Even Our Angels Looked Surprised

Chapter 11

By the middle of November, Ashlyn couldn't decide how she felt about being with Casey. She knew it was a rebound. It allowed her to cope, but it was just a band-aid.

With someone else she may have felt guilty to see it that way, but Casey was almost as noncommittal as she was.

She spent the week at school, and she'd show up for a day or two of the weekend to hang out on the beach.

She was so young, and she'd go days without texting or show up later than planned if she decided to party with her friends instead.

Not that Ashlyn blamed her - she probably recognized how temporary it could be. So Casey didn't ask how Ashlyn felt, and in return Ashlyn didn't ask how her Friday nights went when she'd show up Saturday.

One Sunday afternoon, after Casey had already left the house, Chris called her out on it.

"So how long is that gonna be going on?" He gestured toward the door Casey had exited just a few minutes before.

Ashlyn didn't even look up to acknowledge her brother. "I dunno." She replied around a mouthful of cocoa puffs.

"Kinda seems like a waste of time if it's not going anywhere."

"Yeah, she's young. She may hang around for a bit though."

Chris glared at her from across the table. "I didn't mean her. I meant you."

Ashlyn glared right back at him before filling her mouth with more cereal. She rolled her eyes before answering a few moments later. "I know what you meant, Chris."

"Then what are you doing?"

Not done with her cereal, Ashlyn got up from the table. "You don't see me complaining when you bring girls home."

"Ash..."

"Why are you all of a sudden bothered by me having someone over? You've never cared before."

"Yeah. Because you've never been in love with someone else before."

Chris heard her bowl clatter in the kitchen sink. She didn't answer until she walked back into the room. "And what am I supposed to do about that?"

Chris shrugged. "I guess I just never expected you to let something like that go so easy."

"That's not fair, Chris. I waited around forever for her. I laid it all out there, but she wasn't interested."

Ashlyn was growing visibly upset, but Chris didn't back down. "Ash, how long did you wait before hooking up with Casey? What - a month?"

That stung, and Chris knew it did.

"That doesn't matter if Ali doesn't want to be with me. It was getting bad, Chris. I wasn't looking for it, but I don't know what I would have done..."

She hated herself for starting to cry, but Chris was pulling her into a bear hug just a second later. He waited until her breathing steadied before stepping back again.

"I get it, Ash. But you're gonna have to deal with the Ali thing."

She let out another steadying breath.
"Yeah. I know. I don't want to though."

Chris nodded, because he understood. "Well, when you do, you know I'm here."

"Yeah."

They didn't speak about it again, but Ashlyn didn't sleep that night.
_______________________________________

Ali was thankful for how busy life became as soon as she got back to Frankfurt. November was all soccer, and she soon had her ticket to be home over the December break.