“I just got here. Hi Joselyn.”
I nod at Michael who’s standing by the door, returning his greeting. He’s wearing a pair of black ripped off jeans and a red sleeveless plaid shirt, matching his dyed hair that had begun to fade. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him as punk rock as today.
“Hey man, can you get us something to drink?”
“Go get it yourself.”
“Please?” Emma pouts and Michael sighs.
“Fine, lazyass.”
“He’s my slave,” Emma winks at me, making me smile.
Michael returns after two minutes with three cups in his hands. He gives one to Emma and then hands me another.
“It’s soda,” he winks at me.
“Thanks,” I smile and take a sip.
I feel the bubbles immediately and I know he told me the truth. How did he know? Oh yeah, he was there when Emma gave me alcohol for the first time, the first day. I can’t believe he remembered.
“So you came.”
“Told you she would,” Emma smirks at him, taking another sip.
Michael, who’s taken a seat opposite from Emma, ignores her.
“Enjoying Sydney so far?”
“Oh God, please,” Emma rolls her eyes.
“What?” Michael fires back.
“Is that all you can ask? You always ask her that. I heard you the other day at The Diner, and I was by the bathrooms. Come up with some new questions!”
Everyone asked me that very same question and I was getting tired of hearing it, over and over again. My reply was always the same; it’s nice here.
“Okay, liking Emma so far?”
He smirks and Emma hits him on the arm.
“Hey!”
I laugh and Michael’s grin widens.
“Yeah, I like her.”
“I like you too,” she replies with a smile.
“I like you too, Emma,” Michael says, mimicking a girl’s voice.
“Nobody asked you, stupidface.”
Both Michael and I burst out in laughter and it doesn’t take long before Emma joins us.
“What’s so funny?” A voice interrupts us.
I look up and see Ashton standing there with a grin on his face. His jeans are dark, and just like Michael’s, they’re ripped by the knees. His t-shirt is dark purple and I feel an urge to ask him how he always succeeds in looking so perfect? He takes the chair next to Michael, opposite from me. Just like us, he’s holding a red cup. I wonder how many red cups they have here, how many red cups they use at every party. If the girl with the glasses in class was here, she would probably give them a speech about recycling. Now that I come and think about it, I don’t even know her name even though we’ve talked a couple of times.
“Oh...nothing.” Emma wipes away some invisible tears.
That’s probably the best answer any of us could come up with since not even I could remember what had been so funny and I was the one who started laughing. Ashton gives me a small smile and pushes his hair off his face.
“Having a bad hair day?”
“It’s worse than ever,” Ashton replies to Michael’s question.
I look at his hair. It doesn’t look that bad. A bit flat and messy at the same time, sticking in every direction, but definitely not bad.
“I wouldn’t say that. I’ve seen worse,” Emma says.
“Oh yeah, when?”
“Remember that time when you had curly hair?” Emma says with a smirk on her face.
“Oh, fuck off.”
“Right, Joselyn?”
They all turn to me. Emma’s still smirking, I know she’s only joking. Michel’s smiling and Ashton’s eyes are big. Should I go for it?
“Yeah…” I say before I can change my mind.
Emma cheers but something flashes in Ashton’s eyes.
“I mean…”
I shake my head at Ashton, but his eyes are already turned to Michael. I was only joking. Am I not allowed to joke? I feel bad. I really didn’t mean it. I love his hair, messy, curly or straight. If anyone had said that to me, joked about my appearance, I’d burst out in tears. But Ashton is different, isn’t he? If he can take a joke from Emma and Michael, he sure can take it from me. I hope. I want to apologize, but they’ve already changed the topic.
“…and so I took the car and drove away.”
“No way. What’d she say?”
“Nothing. I flipped her off. I just wanted to borrow the fucking car.”
“Hey, don’t swear,” Ashton says somehow offended.
“You swear all the time, Ash,” Emma reminds him.
“I do not.”
“You do! Remember Miss Johnson in 6th grade? You swore 58 times in one class once. And the class was only 40 minutes long.”
“Long time ago. Haven’t swore since.”
