The Switch [COMPLETED]

Chapter 4

Paisley Monroe:

School passed that day without much incident. The pizza in the cafeteria was actually almost warm for once, so that was cool. Other than that, the only thing even vaguely out-of-the-ordinary was the subtle buzz humming around the school about Ten Minutes to Midnight and their concert that night. 

It seemed like every single person I passed in the hallway was either overflowing with excitement about their tickets or wallowing in misery over their lack thereof. One girl in particular stood out to me as I was making my way to my last class of the day. She was literally in tears as her friend awkwardly patted her shoulder because "her soulmate, Asher Halen, was only an hour away and she couldn't get off work to go see him, and why didn't her manager understand that this was a matter of TRUE LOVE?!"

It was almost a relief when I re-donned my cardigan and floral skirt before entering my house. At least there, I could be free of the whispered name of Asher Halen being carried on the air.

Or, at least that's what I thought. 

Upon opening the door, I was instantly greeted by the same loud, obnoxious music from Saturday morning, except this time it wasn't just coming from my sister's bedroom - it was filling the entire house. 

Ashley was alone in the middle of the living room dressed in just a pair of black panties and an oversized Ten Minutes to Midnight band tee, dancing around like a maniac and singing into a hairbrush. Her blonde hair was flying all over the place, and I could tell by the red splotches on her cheeks and the breathless sound of her voice that she had been at it for quite a while. 

"ASHLEY!" I yelled over the music, sticking my fingers in my ears and screwing my eyes shut like a petulant five-year-old. "TURN THAT DOWN!"

My sister made no move to comply. Instead, she twirled in a semi-circle so that her back was to me, pretending that she hadn't heard anything. With a growl of annoyance, I stomped through the living room and turned off the radio, effectively silencing Asher Halen's raspy voice and placing an abrupt halt on Ashley's dance party. 

"Hey!" she yelled, spinning back around to face me with her hands on her skinny hips. "Don't be such a buzzkill, Pais."

"Where's mom and dad?" I asked, ignoring her insult. I knew for a fact that they weren't at home. If they were, I would have walked in on a perfectly composed, fully clothed Ashley listening to Chopin and reading a textbook.

"Dad had a late-afternoon tee-time and mom's at brunch with her book club before they both go to dinner with dad's boss." She flopped onto the couch and flung one leg over the back of it, something that would have sent our mom into cardiac arrest if she had been there to see it. "In other words: WE'RE FREE!" she shouted, flinging her arms out to the side and cackling like a mad scientist. "Well, for the rest of the night, anyways."

"Great," I exhaled in relief, peeling off my cardigan once more, "then I'm going to go eat pizza in bed for the rest of the night. Don't bother me. AND KEEP YOUR TRASH MUSIC DOWN!"

I started to make my way towards the stairs, tugging at my skirt as I went, but Ashley suddenly jumped off of the couch and rushed over to me.

"WAIT!" she shouted, effectively stopping me by grabbing onto my upper arm with a surprisingly strong grip. 

"What?" I asked, staring at her hand on my arm. 

"You can't. You have to go somewhere with me."

I raised my eyebrow at her.

Ashley, much to her credit, had the decency to look at least mildly abashed. 

"I...um...I got tickets for the Ten Minutes to Midnight concert tonight and Travis can't go, and..."

I stopped her with a harsh laugh. 

"Travis CAN'T go, or Travis WON'T go?" I asked her, a smug smile playing around the edges of my lips. Travis was Ashley's picture-perfect law-student boyfriend. I couldn't picture his pressed trousers and tailored blazer within 100 miles of the concert tonight. 

"Okay, he WON'T go. Actually, I didn't even tell him about it, if we're being honest..." Ashley mumbled, looking down at her feet.

"Ashley!" I exclaimed in shock, a disbelieving smile plastered on my face.

"I know, I know," Ashley said, screwing her eyes shut. "I knew he wouldn't want to go anyways and besides, it's embarrassing!" she whined, tugging on my arm and looking up at me with puppy dog eyes. "Please go with me? Please? None of my friends know how much I love them and I don't want to go alone."

I stared at Ashley, her crystal-clear blue eyes boring into mine. She wasn't exactly gold star material as far as sisters go, but she definitely wasn't the worst sibling on the planet, either. And she RARELY ever asks me for anything...

"Fine," I said flatly, my voice coming out sounding stiff and hard. 

If Ashley noticed, she didn't care. She immediately yanked my arm and pulled me against her chest for a hug, crushing me in her sneakily strong embrace as she bounced up and down with glee. 

"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" she squealed into my ear amidst various other noises of delight. "Oh my gosh I'm so excited. I'm gonna go get ready!"

She whirled around me and dashed halfway up the stairs before pausing with one foot on the step in front of her and the other on the step below. She suddenly whirled around, fixating on me with a look of determination. 

"You. You gotta come, too," she said forcefully.

"What? I already said I would go," I stammered in confusion, wrinkling my brow. 

"No, I mean you have to come with me now - to get ready."

I started to protest, but Ashley held her hand up to stop me.

"No. No excuses. I am NOT going to run the chance of meeting Asher Halen while standing next to..." she trailed off and gestured vaguely up and down my entire body with a dissatisfied frown. 

I looked down at myself and had to admit that she had a point, however misguided it may have been. My tank top was ill-fitting, and my skirt was still only pulled halfway down, revealing a wide strip of denim from my jeans at the top. My cardigan hung limply in my hand, and my hair was creased and frizzy from where I had pulled it out of its bun and attempted to smooth it down before my mom saw it. 

Even if I didn't care one ounce about Asher Halen and his band, I still wanted to at least look a LITTLE bit decent in human society. 

"Fine," I sighed for the second time that day, and resigned myself to whatever fate awaited me as Ashley giggled excitedly and carted me off to her bedroom to play Barbie. 

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A/N: Do you think Asher and Paisley are going to run into each other at the TMTM concert? :) Let me knooooooow!

Xo, Adrienna <3