________________________________________
I HATE YOU
:: xi. | weatherman
It was the first day back to school since summer and Ashely's senior year. Everything practically had changed a lot over time. Ashely came walking into the building with Rachel by her side. No, they aren't back together but they have been spending all their time together since summer started.
Eyes were all on them, it was like everyone was seeing ghosts. They couldn't believe that Ashely was hanging around Rachel again and neither did Haley. Through all the glances and looks, the redhead and blonde didn't care. They loved each other's company and Ashely, she was growing to love Rachel now. They were attached to each other, two peas in a pod.
Rachel and Ashely found their way to Ashely's locker. They were in the middle of conversation as Alexa made her way over to them.
Alexa cleared throat, "No. I oppose."
"Lexa." Ashely gave her a look to tell her to shut up.
"Dude, you were miserable when she left and I'd be damned if I'm gonna sit and watch you cry for the next few months again." Alexa shared with Ashely her worries.
"That won't happen—" Rachel began.
"Yeah and how would you know?" You're toxic." Alexa's eyes immediately shifted towards rachel.
"Lexa!" Ashely exclaimed as her eyes grew wide.
Rachel sighed, "It's ok, ash. I got to go anyway, see you in a bit." Rachel soon parted ways with the girl before running off to wherever she was headed.
Ashely rolled her eyes as she quickly put in her combination in to get into her locker. She snatched her books out before slamming it shut and walking past Alexa without a word. She knew some of her friends would get overprotective about the situation that she's in with Rachel now but what Alexa did was just plain rude.
Everything got weird during the summer and not just for her but also her friends. Lucas and Brooke were back together or not, at this point she just gave up on their status. Lucas and Chad are no longer friends. Chad has been secretly dating someone and Peyton's been acting weird. Jay started using again, she out found by sneaking around. Everyone has their fair share of problems. She just didn't know how it all got this way. How she winded up not telling anyone anything because what Peyton said — people always leave.
As she walked around the corner to her class, she saw Jay head off but in the opposite direction. She thought it was odd because their first class is together. So instead of going inside, she followed him out the school building to the back. As she walked through the back door and looked to her left, she saw Jay in the distance lighting a blunt.
She approached him, "I thought you quit last year?"
He sighed, turning to face her, "I didn't quit. Too hard."
"You didn't even try?" You could hear it in her voice that she was disappointed in her friend, "This will kill you long before anything else does." She grabbed the joint and threw it on the ground then stomped on it.
He walked around her, "Yes, coming from the blonde who's back with the ex that broke her heart."
"That's not the same thing." Ashely mumbled under her breath.
"No?" He picked his bag up off the ground, "It looks like we both have our addictions." Jay began to walk off as Ashely turned back around.
She was worried about him and for good reason. She knew she had to talk to her friends about this, Alexa and Lucas— especially her bother, Chad. He's close with Jay too. She sighed watching him walk off as the final bell rang. She was late for class but she didn't care. Something was horribly off and she needed to figure it out.
• • •
Ashely was trying everything she could to keep her eyes open in her last period. She was immensely tired and she didn't know why. Her eyes slowly drifted closed and the sound of her teacher's voice immediately woke her up.
"Ashely! Ashely!" Her teacher called out but she didn't hear until the second time her name was called.
The class snickered as Ashely sunk in her seat a little from embarrassment. As the teacher resumed lecturing, Ashely glanced at the clock, it read only fifteen minutes left until school was finally over for the day.
Once class ended, Ashely made her way to her locker to pick up her things. Then she met up with Rachel in the parking lot before being drove home by the same redhead.
Rachel stopped the car in front of Ashely's house. Ashely unbuckled as she gathered her things off the floor in the passenger's seat. Once she sat back up and opened the door, she turned to rachel, "Want to do something tonight?"
Rachel looked at her, "I can't. I have plans."
Ashely thought it was a bit odd because Rachel has always been available for her and considering how much she wants to spend with Ashely in ways to get her back, that just seemed a bit weird. What could Rachel be doing that's more important than what's she's been trying to do this whole time?
Ashely just nodded before getting out the car and closing the door. Rachel immediately zoomed off once the door was closed and Ashely walked up to the front door of her house. She walked inside and found her mom in the kitchen cleaning the dishes. As usual, she just walked past without a word. Her and her parents haven't talked since they found out their daughter likes girls so that kind of put a dent in their family dynamic.
As usual, Ashely went to her room and locked her door. She tossed her bag on the floor and laid on her bed. After about two hours, her brother or dad came home. She then decided to do some homework. The sun was setting, meaning it was going to be dark soon. She stayed cooped up in her room until around 8pm. She opened her door and went across the hall, knocking on her brother's. Chad opened up and he had a smirk across his lips.
"The weatherman's outside." He wiggled his brows.
"Weatherman?" Ashely pushed passed him, heading to his window. She looked through the curtains and saw Jake standing out front.
Ashely waved, smiling at him. He waved and smiled back. Ashely rushed downstairs and out the front door to Jake. She hasn't seen him all summer so she was pretty excited to see his face outside her house. His arms were open wide to bring her in for an embrace. After hugging for a little, they both pulled away and stood a good distance from each other.
"Haven't seen you all summer. How was your summer?" Jake began small talk. It was a bit awkward since the way they left things.
Ashely shrugged, "It was fine. Hung out a lot with Rachel and yeah. How was yours?"
"Mine was good. Hung out with Jenny." He replied with a smile.
"How is that little girl?" Ashely crossed her arms over her chest.
He nodded, "She's good, thanks. Speaking of hanging out, how's the Rachel thing going?"
Ashely scratched the back of her head, "Fine, I guess. I don't really know."
Jake tilted his head, "Do you love her?"
"Yeah."
"Then she should know. If I loved someone, I'd want them to know before it's too late. Anything can change within seconds." He gave her some advice.
Ashely nodded, "You're right."
The conversation slowly fell quiet. They just stared at each other. Though is was quiet outside, it was very noisy in Ashely's mind. She was thinking about the advice she was just given. From the quick glance at her phone, it was still early in the night. Maybe she should tell Rachel how she feels?
to be continued . . .
a/n:
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