“You said ‘fuck off’ a few minutes ago. Besides, I’ve heard you swear before and I haven’t been here for long,” I say, wanting to be a part of the conversation.
Ashton glances at me and he seem lost for words.
“I’m trying…” His voice is low, almost whispering. I know I’m the only one who heard him because neither Emma nor Michael moves.
“What’s so bad about swearing, anyway?” I ask him, and only him, but Michael’s the one who answers.
“He thinks it gives a bad impression.”
“People take you less seriously and it hurt people,” Ashton adds.
“True,” I say and think back on all the times I’d been called bad words. Cursing was often included. Sometimes they even made up new words, turned nice words into bad ones.
“Hey hey hey! What is this, the serious group?” Calum walks towards us with his arms open. Liza is close behind him. Both grinning hard.
Emma moves closer to me to make some room which makes me have to move as well. My knee touches Ashton’s and I feel a rush through my body, making my heart stop for a second. I don’t dare look him in the eyes.
“We should play a game!” Liza suggests and the others agree.
“Truth or dare?”
“Boring. How about ‘Have you ever…’?” Calum raises an eyebrow.
“Dude, we’re gonna get so drunk,” Emma sighs.
“Speak for yourself. I haven’t done anything,” Calum says and the others laugh.
“Joselyn, do you know how to play?” Emma asks and I shake my head.
“It’s very simple. Someone makes a statement. Like ‘Never have I ever run naked in school’ and if you have, you have to take a shot. If no one drinks, the person who makes the statement has to take a shot,” she explains to me while Michael and Calum head inside, returning with shot glasses and a bunch of bottles.
No. There’s no way I’m doing this. I’m not drinking.
“But I don’t…”
“Don’t worry, I don’t really drink either,” Ashton leans forward to me, our knees still touching. “You see the white bottle? It’s Mountain Dew mixed with Coca Cola. Doesn’t sound so tasty, but it looks just like the rest of the liquor. I’ll pour up some for you.”
Ashton doesn’t drink? That’s interesting. I had seen him with red cups before. Did the others know about this?
“Okay, everybody ready?”
“Yes!” Liza, Michael, Ashton and Emma shout in unison.
“Joselyn?”
“Yeah. Let’s do this,” I reply and Calum smiles back at me.
“I start! Never have I ever eaten a worm.”
“Ew, that’s disgusting, Cal.” Liza swats his arm.
“Well since no one has, I guess I have to drink.”
“Never have I ever broken a law,” Emma says and both Liza and Michael takes a shot.
I wonder what they have done. Shoplifting? Robbery? Did they murder someone? No, maybe not the last one…
“Are you gonna call the cops on us?”
“Already have,” Emma says and we all laugh.
“Never have I ever worn make-up,” Michael says and I know he wants me to join the game. I don’t usually wear make-up but I have tried it, so I take the shot Ashton just poured up to me and drink it fast. It really was just soda. I see Emma and Liza do the same.
“Bro?” Ashton looks as surprised as me when Calum takes another drink.
“I’m actually a girl. Shh, don’t tell,” Calum puts his a finger on his lips and I know he’s already drunk. This is gonna be a fun night.
“Who’s next? Joselyn?”
I shake my head.
“You’re gonna have to say something eventually,” Liza says. “But okay, I’ll do it. Never have I ever…”
“Never have I ever forgotten to ask one of their best friends if he wanted to join them.”
Luke appears behind Calum, his eyes as blue as his shirt. Great, just great. I feel the soda coming back up. There’s something about him that I don’t like. Perhaps because he tried to hook up with me, but even before he tried to, I thought he was intimidating.
“Cheers!” Everyone takes a shot, everyone but me. Luke is not my best friend, he’s not even my friend, and he never will be.
He looks at me, sending a chill through my entire body, before moving a chair between Michael and Calum. Ashton looks a bit uncomfortable and slowly removes his knee from mine, leaving me cold.
“Never have I ever had a fake ID,” Liza says and everyone but me drinks, again.
The more statements they do, the drunker they get. This is not healthy and I’m surprised they can even sit up at all. Everyone’s laughing, including me. I drink a couple of times and every time I do, I feel Luke’s eyes on me. Ashton must have sensed something, because he looks over at me, asking if I’m okay after a while.
