My Friend Justin

Chapter Seventeen

CHAPTER 17<3
 
A text the next day woke me up.
 
 
'Meet me in front of the movie theatre at 1?(: x'
 
 
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee. My excitement almost overcame me, but I managed to control myself. Right. I need something to wear. I opened my full-to-bursting closet. But obviously, there's nothing suitable, how could there be? I decide on a baby blue sweater, skinny jeans and converses. To top it off, I wear my leather best friend bracelet Justin got me. It hung on my wrist proudly.
 
 
I check myself in the mirror quickly, giving myself the once over. Hmm. I guess I look...presentable. I grab my purse and stumble awkwardly downstairs, my legs felt a bit like jello.
 
 
"Hey honey, you look nice, are you going on a date with that guy who kissed you last week?"
 
 
"MOM!" I'm horrified, was she peeking through the curtains?
 
 
She obviously found this whole conversation hilarious.
"What? I just saw when I noticed you at the end of the drive. At least it was just on the cheek. I don't need to talk to you about the birds and the bees do I?"
 
 
"MOM!" I shout at her, feeling my whole face flash crimson. "Be cool!"
 
 
"I'm just kidding. Anyways, have a nice time."
 
She chucks me a few dollars as if that was to make up for my embarrassment, leaving the kitchen to do other mom things.
 
 
I reach for the money, putting it in my wallet. The clock reads 12. If I gulp down my cereal and run for the bus, I should get there for 1.
 
 
I managed to get to the bus on time. I hate going on it by myself. I sit near the back, praying no one weird will sit next to me.
 
 
Luckily enough, Jade enters when we reach the next stop, and when she sees me she squeals.
 
 
"ASHLEIGH! OH MY GOD HI HOW WAS CANADA ARE YOU OKAY I'VE  HEARD JUSTIN'S ALBUM IT'S AMAZING WOW WAIT LET ME JUST GET MY TICKET."
 
 
Oh dear. Everyone on the bus turns to me, frowning. I try to hide behind my purse, but it's not very big, so it just looks like I'm showing it off. Great. I didn't even know Jade was this confident on her own, she's always really quiet when with Carla. Well, I guess Carla is very loud.
 
 
My thoughts were interrupted when Jade came and plonked herself next to me.
 
 
"Right. Tell me everything. Carla is going to be so jealous I saw you first! How was it?"
 
 
"It was great thanks, I met J's old friends, family and everything. It was fun."
 
 
"Good, good. Have you listened to the album yet? It's amazing!"
 
 
"No not ye-"
 
 
I didn't have time to finish before her iPod was out and loud music rushed over my ears.
 
 
IMMA TELL YOU ONE TIME.
 
 
The whole album took up the journey. I had to admit, it did sound excellent. After the last song had finished, Jade looked at me expectantly.
 
 
"So? What do you think?"
 
 
"It sounds awesome."  I reply as the bus grinds to a halt at my stop. Jade gets up aswell. Oh. It's OUR stop then.
 
 
"What are you doing here then?"
 
 
"Oh I kinda have a date."
 
 
Her eyes get big. "Justin?"
 
 
I almost burst out laughing, making me miss the step off the bus and fall down as graceful as a yeti I've always been called. Jade catches me before i land on my face.
 
 
"I'm guessing it's not him then?"
 
 
"Of course not! No, it's  his friend Austin. He's really nice. Really." my eyes cloud over, remembering Austin. I have to blink rapidly to maintain focus.
 
 
"So Justin's free then? That's nice to know." she winks at me, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. "Well I'll leave you to it. Have fun on you're little date! See you Monday"
 
 
Darn I forgot it was school on Monday. At least we have the Halloween ball to look forward to. I saw a flyer for it the other week and it caught my eye. I remember I'd stuffed it into my bag, so I dug around trying to found it.
 
 
I opened it up, swiping away the cookie crumbs off it.
 
 
SPOOKY HALLOWEEN BALL
(Open to Freshmen and Sophomores)
CREEPY SNACKS!
HORRIFYING MUSIC!
SCARY COSTUMES!
 
