Cinderella My Ass

Chapter 27

I wake up to an empty car. Ashton isn't in the drivers seat and I didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep.

I open the car door and I'm greeted by cool ocean air and a dark sky. My feet sink in the sand and I took off my flats and placed them into the car. I leaned against the car as I enjoyed the cool, salty air and await the return of Ashton.

I hear music pumping in the distance and people were all over the place in swim suits. Typical beach setting. We were well out of town because there wasn't a beach around our town.

I get tired and decide to sit on the hood of the car and pull my feet up to my chest. I wish I had tied a cardigan around my waist, cause I was getting cold.

I take my phone from the car and return to my spot on the hood of the car. I had lots of missed calls from the girls and a couple messages. I checked them all.

A couple were from Bradley, some from Crystal and some from Sarah. I frowned at Bradley's name but replied none the less. I replied to Sarah's message saying a simple 'Hey' and about 3 seconds after my phone started ringing.

I was frightened by this. I had a weird horror movie moment. I calmed my breathing and answered the phone. "Where the fuck are you! I've been calling you since yesterday and I went by both houses and you weren't at either of them" shouted a furious Sarah in my ear.

"I'm sorry Sarah. I promise I'll tell you everything" I promised. "Where. Are. You" she said each word slowly and menacingly, I was almost scared. "I'm at the beach" I said to her. "What beach?" she asked. "Umm, I kinda have no clue, I just woke up here" I told her.

"You woke up there?! Shit Miranda, are you kidnapped?" Sarah sounded frantic by now. "Calm down Sar, I'm not kidnapped. I'm here with Ashton" I told her, although I have not the slighted idea of where he is at the moment.

"Oh. Why?" she asked. "Honestly, I had no choice. We went to get groceries and on the way back he went in another direction and I couldn't get out of the car so I just went along" I told her.

"Ok, just as long as you're safe. Call me when you get home" she says to me and I reassure her before the call ends.

Somebody clears their throat and I turn my attention to see a tall guy with black hair and grey eyes. He was really handsome. But Ashton looked better. That was my mind speaking. I would never say that out loud.

"Hello" I said, getting my guards up. "You can relax, Ashton sent me to get you. I'm Carter" he said and smiled at me while holding out his hand to help me down from the car. I took his hand and smiled back at him. "Hey, I'm Miranda" I say and we walk towards the music.

"Are you his girlfriend?" Carter asked me. "No, I'm his friend?" I told him although it sounds more like a question. I wasn't sure if he would want me to tell anybody that.

"Oh, well I'm his cousin. I know he can be a little edgy but he's a great guy once you get under all that" he tells me and I smile at his little confession.

"Oh well nice to know" I say to him as we finally reach to Ashton. He was seated on a bench with two girls. A red haired girl and a brown haired one. I kind of felt a small pang in my stomach as he laughed and talked with them.

"Hey guys, I got her" said Carter as he sat beside the brown haired girl. "You must be Miranda, I'm Aubrey but you can call me Bree and this is Marina" introduced the brown haired girl. They were both very pretty girls.

I smiled and nodded at them which they returned. "Well Marina and I gotta go, we'll see you some other time" said Bree as they both stood. "I'm coming with" said Carter as he told me once more that it was nice to meet me and the three of them left.

We sat close to a blazing bonfire and I looked out to the midnight blue water that had the reflection of stars dancing on the surface. It was beautiful. "How you feeling?" asked Ashton. "I'm ok. Just a bit cold" I confessed. "You'll get warmer soon, due to the fire" he told me and I nodded.

"Miranda" he said and I looked at him. The flame of the fire danced in his winter blue eyes which gave him an enchanting look. He looked awesome. I started to blush as I realized I was staring in his eyes. I looked away and said "Ashton".

"I was wondering. If we could maybe start over and be friends?" he asked. He wanted to be friends with me? "Do you mean in general or just at home?" I asked, wanting to be sure. "In general " he said. "Aren't you afraid of your reputation being ruined?" I asked.

His features darkened and his voice got deeper with slight anger. "I told you before that I don't care about that. I never said anything to Brad about that" he gritted through his teeth. "Ok, no need to be angry, I just checking my boundaries" I told him.

I lightened the mood and smiled. "I'd like that" I answered his aforementioned question. "Good" he said.

We watched the ocean until I got bored. I bent over and picked up some sand. He was still looking at the ocean. I poured all the sand in his hair and took his moment of shock to run.

That was how the rest of our night went. Him chasing me, catching me, us laughing and partying. The night was perfect.

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Hey everybody.... If you read any of my other books, you would realize there was an appearance of other characters from another book.

I hope you continue to read, comment, vote and follow.

~A 😘🌸