the boy next door /a.i/

chapter thirteen: ashton

Her piercing blue eyes land on my face and as soon as a smirk graces her features, I instantly know her one motive is to stir trouble. I glance over at Alana, a million lame excuses ricocheting around my brain, but who am I really trying to convince; Taylor, Lani or me?

"A-Ashton?" Lani whispers, her beautiful chestnut orbs landing on my face. It takes everything in me to tear my eyes from her face, a look of anger passing over my own.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" I roar "Stop fucking stalking me!" I scream in her face, Taylor smirking at the scene taking place in front of her eyes. Alana's eyes fill with tears as she turns pale.

"Oh, so now you're going to cry" I laugh in her face, taking a sip of my beer.

"You-you asked me here, Asht-"

"As if," I snigger "why would I want to be seen with you? You're pathetic!" I watch as a single droplet falls down her perfectly soft skin. She grabs her bag, sending a painfully dirty look in my direction and heads towards the exit, head down, avoiding all eye contact with the bleached blonde that watched in amusement. The door slammed shut as Taylor made her way towards me, slipping into the opposite side of the booth that was vacant of Lani. She entwined our hands, a sly grin forming on her face.

"What were you doing with her?" she laughed

"She, she uh followed me here – fucking weirdo" I lied through my teeth, instantly feeling a wave of guilt flood through my body. I zoned out as Taylor began to tell me all about the new make up products that now disgraced her façade. All I could think about was the girl with the brown hair and chestnut eyes. The girl who I'd left heartbroken. The girl who I'd left in pain.

* * * * * * * *

Alana

My heart hurt, my physically hurt and I wasn't sure whether to be insanely angry, morosely embarrassed or just mentally empty. I hate him, I fucking hate him. Not just because he hurt me, but because he was my ride and now I was stranded by a godforsaken restaurant that held nothing but misery and an asshole. My hands began to subconsciously dial the only person I knew that could make me feel less like I was falling into a pit of embarrassment and on the second ring, I heard a voice that lit up my world.

"Lani?" Calum's voice sounded

"Cal" I whispered, my voice cracking as tears began to fall again.

"What the fuck has he done?" he growled, instantly knowing the cause of my pain.

"Come get me" I cried, telling him the address and promising over and over that I would stay exactly where I was and wait for him.

Within a matter of minutes, Calum's car pulled up and a boy with a serious case of bedhead and a worried look in his eyes stumbled forwards, encasing me with his arms.

"I'll kill him" was all he said, but it was enough to set me off once again. Cal led me to his beat up truck and his engine roared to life as we left the heinous restaurant, leaving the asshole behind. After a few minutes of silence, I felt Calum's soft palm fall upon my thigh as he reassuringly rubbed up and down, letting me know he was there.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked with a tone of curiosity and concern laced in his voice.

"Not really" I answered simply, my head down as I placed my hand over Calum's, intertwining our fingers. He glanced over at me, the ghost of a smile forming on his plump lips.

"Do you wanna get some pizza?" he laughed, training his eyes back to the road

"You know me too well Cal" I grinned, my heart slowly numbing to the remnants of the hurt from the restaurant

"Pizza Hut it is"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Well this isn't how I imagined tonight playing out" I shyly smiled as we waited for the waiter to arrive with our pizzas.

"Definitely beats playing Fifa" Calum laughed, his beautiful orbs trained on my own.

"Are you sure about that? I seem to remember a few weeks ago you couldn't wait to get rid of me" I teased, the memory of his eagerness to play the game forming in my mind.

"That's before I realised how much I love staring at your beautiful face" he grinned like a naughty school boy. I felt a blush creep into my cheeks, my eyes diverting to the waiter that approached, juggling two large pizzas in the palm of his hands.

"Ah," Calum said "saved by the pizzas"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

After a night of laugher and pizza – lots and lots of pizza – Calum pulled into my driveway, his puppy dog eyes connecting with my own as a small grin graced his features.

"Tonight was fun" I said, breaking the silence. Calum simply looked at me, orbs full of admiration. I coughed awkwardly, a hearty laugh emitting from Cal.

"You're so cute" he giggled like a little boy who'd entered a candy shop. His smile was contagious and I couldn't help but laugh back. Calum's face turned serious as he opened my door for me, holding his hand for me to step out. I tripped slightly as my feet touched the ground, but Calum's strong arms encased around me, holding me to him.

"Can I," Calum started, nerves evident in his voice "can I kiss you?" he shyly smiled. I took a sharp intake of breath, a million of thought running around my brain. I nodded, unable to trust my voice and closed my eyes as I felt the softness of Calum's lips reach my own. It lasted for merely for a second, but in his arms I felt comfortable. He slowly released me, making his way to the car, simply uttering out the words "laters Lani", leaving me alone with my thoughts. Comfortable; I felt comfortable. But was comfortable enough? Ashton made me feel alive, whisked away in a whirlwind of passion and emotion, like a book that was fresh to your mind. I let out a deep breath, a puff of air in front of my eyes and made my way back to my house.