Strong ✅

WANNABE

T

he past few months have gone by in a flash. Everett's little brother was getting married soon. He knew that Axel loved Ashley, but so did he. She'd been messing with Everett's head for so long that he had to put it on paper.

Currently Everett was sitting at the piano in Elena's house and writing a song. Elena knew how he felt and offered for him to use her piano to help with things. For some, you may think that the song he's writing is about sex, but really it's all about a guy that is so confused by the bad girl that he fell in love with. The one that always tells him lies.

For the chorus, it needed some hard-core drumming and skilled guitar solos during the refrain. He named the song Little White Lies, and Everett was considering becoming a writer for Axel's band.

♦

Everett finished the song late last night and he brought Ashley to the auditorium to play the song. She had to know how he was feeling. Ashley sat in the audience, along with Axel, Danny, Ethan, Isabelle, Kendall, and Cat. Jordan and Aaliyah were in Somerset at the moment, so they wouldn't be able to hear the song.

Everett played with the guitar for a moment until he fixed the cords. He was doing an acoustic rendition of the song seeing as how he couldn't play the guitar, electric piano, bass, and drums.

The song that he wrote, he thought it would be perfect for the band and seeing as how Everett had more writing experience than the rest of them, he thought it would be a good idea and would benefit the rest of them. "This is Little White Lies." Everett announced. The rest of the boys nodded and he began playing the opening notes.

"If this room was burning, I wouldn't even notice, cause you've been taking up my mind, with your, little white lies, little white lies."

Ashley was smiling at Cameron. She probably thought that the song was rhetorical and meant to be about what he loved about her.

"You say it's getting late, it's getting late. And you don't know if you can stay, if you can stay, but you, you don't tell the truth, no, you, you like playing games."

"Your hands touching me, they're touching me. And your eyes keeping saying things. They're saying what we'd do, when it's only me and you, I can't concentrate."

"It's all I'm thinking about, all I keep thinking about. Everything else just fades away."

"If this room was burning, I wouldn't even notice, cause you've been taking up my mind, with your, little white lies, little white lies. You say you're a good girl, but I know you would, girl. And you've been telling me all night, with your, little white lies, little white lies."

"I know you want it, I know you feel it too. Let's stop pretending, that you don't know, I know it's we came to do."

After the song finished, everyone was clapping, except for Ashley. She ran out, but Everett followed her close behind, until he saw her and Axel kissing. He must have followed her out first. Everett was ready to hit that boy. He was getting married for Christ's sake.

Everett walked over to his brother and punched him. It seemed like this just kept happening. Axel fell to the floor and Everett got on top of him and continued punching him.

Then a voice that Everett knew all too well said, "Oh hell no!"

Isabelle.

Isabelle pulled Everett off of Axel and to put it simply, she slapped him.

"God Dammit, Isabelle! That hurt!" Everett exclaimed.

"I don't give a fuck if it hurt. You can't keep doing this. He is your brother, Everett; your brother. You can't keep hurting him because you're jealous." She yelled.

Axel stood up and while Danny escorted Ashley away. Everett punched Axel, but he deserved it, he supposed.

"Quit it! You're hurting Ashley, Everett. She doesn't deserve this shit." Axel told him, but ran away most likely to find Ashley. Though Everett wouldn't admit it aloud, his brother was right. He was hurting Ashley, but he didn't want to be used and she was playing with his heart.

♦

Everett walked home in the rain. He didn't want anyone to give him a ride. He deserved to get a cold. He deserved to get hit by a bus, in fact. He deserve everything in the world that could hurt him because he hurt her. He hurt Ashley; the only woman he had ever loved. Everett never wanted to be like Axel and break girls hearts, but he was doing the exact same thing.

As Everett turned the corner to his house, there sat Ashley on the steps. He rushed over. She probably had a cold by now.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Everett exclaimed. Ashley shrugged her shoulders.

"I came to see you." she admitted. Everett wrapped his jacket around her shoulders and rushed her inside. His mom didn't say a word as he brought her to his room. Everett turned on the heater and rubbed his hands on her arms trying to warm her up a bit.

By the time Ashley warmed up, she laid her head in his lap and he rubbed circles on her hand. The tingles shot through his body. The way that she made him feel was indescribable. When they were near each other, it was like magnets were pulling them together. When they touched, a million bolts of electricity shot through him. When they kissed, his lips would go numb from the feelings of her lips on his. Ashley was so beautiful and she didn't even realize it. She didn't realize that she made Everett's heart race a million miles a minute. She didn't realize that it killed him everytime she was with Axel. She was like a safe haven for Everett, one that he never wanted to leave.

Before he could ask her anything though, she fell asleep in his arms and it was the most magical thing in the world.