over and over again, Ashtray and I genuinely knowing each other for those amazing moments.

-

Another week had passed since my mom grounded me. Two weeks since I had skipped school. I was chilling on the couch with Lexi, talking about how she was putting the final pieces of her script together when Suze walked in. "Hayden come here, we need to talk for a minute." She fidgeted with her hands awkwardly. I obliged and followed her to the top of the stairs. "I've been thinking." She said before a long pause.

"About what?" I finally cleared the silence. "Well you've been behaving lately and you haven't argued with me that much." "Get to the point mom." I laughed, which she returned. "I'm trying to tell you that you're ungrounded." She spoke again. My straight face broke out into a massive smile. "Thank you momma!!" I screamed, hugging her. "Wait! I have one condition... you still can't be seeing those people." She finished.

My heart dropped and the color fell from cheeks. "Wh- What?" I trembled. "I just don't trust them okay? You can have your phone back and live life as long as you aren't around them." I had no other choice then to say yes, even if I was lying through my teeth. "Yeah... okay." I reassured myself. She smiled warmly as she pulled me into a tight hug. "Love you my baby girl." She mumbled into my hair. "Me too."

I got my phone from her room and called Maddy. She didn't answer so I just left a voicemail. "Hey Mads, I got my phone so if you want yours back it's here." Is what I remember telling her. Then I sent Ash a message.

Hay-Hay🖤:
Guess who's finally
ungrounded!

Ash🖤:
Nice. You finna swing
by then later?

Hay-Hay🖤:
Obviously

Ash🖤:
Ight cool.
Read: 12:13 p.m.

Since I didn't really have anything else to do I just decided to finish the movie I was watching with Lexi. I scrolled through TikTok occasionally or snapped people back before telling my mom I was going to see Rue. She agreed and I was off to go see Ashtray. But I wasn't fully lying, I did invite Rue to go to the shop with me. She agreed saying she needed drugs because she was out or something. So in the end I rode on the back of her bike to the shop, almost crashing every three minutes.