 
It was very cringey, but I decided I may aswell go, it might end up being fun. Hopefully they don't check if you go to the school so Austin and Matt can go. Speaking of him, I'm going to late! I had about 5 minutes to get across the mall to the theatre.
 
 
By the time I got there, I was struggling to catch my breath. I saw Austin leaning against a pillar checking his watch every so often. I hid round the corner, wanting to get my breath back first. Aw. He looks so cute.
 
 
Okay. My breath has gone back to a normal speed, so I straightened myself and walked out casually. When Austin looked up to see me, he did a slight sigh of relief I probably wasn't meant to see.
 
 
He smiled at me. "Hey! I didn't think you were going to turn up.."
 
 
I squeezed his shoulder. "I would never do that! I just got carried away when I was reading about this Halloween ball at school.  Now that we're on the topic, I think you should come. They don't check if you go to the school or not so it should be good."
 
I stopped talking to give him a chance to speak.
 
 
"Yeah, that does sound good. I'll have to get a costume."
 
 
"Awesome! Right. Let's go in. How much are tickets?"
 
 
Austin shook his head at me. "No it's fine, I've got this."
 
 
I felt a bit uneasy. I don't like people buying me stuff, it makes me feel bad. "Are you sure? My mom gave me some money..."
 
 
But he raised his hand. "No, seriously, it's cool."
 
 
We chose to see Spooksville, a brand new thriller/horror. We managed to pass for 15 so they gave us our tickets without question. I bought our drinks and popcorn much to Austin's distaste, but I was quite stubborn. This felt like the time me and Justin went. It was a bit of deja vu.
 
 
Walking into the movie, it was filled with couples. Oh god. I've become a cliché! I ignore the stares I get from the jealous girlfriends as they see how hot my guy is. Their eyes burn into the back of my head as I sit down.
 
 
Austin slumps down next to me as the lights go down. I move as close as i can towards him as it was possible  in my seat, trying to be subtle. He smells really good, as always.
 
 
Thoughts span around in my head. Was he going to do 'the move' on me? Did I want him to? What flavour popcorn did I get? Will he want to kiss me? Is popcorn breath attractive? 
 
 
The music then it creepy. The whole screen darkened. AAHHH! A white face appeared In a flash of lightning. All the girls screamed, clutching their boyfriends. Pfft. What losers. Then I thought, maybe cuddling up to Austin wouldn't be such a bad idea. I waited patiently for the next... Scary? Bit. When everyone screamed, I joined in, grabbing Austin and pulling him close. Ah. Now I see why they do it. Very clever.
 
 
Austin puts an arm protectively around me, whispering in my ear.
"Are you okay?"
 
 
Ooh la la. Trés sexy. Oh yeah, I'm meant to reply.
"Urm, I think so."
 
 
He loosened his grip, almost sliding his arm away. Oh no you don't. I reach for his arm again.
"Actually, I'm quite scared." I whispered, making my voice waver a bit.
 
 
He got the message, almost hugging me the whole time.
 
 
I felt slightly hungry, so I reached for the bucket of popcorn. Funnily enough, at the same time, Austin reached for it as well. Our hands touched awkwardly, making both of us jerk back. I giggled a little. How awkward can you get?
 
 
The movie was actually brilliant, I didn't find it that scary but the storyline was excellent, a lot of twists and funny moments. Getting held by Austin just made it better.
 
 
When it had finished, the boys peeled off their girlfriends from around them to get up and wander out the cinema. Me and Austin stayed quite close together through the credits. It seemed like I would have to make the first move. I got up, yawning.
 
 
"That was brilliant. Really scary." I announced, grinning at Austin.
 
 
"Yeah, but you only seemed to jump and scream once." he winked at me. Darn, I was foiled.
 
 
"So what do you wanna do now?" I asked, dodging the people around us to get to the exit into the street.
 
 
"I don't mind if you want to go shopping, I need a couple of sweaters..."
 
