Andrea
The conversation between Calum and I won't stop replaying in my head. The look on his face forever etched in my memory. I couldn't begin to wrap my mind around the fact that he begged for me back. When I broke things off, he seemed so unfazed. Like nothing even hit him.
Speaking of hitting, my thoughts were interrupted (as it seems to always do) when Leah decided to hit the back of my head. "Aray! What the fuck, Ley?" I exclaimed, rubbing the back of my head and pouting.
(Ouch!)
"You seemed to have zoned out. Thought we lost you for a second." she laughed. I think they did lose me for a while. I was so engulfed in my own thoughts that I forgot I was here at Ashton's taco shop and everyone at the table was talking. "Oops, my bad." I shyly put my head down.
"Anyway! Michael was just telling us a story of how he stepped on an old lady." Ley snickered, earning groans from Michael from the oppostie side of the table. "Duuuuuuude. Can we please stop with this? I get it! I stepped on an old lady and she was upset and angry. Move on!" an angry Michael said, crossing his arms like a kid.
"Aw, it's okay, Mike! Just be happy you didn't break any of her bones." Ashton joked, earning more groans from Michael. I laughed at the sight.
I looked down at my plate to see a half eaten taco left. I must have zoned out for so long I forgot to finish it. As I went to take a bite out of it, I noticed the table go quiet and everyone's gaze was set on me. "What?" I said with a mouth full of food.
"Well, you were staring into nothing for so long..." Ley trailed off.
"So, we kinda...put mayonnaise in your taco." Michael concluded.
The moment I heard mayonnaise, I spit whatever I had in my mouth out (on to a napkin, of course). I have a deep hatred for mayo.
"Ashton, I'm sorry for spitting out your glorious food but I will never eat mayonnaise." I say, cleaning my mouth of any debris left over. Ashton chuckled, "Don't you worry. I swear I had nothing to do with that."
"Not cool, guys." I glared at my two best friends. I told you they were partners in crime.
"Well, I gotta get going. Mom decided to make me babysit tonight." Mike rolled his eyes. "I'll head out too. I've got a bunch of papers to write." Ley said, standing up from beside me. "You coming?"
I looked at Ashton, who was sat across me. Maybe he'd get to know me more if I stayed.
"Uh, I'll go home later." I smiled at my two friends. They shared a look with raised eyebrows. "Mkay, Santos. See ya!" Michael said, fist bumping me as he made his way out. "Text me when you get back please." Ley said, sending me a wink.
There was awkward silence as Michael and Leah left. Ashton and I just avoiding each other's gaze. "So," I said, trying to break the silence, "Do you always just sit with your customers like this?"
He chuckled at my attempt to joke. "Just for the special ones."
I raised my eyebrows at him, "Oh, I'm special?"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now, Andrea." he laughed, making me do the same. God, his laugh is so contagious.
"Care to explain what the fuck mayonnaise did to you to make you hate it so much?"
I rolled my eyes. "If you must know, growing up my aunt used to make those egg sandwhiches. The one with the hard-boiled eggs and mayo."
"Oh yeah, I love those!"
"Well, it was gross."
"Oh."
"She didn't really make them that well. All I could taste was mayo and trust me, cheap mayo in the Philippines is not good." I explained, cringing at the same time. "Damn, I love mayo." he pouted. "Maybe I can change your mind?"
"We'll see about that, Irwin."
- - -
It had gotten dark out and I was worried I would have to pull another all nighter for my requirements that are due. Ashton offered to walk me back to the residence halls.
How sweet.
"So, you seemed pretty occupied with something while you spaced out a while ago. Everything alright?" he asked. "Oh," was all that came out. I couldn't justify why he was allowed to know about my affairs with my ex-boyfriend. But at the same time, not telling anyone about it has been eating me alive.
"I had this conversation with my ex yesterday. Kinda just twisted my thoughts a bit." I said, trying to downplay the severity of it all. "Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked, stopping in front of a public bench that was conveniently along our route.
"Uh, sure."
We sat down and he looked at me with concerned eyes, "So, what happened?"
I took in a deep breath, "Basically, he asked to talk to get things off his chest. I just didn't expect that the thing he wanted to get off his chest was to ask to get back together." I tried to make it plain and simple; Didn't want to get into the nitty-gritty.
"But, he fucked up, no?" he asked. Trust me, Ashton. I'm just as confused as you are.
I nodded in response. "Well, how did that make you feel?"
"Honestly, just confused. He told me that he really loved me, but for some reason I didn't feel that during the relationship itself. So, how am I supposed to believe anything he says?"
Ashton nodded as I spoke. "I get that. It isn't fair to you. What he did both during and after the relationship, I mean."
I sighed, out of energy to even go deeper into this conversation. We both just sat in silence, watching the cars drive by. My body jolted slightly as Ashton placed his hand on top of mine. "I'm really sorry about this confusing shit. You don't deserve it."
I turned to look at me with tears already streaming down my face. I haven't felt so understood in a long time, it was like a rare occurrence. "Thanks, Ashton. I appreciate it so much." I said, his hand squeezing mine ever so gently.
"I'm here for you, Andrea. I mean it."
My first response was to pull him in for a hug. I was so overwhelmed with so many emotions, I don't know what came over me. Lucky for me, he reciprocated and hugged me back.
As we both pulled away, we locked eyes for a moment. And before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I was in shock, not knowing whether or not I should be fighting this or letting this happen.
I decided the latter.
The kiss was gentle but intense at the same time. Like we'd been craving for each other for a long time. Which is weird because I had only met him a few days ago.
He pulled away and tried to read the look on my face. "I-I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself and-"
"No, it's okay," I cut him off. "If you didn't make the move, I probably would have done it myself."
~ ~ ~
first ever kiss on this book!!! about time ashton gOsH
anyway i hope this makes everything a little more interesting,,,, i honestly still don't know where i wanna go with this but o well
like comment n vote <3
- v.d.
