Gone

Chapter Twenty-One

So its going to get a bit intense in this part of the story, I'm skipping Holly's point of view because really like where it's going. I think the story will be rolling to a close soon and I'll start working on the next one *hint* *hint* *wink* *wink*. And now...ONTO THE STORY

~TinkerNinjaCorn

Chapter Twenty-Two: Ash

The ride went by pretty fast after I fell asleep and I woke up two hours later to find that we were already in Florida and that we were heading further south. The driver announced not too much later that we would be arriving in Wrinch in about an hour.

I remembered that I needed to let Kelsey know when I would be arriving. I pulled out my cell phone and opened up a text message to send to her, writing in it that I would be showing up at the Greyhound bus station in Wrinch at about three o'clock.

I relaxed again and closed my eyes, the headache was still there but just not as persistent as before. God, that's why I stopped drinking, I thought to myself as I rubbed my eyes. The hangovers were a bitch to nurse when I had to be at school during it or do something besides laying in bed and trying to sleep the alcohol off.

There was a movie playing on my screen; what looked like The Little Mermaid, probably for the little kids on the bus so they wouldn't get bored out of their mind just sitting there and watching cars go by.

It was actually an hour and a half before we got to Wrinch because of an accident on the highway. I watched the rest of the movie and hugged my bag to my chest, tired and a little nervous. I was probably going to be in so much trouble with my mom and my dad that I wouldn't be able to do anything but go to school and come home. Running off like that was a lot like me, but I hadn't done it since I'd been in Georgia before we had moved down to Florida. Maybe Georgia just isn't the right place for me, maybe it's actually bad for me to be there.

Whenever I'm there something bad always happens and I get in trouble, whether it's with my parents or someone else. But it's hard to let go of things you've known your entire life, like Lily and all of the friends I thought were my true friends but never turned out to be. They never called when I was down in Florida or wanted to talk to me after I'd left home.

It seemed that I would have to let Georgia go, along with all of the people and things in it that I'd grown fond of; that I had thought I would have and be with forever.

I was jolted out of my saddening thoughts by the intercom cracking to life and the driver stating that we would be arriving at our next stop in five minutes, but it wasn't my stop. I looked out of the window and saw cars driving by while we manuevered downtown to the bus stop. It was a single laned street on either side with little shops and restaraunts on either side.

I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes, I'd be home soon.

When we got to Wrinch, Kelsey was outside in the parking lot with her mom, leaning against the hood of the car.

"Hey, Ash, you look like shit," she said casually as I approached her.

"Thanks, Kelsey, that's always great to hear," I replied, rolling my eyes.

She took my bag from me and I gave her a hug, "Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem. Are you hung over or something?" She raised an eyebrow at me once we pulled apart.

"Maybe," I smirked a little and walked around her to get into the back seat. Kelsey got into the front and threw my bag in next to me. "Thanks for picking me up, Nora," I said to Kelsey's mom, who didn't like to be called "Ms." because it only reminded her that she was single.

"No problem, sweetie, I thought you were supposed to be with your dad for the holiday." She looked at me through the rearview mirror while I buckled my seatbelt.

"Things changed," I replied vaguely and wouldn't elaborate so Nora stopped talking about it.

"Are either of you girls hungry?" She changed the subject. "Because I am."

Kelsey said that she could eat and so I had no choice but to go along. Nora pulled into a fast food drive-thru and we ordered food and no matter how hard I tried she wouldn't let me pay for my own meal. That's kind of why I don't like going out with my friend's parents because they always want to pay for me and it just doesn't make me feel comfortable.

After getting the food, we drove off, heading back to Oen with the music up and the windows down. I sat quietly in the back seat eating my food and wondering how I was going to approach Holly when I got back.

She may have been the one to ask me to come back, but I wasn't exactly sure what she wanted me for. Should I go to her house? Call her? Should I wait a day? If I did that, then I'd already be grounded and probably on complete lock down.

I'd have to call her first, then see what happened from there. I really didn't have a clue what I was doing. My feels were too chaotic to be remotely understandable. 

~   ~   ~

We arrived back in Oen as the sun was going down. I asked  Nora to drop me off at Holly's place when we got closer to the middle of town. "Are you sure? Don't you want your mom to know your home?"

"I'll tell her after I talk to Holly, no worries," I smiled at her. As we turned down Holly's road, my stomach started developing butterflies and my heart began to pound in my chest. 

"Are you sure? How are you going to get home?" Nora asked again as we pulled up outside.

"I'll walk" I tried to flash my most friendly smile, even though I was nervous and a little frustrated. "Thank you for getting me, Nora. And thank you too, Kelse. I'll talk to you as soon as possible." I got out of the car, grabbed my stuff and shut the door, heading up Holly's driveway. 

Her car was there, so I assumed she would be too. Her dad's wasn't, which I was grateful for, I wasn't sure if I would like to confront him. I rested my bag on the wall near the garage and went to the froont door, knocking firmly.

I waited for couple of minutes before the deadbolt slid out of it's chamber and the door was pulled open. Holly stood in the doorway in a pair of men's boxers and another longsleeve shirt. I swallowed hard, my entire body was on overdrive. I'd come back on a whim and just because Holly told me that she needed me. It was so ridicious and stupid that I began to back away.

But, Holly grabbed my arm and pulled me inside, closing the door behind me. "I can't believe you actually came."

I shrugged, "You said you needed me," I glanced at my feet, unsure of how we stood.

"Yeah..." she ran a hand through her hair before looking at me again. I met her eyes, trying not to seem as out of my element as I truly was. 

"So what's going on?" I crossed my arms after a few minutes of awkward silence.

Holly hesitated and I wasn't sure what she was going to say next. She opened her mouth, as if ready to say something and then closed it before a single sound came out. I waited sort of impatiently for her to speak because I had no idea what I wanted to say.

But she didn't say anything. No. She stepped closer and gave me a questioning look. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. I don't know what happened next except that her lips met mine, for the second time...ever.

I felt a hand rest on my shirt, grabbing it slightly when I didn't pull away. I didn't know what exactly was going through Holly's mind, but she was being tentive about it. She didn't move her lips after a couple of seconds, so I quickly kissed her a little more firmly and stepped closer.

She had already taken the initiative, I was going to finish things off.