Sign Your Name Across My Heart

Chapter three

I wake up in the morning, instantly feeling fretful. I thought about Ivy all night while trying to fall asleep.

I grab my phone from my nightstand, seeing that I have no messages or calls from her. She didn't contact me at all, which left me to think the worst. I don't know Bram, I don't know who he is or what exactly he's like, only that I know he has the biggest stash of weed that I've ever seen before in my entire life. I've never been exposed to that kind of stuff, only in movies or music videos, I never actually thought people did that in real life. I rub my eye with one hand as I use the other to text Ivy.

Are you ok?

I get out of bed, walking to my little bathroom and I put my phone down on the counter to brush my teeth. Half way through, I get a text back from Ivy.

Ivy's just fine, she's asleep in my bed ;)

I read the message and I can't help but instantly frown. Who is using her phone? Bram? Or has something bad happened and some random person is using her phone while she sleeps?

Who is this?

I text back right away. I watch the bubble appear as the person is typing.

Bram :)

I don't know why, but that little smiley face is making me so angry, as I start to remember what he did last night and how he was treating me and even Ivy. He was disrespecting her right in front of face. Now that I know she obviously doesn't care since she slept with him, I scoff and decide to ignore his text, as I finish brushing my teeth. Clearly she's in good hands, to her standards.

I walk to my kitchen, my phone still in hand. I feel it vibrate, another text coming through. I hurry to look at it, hoping that Ivy is awake now and that she's finally answering me, but by the look of the text, I can tell it's still Bram.

Ivy and I were speaking last night and we thought it would be fun if we all went out to a bar together tonight. What do you say?

I answer after a couple seconds.

No thanks.

I begin to pour myself a bowl of cereal, imagining going out for drinks with someone like him. I'd rather hang myself, to put it lightly.

He sends another text. Okay, how about a nice dinner?

Bram seems to be a very persistent person and I begin to wonder why I'm even entertaining this conversation. I decide to send one more text with the intent of never answering him again.

I'm busy tonight.

I sit down at the island in my kitchen and I start to eat my cereal. I'm not one to obsess, or ponder, but for some reason my mind falls on Ash. He's good looking, that's not hard to admit. He has nice eyes, a kind smile. The way he presented himself to me made me feel safe. Most importantly, he was nice to me. He noticed me. Maybe it was a mistake not giving him my number.

By the time I finish my cereal, my phone is ringing. I see Ivy's name. I grow worried, as I hope that it's not Bram trying to call me. I decided not to answer and let it ring. After about a minute, he calls again. I sigh and pick up the phone, ready to tell him to leave me alone. I answer and put the phone to my ear, hearing, "Libby? Hey, are you alright?" It's Ivy, thank god.

"Yes, I'm fine. But are you? You disappeared last night! Again." I say to her, clearly annoyed.

"Me? So did you! You went off with that cutie." She giggles. I stayed quiet, not knowing what to say as usual. "Well anyways... I'm standing outside Bram's place, waiting for a taxi. Do you wanna know what we did last night?" She says in a cheeky tone.

"No!" I shout, softly. "I don't want to know." I follow my statement by a quiet laugh.

"I don't care, I'm going to tell you anyway." She says while laughing. "We had sex... All. Night. Long." She emphasized each word.

I roll my eyes, cringing to myself. I don't want to imagine them having sex. He's a good looking man, don't get me wrong, but he's so arrogant and that makes him unattractive. She began to explain in great detail everything they did last night, but I can't quite listen, as my mind starts to wander to Ash again. The way he leaned against the railing outside, the way he looked at me when he was driving me home. He was kind to me the whole night. Even when he found me in Bram's room at the party, a place I certainly shouldn't have been lurking around in - he was nice to me. I wonder why. He could've easily been mad at me for snooping around, but he wasn't.

"Hello? Libby?" I hear Ivy say, and I come back to earth. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah, sorry, I'm here. What did you say?" I ask, hoping she wouldn't get upset that I wasn't listening.

She sighs, "So can we go out tonight? Me, you, Bram? I think it'd be fun. Plus, I like him! I want you to like him too."

"No Ivy, seriously. I don't want to. Not after last night." I told her.

She groans dramatically. "Please Libby, for me, please." She drags on.

It's funny, this is exactly how she sounded when she begged me to go to the party last night.

"Going to that stupid party last night was doing it for you. I'm not going out again" I say. "And definitely not with Bram."

The line goes silent for a bit, all I can hear is the sound of cars passing by.

"Okay, fine. Just me and you, okay?" She reassures me.

I smile. That's more like it. I wish it didn't take so much for her to just listen to me, but I'm happy she is now. "I like the sound of that."

"Be ready by seven. Dress fancy. I'll come pick you up." She tells me.

"Okay, see you then." I state, before pulling the phone from my ear and hanging up.

The day went by pretty fast, as I spent most of it cleaning up and getting ready, excited to just be with Ivy tonight. It's been a while since it's just been her and I.

At around 6:15 pm, I stand in front of the big mirror in my bedroom, comparing outfits. I don't know why I'm being so fussy, as this was just a dinner with Ivy.

After contemplating between four outfits, trying each of them over and over again, eliminating one by one like musical chairs, I landed on one final outfit. A mid-length silk sage green loose skirt that hugged my waist and a tight white shirt that framed my breasts. She did say to dress fancy, after all. I slip on a pair of short white heels, not wanting to be completely uncomfortable all night. I look at myself in the mirror, happy with my outfit. I touch up my makeup a little here and there, looking at the time. It's 6:55 pm. Ivy should be here soon.

I grab my brown leather purse, putting it on my shoulder, walking towards my front door. I close all the lights off on my way there, waiting for a text from Ivy that she's outside.

I wait by the door, my mind trailing off. I think of how I felt when Ash asked for my number. Why did I ask why? Why didn't I just give him my number? I'm just too cautious for my own good. Now, I'll probably never see him again, because I don't ever want to be near Bram again, which is where Ash would be. Maybe I missed out, but maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

By 7:05 pm, I start to grow a little impatient. Ivy's late. She's always late. Since I met her, back in our last year of high school four years ago, she's been late to everything. I love her but sometimes it's discouraging to make plans with her.

I consider texting her, but I'm relieved as I feel my phone vibrate, looking at it to see that she's finally outside.