Opposites Attract

Chapter Nineteen

Ashley's POV

I watch as my parents go inside after the long emotional day and decide to stay outside for a while, thinking the stars would help me think. I walk to where the patio set it and notice Julian sitting, in the grass, his eyes straight at the the sky.

"Julian?" I question, he never struck me as someone who chose to watch the stars in the sky. It was sweet seeing him deciding to do something sort of meaningful.

"Yup." He speaks, I couldn't decide whether his voice showed anger, happiness, or sadness. Instead of asking, I lay next to him in the yard looking up as well. We sit in silence for a while, both staring at the night sky, the stars twinkled and I think about how I am never going to get tired of this view.

"She broke up with me... First." He speaks up, I don't turn my head to look at him reaction. Not really knowing what the best thing to do here was. I knew he wanted to break up with her, but I didn't really know what he thinks about her breaking up with him.

"Oh..." I speak, feeling awkward, my cheeks begin to heat up as I feel flustered on what to say.

"I'm free Ashley! Free to be my own guy!" He stretches his hands out and I watch as he looks over at me with a goofy grin, my smile is quick to follow.

"Yes Julian, that you are! So, what are you going to do now that you can 'be your own guy'." I giggle at the thought and he lets a breath go.

"I have no idea." He speaks, a silence falls between us and for once in my life, it doesn't feel that bad. Whether it is from me being emotional all day or not, I feel relaxed.

"What are you going to do?" Julian asks, interrupting the silence.

"What do you mean?" I question, not wanting to give the wrong answer.

"I mean with your life? You have so many things you can do; I am a free guy and I am going to try something. What will you try?" He explains, I never really was asked that question before, I never really thought to try anything new. Everything has always been so regular. Go to school, do my chores, occasionally hang out with the few friends I have from school. That was my life.

"You don't know, do you?" He questions, shaking his head.

"What... You can't give a girl a minute to think about what she wants to do, huh?" I speak back and he chuckles.

"Fine, well you just let me know when you're ready."

"I want to go to college and become something inspiring." I speak.

"No, no, no, Ashley! You have always had a serious plan your entire life, you have never tried anything new, never thought about going out of your comfort zone and doing something you have always wanted to do. What do you want to do? What would you do if you weren't afraid of anything?" He speaks and one thing comes to mind: I guess I would go for Julian.

"You don't want to know."

"What, is it something dirty? Something insane and illegal? You can tell me you know, I'll only judge you a little." He gently bumps my arm with his own and I laugh at his joke.

"It is insane and it basically is illegal... For me anyway." I speak, he props himself up to get a better look at me, the moon lighting us both up enough to see each other clearly.

"What in the world do you want to do?" He was obviously extremely intrigued and I just smiled at his face.

"Looks like you'll never know."

"How are you going to do that to me, Ash." He looks at my eyes and I shake my head, knowing that this is going to drive him crazy.

"What about you, what would you do if you weren't afraid in this very moment." I speak, he thinks and stares into my eyes. I give him a small smile and I see him lick his lips and slowly lean in close enough for our lips to touch.

"Until you tell me what you thought of, you will never know." He whispers into my ear and I push him away. Wanting him to stay and kiss me.

"Wow." I speak, trying to make my voice sound less shaky from what just happened. It was unfair what he had done but something inside me liked it. I enjoy being around Julian more than I thought I would. Julian jumps up and offers his hand to help me up. I grab it and he begins to pull, pretending to let go a few times and our laughter mixes together.

As we walk back to the house, I listen to the night birds chirping all around us. It is hard not to love this place and I know Julian has fallen in love with it just as much as I have.

"How do you think tomorrow is going to be? Good? Bad? I mean, I can't imagine Rachel isn't going to make your break up a big deal." I speak up, waiting for Julian to respond.

"I honestly don't care, no one respects Rachel anyways, why do you think she gets so many guys. I'm not worried..." He speaks with a confidence that I wish I had. If I was in his shoes I would be panicked, and paranoid.

"I'm glad you aren't worried, Julian. And I hope she doesn't pull any of her tricks on you." I speak, Julian stops walking and I look back at him.

"You know, you give her way too much credit on how much bad she can do to your life. She only has the power that you let her have. The only reason why she does stuff to you is because she knows she'll get a response. You are strong and she knows that she has to go out of her way to make other people think you are weak. She is only scared of you." The words once again surprise me.

"What is with you today?" I question him, he blinks a few times.
"Huh?"

"I mean, this whole day you've been nothing but nice to me and my family. I don't know what in the world happened, but I happen to appreciate this side of you. I would even go as far to say... I kinda like it." He chuckles, shaking his head. I bravely wrap my arm around Julian's waist and feel him tense up, then quickly relax as he puts his arm around me.

"Thank you Julian." I speak.

"For what?"

"For making me brave."