april 2015
houston tx
"I can't believe it," Gracie shakes her head.
"Yes you can," Ashley rolls her eyes.
"No, but— I know Aimee can be a bitch, but I didn't think she'd ever...you know, do that," Gracie expresses, only earning a shrug. "And, that's just it?" She raises an eyebrow. "Like, why did you leave the party in the first place? I thought you were with him... Did he just wonder off to find Aimee?"
Ashley panics, hesitating for a lot longer than she probably should, trying to muster up an answer.
"Uhm— yeah," she finds herself lying, feeling immediately guilty for it. "I went outside for a minute to get some air. And when I went back inside, they were just— yeah..."
"That's so fucked up," Gracie mutters. "I can't believe he didn't even have enough respect to at least break up with you, instead of cheating on you, you know? Let alone the decency to just keep it in his pants for a couple of months," she sighs, sympathetically.
A silence hangs over them for a few moments, each of them hating that they're only talking to a screen instead of face to face— but thankfully, it's not for long.
"What time is your train?" Ashley clears her throat, desperately wanting to change the subject.
"Just under an hour," Gracie glances at her watch. "I should probably get going actually. I'll see you soon, though, okay?"
"Yep, see you soon," Ashley nods, before her best friend's face disappears from her screen, and she lets out a long breath, one that she didn't know she'd been holding in.
She remains in the empty quiet for a couple of minutes, before picking up her phone again and calling Awsten.
Ashley doesn't know, but Awsten is at Grace's house; she wouldn't normally call him while he's there, to avoid an awkward situation.
But, his phone begins lighting up with Ashley's contact, while he's sat on the couch with Grace.
She rolls her eyes, subtly, and stands up to leave without a word. Awsten frowns, not having realised his phone was buzzing just yet; but he soon looks over, and realises the reason for her reaction.
He lets out a sigh, rubbing his hands over his face, before picking up Ashley's call.
"Hey," he works up a small smile, even though she can't see him.
"Hi, uh— Sorry, I hope I'm not interrupting anything..." She murmurs, apologetically.
"No, of course not," Awsten dismisses, noticing something off with her tone already. "What's up?"
"I was just on the phone with Gracie and—" Ashley pauses for a moment. "Can I just come and see you? I need to speak to you for like two minutes, that's all," she requests, carefully. "If you're busy, that's totally fine, don't worry about it. I don't want to be a burde— uhm, I don't want to be annoying, or anything," Ashley finds herself rambling on, reminding herself to be cautious with her word choice.
"You're not annoying," Awsten tells her, pretending he didn't pick up on the word she was going to use first. "I'm actually, uh— I'm at Grace's right now," he says, earning a heavy silence in response. "But, you can still come if you need to talk," he picks up, quickly. "I just thought I'd let you know."