 
Hah. He's just like Justin, I bet he'll spend ages in the shops aswell. I nod happily.
 
 
We follow the pathway back to the mall. I feel a hand snake  through mine.  I look up to see Austin looking a bit pink in the cheeks. He loosens his grip, letting it drop.
 
 
"Sorry, I didn't know if it was okay or not..."
 
 
I grab his hand again, giving it a squeeze.
 
 
"It is okay." I smile at him, which he returns.
 
 
We continue to walk around hand in hand, until my phone buzzes. I look at him apologetically, before reading the text.
 
 
'Ayyeee yeti. How's your date going? Use protection;)'
 
 
Oh my god. I hid it back into my pocket. I hate Justin Bieber.
 
 
"You didn't see that right?" I asked quickly, reaching for his hand finally.
 
 
"No. But should I?" he pretended to snatch it from me, making me giggle.
 
 
"No, no. It's fine."
 
 
We head to a sweater store, but luckily Austin didn't take up that much time, he chose a green and a red one.
 
 
While he was trying them on, I managed to type back:
'I severely dislike you.' to the Biebs. I get a <3 in return. How nice of him.
 
 
I didn't fancy going anywhere else, so we take the bus home. I remember talking for a while before yawning and closing my eyes.
 
 
Austin nudges me. "Ash, wake up." he whispers.
 
 
My eyes shoot open. Thankfully, I hadn't dribbled and I prayed I hadn't snored. But it all seemed to be good as Austin was still smiling at me.
 
 
"Oh, sorry. I must've been boring."
 
 
"Not at all, you look cute when you sleep." he grins at me, the sun bouncing off his braces. Naw.
 
 
We get off together and he walks me home. I stop him just before we reach the opening of my house. I don't need to be in eye-shot of ninja mom.
 
 
"It's okay, i think I can take it from here. Thank you for today, I enjoyed myself." my eyes flicker to his then look down again. He's really good looking. Why is he even with me?
 
 
"So did I. See you again soon?"
 
 
"Definitely.  Call me soon?"
 
 
"Sure." he leans in to kiss my cheek like a gentlemen, but I tilt my head so our lips meet.
 
 
A spark of electricity flies, partly because he's so surprised. We broke off and I smiled cheekily.
 
 
"See you later, Austin." I touched his shoulder one last time before turning into the driveway feeling like the Greek god of lurve or something.
 
 
Hell yeah! I am so good at this dating thing. I feel slightly dazed, but very happy, swaggering down the road. I swing open the door energetically, almost chipping the paint. (oops.)
 
 
"MOTHER, I AM HOME." I bellow in my poshest accent, throwing myself onto the couch and switching on the tv. Not that I felt like watching anything, but background noise was better than no noise.
 
 
"Hey sweetie, someone sounds like they had a nice time." Mom wonders in, holding a bottle of air freshener.
 
 
"You bet I did. And I'm glad you didn't seem to be stalking me this time."
 
 
For saying this, I got a bit of fabreeze in my face, making me choke a bit. My mom is lovely.
 
 
"Bit cheeky! But I'm glad you had a good time. Stay safe!" she calls, dancing out of the room to go freshen some more air or whatever.
 
 
I open up Skype and Facebook up. Justin's got rid of his Facebook since it was full of friend requests by random people. I had no new messages on Skype, about 5 friend requests and 10 notifications on Facebook. I checked to see who it has added me.
 
 
Maggie 'Beliebforeva' Jones
 
...decline.
 
Sarah 'Ilovejustin' Biebs
 
...decline.
 
Austin Mahone
 
Accept. Of course.
 
 
Amy Weathers
 
Oh! Amy, I remember her. Accept.
 
 
Ben Jacobs
 
Creepy Ben? No thank you.
 
 
My notifications weren't that interesting, just people tagging me in weird photos of myself. Remind me never to go out in public again.
 
Skype was just as fun. No one was online. Yay.
 
I close my phone, resting it on the couch. As soon as I do, though, I get a text from Justin.
 
'I'm at your door. Let me in plz.'
 
 
Sigh.