Before I Met You

Chapter Nine

Ansley

Holy crap. AJ just asked me out on a date! The first guy ever to ask me. Oh my gosh. To say I was screaming inside of my head would be understatement. Breathe, Ansley. Breathe. "I thought we were just going to hang out tonight?" I said softly.

"Oh. We are still going to hang out tonight. Absolutely! I just wanted to ask you so I can plan the best date ever for you. So, is that a yes?" He looked up at me and smiled.

"Yes. I'd be honored to go on a date with you, AJ." I pushed my hair behind my ear. He smiles back at me and then his gaze darts down to my lips and back up.

"I wish I could kiss you right now but I'll save that for a special moment instead." He says. He scoots closer to me and continues to hold my hand. I smile at him. AJ is so amazing. So he does have a sweet side, I think he was just hiding it because of the things he's been through. We finished eating our lunch and then we got up and walked around for a little bit.

"What's your favorite color?" I ask.

"Hmmm, I have two favorite colors, actually. Blue and green. What's yours?"

"Purple!" I said.

He looked at my purple backpack and laughed "Yeah I can tell."

We kept talking for a while and I started to think maybe I was all wrong about AJ. Maybe everyone was. The bell rang and we saw everyone start going back inside to get to their next class. I stood up and I looked at AJ. "So I guess I'll see you tonight?"

He leaned in for a hug. "I can't wait, beautiful." I watch him walk away to his next class and I head to mine. I walk into my Creative writing class and I see Amelia sitting down. I sat down on the desk next to her and put my backpack on the ground.

"How's your hot man?" Amelia laughs.

"He is not my hot man!" I roll my eyes at her reaction.

"Yet. He's not your hot man yet, but he will be! What were you talking about at lunch? I saw y'all all cozy up with each other! Totes adorable."

I beam.

"Well... we just talked about some stuff and..."

"And?! And what?!" She yells.

"He asked me out on a date!"

Amelia stares at me. Speechless, I guess. Yeah that's the same reaction I had too. "Oh. My. Gosh. AJ freaking Baker asked my best friend out on a date!" She jumps out of her seat and gives me a hug.

Our creative writing teacher, Ms. Martin walked in while we were still talking. "Okay class! Please settle down, it's time to focus on writing. Amelia, please get back to your desk now please."

I hear Amelia groan and watch her walk back to sit down at her desk.

"Now please get out your notebooks. Today, we'll be starting on writing some short stories. They are due by the end of the month. Make them interesting. I can't wait to read them." Ms. Martin sits back down at her desk and starts to grade some papers.

Hmmm. What genre should my story be about? Fantasy? Romance? Adventure? All three? I think I'll go with romance! I grab my notebook and start going to town on writing. While I'm writing, I can't help but think about AJ. Maybe he'll be my inspiration. I really can't wait to see him tonight.

*************

School is finally over for the day! I go by my locker to grab the rest of my things and then I head out to the parking lot. As I'm walking, I see AJ on his motorcycle and I see this blonde girl standing right next to him. She's all over him, touching him, and playing with his hair. All this jealousy starts raging in me. Tears start welling up in my eyes and I run past trying to get in my car as fast as I can. I get into my car and I just sit there for a minute, trying to rehash what just happened. Who the fudge was that girl?! I text Amelia.

Me: "Hey. SOS. I need to talk to you. I'm in my car."

Amelia: "Got it. I'm coming."

I put my phone down and waited for her to come.

Amelia finally shows up. "What's going on?"

"I saw AJ on his motorcycle and some blonde girl was standing right next to him and she was all over him."

"That's his ex. Avery. I hear she's been trying to get back with him but he's been shutting her down every time. Maybe it's because he's so in love with you!" She opens the mirror and reapplies her lip gloss.

"Oh. Okay. Makes sense. Gosh, he's not in love with me. When I saw them, I got so jealous. I don't know, I can't explain it." I said.

"Mmmhmm. Seems like to me you must really like him. I mean, if you're getting jealous of girls being all over him like that." She laughs.

"Ugh. I really do like him. I didn't think I would like him this much but there's just something about him that makes me want to know more. I'm sure it was nothing between him and Avery. At least I hope so." I sigh.

"You want me to go up to her and slap her? She's getting in the way of you and AJ's happily ever after. The girl needs a reality check." Amelia says.

I laugh. "No Amelia. You can't slap her!"

"Eh, I tried. So, are you okay now?" She asks.

"Yeah. I think I'm just going to head home, maybe stop at Starbucks and get myself a pink drink. Thank you for coming."

"Hey, you're my best friend. Of course I'm always going to come and make sure you're okay." She smiles.

She takes her bag and gets out of my car and then I make sure she gets in her car safely. When I see that she is, I wait for her to drive off and then I head out of the parking lot.