[ thirty nine ] winner
Ashton walked around to the front of the house, too upset to even think. Hot tears began to blur his eyesight and behind him, he could hear light footsteps on the grass. He was standing on her front lawn when he turned around to catch Prudence running up to him. He thought she looked as holy as an angel with her white clothing and her strawberry blonde hair flowing in the slight breeze.
She was quiet when she reached him, biting down hard on her lip. She seemed to be debating on something that ebbed away at her mind.
He set his hands on her shoulders gently, to steady her. She was winded, with cheeks flushed despite having run from the back of the house to the front. On any other day he would have thought it strange, but at that moment it wasn't something he noticed. Ashton brought a hand up to push a stray strand of hair away from her face and waited for her to say something. If she had followed him, he thought she had something important to tell him.
"I..." She began, looking down at her shoes. "Ashton, I..."
Cupping her face in his hands once more, he tilted her head up and pressed his lips to hers tenderly. He was able to feel her own lips tremble nervously, but she didn't push him away this time.
They were startled by footsteps hitting the gravel as they made their way up the walk that led to the front door. The two pulled away, with a flustered Prudence looking down at her shoes once more. Michael stopped a few feet from them and clapped his hands together sarcastically. Ashton turned to his friend to see the hurt in his eyes. Even though he had been so horrible to her in the beginning, Michael was truly in love with Prudence.
"Looks like Ashton won the contest." He said with a cynical smile playing on his lips.
"C-contest? What are you talking about?" Prudence asked, yet she could figure where things were going. The two boys could practically see her heart shattering before their eyes.
But in his anger, Michael could only think of making Ashton lose her trust and care in that moment. "Calum challenged the three of us." Michael explained, "He said that whoever kissed you first would be the winner and Ashton just won." With each of his words, Prudence's blue-grey eyes pooled up with tears and spilled down her face. She bit down on her lip, trying to contain her sobs, but eventually they erupted into a strangled sound.
Ashton reached for her, hoping to explain everything. "Prudence, I didn't want to be a part of this. I-"
"Don't touch me." She interrupted, swatting his arms away from her. He noticed an emotion he had never seen in her; anger and resentment. But the strongest emotion seen within her was hurt. "I don't want to hear your lies. How could I have been so stupid? Its obvious that boys like you don't associate with girls like me." The sixteen year old turned and bolted for the door which was a few feet away. Prudence was quick to open the door and stepped into the house, slamming the door behind her.
Lucy was sat in the livingroom and saw her younger sister run up the stairs and to her bedroom. The seventeen year old Carrigan sister got up from her seat confused.
Outside the house, Ashton was filled with anger and helplessness. Michael stood there with arms crossed over his chest, looking quite satisfied with himself. Of course he wasn't happy that he hurt Prudence, but he was happy that if she wasn't going to love him, at the very least she would end up hating Ashton.
Anger bubbled up in Ashton and he lunged himself at his bandmate, tackling him down to the ground. He grabbed the fabric of Michael's shirt and shook him, hazel eyes filled with anger. He brought a shaking fist to hit him, but Michael pushed Ashton off him.
Lucy, concerned for her sister, let the fighting continue and went upstairs to check on her. The door was unlocked and the dark haired girl found her younger sister on her bed, crying into her shaking hands. Her shoulders were wracked by her sobs. Lucy took slow steps towards her and when she set a hand on her shoulder, Prudence flinched and turned to face her, ready to yell at the person in her room if it was one of the boys. But since it was only her sister, her expression softened.
"Oh Lucy..." She cried.
"What's wrong?" Lucy asked. Her sister's tears tore at her heart, especially because she had seen both her sister and mother suffer so much through the years.
"They were just playing with me." Prudence cried. "They never liked me. It was all a stupid game. I thought they cared about me, but it was just a contest set up by Calum."
Lucy gasped. "Calum?"
Filled with rage at Calum and his friends for what they did to her sister, she marched down the stairs and towards the front door. She pulled it open to find Michael and Ashton fighting on the front lawn. Both were so engrossed in their own anger at each other that they didn't even hear Lucy stomp towards the hose and turn it on. They only acknowledged her presence when she soaked them in cold water. "Congratulations," Lucy spat, "You just broke an innocent girl's heart. What did she ever do to you? All Prudence ever did was offer you all her love and care."
"But Lucy-" Ashton protested.
"Fuck you." She stopped him. "Get out of my house!"
With that, she went back into her house and whipped her cellphone out of her pocket. She was going to do what she should have done long ago. She clicked on Calum's name on her contact list and dialed his number.
He picked up on the first few rings and greeted her in a sweet voice. "Hey Luce."
"I know what you and your friends were doing to my sister." She immediately said intot he phone. When he remained quiet, she continued, "I don't know why I let you and the guys make fun of her for so long, maybe because I was a horrible person. But you four crossed the line. We're over, Calum. I don't want to see you or your friends at my house ever."
She hung up the phone without giving him the chance to speak and went upstairs to comfort her sister.
-
yes, i know i havent updated this in so long, which is why i'm doing it right now.
thank you all for reading, i hope you like the new chapter.
it means a lot to me.
i love you.
-clary xx
