Guys before you read this, just remember that the main character now is a new character. Please don't get all defensive because you never know, what if you'll actually like ashlyn?
Ashlyn Rivera is pretty cool too y'know she's just curious about Matt for now
She's not in love with him lol
Don't stress about Ashley Davis and if your confused right now, just think of it as a new book with new people and then you won't be confused anymore once it reaches the middle of the book.
Oh and btw, the girl who plays Ashlyn is now Gigi hadid
August 22, 2015 ; 6:00
"Ashlyn where were you after school?" My mom pounded at the door.
"Dance team for school." I say while flipping the page of my book.
"Excuse me?" She snaps
"Dance team for school." I repeated this time, but more in a monotone.
"Dance team?" She spat.
"You got it." I say, completely uninterested in whatever she had to say. Im already 18. She can't tell me what I cannot cannot do. Like how I already applied for a job, and I'm planning on saving up for my own apartment and hopefully I will have someone I can room with by then.
I always hated my mom. Even if this sounds cruel, I wouldn't even care if she dies this second. I would be rejoicing and throwing a party for gods sake.
She doesn't even care about me in the first place so why would I care about her. Sometimes I even feel like I was adopted.
It was then when I heard the door kick open. The psychopath walked into my room with gritted teeth glaring bullets through my skull. "Don't you ever lock this door again." She seethes and walks out impatiently.
I stare at the door with the broken lock and I curse under my breath at my psychopath of a mom wondering if I should just move out of this dammed house already. I'm living with a woman with serious psychological issues, and she kicked my door down for gods sake when I just locked it. Can I at least have my own privacy for once since I never get any?
I stood up from my bed and I look at myself in the mirror studying closely at my features. My features resembled to my dad only. My mom had dark brown eyes and natural auburn hair with a very sharp look in her eye. My dad had all the features I had. Blonde hair and green eyes with a few specks of blue in the iris's.
I turn towards my door and I head out with my phone in my pocket, a book in my hand and my hydroflask in the other.
I attempted to eat after the dance tryouts in the gym. I actually didn't find my stomach disagreeing with me. It honestly felt good that I was able to eat a small salad and not throw up afterwards like I always do. I needed the calories since I burned off all of mine during the conditioning part of the tryout.
I walked out the front door, ignoring my moms protests about whatever thing she had to insult about me and I close the door behind me.
I continued walking down the cement path with the excess rocks from the road to the right of me. Just a little bit a head of me was a park. It wasn't to big, it wasn't to small. It was a perfect size with a playground for kids, and a small stand of food with hot dogs and the jist.
I breathe in the cool fresh air and exhale all of the negative thoughts clouding my mind up. I just wish that I can have a life where I can eat without throwing up, have a mother who actually loves me, and a dance career that isn't ballet.
But life is unfair, I can't do anything about that. So I just gave up hearing my mind shout about all of my negatives in my life and I opened my book to the page I left off at. I set my hydroflask to the right of me and my phone on top of the handle, hoping that it would stay balanced and not fall off. I also brought Matthews cracked phone with me, still curious about his life.
Part of me is telling myself to not invade his personal life. But another part is telling me to get to know him and to help him. But I don't know which to choose.
Curiosity got the best of me then I put my book down and reached out towards Matthews phone. I pressed the unlock button and I found a text message on the screen.
Mya:
I want to come over and visit Ashley with you today
Hello?
Matt?
Ok Matt how many times do I have to say sorry? I feel like shit alright? but this was 2 years ago. You're not the only one who misses her.
Okay fine don't blame me for trying
You need to talk to someone Matt
Staying silent isn't the answer. You need to tell someone something! You can't bottle your emotions up
It can cause serious psychological issues and I don't want you to hurt yourself.
I stare down at the phone and furrow my eyebrows. Is Ashley the one who he was talking about in his notes? I press my thumb to the screen and scroll up seeing only messages coming from the 'Mya' girl. Matthew never answered her once.
I never even bothered to see his messages before. Maybe because I felt it was wrong. God, I'm such a snooper. I shouldn't even be looking at his phone in the first place.
I press on the reply button and type in my reply.
Me:
Hi.
