Ashley POV
I dialed the numbers on the phone and waited patiently for it to ring. I heard the phone shift on the other side and knew that it was being answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi Mom!" I exclaimed excitedly.
I heard her sigh on the other side. "Hi, hun. How are you?" She sounded tired.
"I'm okay. Mom, is this a bad time?"
She sighed again. "Kind of, hunny. I'm sorry, I love you, but I was kind of in the middle of something important. Can I call you back? Maybe tomorrow?"
I frowned and felt tears sting the insides of my eyes. I didn't know why I was surprised. I knew they loved me but they always seemed to be busy. "It's okay, Mom. I love you, too."
"I really am sorry, hunny. I know that whatever you had to say was important."
"No, don't worry about it. It's nothing more important than whatever you're doing, I'm sure."
"Was that a smart-ass answer my daughter gave me?" she said playfully.
I chuckled weakly. "I always was the smart one, Mommy."
"I know you were," she said seriously.
"I love you, Mom. Just don't forget to call me tomorrow, please. Because I really do want to tell you before I tell Dad, if you know what I mean."
She gasped suddenly. "It's a boy, isn't it?"
I blushed and was thankful that she couldn't see me through the phone. "Mom," I groaned.
"It is! It's a boy! My daughter has something going on with a boy!" She sounded proud. Too proud.
"No!" I groaned again. "I have nothing 'going on'! It's just...something I'd rather talk to you about first. Dad would probably die."
"Oh, hunny. I totally know what you mean. When I was your age, my dad would -"
"Mom," I interrupted. "Don't you have work to do?"
"Oh!" She made me jump. "You're right! Okay, love you, bye!"
"Love you too, Mom. Bye."
**********
im not the most romantic but i just heard that the fun fair is in town. first date, possibly? ;-)
My phone beeped as I got the text from Ashton. I felt a grin grace my face, and when Al suddenly came in, looking tired, she immediately sighed and asked, "Ashton?"
I simply nodded and she sighed.
"You're stressed," I stated. It was her turn to nod, and I added, "And you're on your period."
She grimaced. "Guilty."
Most girls turned into the rudest people you would ever meet when they were on their periods. I turned into a nasty mood swing machine. But Al was different: she had the misfortune of turning into the most stressed and tired person you will ever find. She hardly ever got any sleep and it came back to bite her in the butt.
I gave her a sympathetic smile and got up off of my comfy seat on the couch, completely forgetting about the text from Ashton.
"Tea? Just hot water? What do you need?" I asked.
She groaned, dropped her backpack on the floor, and plopped down onto the couch where I was previously sitting, clutching her stomach and sinking into the stuffing.
I made an empathetic noise and went down to give her a hug and rub all of the cramps out of her back. It was exactly what my dad would do for me when I was younger (when he wasn't working, that is) and I knew from experience that it worked.
"Can I have some ice-water?" she moaned.
"I'm sorry, but you and I both know that it'll only make the cramps worse."
She groaned.
"How about you eat a Rice Krispie Treat and I give you some Advil?" I suggested.
"But I don't have an appetite! Can't I just have the Advil?"
"The Advil by itself will make you throw up. You need to have something in your stomach before you take it," I advised.
"Fine," she grumbled.
I gasped suddenly with a smile on my face. "I know what we need!" I said. "A slumber party!"
"No offense, but I really can't deal with people right now," she said painfully.
I "tsk"ed her and continued, "Not that type of slumber party! We'll just get in our PJs and watch a movie and have some marshmallows and such!"
At this, she gave a small smile. "Okay," she drawled. "But I get the most marshmallows. And we have to listen to music too."
I saluted her, making her giggle. "Sir, yes sir."
And so we had a slumber party.
*************
Singing - or yelling - along to "Rock Me" by One Direction may or may not have been part of that slumber party.
I'm sure we alerted the whole building with our horrible screeching. So far, I had mostly distracted Al from her cramps and I wasn't going to remind her any time soon.
"Well, I don't know, Cal, should we do what they want?" Ashton's voice came through the kitchen, making us both jump.
"I don't know, either, Ash. They want us to 'rock them' but I think it's a bit too soon." I could practically hear Calum smirking.
They came into the living room, where we were, both with their arms crossed and with smirks on their faces.
"How did you guys get in here?" Al asked. "The door was locked."
Ashton snorted. "No it wasn't. And I'm pretty sure any type of burglar could have easily come in and silenced you guys. I mean, you aren't exactly the quietest people. Then again, I'm sure the neighbors would realize that something was wrong if you guys weren't screaming their ears out 24/7."
"Hey," I pointed a finger at him. "Don't be rude."
"Yeah, Ashley," Al continued, "put a leash on your cat."
Ashton glared at her. "This is coming from you?"
"Ash!" I exclaimed, appalled. "That's my best friend you're talking to! Mind your manners!"
"What?" He asked, outraged. "She just - I - did you not hear what she just called me?"
"Of course I did! But she has a reason for being rude!"
"Oh really? And what's that?!" he questioned.
At this, both of us gave each other a look and blushed a deep beet red. We couldn't exactly just tell them that Al was on her period.
Calum's eyes suddenly grew wide. "Uh, mate, we should leave."
"What? Why?" Ashton yelled.
Calum gave Al an awkward look and nudged Ashton to move, making Al blush even more deeply, if that was even possible.
"Just go," he murmured.
"Fine," Ashton grumbled. "But what about our date?" He directed the question towards me and I smacked my forehead. I had totally forgotten.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I guess I had gotten a little distracted. I'd love to!" I smiled even more widely than I had been smiling before, and Al groaned.
"Puppy love," she grumbled, then clutched her stomach once more. Shoot, the cramps were back.
