Ash's P.O.V
Walking towards the shiny car with a faint smiled plastered across my face, Ross looked up. I pulled my graduation cap off and tossed it into the backseat.
"I'm so proud of you, Ash." Ross said as I let out a sigh. It was finally over, all the stress and homework, done. And all I had to show for it was a piece of paper. But I didn't care because tonight I could go home, and not have to get up early the next morning. I didn't have to spend all night studying for finals, I didn't have to worry about screwing up graduation. I didn't have to come back here or talk to any of these people again.
Most people feel sad about high school ending, they shed a tear and hug there friends goodbye even though they'll probably see them 3 days later at the mall. That wasn't me. Everybody else seemed so scared of the real world now that it's upon them, but seeing as I've already experienced it, I wasn't at all scared. More than anything, I was excited to be getting back into it.
Right now, I'm more determined than ever to really live, and experience the world for what it's worth. Summer is finally here, and boy, I can't wait.
"So do you wanna go straight home, or is there something you need to pick up on the way?" Ross asked as we climbed into the car.
"Let's go to the beach." I said, turning to face him.
"Seriously, now?" He asked with disbelief.
"Yeah, why not? It's hot and schools out and I wanna go to the beach." I said.
"Okay, sure. Which one?" He said, starting the car.
"The one you took me to last summer. I think, actually, that' was the last time I went to the beach. Wow, I can't believe it's been a whole year," I said.
"You really need to get out more," he told me. I laughed.
We arrived and as per usual, the place was practically empty. You'd think more people would have found out about it by now.
"You know, neither of us has swimsuits." He reminded me, and in a moment of courage, I pulled off my top.
"Who needs 'em." I smiled and ran into the water in only the denim shorts I was wearing and my bra. Ross followed my lead and ran in after me.
We swam out until we were waist deep, you could hear nothing but the ocean. I looked up at the sky, the few clouds moving faster than I'd ever seen them. I looked over at the little buoy that was far out into the water.
"Wanna race?" I asked Ross. He followed my gaze to the buoy.
"You want me to swim all the way out there?" He asked me.
"Not if you don't think you could do it," I challenged him, "but I'm sure as hell gonna try."
He nodded and looked back at me, "your on." We bother started swimming as fast as we could, I couldn't see very well under water but I knew I was ahead of him. After a while, I began to get extremely tired, my arms started to hurt. I looked up to see that we were barely halfway there, and that Ross was getting a strong lead on me.
I pushed through and eventually made it to the buoy at just about the same time as Ross. I pulled myself up so that I was sitting on it.
"I won," I said in short breaths.
"No way, I won." He was also more than puffed out. I looked over at the entire ocean from where I was sitting. I didn't know anything could be so serene. No sounds but the waves crashing, it was peace full. "You know, were gonna have to swim all the way back."
"Not just yet we don't." I dropped back into the water with him and held onto his arm as the water was too deep to stand in.
"Last time we were here, we practically had to force you up onto a surfboard, and now you just jump in the water and swim 2 miles out without giving it a second thought. What happened to you?" Ross asked as he held the both of us up by latching into the buoy.
"I grew up." I said.
"And to think," he said, pulling me closer to him, "I didn't even know it was possible for you to get more beautiful."
He placed a small kiss on my lips and smiled to me, he leaned in again but I dropped down and submerged myself underwater, the moment felt right but I wasn't completely sure I was comfortable with things just yet. What Riker said a little while back really affected me, I knew I wanted to be with Ross, I but there was still some things I needed to clear up. When I came back up to the surface, a smile grazed over my face at the expression on his.
"C'mon," I said, "we better go back before it gets too cold."
"Fine, but we're not racing. I wanna take my time." He said and started floating on his back, staring up at the clouds.
20 minutes later we arrived back at his car, everything but my hair, dry. Ross pulled a blanket out of the trunk and put it over the seats. "Where to now?" He asked.
"I asked him if he'd take me out to get ice cream, I could see that he was tired and wanted to go home but agreed, as long as I was buying. The drive didn't take to long, there was an ice cream place not to far from where we lived, it was basically on the way home. The hot weather meant that when we got there, the place was rather busy. Ross decided to park a little bit away and wait in the car. I guess he didn't want to draw attention to himself.