I'm really sorry to get your hopes up... This is Ashlyn. I'm a classmate of his. But it kind of looks like he doesn't really want his phone right now since he threw it in the trash can and left it in my locker before I claimed it... I'm very sorry if I'm invading your privacy but I just felt like it would be right to inform that to you. Would you like to pick up his phone?
I nod in approval and I hit the send button.
A few minutes later I felt the phone beep in my hands. I slide my thumb across the screen and I see Mya's reply.
Mya:
Oh. That's very kind of you Ashlyn. Is it alright if I can pick it up tomorrow before classes?
Oh and it's okay
I smile slightly feeling like I finally did something good for a change and I let my thumbs dance across the screen typing a very short and straight to the point reply.
Me:
No worries. Meet me by the library at 7:45?
I press the lock button on the iPhone 6 and I set it aside next to my phone.
Picking up my book, I curled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them with my book in front of my knees. It was actually a really comfortable sitting position in my opinion. I feel that trying to sit proper like a lady is much to overrated to me. I feel that it's sexist and that I can sit however I want to.
I groan once I realize I'm having a rant in my head about how people sit and I try to focus my eyes onto reading the book in front of me. I focused my eyes on the words that were in sentences, forming paragraphs. I painted a picture in my head of the descriptions that I was reading.
I always loved reading, with all honesty. I loved it a lot more than dance and I just liked making images in my mind from the words in front of me. I was actually planning to be a writer and double major with dance. I do love to dance, but not ballet. More like Jazz, or Contemporary was the ones I preferred.
I turn the page of my book and I look out to the sky. It was a beautiful sight with oranges, pinks, reds, and yellows. The sun was setting slowly but in the most gorgeous way.
I glance at my phone to check what time it is and it says '7:05'.
I sigh and I close my book knowing I should be heading home.
I take a sip of water from my hydroflask, and I was about to cap until until I saw someone running across the park, to me. The familiar face was waving excitedly and yelled, "Hey Ashlyn!"
I squint my eyes and cup them with my hands, trying to block the sunlight from getting into my eyes. As soon as the figure grows bigger, I smile and wave, "Hey Cody."
"How's your run-"
"Can I ask you something?" He asks, interrupting me.
"Yeah su-"
"Wait I shouldn't."
"No it's oka-"
"Should I ask you?"
"Ye-"
"Okay here goes,"
I roll my eyes in a playful way and I motion my hands for him to continue.
"Do you think I have a chance with Lauren?" He asks and scratches the back of his head.
"You like her, don't y-"
"I really like her and I have for like.... Since.... Like uh.... Freshman year?"
"That's cu-"
"Anyways, what do you thi-"
"I think you should stop cutting me off before I throw my book at you." I smile irritatingly.
Cody frowns and opens his mouth to speak, "I didn't take you as the threatening type."
"Yeah well I'm full of secrets... I'll ask if she likes you. I was kind of getting that kind of vibe from the two of you." I smile and nod my head.
"I kissed her, well I mean she- no I kissed her twice... But we were drunk."
"Does she remember?" I ask and uncap my hydroflask.
"Yeah, she would tease me sometimes about it. I swear I saw her blush one time I teased her about it." Cody asks and sits down next to me.
I purse my lips together and furrow my eyebrows. It seems possible, but I'm not getting enough information. "It's possible. Did anything else happen?" I ask and begin to drink out of the metal.
Cody shakes his head slowly, probably thinking of anymore things that happened, and says "No, none that I can think of."
I nod my head and pat his back, "Yeah I'll ask her tomorrow."
"Thanks Ash- wait can I call you ash?" Cody asks while standing up from the park bench.
I nod and Cody waves a goodbye to me while I return the gesture. After I hear his footsteps retreat, I gather all of my belongings and I head towards the concrete path. I looked down towards the floor kicking a few rocks out of the way and I look up when I reach my house. I walk up the steps and I open the front door to see my mother waiting in the arm chair with her fingers tapping on the keyboard of her computer.
"Where were you?" She asks, still focused on the computer in front of her.
"Out." I reply and begin to walk towards the stairs.
She closes her laptop and gives me a hard glare. "Don't you dare think about going upstairs. Sit down." She snaps her fingers and points to the chair across from her.
