Ashley's Prima

7.

7.

Zoey didn't know what to think after the party. She thought she would just be able to talk to Stick about what happened because it didn't seem like he was too affected by it, but whenever she tried to he avoided the subject.

The first time she tried to talk to him, it was the day after the party and they were at Pat's.

"Hey Stick, about what happened at the party," She tried.

"I'm hungry, are you hungry? I'm gonna go get something, do you want anything?" He spoke quickly, getting up from his spot and walking over to the bar. Zoey sighed and leaned her head on her hand.

The second time she tried, they were working on homework in the library two days after the party.

"Stick, can we talk about what happened at the party?" She asked. Stick scratched his head with his pencil.

"I'm having a lot of trouble with this math equation, maybe Tad can help me," Stick rushed. He stood with his math book and left, not making eye contact with her.

Zoey shook her head.

__

The third and fourth try went much the same.

"Hey, Stick?"

"I gotta go!"

—

"About the party..."

"Uh, I think Tad needs my help with something."

—

So she just gave up. Clearly, he didn't want to talk about it, and Zoey didn't know whether to attribute it to his anxiety or to him not liking her.

Sitting at Pat's working on homework one day, Zoey sat with Brooke and Ashley as they watched Bella and Tad gross Stick out by being disgustingly coupley.

She had her headphones in and was glaring at a particularly hard chemistry assignment. Stick eventually got sick of the two and walked over to her table as Ashley softly punched her keyboard. Zoey pulled her headphones out and shut Ashley's computer.

"Calm down, prima, take a breath," Zoey laughed.

"Ugh! I just don't know why I'm so distracted!"

Zoey shared a look with Brooke. "I can think of a couple of reasons."

"Maybe because you like Tad and, well, look at them." The group focused their attention back on the couple. Bella was scratching Tad behind the ear and he was... enjoying it?

"Get a room!" Zoey jokingly called out to them. Bella glared at her and Tad laughed.

"I'm not jealous! I liked him for a nanosecond. I say, good for them! Good. For. Them." Ashley pulled her laptop back open and harshly tapped at the keyboard.

"Convincing," Stick teased.

Victor walked over to greet them as he entered the cafe, "Hey Ash, Zoey. How're you doing?" Zoey waved as Ashley unconvincingly tried to appear enthusiastic.

"Great! Woo! Yippee-kai-yay, Tío Victor."

Zoey shook her head and waved her hand at Ashley, "Prima you're embarrassing me, cut it out."

Ashley grit her teeth and began typing on her computer once more. Victor shared a concerned look with Zoey. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

Ashley looked up and stared at Brooke and Tad again before lying, "Totally! It's so great being a teenager. Ha!"

Zoey put her head in her hands. Why. Why must she be so embarrassing? Brooke and Stick stare at Ashley as she continues to fake laugh until Victor goes away.

"Ashley," Zoey called her attention. Ashley looked up and Zoey poked her harshly on the forehead. As she recoiled in pain, Zoey leaned back and crossed her arms. "If you're gonna lie to him, at least do it well. That caused me physical pain to watch."

Brooke nodded. "Yeah, why lie to him anyway? It's not like anything's going on."

Zoey rolled her eyes as she began to explain, "Tío Victor means well, but when something's wrong he meddles in an attempt to fix it. But it doesn't usually work, he's always wrong. And it's so embarrassing! Like right now. Ashley, again, why." Zoey looked back at Ashley to continue to bug her about her terrible performance.

Ashley clearly wasn't listening as she just broke a pencil in her hands. Zoey flinched away, the broken half falling near her. "Prima! Watch it!"

"Ok, Lady Hulk, ya jealous," Brooke stated. Ashley looked at her and immediately tried to deny it. "Jealous? Of Bella?" She laughed. "Her one accomplishment in life is always making sure that her bra strap is showing!"

Zoey's eyes widened as Ashley yelled. Then Ashley immediately backtracked, remorseful. "Did I just criticize another woman on how they dress? What is happening to me?"

Zoey reached over and put her hand on Ashley's shoulder. "It's okay to be jealous sometimes, it's just that you have to watch how you react to it."

"I'm a bad feminist," Ashley cried. Brooke shook her head. "You are not a bad feminist. You're just dealing with your first crush."

Zoey was still looking at Ashley, so Stick felt comfortable looking at her as he said, "Yeah, crushes are hard."

Immediately Zoey whipped her head around to look at him directly. "Really? Is that something you want to talk about?"

Stick looked away and laughed nervously. "Oh would you look at that, I have a, uh, thing. I'll see you guys later." He stood quickly from the table and walked away. Zoey grit her teeth and silently fumed as she slid down the seat so her head was barely visible above the table.

"Ok, what was that?" Brooke questioned. Zoey frowned and shook her head. "No. Ash's turn, I'll go next."

"Ok, help me!" Ashley shouted at Brooke. Zoey snorted as Brooke reassured her, "Ok. You're in luck, I just posted an eight-step program for how to get over a crush on my insta. By the end of this, you'll not only be over Tad, you'll be friends with him" Brooke showed Ashley her phone.

Ashley grinned. "You are so the Alan Turning of teen problems!"

"Thank you," Brooke smiled. "I'll google that later. Step one, feel the pain."

"Already doing that. It's right here," Ashley rubbed her stomach, "Ooh it's terrible."

Zoey sat up and rubbed her shoulder, frowning at her. "It'll be okay, Ash."

"That's great, if you're a good student, you'll only have to feel this pain for eight more days," Brooke reassured.

Ashley frowned. "Eight more days? I have a work deadline in three, let's get started!" Ashley slammed her laptop shut and grabbed her bag. "Preferably somewhere where we don't have to watch Bella eat Tad's arm like a corn on the cob."

Brooke and Zoey followed her as she speed-walked out the door. Lagging behind in front of Pat's as Ashley led the way to Brooke's car, Brooke nudged Zoey's shoulder. "So, your turn now?"

Zoey groaned. "I just don't know what to do. It's been a week since the party and every time I try to talk to him he runs away! Like, does he not like me, does he think I'm gonna reject him? Is he trying to reject me? If he would just talk to me," Zoey groaned instead of finishing her sentence.

Brooke rubbed her shoulder sympathetically. "Boys."

"Ugh!"

so its been a minute