The Switch [COMPLETED]

Chapter 23

Asher Halen: 

The sound of pounding footsteps could be heard on the landing before Ashley slid into view, grabbing onto the banister at the top of the stairs to avoid being flung across the hardwood floors in her slippery socks. 

"Did I just hear that Asher Halen is in my house?" she asked wildly before her eyes finally landed on Paisley. 

Paisley smirked and waved sheepishly, looking a bit bewildered to find herself on the receiving end of Ashley's insane fan-girling. Ashley swallowed several times and blinked rapidly, apparently trying to compose herself so as to not come off as a complete psychopath. Unfortunately for her, I had already seen her craziness firsthand that morning. 

"Asher...hey, hi," she breathed after a few moments, smoothing her hair behind her ears and doing her best to strike a casual pose against the railing. The effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that she was wearing Reptar socks and fuzzy pajama pants. 

"You know this ruffian?!" the shrill voice of Paisley's mother cut through the air behind us, making Ashley's eyes widen in fear and Paisley and I turn around.

"For the millionth time, he's not a ruffian," I mumbled, rolling my eyes in exasperation. 

"Yeah, I'm not a ruffian," Paisley echoed before her expression turned thoughtful. "I would go with maybe 'punk' or 'egotistic maniac,' but definitely not ruffian."

Paisley's mother flared her nostrils but otherwise ignored Paisley's blasé remark. I, on the other hand, elbowed her in the ribs and shot her a pointed glare. I was not a punk OR an egotistic maniac. 

Well...okay, maybe a little. 

"I know his music," Ashley admitted sheepishly, smoothing down her hair once again as she addressed her mother. "His band is the one I was researching...for my case study..." she trailed off as her mom's eyes narrowed suspiciously, finally seeing through Ashley's weak fib. 

"We are going to have a serious talk about this when your father gets home, young lady," Paisley's mom said to Ashley before turning her attention back on me. "And YOU...if you set one foot out of this house with this thug then that's it. You will not be welcome back in."

I swallowed nervously under her cold glare as my gaze flickered to Paisley. The gravity of what I was asking her to do for me had suddenly hit me. Because of me - and this weird situation we were in - Paisley was basically about to be kicked out of the only home she had ever known. 

Paisley's eyes locked onto mine, and in them I saw an intense and steely resolve. With her jaw set firmly in a tight line, she nodded once at me, a silent confirmation that she wanted this - wanted to get away from this house and these people and find out what had happened to us. I nodded back at her and took a deep breath before turning to face her mom.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," I said evenly, not once breaking eye contact with the scary woman at the bottom of the stairs, "but I'm going with Asher. I'll keep you updated on my whereabouts."

"Don't bother," Paisley's mother snapped before spinning on her heel and stomping out of the room mumbling about ungrateful children.

I looked at Paisley and sighed apologetically, but she just shrugged sadly and continued walking up the stairs to her room. It wasn't until we were almost at the top that we realized that Ashley was still standing there, looking between the two of us with an expression somewhere between awe, confusion, and anger. 

"What is going on?" she demanded in a breathless whisper, locking my arm in a death grip as she stared at Paisley with eyes the size of saucers. 

"You just heard me tell mom - I'm going with Asher for a while. I can't really explain, but it's important..."

"You're going with Asher...where?" she asked slowly, finally dragging her eyes away from Paisley and back to me where they narrowed suspiciously. 

"On tour," Paisley piped up, the expression on her face telling me that she was clearly loving rubbing this in Ashley's face. "Just for a few days...weeks...months maybe..." she trailed off uncertainly and her smug grin faltered a bit as she thought about how long it could possibly take to sort out our little situation. It reappeared at the look of utter bewilderment on Ashley's face. "What can I say?" Paisley began, draping an arm around my shoulders. "Paisley just really made an impression on me at the meet and greet. I found her online and we started talking and, well...here we are! Life's just crazy, isn't it?" she said, grinning cheekily at me before looking up at Ashley with an amused smile. 

I tried my best to match her grin, but it was hard to concentrate with Ashley's fingernails still digging into my arm.

"Now, if you'll excuse us," Paisley said, reaching forward to gently extract Ashley's fingers from my arm, "we have to go get Paisley here packed. Lovely seeing you again...um...Aubrey, was it?"

I snorted a little at Paisley's purposeful blunder of Ashley's name. That was harsh. Hilarious - but harsh. 

Ashley was gaping at our retrieving backs as Paisley steered me down the hall towards her bedroom, alternating between bursts of quiet giggles and low groans of despair. Once we were safely inside her bedroom with the door closed behind us, she collapsed onto the floor and buried her head in her hands.

"Oh my gosh - what did I just do?" she asked in a shrill voice, hysterical laughter bursting from her lips once more. "Did I just get kicked out of my house? Am I even upset about that? I'm not even upset...why am I not upset?"

She turned her face up to look at me inquisitively, as if I somehow had the answers she was looking for. 

"Um...I don't know," I said lamely, and then instantly felt bad when her lips turned downward at the edges in a tiny frown.

"I mean...I wouldn't feel too bad if I was leaving a place like this either," I said quickly in an effort to make up for my lame answer. "I mean...look at this," I said, gesturing to the ugly floral skirt that I was STILL wearing and the bland, pristinely decorated bedroom. "This isn't you, Paisley. Not the you that I'm starting to know, anyways. Maybe it's a good thing that you're finally going to be able to get away and find out who you really are." 

I winced at the cliche sound of my words. I sounded like a fortune cookie. 

Paisley didn't seem to notice or care, though. She looked up at me with eyes full of hope and gratitude and gave me a small smile. I met her eyes and returned the smile, both of us chilling in her bedroom in a state of comfortable, familiar silence before I awkwardly cleared my throat and looked away, effectively putting an end to the moment. 

"Right," I said gruffly, clapping my hands together once as I looked around Paisley's room. "Now...go ahead and pack a bag, and while you're at it, PLEASE find me something else to wear. This sweater is giving me a rash."

-

A/N: Hello, lovelies! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update. I'm in school, I'm super pregnant, it's super hot, and all of my free time is spent napping in front of the fan. No time for wattpad! Plus, this chapter was kind of just a filler chapter and I wasn't really super motivated to write it. Now, though, I'm back for more regular updates! 

Thank you as always for your continued support throughout my little hiatus there. I appreciate any and all attention that this story is able to get from you guys.

Xo, Adrienna