ashton's high school graduation.
My throat was almost numb from the menthol in the pack of cigarettes I'd been working on all day. I hated the pressure of days like this. I hated having to be around my parents all day and pose for photos. The only saving grace was that my brother was coming home today to take part in the celebration and that meant the boys would be coming too.
They were the most irritating group of boys I'd ever met but they knew exactly how to turn in the charm which meant my mother would be too distracted to bitch at me all day. If she only knew what they were really like, she'd have them arrested in a heartbeat.
They were each single-handedly responsible for every habit I've acquired that she hates. They've gotten me into more trouble than I can even begin to explain and we've only known them a little over a year. Smoking, drinking, gambling, and sex...they were all devils in disguise.
The direct sun was hot and bright, it really ruined the pissy vibe I was going for while I finished my last cigarette, grinding the ashes into the curb outside of the Circle K.
I stood quickly, dusting any dirt off of the back of my dress. I pulled the sweet mint gum from my purse and shoved two sticks in my mouth before covering myself with an obnoxious amount of body spray that would do very little to hide the smell on me. Oh well.
The gravel in the parking lot crunched under my Nike slides as I made my way to the driver's side of my black 1967 beetle. I threw my purse in first, and then hauled my body in behind it, feeling the old car move with me.
I let out a slow deep breath as I pressed my head to the steering wheel and then got the courage to tip my head enough that I could see the black graduation gown laying over the back of the passenger seat.
"Come on Ash, let's just get this shit show over with," I said to my reflection in the rearview mirror.
I flush my head back against the headrest to let out on last exasperated "UGGGHHHHHHHH," and then I drove off towards my shit hole of a high school
...
The ceremony was very long and painfully boring. The white wedge sandals my mother insisted I change into almost killed me going down the stairs after getting my diploma, unfortunately, they didn't kill me though and now I've arrived at my uncle's house for the party portion of this never-ending day.
I watched Liam come running down the driveway, looking way too excited about my arrival which could only mean one thing... "ASH! Come here! Look what I got you for graduation!" I stepped out of my beautiful beetle slowly and made my way toward the large white van my brother is so proudly standing by.
"You got me a cargo van? Wow Li, thanks! That's what every girl hopes for when she graduates high school!" My voice is dripping with sarcasm which just makes him smile wider until he finally reaches for the handle of the van and pulls the door open, revealing none other than "the boys" all crammed together and laughing way too hard.
"SURPRISE!" I can't help but crack a small smile at how stupidly cute they look and the fact that I can smell the beer that they're sweating out.
"OH, LIAM! DRUNK COLLEGE BOYS!? WOW! HOW DID YOU KNOW ITS JUST WHAT I WANTED!?" My valley girl accent is shrill and deafening as I shout at him before diving into the back of the van, 8 arms immediately reach out to catch me and within seconds there are exaggerated kissing sounds pouring from the van while the 4 boys torture my brother by pretending to ravage me.
A few of those kisses land though, and I know exactly who they're coming from as they land on my neck, chest, and stomach. They're light enough to be perceived as innocent but I'm aware that they're far from it.
"OKAY. Yea. Hilarious. That's enough, you fuckin assholes. Get out of there, all of you." Liam holds a hand out to help me out of the truck and two large hands push my ass up to assist.
The 6 of us are all outside soon enough, I smoothed down my pale pink, lace dress and fixed the white cardigan my mother forced me to wear over it. I ran my fingers through my long platinum blonde hair and finally, I was ready to enter the party with my very own chaotic entourage behind me.
Liam met the boys last year, we moved into this rich ass neighborhood when my dad landed a new job at a fancy law firm here. The people here were awful. Really and truly awful. My mother adored them, naturally.
This particular neighborhood was the "international district" of northern fucking Florida. Louis, Harry, and Zayn were all British and Niall was Irish. We had neighbors that were Korean, Japanese, Indian, and Russian as well. It was a true melting pot of rich assholes.
