Boys, Boys, Boys.... [boyxboy]

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Aiden-

I realized that I had left my jacket at school after I dropped Samantha off. I drove back as it was beginning to turn dusk. Walking down the hallways near the night hours is just plain eery. I shuffled quickly to the auditorium to see if that is where I had misplaced my jacket.

As I entered the dimly lit auditorium, I heard sniffling. Sniffling and ....was that crying? I walked onto the stage and found Ashley sitting alone on stage left.

She looked forlorn as tears sprinkled down her face. Her usually perfect and cascading, wavy blonde hair was a tangled mess, as if she had been running her hands through it in frustration. Her legs lay sprawled out in front of her in her sparkly black leggings and boots, paling in comparison to her watery and shimmering blue eyes.

Ashley really is rather beautiful, though she might not always act like it. She was especially beautiful, I realized, when she cried. The usually strong, preppy, and fearless girl now looked vulnerable. It reminded me of when I thought Caleb seemed human.

Scary thought that all these people are proving me wrong and seeming more and more like actual people.

She looked up when she sensed someone had joined her. She quickly dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve and sniffled.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I came to get my...never mind that. Are you okay?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Do I look okay?"

Now, there was the Ashley Blake I knew.

"This is about the play?" I questioned.

"Musical," She corrected in a bitter voice.

"Sorry, musical," I said.

She gave me a look that screamed, "DUH!"

"Well, look, I'm sorry-" I started.

"No, you're not," She said in a dreadfully calm voice.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Of course you wanted sweet and smart and nice Samantha to get it. How could you not? She's so much more likable than me. No one wanted me to get it. No one likes me," She said.

"That's not-" I started.

"Oh yes it is. I'm not stupid, okay? I know what people think of me. I'm just a spoiled, rich drama geek that is kinda bitchy. I get it," she said, ducking her head into her knees a little.

"Yeah," I said.

She looked up at me with offended eyes.

"What? You said it," I mentioned.

She just rolled her eyes.

"Hey, look, you just gotta change your image a bit. I mean, be yourself, just a little...more modest, less abrasive, and not so stuck up, " I said.

"But how? I don't exactly know how to change myself. It's not like they offer a class on it," She said.

"No, but there's me. We can hang out, and I'll just point things out to you to improve on. Kind of like you would do in an acting class, except these have to be real," I said.

She pondered it for a moment.

"Okay," She said, a weak smile brightening her face.

"Good, let's get started by you going to the bathroom and wiping that mascara off your face."

I bent down and held out my hand. She grabbed it daintily and I pulled her up to her feet.

"You know, you're not as big a loser as some people consider you," She said.

Then I said, "Yeah, you're not nearly as bitchy as everyone thinks. And surely you're not as superficial as they all believe."

I wrapped an arm around her and led her out. She laughed and swung her foot up and to the side to kick me on the butt.