Relocating

Night Life

We went to pick up Aria for dinner at some restaurant Aston wanted to take me to. She hops in the car and I take the back seat. She was his cousin after all. I didn't mind. I could rest my eyes without Ashton shaking me awake, or shaking the car on a busy highway. That's what he did just an hour ago and it scared me. I swore he was trying to kill us. Once off the highway, I punched him, but I didn't dare test him on the highway.

When Aria was in the car, Ashton was more mellow. He didn't seem to have his craziness accompanying him. It was actually kind of nice. Don't get me wrong, I love when he does crazy stuff. I just don't like it all-day-every-day. It seemed he liked to hide himself from his family. Or maybe he finally ran out of annoying juice this morning. Ashton had actually been pretty calm all day. Something was off with him. They only crazy thing he did was on the highway. I hope telling him about my parents wasn't going to make him cautious around me. I hated being thought of as this fragile thing. My thoughts are broken when Aria starts talking.

"Hey, so are you excited for your new job?"

"Thrilled. I love coffee and coffee shops."

"That's great! I can't wait for you to try this restaurant. Do you like sushi?"

"Never tried it."

"Whut?" She says in a goofy voice.

"I like fish, though-"

"Sushi is not just fish! Well, it is fish, but it is so much more! It is heaven on a chopstick!"

"Alright! I'll see how I like it."

"You'll love it!" She says all giddy. I had no idea why she was so happy. It was just sushi.

We finally arrive at the restaurant about 40 minutes later, after Aria has chewed my ear off about salmon sushi. When I get out of the car, Ashton walks around and smiles.

"So, Aria sure likes to talk." I say.

"Yeah. She's shy at first, then will talk a lot, then she'll be kind of in the middle."

"I think I'll like that side the best." I say and he laughs.

"We all do."

We catch up with Aria, who has already gotten a seat at the sushi counter, and she has a bright smile. She's thrilled to be here. I'm glad someone is because Ashton looks kind of unsure about the food. Aria orders for us and I don't dare tell her, but it wasn't that great. It was good, but I had to get past the thought of raw fish. I couldn't take the smell much longer either. Throughout the meal, Ashton made funny faces behind Aria. One time she caught him and pushed him off the stool. He slammed on the floor, causing Aria and I to burst into a hysterical fit. It was honestly the most fun I've had at dinner.

I also found out more about Aria. She was an aspiring actress. She wanted to move to LA this summer. She was definitely pretty enough to be an actress. I had no idea what talent she possessed, but she had a perfect sense of sarcasm. I guess that's a good thing to have when you're an actress. She would be good in comedy movies with people like Christopher Mintz-Plasse from Kickass.

When we were finished eating, Ashton said he had a surprise. Though, when didn't Ashton have a surprise? Seemed this boy was stashed with surprises.

"Well, there's one last thing I want to do tonight." He says.

"And what's that?" Aria asks.

"Surprise."

"You're stupid." She grumbles and he pushes her shoulder.

We don't drive too long, and end up at some small music hall. I raise an eyebrow at Ashton and he just laughs.

"This place is the best. They always have a good band." He says smiling brightly.

"Is this illegal, like some of your other great surprises?"

"No. It's legal."

"I sure hope so." I say and Aria laughs lightly.

"What?" I ask.

"You sounded like a cop."

"Do not."

"Do too!" Ashton says and laughs.

We all get out of the car. As I venture into the place, I get a funny feeling. It feels cool in there. It's big and open, with a bar on the side, and random people scattered in different huddles around the room. The band playing says its their first show. They sound alright. They're no Imagine Dragons, but they're pretty good. I stay close to Aria, while Ashton seems to find someone he knows. Soon enough they reach a song you can dance to and everyone in the room slowly starts to dance. This guy seems to glance over about once a minute and smile, but I ignore him.

About 40 minutes later, the band has grown on me. They start playing other artist's songs too, so people can keep dancing. Aria goes to the bathroom and leaves me on the floor. I see Ashton at a table, talking with the same guy he was talking to before. I wondered what they were saying. I didn't have time to really thing because I felt someone behind me.

"Hey." He said. I turned and saw it was Mystery man.

"Hey. Great band." I say making awkward conversation.

"Yeah. My names Logan."

"Rachel." I respond.

"Nice name. So what brings you here?"

"Just out with my friends."

"I don't see any."

"Bathroom."

"Want to dance." He says as a more upbeat song comes on.

"I don't really dance."

"C'mon I saw you before." He says taking my hand. I shake it away, but he try's to take it again.

"I was dancing with my friend."

"We can be friends."

"I'm good." I say turning. He grabs my arm, and I can't shake it.

"Hey. We don't have to dance babe. We can do something else." He smiles.

"Get away." I say trying to pull my arm off.

"Hey! Back off man." I hear Aria say. I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fuck off." He says and pulls my arm harder. I wince at the pain.

"You're hurting her. Let go!" Aria yells.

"Like I said sweetie, fuck off." He starts dragging me by my arm. I dig my feet in, but it doesn't help. Aria grabs my other arm, realizes that isn't working and goes for Logan. He pushes her to the floor. Now he hurt her. I do the first thing that comes to mind, scream for Ashton. I start struggling and yell his name. I look back at the table. He was looking over in our direction. I shout his name again. My shoes slip and my butt hits the floor. Logan drags me up. I see Ashton coming over and my hope rises. He rips the guys arm off me and pushes me behind him.

"Hey buddy, get away from my girl." Logan says.

"She's not your girl, so fuck off." Ashton says.

"Her friend wasn't keeping her much company, so I figured I would."

"She doesn't want your company."

"But I want hers." He says and reaches for my arm. Ashton pushes it away and gets pushed back in return. I stumble back, but catch myself.

"Lets go Rachel. C'mon Aria." Ashton says and we turn. I feel a cold hand grab my wrist and pull me back.

"Let go of me!" I shout and aim to kick him in the balls. He catches my leg and I fall back. Ashton catches me and we run out of the Music Hall. Logan follows, but we get out faster than he can. I notice Ashton has been holding my hand this whole time. It feels warm in mine and kind of funny. He lets go and we hop in the car. I don't know why his hand felt so strange. I come to the conclusion that it was my nerves that made it feel funny, not because I actually feel that way. But, honestly, who knows if I do?