All of those rich assholes were standing on the lawn now, mingling around the backyard, getting drunk on the expensive champagne my mother ordered.
I grabbed a flute at the same time as Zayn and we clanked them together before shooting them our throats as quickly as possible. We did this 3 more times as we walked through the lawn before Harry starting mumbling something under his breath.
"Oh can it, Dimples. No one wants to hear your commentary." I said quickly before I noticed that my mother had spotted us. She was coming quickly now...so excited to drag me to my personal hell.
"My dear boys are here!? Oh my goodness, how sweet of you to come to celebrate Ashton's big day." Her voice was practically a squeal as she cupped each of their faces, smooshing them together to kiss their cheeks.
"We wouldn't miss a chance to celebrate our favorite girl, Mrs. Payne!" Niall matched her enthusiasm as he swung an arm around my shoulders and squished my face together like she had done to them.
"Yea, Mrs. Payne, you know we couldn't pass up a chance to see our little Poppet all grown up." Harry's deep accent was mocking me in a ridiculous baby voice as his hands replaced Nialls, still squishing my face together. The death glare I was sending him was apparently being ignored as he smirked at me while my mother laughed her stupid head off.
Poppet. I hated that nickname. I was not a little girl, and he wasn't even that much older than me! He had insisted on calling me that since the day I tripped on the sidewalk after school and he helped me up...pretentious asshole.
God, I hated him. I hated him so much and we were ALWAYS together. When he was still in school we had 5 out of 6 classes together because I was in advanced studies. We were paired together in every single class. Every project they put us together like a cosmic fucking joke.
As if that wasn't enough, we were next-door neighbors, our bedroom windows faced each other. We were like two magnets flipped over so that no matter how hard you pushed we would not go together. We would not get along.
On Christmas break this past year I learned the only thing Harry was good for, and that's sex.
We flipped one night after way too much peppermint schnapps. We were standing in the hallways arguing, as we always do, and he grabbed my jaw, bringing my face close to his to say something horrid to me in a tight whisper. I couldn't tell you what he said though, cause as soon as his face got close to me it was like someone flipped those magnets over and we hit each other full force.
He had me backed against the wall faster than I could even fathom. His mouth engulfed mine and the taste of peppermint on his tongue was addictive. That was the first night Harry and I had sex, but it was certainly not the last.
I could feel his eyes on me now as I posed for pictures with my parents and my grandparents and my cousins and every other family member that crawled out of the woodwork to be here today. Money was so attractive to these people.
I finally managed to squirm away, asking for a bathroom break, and I snuck upstairs to my cousin's room. I scoffed in fake surprise when I spotted a familiar figure already on the balcony, cigarette in hand.
"Well, well, well, fancy meeting you here." Louis jumped at first but then just rolled his eyes at me as he took a long drag.
"What are you doin up here, Ash? Those things'll kill ya, dontcha know?"
It was my turn to roll my eyes now, "Yea I've heard that but some little prick got me hooked on them last summer and now I just can't quit."
He chuckles softly while I light my little cancer stick and we just sit quietly, enjoying our small break from the world.
It didn't last long though, I heard Liam yelling for me from the kitchen so I begrudgingly made my way downstairs. I passed Niall in the hallway, counting a wad of cash and when I raised an eyebrow at him he just winked and told me that my uncle was shit at picking horses. His hand rested on my cheek and he gently tugged my bottom lip down before smirking and walking away.
I chose to ignore Niall's small interactions like that, fucking one of Liam's friends was enough drama fuel for me.
Once I got downstairs the rest of the night passed in a bit of a blur. There was cake, there were gifts, Zayn snuck me more champagne, Harry glared at me from across the garden while he flirted with one of my cousins, Liam ran around like a golden retriever trying to please my parents...and I smiled. I posed. I did my duty.
By the end of the night, I was very tipsy and very tired, Liam drove me home while Louis drove the van and the last thing I remembered about my graduation day was Liam pulling covers over me and kissing my forehead.