never be » lrh book one

Chapter 3

I N T E R V I E W

Sam's POV

No break.

That was my new motto for Australia. Why, you ask? Well at the crack of mother fucking dawn (9am), Ashton rang my doorbell and would not go away till I answered. I felt bad when I let him in and gave some attitude, but it was okay. He probably expected it.

"Well, Sam, maybe you should be grateful for my little visit. I have some news and you're going to like it." He smirked, leaning up against the front door. I crossed my arms, giving him an oh really? look.

"Mhm. You see, I got you a job interview at the cinema I work at." He says in a parent-like voice. If you don't know the tone I'm talking about, you're luckier than I am.

"Oh, thanks." My voice is very monotone and tired at the moment, but I'm actually really happy Ash did that for me.

"But uh, the only time I could get you an interview was today at noon. I figured I'd come help you get ready for it." He shrugged. I was so tired. Ashton could tell and he ended up pulling me into a hug, his arms wrapped tightly around me. I felt very secure in his arms, like nothing could hurt me. He was stronger than I initially thought.

A couple minutes later of relaxing, Ash let me go. I groaned, but he insisted I go start getting ready. I don't know why, but he insists. As I walk up the stairs, he follows behind me, blabbering on.

"You need to be at least 15 minutes early. Oh, and give a firm handshake to be polite. Don't forget to being a copy or your resumé. Be nice. Keep eye contact but not to a creepy point. Make yourself seem really great like how I described you." I cut him off there.

"I don't know how you described me, idiot." I teased. He laughed and walking into my bathroom with me.

"Oh, right. Well I said you're very nice and good with people. You obey rules and enforce them well without being mean about it. Um... you're smart." He explained, elaborating quite a bit.

"Thank you, Ash. That means very much to me." I say as I brush my hair. He sits on the edge of the tub and smiles at me through the mirror. While I brush my hair, I look at Ash's outfit. He's wearing a purple t-shirt which looks pretty cute on him, along with jeans. I guess it's colder than usual outside.

Once I'm done cleaning myself up and making myself look as presentable as possible, I take Ashton to my room and make him pick out an outfit to wear to the interview. He chooses a casual burgundy dress with a gold necklace and these beige heels.

"You've got this," He says once he sees me in my outfit. I grab his hand and pull him up into a hug. We seem to be doing this a lot today. He kisses my cheek very quickly. "Go get 'em, tiger."

* * *

"Well that was easy," I mumble, walking out of my new boss's office with my uniform. Ashton is waiting outside for me. He jumps up and runs to me, lifting me up high. I laugh and beg for him to put me down because we're causing a scene in the middle of a movie theater, or a cinema or whatever I need to call it now.

The whole interview I basically acted as the person Ashton said I was. Australia is really turning me into a better form of myself. Now, because of all this, I've landed myself my first job, and I also have become way more outgoing. The old me never would've been able to easily get through that interview the way I just did. I'm actually enjoying how this is all making me feel. This is the fresh start I've been waiting for.

Ashton obediently puts me down and grabs my hand, tugging me out of the movie theater. "YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT!" He yells out into the open parking lot. I don't really think he cares who hears him at this point. Before I know it, his hands are in mine and we're dancing on the cracked, faded cement.

When Ashton notices that I'm not as excited as him, which I don't think is even possible for me, he stops, both of my hands still in his. "Listen, Sam, the only thing I can tell you right now is to live in the moment. You know? I mean, we'll never be as young as we are now, in this very moment. You have to live life to the fullest and never waste a moment."

I kind of just stare at him for awhile before responding. Honestly, I wasn't really expecting that kind of motivational mini speech from him, but he's right.

"I promise I won't waste a moment of my life, Ash." I responded, looking straight into his hazel eyes. He seemed to believe me because he went back to his normal, joking self.

"I knew you'd do it." He leads the way back to our cars which are parked beside each other of course.

"Never said I wouldn't." I nudged his arm and chuckled. Then, he laughed the most adorable, contagious laugh I've ever heard. I must've been looking at him in amazement because he stopped and started snapping his fingers in my face.

"Hello? Earth to Sam?" He continued snapping. I shoved his hand away and dug in my pocket for my keys. Once I managed to get them out and unlock my car, I gave Ash a quick hug and then got into the car.

"I'll facetime you later," I said, then shut the door before he could say anything. Honestly, it was because I am deathly afraid of rejection. But then I saw him give me a thumbs up and mouth 'okay' and I ended up feeling a lot better as I pulled out of the parking space.

* * *

Later that night, after I had gotten home and cleaned myself up from the stressful but successful interview, I facetimed Ashton. For some reason I was nervous. My heart began to beat very quickly as it rang. Luckily, it didn't ring for long.

"Heyyyy Sam!" Ashton said as soon as we popped up on each other's screens.

"Hi," I said sheepishly. I couldn't help it, I was still a nervous reck.

He stared at the screen for awhile before speaking. "You seem uptight. Loosen up," I rolled my eyes at his words.

"Can't. Too busy thinking." I responded in an almost-monotone. Ashton's face became serious and I got red, of course. Who wants to be friends with someone so serious?

"Oh fine. I'll cheer you up. Want me to sing?" He asked, raising his eyebrows and looking around his room before looking back at the screen. "I could sing All Time Low." He seemed like he wanted to and I wanted to hear him sing, so I agreed.

Then, he began to sing A Daydream Away by All Time Low and it fit his voice perfecty. The song was off their newest album, Dirty Work, and was my favorite. I had told him that on the plane here. A part of me was genuinely surprised he remembered. Then he got to my favorite part and I couldn't help but hum along.

"You're just a daydream away, I wouldn't know what to say if I had you. And I'll keep you a daydream away, just watch from a safe place so I never have to lose." We then both harmonized and it was beautiful, even though it was shitty and over facetime, I loved every second of it.

When I looked at the clock, it was nearly 1 in the morning and I had school in the morning. Reluctantly, I looked at the screen and into Ashton's eyes.

"Hey Ash, it's 1:00. We need sleep. I have school tomorrow." I told him, a little frown quickly making it's way onto his face.

"Okay, goodnight, Sam. Love you," He smiled and blew a kiss. Half of me was like what the fuck? but the other half was really happy about it.

"Love you too. Goodnight, Ash." I blew a kiss and then hung up and set my phone on my bedside table. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep that night, even though I was so scared about school tomorrow.