New Kid: Ashton Irwin

Chapter 37

I wake up to the smell of coffee and Ashton's warmth. I've started to appreciate waking up to him because he's starting to come home at night less and less. The boys always have to party after rehearsal, don't they? Oh well, I'm not going to complain. All their hard work will pay off in the end. Calum and Michael always joke about how cool it would be to tour one day and I actually have a feeling it will happen. They're certainly better than most of the artists that are on today.

"Coffee?" His raspy voice asks.

"Of course." His arms unravel me and we get out of our warm bed.

"Good morning, Anne." She quickly turns around and meets our eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." 

"You're okay, Carmen." Her voice is smaller than usual. It's obvious her train of thought is not on track.

I motion to Ashton who is already pouring cups of coffee towards his Mother. "Oh, Mom, what's wrong?" He hands me my warm cup.

"Nothing, Fletch. Don't worry." She scurries to her room and I can tell Ashton is already worrying. Something is definitely up, but It's not my place to cause waves. 

"What does she mean 'don't worry'?" His voice is harsher than earlier.

"It's Okay, Ash. Everything will be okay." I walk over and try to comfort him.

"Doubt it." He pours his half-filled cup in the sink and storms back to the room. Ugh.

I'm not dealing with him right now. I have an A.P. test today and I would like to not be late for once.

I finish the rest and return to his room. Of course he's back in bed. "School today?"

"No." He doesn't even look at me.

"Well I have an A.P. test in 45 minutes, so are you going to make me walk?" I open the closet and retrieve the first shirt and pants I lay eyes on.

"Drive yourself." I guess I did forget to mention that I finally got my driver's license. I just wanted to be with Ashton before this test.

"Unbelievable." I scoff and go in the bathroom to brush my teeth.

"You're a big girl."

I spit out the toothpaste and grab my shoes. "So you're just gonna stay here and pout all day?"

"Good luck on your test." Just as things were starting to be better between us. Oh well, I'm probably just overreacting. 

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I arrive to school with 20 minutes till my test and I take advantage of this time to study. I walk past the gym and it's set up with foldable desks and chairs. Multiple kids are standing around the door, I guess we can't go in yet. I find a quiet part of the hallway and open my A.P. Physics textbook.

My mind keeps going back to Ashton. I hate it when he gets like this. He puts up an unbreakable wall and chooses to not deal with anything. How am I suppose to focus now.

Everyone starts piling in and taking their seats. 

"Carmen Wesley." I tell the white-haired lady with the seating arrangements.

She points to the third to last chair. I always loved sitting in the back during tests. 

"No textbooks." She snatches my book and puts it with the others. 

I take my seat and start going through everything in my head. I need to do amazing on this.

The same woman tells us to get situated and starts reading from a script. No gum, talking, phones, same ole, same ole.

I get my test and my brain thinks it's an amazing time to think about Ashton again. Not. Dealing. With. Him. Right. Now. Physics, that's what I need to be thinking of.

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I'm done with the test in 3 hours and it was a lot easier than I expected. A few more kids finish and we're set free. I immediately check my phone and a text from Ashton shows up.

Please come home. It's urgent. Ugh, what now?

I hop in the car and drive home. To be honest, it feels great to finally be able to drive. I don't have to rely on Ashton anymore.

I get home and my eyes lay upon Anne on the couch and Ashton bouncing around the room, but they're both smiling. "What's going on?"

They don't say anything as Ash shows me a message on him laptop.

My stomach drops. Oh my god. "Oh my god!"

It's a message from "One Direction." They want 5 Seconds of Summer to open for them on their upcoming tour. "Ashton! This is amazing!" I wrap my arms around his neck and give him the biggest hug in the world.

"I'm just...this is just..." He's lost for words and his eyes start to form tears. "I'm so happy. Carmen. we're going to tour with the One Direction! You know how great this will be for us?!" He calls the guys to tell them the great news. 

This all seems unreal. I mean it's One Direction! I never really could get into them, but Ashton's dream is finally coming true. He's finally going to get to play for millions. Oh my god.

"When do they want you?" I ask once he gets off the phone."

"Uhhhh...it says they want us to fly to America next Thursday." He reads. His voice isn't as joyful as it was before. "America?" He looks at me with deep eyes.

"Wow, Ashton. Tha-that's great." I try to fight back tears. I don't want him to leave, but I'm not going to be the reason that he doesn't go. This would be absolutely amazing for the band.

"I'm not going." He closes the laptop.

I look at Anne and she has the same surprised look. "Ashton, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Why don't you want to-"

"Because I can't leave you." He cuts me off. "And I can't take you, your mom is here and I-I can't take you away from her and all your friends and school and-" He's looking for every excuse.

"Do you not want me to come?" 

Anne quickly gets out of this situation and goes to call people about the news. We sit back down on the couch.

"Of course I want you to come, but this is crazy. I mean it's America and One Direction. Do you really want to go through all the traveling? The road food and late nights? Millions of girls?"

"Ash, I love you. I'll do all the stuff any day if it means that we'll be together." His eyes well up with tears again as he moves my hair behind my ears.

"God, I love you." We share a tight hug again and I know I couldn't live without this. "So you'll come?"

"Yes."