Bleeding Hearts

Chapter 8

*Ashley's Point of View*

I've got to admit that giant mud ball was the best idea I've had in a while. Then he pulled me back down and I payed for it, but it was worth it. This was all just s kind of therapy for me. I forgot about the cheerleaders, about what Ryan said about Alex, all of it. It was fun. When I opened my eyes I expected to have them see mud, but instead I saw Ryan staring down at me. His dark black hair was brown from all the mud and the mud on his face made his bright blue eyes pop. For a second, I thought, "Wow. He's really hot." But he's my best friend and I'm going on a date with Alex on Friday. And the thought was gone. I got a mud ball, smashed it in his face, wiggled out from under him and returned to safety, laughing the whole way. The fight continued. When it was dark we signed a peace treaty in the mud and started for home. "I'm going to call my mom and tell her we're staying the night if that's alright with you." I said. "Yeah it'll be fun." He agreed. We walked home this time. "Oh she only has one spare bedroom though." He said. "I'll sleep on the floor." " No, you know I'll never let you do that. I'll sleep on the floor." I argued. "Nope." He said stubbornly. "Fine, we can both sleep in the bed." I said. He looked shocked. "O-okay. Sure that sounds great." He said, and we walked inside. Something smelled delicious. "I'm making my special pasta and cheese casserole!" Grandma said. "Oh why don't you two just spend the night! It's already dark out." She said. "I was just about to ask if we could. I'll go call mom and Katrina." I said and walked to the kitchen phone. They said that was fine, they didn't have anything planned tonight anyway. "Alright Ryan, you're up. I'm gonna go shower." I went into the little bathroom across from the guest bedroom and took a quick hot shower. When I got out I found my clothes in the guest bedroom. I began to take off my towel when I heard something behind me. "Oh!" Ryan said surprised. "i-I had j-j-just been l-looking for the... Yeah okay bye." He stuttered and quickly left, blushing. I didn't say a thing. When he left I quickly changed and came out to help grandma make the casserole. In fifteen minutes Ryan came into the kitchen. Except he had no shirt. "Um, Mrs. Giradello? Where's my shirt?" He asked nervously. "Oh my!" She chuckled. "Sorry dear, it's in the laundry room down the hall, it had a mud stain on it so I put stain remover on it. Your Jeans were fine so I figured I'd just put the shirt in the room later. I suppose I forgot! Go on and get it." She said. We dished up the casserole and sat down at the table. Ryan came back and we all began to eat. My spoon was about to go into my mouth when I hesitated. I'm sure it has like, a billion calories. I'll get fat. Ryan glanced at me. Pffft since when do I care, I'm fabulous. I ate the first bite. It tasted like cheesy heaven. "Grandma I need this recipe. But we need to rename it cheesy heaven." We laughed and I shoveled in more cheesy heaven. I'm calling it that forever now. Ryan also ate a bite. "She's right. Cheesy heaven really is the only suitable name." We all laughed again. "Cheesy heaven it is then!" Grandma said. We all ate a few more bites before speaking again. "So how was the first day of school, kids?" Grandma asked. "Well, it was great until we had a little incident in the lunch room." I said. Me and Ryan looked at each other. "I'd prefer not to go into details, sorry. But other than that it was great." I finished. Ryan mumbled something that I couldn't hear. I think I heard "Alex" but I'm not sure. After dinner we all headed to bed. "We have the sleeping arrangements all figured out so you don't have to do anything." I told grandma. "Alright dear. Goodnight Ashely, goodnight Ryan." Then she winked at him, and he blushed slightly. Not sure why. But then we all headed to bed.