One Shots & Short Stories

4. Gabrielle (Ashton)

For the awesome @Gabbykicks :D I hope you like it! I got the idea for this while I was at dance practice, lol. And it was perfect cuz you wanted yours to do with a dance performance and bam. It fit. So yeah, I hope you like it :) Again, I had lots of fun writing it. Thanks for requesting! <3

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The first time Gabrielle met Ashton, she was 16 years old. He was 17, and they worked together at a video store. The second she laid eyes on him, she could tell he was so out of her reach. He had the perfect, golden hair and that dimple on his cheek when he smiled that just melted every girl’s heart. Gabby didn’t talk to him much, other than the occasional work related sentence. After a while, they both stopped working there; her so she could focus on school and dance, him to focus on his band.

The next time she saw him, they were both older. His hair was a bit darker, and it seems he wore it wavy. But she could tell it was him. That dimple was a dead giveaway. He walked past her one day while he was walking into the gym, just as she was on her way out. She was leaving dance practice, so of course she looked gross. Her long, wavy brown hair was falling out of the pony tail she had it in, her makeup was probably smeared and worn off, and she probably smelt awful.

But when Ashton saw her, he smiled and asked “How are you?”

“Good, how are you?” She mustered up the courage to respond.

“I’m good” he said as he kept walking into the gym.

Gabrielle sighed as she walked towards her car. She missed seeing that kid every Monday and Friday. Even if she never actually talked to him.

The next week, she saw him again. The gym she practiced in was divided in two by a giant curtain. A bunch of boys, including Ashton, gathered to play basketball on the left side of the curtain. Gabrielle and her four friends gathered to work on their dance ensemble for the spring show on the right side. They met every Monday, and coincidentally, so did the boys.

Every now and then, one of the boys’ basketballs would end up rolling to the girls’ side of the curtain, causing Ashton (or sometimes one of the other boys) to run after it, entering the girls’ side for just a few seconds. He’d smile if he made eye contact with Gabrielle, but neither would say anything.

Her friends teased her, they knew how much of a crush she had on him. One day, about a week before their big recital, they decided to test their limits on the teasing. Just like every week, Ashton’s ball had rolled over to the side where the girls were practicing. And just like always, he would follow the ball to the other side.

"MAY FIFTH!” The short friend of the group yelled. Ashton stopped and turned his attention from his ball to the girl. Gabrielle looked at her friend in embarrassment, her face turning pink.

“7:00. GREENBROOK HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM! TICKETS ARE $5! BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!” The redhead next to the short one joined in, yelling at the slightly confused but rather entertained boy.

“WOULDN’T MISS IT!” Ashton shouted back. He smiled at the group of girls, picked up his ball, and turned to walk away. As soon as he was gone, they all broke out in a fit of giggles.

“Ohmygosh I cannot believe you just said that! To Ashton FrickenPerfect Irwin! What’s wrong with you!” Gabby whispered, half serious, half laughing.

“Hey, at least now he’s coming!” The tall friend laughed.

The recital approached quickly. Gabby was extremely nervous for this show, it was different from the others. The first dance she was in, the opening number with the entire studio, she was in the front row for. Her second dance was hip hop, which was never her favorite. She couldn’t quite move as ghetto-fab as the rest of the girls. She felt awkward doing some of the moves. Her third dance was her ensemble with her four friends, the one they’d all practiced for outside of the studio, at the local gym.  That one was a jazz dance, which she was really excited for because it was really fierce and cute and fun. Her final dance of the night was her solo, which was a lyrical. She had never done a solo before, much less in front of an entire audience. She was nervous as shit. To add to all that, there was a chance Ashton was gonna be there, watching it all.