Luckily, the line wasn't too long, there were just a bunch of people in there getting away from the heat I guess. I had a couple of bills in my hand and looked up at the overhead menu. All Ross asked for was a blueberry sundae, so I was really just looking for myself.
After paying, I waited to the side of the counter and counted the change. About halfway done, I was tapped on the shoulder and was surprised to see Rocky there.
"Fancy seeing you here." He said to me with a brisk grin.
"Hi, yeah, no, hey." I was at a sudden loss for words and for no reason either. He laughed at me.
"It's nice to see you too. Who are you here with?"
Not knowing what to tell him I struggled to answer, but I didn't have to because at that moment I found Emily and Rydel making there way over to us.
"Oh hey, Ash. Long time no see." She joked, referring to the fact that I'd been less that 4 hours since I'd seen her at graduation.
"Hey, Em." I said before turning my attention to Rydel. "Hi." I said to her.
"It's been a while." She replied with no particular hatred in her voice. A good sign, I guess. Emily continued to talk to me about graduation, complaining about certain things and praising others. I nodded along with everything she was saying. It was still weird to see her with Rocky. I find it hard to believe that they've been friends all this time.
The girl behind the counter placed my order in front of me, but Em was only half way through whatever story she was telling, so I ignored it. Rocky interrupted and asked me about my plans for the summer. Once again, I found myself searching for a solid answer to give him, I ended up telling him I didn't really have any.
I looked over at Rydel and in a quick and sudden panic she made an excuse to go to the restroom. I followed her gaze to where she was looking and saw Ross walking towards the store. I assumed he was coming to get me, I really didn't think about how long I'd been standing here. I grabbed the ice cream and began waking towards the door.
"I gotta go, but it was good seeing you again." I said as I turned back to Rocky and Emily. I managed to get to Ross just before he entered.
"Man you take a long time to get ice cream." He said as he took the blue one from my hand.
"Sorry, I got distracted. Rydel and Rocky were in there." I said. He shot a look back over there, but didn't keep his glace there long.
"Did they talk to you?" He said in a bit of a panic himself.
"Well, yeah, we are still friends. I was gonna ask Rydel what was going on with you two but-"
"Don't. I'd prefer it if you didn't get involved."
"But I'm already involved."
"I know, but I'd really like it if you'd stay away from them for a while." He said, I stopped in place.
"You don't want me to talk to my friends?" I said with slight anger to my voice.
"I don't wanna be that guy, but-"
"Then don't be that guy." My anger increasing.
"I just think it'd be best if you kept your distance until this whole thing blows over."
"They're mad a you, not me. If I wanna talk to them, I will."
"Whose side are you on, Ash?"
"Nobody's! All I'm saying is that you can't-"
"Okay, okay. Let's not fight." He interrupted me again.
"Then don't try to control me." I said getting into the car.
"You really have changed." Ross whispered to himself.
~~
A/N: AJHDSJKHDSAKLDFASKDFKSDHFSJ A MILLION READS ON "THE GIRL NEXT DOOR" WHAT HOW WHEN WHY I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT YOU GUYS ARE JUST TOO MUCH THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING, WOW. yep. that happened.
So over the course of the week I basically sat down and wrote out the plot line to almost the entire story, and sure, it's a little more dramatic than originally planned but I think you guys will really get into it. At this stage, it's looking like this will be the last instalment of the series.
I know how badly you all wanted a third book, but hey, maybe we could do a spin-off or just another fanfic entirely. But if this is gonna be the last book, I'll be sure to make it a long one that's packed to the brink with drama. We really haven't even begun the drama yet, but what I have planned out will surely surprise you. Also, I know they're has been quite a lot of time jumps recently and that's just because I'm trying to get to the drama sooner, and so you guys don't have to put up with super boring chapters (again).
AND ANOTHER HUGE THANKYOU FOR A 1,000,000 READS MY GOD. AND TO THOSE WHO DECIATE THEIR STORIES TO ME, @FallinForYou_ & especially @fallenxangelxx who has looked to me for advice and whose story is truly one of my favourites, I'll leave links to their story's in the comments below.
Anyway, hope y'all are having a great summer, I'll see you soon,
Char xx.