Trust Me

Chapter 16

Persephone showed on my doorstep at 10 the next morning.  I had just gotten my morning cup of coffee, which meant she was in luck.  I was woken up enough that I’d actually be able to pay attention to her and follow any conversation she offered.  I wasn’t entirely useless.

“So, I figured that just because you’re going to the dance with Isaiah, that doesn’t mean you can’t get ready with me.  We’re going to go get our nails done, go out for lunch, and then we can either head back here or to my house and get ready for the dance.  If we go back to my house, I will drive you back here to meet Isaiah in time.  Then, we can meet up at the dance and have the night of our lives!” Persephone explained.  Okay, even with my morning java, I still wasn’t able to keep up with that one.  All I got out of it was nails, get ready, and Isaiah.  But hey, that was enough, right?

“When do you want to leave?” I asked.  Knowing Persephone, she’d politely say whenever I was ready, but she would be dying for me to want to go right then.

“Whenever you want,” she told me.

“Is now good, then?” I offered.

“Yeah!  I’ll be waiting in the car!  Don’t take too long!” she exclaimed and bounced out the door.  See?  I don’t make these things up.

I turned around towards the stairs to change out of my pajamas and make myself presentable to leave the house.  Yeah.  Going to Homecoming with Isaiah.  I wondered how that one was going to play out.  Not only had Aidan and I kept our relationship under wraps, but I had failed to mention the break up to anyone.  It’s not like anyone noticed, considering Isaiah was on vacation for the week, so they weren’t wondering why I wasn’t spending time with him.  Plus, my emotions wouldn’t give anything away.  I was too happy about Aidan to be visibly upset about Isaiah.

“When are you planning on telling her about Aidan?” Mom asked from the kitchen.  I stopped ascending the stairs and immediately rushed into the kitchen.

“What?” I asked. 

She glanced up at me over her mug, and I could see the smirk forming on her lips.  How could she have possibly known?  We didn’t let off any clues that we were anything more than friends.  We didn’t act any differently around the house than before we were together.  What gave it away?

“When are you going to tell Persephone that you and Isaiah broke up and you’re dating Aidan now?” she clarified. 

I could feel myself growing visibly pale.  It wasn’t exactly that I minded her knowing, it just made me nervous that she had somehow found out.  Was it that obvious?  And if it was that obvious to her, was it that obvious to everyone else?  And, okay, fine.  I minded her knowing.  I liked the secretiveness of our secret relationship.  So sue me.

“How did you know about that?” I questioned.

She set her cup down and stood up from the table.  I wasn’t sure what she was doing until she put her hands on my shoulders and looked down at me with a very serious look on her face.  It was the kind of look that made me worry.  It was the way she had told me that my grandmother had died.  What bad news did she have, now?

“Ashley,” she said quietly.

“It’s Ash,” I groaned for the millionth time.  She rarely called me Ashley, and it always bothered me beyond belief.  What did she have to tell me that required the use of the name Ashley?

“Ash, we need to talk about this… thing you have with Aidan,” she told me.

“Can it wait?  I kinda have to get going with Persephone.  She’s waiting in the car,” I pointed out.