"Guys, you should go," I urged.
"Exactly what I was thinking. Okay bye!" Calum strained, still pushing a clueless Ashton. Calum shoved him all the way out of the apartment, gave me an awkward smile, and left.
**********
"Cotton candy! Get your cotton candy here!"
"Oooh, cotton candy!" I squealed and jumped up and down like a little girl. "Can we get some?"
Ashton chuckled. "Sure."
All of a sudden, a young girl, who couldn't have been older than thirteen, bumped into him after being pushed by the growing masses of the crowd. She was shoved so fiercely by someone, that she fell down after bumping into Ashton, her water spilling all over his shirt.
Ashton cursed so loudly that the girl looked like she was about to cry. "Watch where you're going, will you? I can't believe this!"
"Ashton! She just fell over and you're yelling at her?" I exclaimed.
The girl grimaced as she tried to get up and people kept bumping into her.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about that!" I emphasized. "Here, let me help you up!"
I reached over and helped her up, and she gave me a grateful smile. "I'm really sorry for bumping into you. It was my fault," she apologized to Ashton.
He was about to give a snarky remark, but I gave him a warning look and he shut his mouth immediately. I gave him a glance that clearly read, 'Watch and learn.'
"It's not a problem, and it most certainly was not your fault!" I insisted, and she gave me another smile.
"Yes it was," he grumbled, and her face fell.
"Good lord, Ash! Can you not be kind to someone for one second? Remind me why I'm on a date with you again?"
He looked utterly defeated. "Because I'm going to buy you cotton candy?" he tried.
I rolled my eyes, while the girl tried hard not to chuckle.
"Um...sorry," Ashton tried. I smiled proudly at him.
She smiled as well, understanding by my reaction that this was a real feat for him. "It's not a problem. I'm really sorry about the water. Here let me get you some napkins."
She got us the napkins and was about to start rubbing the water off of Ashton, but decided that it was better if he did it himself. I laughed under my breath. She left soon afterwards.
I sighed mentally. I was stupid to have assumed that he would magically stop being a jerk when he had kissed me.
But I knew something now.
It wasn't over yet.
**********
I jumped as my phone rang. I checked my desk-clock, which read 3:24 AM, and groaned. Who would possibly be calling now?
I picked up my phone from beside the clock and narrowed my eyes as the brightness caught me off guard. Mom, the caller ID read. Dear god, where was she and why was she calling at this time?
I answered the phone and groggily said, "Mom? It's like 3:30 in the morning. Why are you calling me?"
She gasped. "Oh hunny, I'm so sorry! I completely forgot about the time difference! I'm traveling and I guess the jet lag took hold of me! I'll let you sleep."
She was about to end the call but I stopped her, yelling out, "No!" probably waking Al up. I knew that I wouldn't get to talk to her at any other time, especially now that she was travelling.
"Are you sure you want to talk now, darling? Isn't it too early?"
"No, Mom, it's fine. I'd rather talk to you now."
Her concerned voice turned excited. "So tell me about this boy!"
"Well his name is Ashton," I started giddily, "and he's in a band -"
"Oh, hunny! I told you never to date rockstars! They're bad news!" she interrupted.
"Mom! Can I finish, please?" I groaned.
"Oops, sorry, dear." She giggled like a schoolgirl.
I sighed and started once more. "And we kind of have this hate-love relationship. But he can be really sweet at times, and we challenge each other!" I finished before she could cut me off again.
"Does he treat you right?"
"Yeah, he does Mom, it's just that...well he doesn't really treat other people right."
She paused, then said confusedly, "Come again?"
"He's a jerk, Mom," I said simply.
She gasped immediately, as I knew she would. "Why would you choose him? Of all the boys in the world?"
"Mom, calm down, I'm working on it. Slowly but surely, right?"
She sighed. "Fine, when can I meet him?"
"Mom! We only just went on our first date today! Or I guess, yesterday..." I added as an afterthought, remembering that it was well past midnight.
"Fine, fine. Just be careful, okay?"
"I know. I love you. Go work your butt off."
She laughed. "I love you too, Ashley. Go sleep your butt off."
I ended the call.
Knowing that I wouldn't get much sleep since I was fully awake, I got up sleepily and went to make myself a glass of warm milk.
I heard Al groan from her room as I walked along the creaky floor. I silently cursed myself and tip-toed over to her room.
"Cramps keeping you up?"
"That and something else. But can you help me up? I need to use the restroom anyway."
I gently helped her up and guided her to the restroom, maneuvering through the dark.
I waited outside until she was finished. Then I slowly helped her down the stairs and into the kitchen, sitting her down on a chair, and putting the kettle on the stove.
As I turned the stove on, I inquired, "So what's that other thing that's been keeping you up?"
"Well," she played with her hands as I leaned on the counter, "it's Calum. I don't know if I did the right thing. I'm just afraid that he'll hurt me again."
I nodded understandingly, also making a mental point to remember that she was on her period and her hormones might make her a bit more dramatic and emotional.
"So are you second-guessing your decision, or are you just nervous for the date?"
"I guess...both?" she said uncertainly.
"You're just wanting to be certain that he'll treat you right." I concluded.
She nodded, glad that I understood.
I turned off the stove and poured the hot water from the kettle into two seperate mugs. I then proceeded to pour the milk, making sure that I put enough so that we could taste more than just warm water.
I handed her the glass and she thanked me.
"I guess the thing you need to ask yourself is, is he worth it?" I suggested.
"What do you thin-"
But I shook my head, cutting her off. "Only you can answer that question, and you know that."
We both shortly after went to bed, both of us contemplating our boy issues.
And boys said that girls were confusing. Filthy hypocrites.
**********
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ashley x