“Okay, Jos, your turn.” He doesn’t sound as drunk as the others and I wonder if he’s pulling the same trick as Ashton.
“Uhm…”
“I don’t think we should do this anymore. Emma is already down,” Ashton says and Luke shots him a glance. He definitely doesn’t like this.
Ashton’s right though. Emma is sitting on the floor. Michael’s half way down too and Liza and Calum are just staring at each other and I know they will jump on each other any second.
“Come on. She hasn’t taken much,” Luke says, referring to me.
“She’s not like the rest, bro,” Ashton defends me.
They stare at each other, as if they were in a staring competition. Neither of them dares to break it. Calum and Liza leaves with their lips locked but no one seem to notice, no one but me. I notice everything. I notice Ashton shift in his seat and I notice Luke sitting completely still. I notice Ashton swallowing hard and I even notice the small sweat drops on his forehead. I want Luke to leave, but I can’t just ask him to leave. It’s his party.
“Luke! Dude, Tyler’s totally getting it,” a short blonde guy yells from the door and Luke turns around, breaking the stare and I see Ashton let out a breath.
“With who?”
“Nelly.”
“What!?” Luke stands up quickly and heads inside, forgetting about the staring competition.
Saved by the blonde guy, Ashton looks over at me.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. You?”
“I’m good,” he replies.
“And I’m bored, thanks for asking. I wanna go dancing again, anyone wanna join me?” Emma suddenly stands up, swaying on her feet. She looks from me to Ashton, but we both shake our heads.
“Come on! Michael?” She pouts her lips.
“Are you sure you can dance? I mean, you had a lot to drink.”
“I’m the queen of drinks. I can drink anything at any time. Besides, that was nothing. I’ve had worse. Michael?”
She staggers and looks at Michael who stands up, shrugs at Ashton and me before following Emma who’s already started singing along to the music from the open door. Ashton shakes his head at them and I know he’s thinking the same as me. How the hell can she do that? She was sitting on the floor half a minute earlier, her eyes closed, looking like she was going to throw up. She might have been conscious after all, I think to myself.
Ashton got his eyes focused on his drink. He takes a sip and looks down again.
“I’m sorry about your hair. I mean, my comment on your hair. Not your hair. It looks good.”
The words come out too fast and I know he can tell I’m nervous. He shots me a glance.
“Don’t be. It just surprised me. I didn’t know you were a person who told such jokes. I’m all good,” he smiles and I want him to move his knee close to mine again. I want to feel the rush. “And I’m sorry for not texting back about the sunglasses. I’ve had a lot on my mind this week.”
I wonder what, but I don’t ask. Was it about Amy and what I overheard? Where is she anyway? I hope nowhere near. I was surprised Luke didn’t mention her before and I half expected her to turn up, but she didn’t. I hope she doesn’t decide to show up now. Even though we’re not doing anything, I’m still nervous of what Amy would say and do if she found us.
I study Ashton again. His eyes are back on the cup. Could a cup really be that interesting or is he thinking of something? Again, I wonder of what.
“C-Can I show you something?” Ashton suddenly says, his voice a little shaky. Is he nervous?
“Sure.” My heart starts beating faster. This could be anything.
“It will include driving. You drove here right? You can just follow me in your car.”
I follow him around the house, locating his car before driving off behind him without saying goodbye to anyone. I don’t even question him where we’re going. I don’t care where we’re going. I would follow him to the other side of Australia if he drove there. As long as he’s there, I will follow. And as long as he’s the only one there, I will go.
(Helloooo, and a huge thank you to EVERYONE who has read, comment and/or voted on any of the chapters! AFFECTION GOT RANKED!! I hope it can continue to be on the list so please keep reading, commenting, voting and tell your friends about Affection. I love you guys so much you have no idea. Thanks for reading my story and I'm sorry about the Michael-punk-rock-joke. I couldn't resist. Anyway, guess who got Sound Check tickets for their tour next year?? :D :D Are any of you guys going? xx)