Ashley POV
I arrived back at home in good spirits, until I opened the door and saw Jodie sitting on the couch with a helpless look on her face. I walked into the living room and sat down. My plopping down next to her broke her out of her reverie and she looked up at me sullenly.
"What's wrong?" I asked cautiously.
She just shook her head solemnly.
"Well, what's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"You don't need to get mad, Ashley," she spoke finally.
"Then tell me what's wrong!"
She was about to answer when, to my surprise, Jake came out of the kitchen, also looking sad but somewhat satisfied. I looked down at what he was holding in his hands and saw that he held a huge stash of chocolate bars.
"Can someone tell me what's going on here and where all that chocolate came from?" I questioned exasperatedly.
Jake quickly shushed me. "She's sleeping, Ashley," he whispered quickly, pointing upstairs to where Al probably was.
"So then what's going on, what are you doing here, Jake, and why did you feel the need to steal all of this chocolate that I didn't even know we had?" I furiously whispered; my uplifted mood had completely vanished by now.
"Okay, " Jodie began, "so after you left, I tried to make Al feel better and distract her from...you know -" she referred to Calum "- but nothing I did made any difference. Throughout all the time while you were gone, I tried everything - making hot chocolate, baking my own home-made recipe for brownies, or maybe just making s'mores or something - but I could never find any chocolate. I usually wouldn't have thought that this was suspicious, but I thought there was no harm in asking; I mean, maybe I was looking in the wrong places, right? So when I asked Al, she suddenly turned all secretive, and I knew something was up. So then -"
"- she called me," Jake finished proudly. "And I came straightaway, because you know how I can always find a person's hiding place." I rolled my eyes; Jake had told me countless stories of how he would always win at hide-and-seek when he was a child, and how he could always tell when someone was hiding something. "So I asked my sister to drop me off, since she already had to meet her boyfriend and your place was on the way," he continued, "and when I arrived, Jodie briefed me and told me that Al was upstairs sleeping. So then -"
"- he told me that he thought that it would be the perfect time to see what Al was hiding so he searched everywhere - and I mean everywhere," Jodie stressed. "He even searched Al's room, since she's sleeping in your room." She paused, waiting for me to explode because Al was in my room, but when she got no reaction out of me, she continued. "And then he started searching the kitchen, and he said he found somthing. So he came out of the kitchen with the chocolate -"
"- and you were here!" Jake looked positively ecstatic that I was here in time to see the brilliance of their scheme. "So whatd'ya think?" he asked eagerly.
"Wait, so you're saying that you invited him here -" I pointed to Jake accusingly "- without telling me, had him search my whole apartment, without telling me, and then scoured through Al's personal stuff, without telling either of us?"
They looked shocked, not thinking of it like that. Jake got up quickly, all traces of pride gone from his face, and cleared his throat. "Well, you know, I have to be going - very busy -"
"Sit down, Jake," I interrupted.
He sat down with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm guessing you're mad, then?"
I huffed, then let my guard down. "I'm just tired, you guys. I don't like going behind her back, but I think you guys were right. I doubt there was another way. But do you guys think this means that she's been binging on chocolate?"
They shared a grimace, then Jodie spoke. "I think so."
I sighed deeply and put my head in my hands. "Thanks guys." I smiled weakly. "I think I'll just go check on Al."
"Hey, at least she's not anorexic or anything, right?" Jake smiled weakly, thinking it was some kind of joke that he had said. His smile turned into a frown as Jodie glared and I merely looked at him. He scratched the back of his neck. "Heh, sorry. Too soon?"
I just nodded.
They understood that I needed my isolation to think everything over and contemplate, so they got up and left.
I slowly walked into Al's room to check on her, before I remembered that she wasn't in her room; she was in mine. Just as I was about to leave, I saw Al's phone vibrating on her bed. I knew it wasn't right of me to snoop, but I had an ominous feeling that I should know what was in that text and who sent it to her.
I gingerly picked up her phone and located her messaging app. I opened it to see that the text was from none other than a restricted number that I had a pretty good idea belonged to the boy who broke my best friend's heart. I scrolled up a bit to the start of the messages and started reading.
________________
Restricted: Hey babe, what's up? ;)
Al: why aren't u texting your girlfriend, lover-boy
Restricted: How do you know about Sadie? O.o
Al: sadie? is that her name? well im surprised u havent seen all of the articles and pictures of u two wrapped around each other
Restricted: What are you talking about, babe?
Restricted: OH! You're talking about Allison!
Al: oh i see is it a new girl every week? u just got bored of me and decided to go find a new lay?
Restricted: What are you talking about, love?
Al: leave me alone calum you've done enough already
Restricted: Come on babe, don't be like this.
Restricted: Babe? Hello?
Restricted: Whatever. See if I care. You're just a whore anyway.
Restricted: Oh and tell your little friend Kate that Luke doesn't care about her. He just wants to get in her pants.
________________
I was furious. I had just patched up Kate's feelings, and Al had been getting seemingly better, but he had the audacity to ruin her? Again?
I threw the phone back on the bed and rushed into my bedroom to see Al just getting up. I calmed down a bit, seeing her red, damp face.
"Al...."
She jumped as she realized I had entered the room. She turned panicked. "Listen, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to trash your room, I was just so mad -"
I put my hand up and she became silent immediately. "I know," I said simply.
"You-you mean you -"
"Yeah, I read the messages, and may I just say..."
Her expression turned from panicked to pained. She winced a little, waiting for me to yell and rampage all around the house about Calum.
"...I'm sorry."
She looked mildly surprised that I hadn't insulted him, but appreciative all the same. I understood her position, even though I couldn't empathize with her. I simply hugged her and she practically melted into me. I held her up stubbornly and squeezed her until she started complaining that she couldn't breathe. I let her go, chuckling, and I saw a small smile appear on her face. I mentally congratulated myself, and decided that now wasn't the time to interrogate her about the chocolate binging.
"I'll leave you to it, then." I smiled at her and quietly left the room, leaving the door open only a crack. I didn't want anything to happen and she lock it and I not be able to get in the room.
No one messed with my friends - no one. Calum had better have hoped that I never saw him again, because if I did, he'd be a goner.
*************
bro i suck like im cringing.
dedi to @zaynsloveangel bc she won't ever update the story im waiting for.
ashley x