Liar Liar | Lashton

Chapter 12- Its almost Christmas.

Ashton

Luke has been acting really weird lately and its starting to freak me out. I miss the old days, where we didn't have any arguments, where we spent every day together and cherished our moments like there was no tomorrow. Now we can't even spend a day with eachother without exchanging harsh words.

I miss when it was just me and him, when there wasn't a single worry in the world and now its like he's changing more and more everyday. I'm starting to wonder if someone said something to him to make him feel this way or if I did something wrong. He didn't use to be this way, and I can't even remember the last day that our friendship felt normal.

Because its not normal, not anymore, things are changing, people are changing, he's changing. I get it, he's growing up. The lad is eighteen, maybe he's finding love, finding a reason to care less about his best friend. That's how it feels to me anyways.

I left his house like usual, leaving a small note taped to the door just in case he was wondering where I was going. Of course I told him that I was going out, but I didn't say where, for reasons. If I would've told him, he most likely would have stopped me and demanded an explanation.

I have a date with Jenny tonight, and she asked if we could go ice skating. I'm not exactly a big fan, since when I was a little kid, I would always fall on my butt. It was always Luke and I that would go ice skating together but things are going to be different tonight.

But instead of heading straight for Jenny's, I decided to stop at Spiritto say hello to Khalil. He always seems lonely at that job of his, like he has no hope for getting a break. I often wonder why he works so hard but maybe its not for that bad of a reason.

The store wasn't too far away from Luke's place, so it only took a short amount of time to get there. Once I arrived and walked inside, I noticed that Khalil was standing behind the desk with his fist underneath his chin, looking bored as always. I felt bad for him, since his boss always made him work and he didn't have anybody to talk to, unless it was a customer that would at least reply to his questions.

I walked up to him slowly with a grin on my face, reaching in my pocket to see if I had any money on me, then placed my hand on the counter with a five dollar bill sticking between my fingers.

"Ashton?"

He looked up, fist hitting the edge of the counter, then he winced and gave me a forced smile. "What's this?"

I shrugged then gave him a sympathetic smile. "You're always working so hard and nobody ever tips you, so I thought I would give you this. Its not much but its better than nothing, right?"

He nodded and took the five dollar bill out of my hand, then he held it up and started looking at it as though he's never seen one before. "But Ashton, you didn't buy anything. I-I can't take this."

"No, take it. I insist. Besides, I don't need it anyways. I'm going on a date tonight and that was just extra change. Use the money on yourself, friend."

He smiled once more and leaned forward, holding his arms out, then I allowed him to hug me, even though he was squeezing me half to death.

"Can't breathe."

He let go and giggled a bit, giving me a sly but warming smile. "Sorry, sometimes I get a bit carried away." I shrugged then laughed with him, giving him a smile to let him know that I wasn't mad and that it's okay.

"So who's the lucky girl?"

My cheeks reddened, just thinking about her pretty face. I didn't want to say her name, so instead I gave him a description of what she looked like and he grinned. "She sounds special."