I sigh and I walk over to the chair and I sit down. I cross my legs and set down all of my belongings onto the floor.
"What does your definition of 'out' means?" She asks and opens her laptop again.
"The park down the street." I say and brush my stray hairs away from my face.
"The park? Doing What exactly?" She asks and looks up from the illuminated screen.
"Reading." I reply simultaneously .
My mother eyes me suspiciously and nods her head, "You may leave me alone now."
I gather all of my stuff again and I walk towards the steps while I hear her mutter, "I wish I had a different child."
I roll my eyes and proceed to walk up the stairs.
* * * * * * * * * *
August 23, 2015 ; 7:45
I press the unlock button of my phone and it shows the exact time. 7:45. I look around and I see one girl with auburn hair walking around mentioning my name. I walk up to the girl and I tap her shoulder. She turns around and the first thing I noticed about her was her bright green eyes. They stood out and looked like the color of healthy grass in the summer.
I smiled at her and asked, "Are you looking for ashlyn?"
"Yes." She smiles sheepishly.
"Hi I happen to be that girl." I wave and I laugh lightly. I unzip my bag and I dig through it to try and look for Matthew's phone.
A few seconds later, a gold iPhone 6 was retrieved from my bag and I handed it to the green eyed girl. "Here you go."
"Thank you." She smiles gratefully. "How did you meet Matt?" She asks.
"Oh, he's in my first period class and we sit by each other." I smile and nod my head.
"That's cool." She trails off. "Thank you, Ashlyn." She says and extends her arm out.
I reach for her hand and I shake it and bid goodbyes with her as soon as the bell rang. I scurried off to my first period class- english and I sit in the same spot as I did yesterday.
The bell rang and everyone shortly piled in after and Mrs. Andrews claps her hands together excitedly and squeals. "Today we're presenting! Who wants to go first?"
Everyone in the class remained silent, some even rolling their eyes. Mrs. Andrews looks around the room and her eyes makes contact with mine. "Ashlyn, would you like to?" She asks.
For the love of god why does this woman always call on me.
I give her a tense smile and walk all the way to the front of the classroom. I push both of my hands in my two back pockets and I cross my right leg over my left leg.
"My partner is Matthew Espinosa. He doesn't like to talk and he likes the color black." I say and nod my head.
"Where is Matthew?" Mrs. Andrews speaks up.
"Dunno," I replied and looked out the door. "But I my names Ashlyn. I like to drink water." I say and wave to the class.
I heard a few snickers from my classmates and I begin to walk back towards my seat. I sat down and throughout the entire class, I stared at the empty seat next to me wondering where this boy could be.
* * * * * * * * * *
I walked towards the gym with anxiety rushing through my veins. I was unsure if I made the first cut for dance tryouts and I was really hoping that I would get in. I take a look at the first cuts and I see my name. I smile with relief and sigh happily and continue to walk outside towards the lunch tables.
I see Cody's blonde hair bobbing up and down and some faint music- I assume that was playing from his headphones. I sat down across from him with a grin on my face and he looks up to take his earphones off.
"I see you are happy." He says.
"I made the first cut!" I say excitedly.
"For the tryouts?" He asks.
"Yes!" I say giddily.
"That's great Ashlyn." He smiles and gives me a thumbs up. Cody pushes his plate forward to the point where it's right in front of me. "Eat."
I shake my head feeling some uneasiness settle in my stomach. "It's okay, not hungry."
"I know that it's none of my business, but I notice that the only food you eat is nilla wafers and I kind of find that unhealthy." Cody states casually and slides a napkin next to me.
"Cody it's fine, I had a big breakfa-"
"Eat." He interrupts my lie.
"I'm not hungry okay? I don't want to take your food."
"Eat at least the apple?" He asks.
"No it's fine-"
Cody grabs the apple from the plate and places it in the palm of my hand. He stands up and smiles at me then starts to walk towards the cafeteria doors. I was left alone, dumbfounded with an apple in my hand wondering how this boy looks like he knows everything about me and it's only my third day knowing him.
* * * * * * * * * *
I cough and try to inhale and exhale. It felt like my throat got caught and I grabbed my cold water and I gulped all of it down.
The second cut tryouts were a lot harder than the first, and I officially felt like I was drowning in water with also water in my throat.
