A Piece of Perfection

Chapter 8: The Trip

Cathy's POV
"I love you" Asher said as he reached for my hand. I pulled my hand back and stood up. "It's too much right now, Asher. Please, don't make me go through this right now." I said firmly. "Fine, if that's what you want, I'll back off. For now." He replied. Relieved I sat back down on the bed. He smirked at me as if he had thought of the best idea in the world. "What?" I asked.

"Wanna go somewhere?" He said, he was definitely planning something. "Depends, where are we going?" I replied. "It's a surprise, c'mon." He grabbed my wrist and dragged me off the bed. "Can I at least get ready first?" I laughed. "You already look beautiful, but I mean if you have to." He sighed.

I pushed him out of my room playfully and shut the door. I grabbed a black crop top, acid wash jean shorts, and some black converse. I grabbed a red and black flannel and rolled the sleeves up to my elbows, leaving it unbuttoned of course. I went to the bathroom threw my hair into a quick bun and did some natural makeup. Then I noticed my glasses were sitting on the counter in my bathroom. "Screw it." I whispered and put them on. I didn't care today I just felt happy for once.

"Catherine Willosin wears glasses?" Cole said childishly, "Four eyes!" I laughed sarcastically, "haha very funny. At least I can see past my ego." We both laughed. Cole did not have a big ego, in fact he was the opposite. He's the sweetest person ever.
Asher walked into the room wearing a tight t-shirt, to where you could see every muscle on his body, some khaki shorts, and vans.

We ate some waffles and everyone got in his car. "So where are we going?" Mason asked. "I think we should go to Hollywood!" Cole squealed. "I've never been, sounds like a great idea." I said in agreement. "You live in LA and you've never been to Hollywood!?" Cole gasped in disbelief. I laughed, "No, Cole, I have never been to Hollywood." "Well then, thats where will go." Asher said. "Off we go!" Cole shouted. Mason suddenly thought of something, "Wait, let's pick up Natalie on our way, I think Cathy might wanna meet another girl." "It would be nice to talk to another female." I reasoned.

We drove to a small, white house and a girl wear a peach, flowy tank, black shorts, and plain converse walked out and into the car. "Hi, babe." She pecked Mason then climbed in the back with me. "Cathy, this is Natalie, my girlfriend , Natalie this is Cathy, Asher's 'friend'" again air quoting friend. Natalie giggled and turned to me. "So how'd you end up with these boys?" She asked, "Well, I wasn't in the best time in my life and Asher swooped in and saved my ass so now I guess I'm stuck with them." I laughed. "Welcome to the club" Natalie laughed, too. I could tell we would be really good friends, she was so sweet and funny. She boldly wore a flower crown over her beautiful blonde curls that were so long she had to move them so that she wouldn't mistakenly sit on them. A small part envied how confident she was.

We continued on our way to Hollywood, windows rolled down, singing songs at the top of our longs, all crammed in Mason's Jeep as if we were in some movie. At that exact moment I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time, happiness. For once, I was finally, genuinely content with myself. They way Asher was looking at me, made me feel warm and safe. Cole and Mason and Natalie being here, being my friend. They weren't quick to judge me like everyone else in my life. It was refreshing. I felt like a new me with a new life.

"Finally, we're here!" Cole squeaked scaring me out of my daze. We parked at a Chipotle and ate lunch then we walked around. "So Cole, since you love Hollywood so much, I guess you'll be our tour guide." I said, "Where to first?" He turned around and started walking backwards, "Wherever the wind may take--" He ran into someone and his hat fell to the ground. "Hey, sorry about that" a tall, dark haired boy said, handing Cole his hat. For a second Cole stood frozen, then he managed to say, "Uh-uh d-don't worry about i-it." The way he looked at that boy, and he was so nervous. Was he blushing? Wait, did Cole like this boy? I'd confront him about it later, no time to now.

Cole seemed pretty shook after that to say the least. "Is that the Walk of Fame?" Natalie, "Oh, lets go there!" We followed as she raced over to it. It was so cool. The people being honored in such a way. To have your name immortalized in the pavement of a Hollywood sidewalk. It was absolutely mesmerizing. "Pretty cool, huh?" Asher said from behind me. "It's more than cool, it's amazing." I replied. He grabbed my shoulder in attempt to pull me closer, I gasped and pulled away. "Sorry, I got caught up in the moment." He said looking at the ground. "It's fine, I just.." I stopped myself.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"No, tell me."

"Can we talk about this later?" he didn't answer, "Please?"

"Fine." He seemed frustrated.

We walked back to the car after going to all our favorite people's stars. As we were getting into the car, Asher stopped me and told me to follow him. We walked up this hill and sat on a bench where no one was. "You wanna tell me what's up now." He asked. I sighed, "Yeah, I guess you should know. Well, I didn't live with my mom throughout all of my college experience. I had a boyfriend and I moved into his apartment with him. He went to college with me and was in one of my classes and he was so funny and nice, until I moved in with him. He asked me to--" I paused and looked at Asher. "It's okay, you can tell me." He said. I took a deep breathe, "He wanted to take my virginity. I told him I didn't want to do it yet, but he disagreed. After I told him no, he-he tried to rape me." a tear rolled down my cheek. Asher wiped it off my tear and wrapped his arm around me in comfort. "I was kicking and screaming, but he didn't stop. Before he had done anything too far, I kicked him in the face and caused his nose to bleed. He hit me and called me names and told me if I ever told someone about it he'd hurt me worse. Ever since then, I've been closed off and scared to be with someone." Asher was shocked, he pulled me close, "I will never hurt you, and I will never let anyone hurt you. I'm gonna protect you, if you'll allow me to."

"I believe you, Asher, but if we're gonna do this, we need to do it slowly." I replied.

"Do what?" He asked seeming confused.

"Be together." I said, "Asher, I wanna be with you."