Except this is try land, and I'm drinking from a freaking water bottle.
I take shaky breaths, trying to slow my breathing. I hear the coach whistling saying something about how second cuts were over. I nod my head and make my way over to my dance bag. I pick it up and I haul it onto my shoulder, bidding everyone a very hoarse goodbye.
I walked outside, only being greeted to hot air. The wind seemed nonexistent around school and I felt like I was melting of heat. I continue walking and sipping from my hydroflask. It was still cold water since I refilled it from the icy cold water jug.
I look down at the Nike sports bra I'm wearing and I just really don't care that I'm walking in a sports bra. It's really hot and it's a pretty damn well explanation to wear one.
I pushed back a few of my soaked-in-sweat stray hairs and I inhale slowly and exhale. My body was shaking and it was really intense. I'm starting to think that I shouldn't have joined the dance team due to the amount of conditioning.
So far, I was the only one who could make it up to 15 push-ups. Everyone else did at least 20 or more.
My body wasn't conditioned very well and I took that as a major issue. Sometimes I would try conditioning at home but my mom would always open the door, ask me what the fuck in doing and tells me to stop.
You see, as a ballet dancer you aren't really supposed to run (according to my mom) and you aren't supposed to do intense conditioning (another smart quote from my mom).
I searched online if it is alright for ballet dancers to condition and run, but studies say it's alright and I was about to freak throw my shoes at the lady.
I sigh and I begin to walk through the park. It was really quiet here, main because there was only two people including me. He was wearing a black hoodie, black boots, black jeans. It was Matthew.
I stopped right in the middle of the park kind of caught up with how I'm kind of scared of him since his presence can be intimidating. I was having shallow breathing when I saw his face turn towards my direction and he was staring right at me.
The distance we're at, counted as a pretty long distance. Probably 100 feet away. Matthew was still looking at me, and I just couldn't help but wonder what kinds of thoughts were in that brain of his.
I started to take slow steps and then I took my gaze away from him and started walking up the street. From the corner of my eye I saw him stand up walking in the same direction as me.
I turn my head back and I see him walking towards me. I turn around and I see Matthew looking beyond me. Not at me, beyond. He still kept walking and he pushed past me, causing me to pull back. I didn't really stumble, but I knew that he was still strong and he actually could've easily shoved me to the floor.
I turn back around to see Matthew walking up the hill taking large strides. He then stopped in front of this one house. He was just looking up at it mesmerized.
I start walking up the street and I find myself shocked to see that he was standing in front of my own house. I stood next to him and I can see a mixture of hurt, sadness and a bit of confusion plastered on his face. I look back up at my house thinking he definitely knows something that I don't.
I spoke up, "why are you staring at this house?" I ask.
After a few short seconds he looks down at me. I felt my breath get caught by his intense gaze. His eyes were still- breathtaking. He didn't say anything, not even a scowl or any other emotion but hurt, sadness, and a bit of confusion.
"Do you want to come inside? You might be hungry." I say.
Matthew keeps staring.
"Here, why don't you come inside," I insist. Matthew looks down at me slowly looking at me for a few seconds.
I give him a warm smile then say, "You're welcomed to come inside when you want to. Just knock." I say then walk up to the door and hold the key to my door.
* * * * * * * * * *
After dinner, my mom and dad went to bed very early. Right now it was only 9:06 but Matthew was still here. I walk outside and I see him leaning against the large tree planted in the front yard. It provided a lot of shade and it was really comfy.
Summers in Virginia maybe hot in the afternoon, but they were cold at night for some really odd reason. I walk up to Matthew with a thin blanket in my hand and I wrap it around his shoulders.
This boy is honestly a mystery book
A/n:
it's a pretty long update and I'm pretty proud
iM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR LIKE 2 MONTHS I JUST REALIZED I HAD SUMMER SCHOOL TOO AND I ALSO HAD A DANCE CONCERT
OHMYGOD I HAVENT UPDATED IN FREAKING TWO MONTHS I AM SO HORRIBLE WTF
IM WORKING ON WHAT WE ARE RIGHT NOW AND I JUST STARTED
JESUS I PROCRASTINATE ON EVERYTHING
oh btw this isn't edited :-)