Rose | Ashton Irwin

chapter twenty two

Rose's POV

"Hurry!"Penny waves through her car window as I walk down the steps of my house. With an eye roll I intentionally climb in as slow as possible until she grabs my arm and tugs me into the seat. "Stop that! Calum is waiting!" She continues to whine as I shut the door.

I giggle, clicking on my seat belt as she bolts down the road, her foot heavy on the gas pedal. "If you weren't late in the first place he wouldn't be." I retort, but she just huffs and turns up the volume on the radio.

As I finally take a good look I realize that she's obviously put in more effort than usual. Penny's always been naturally beautiful, but she's packed on more makeup than usual. Still natural, but more complex. Knowing her, I can tell she's likely tried on around ten outfits before settling on what she's wearing. Her fingers are nervously tapping on the wheel as she waits at a red light, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth.

"Got a date or something?" I tease. Her eyes dart over to me as she nervously laughs, waving her hand. The light turns green and the pull of the car pushes me back against me seat.

"What?! No way." She dismisses me, and changes the topic quickly. For the rest of the way she avoids conversation by playing songs that she insists I sing with her.

When we arrive Calum is already in line to buy a ticket, glancing at his watch. "Hey there." I tap on the back of his shoulder. His head snaps up, eyes flickering between us as his cheeks turn red.

"Hey," Something is off in his tone, but he lets out a chuckle to cover it, "I thought you guys would never make it."

We join him in the slow paced line, Calum and I continuously complaining about her talking us into coming. "Stop complaining, it'll be fun..." Penny's voice fades into the background as I pull out my phone, clicking on the messages.

After our argument in the classroom Ashton and I had barely spoken. That day he texted me an apology, but when I said I was busy working with Elliot on a project he never responded. In class we stayed in our reserved spots, keeping our eyes to each other. Well- mostly. I couldn't help but sneak glances at him before quickly facing my paper when her would catch me.

"Rose?" A voice grabs my attention, and coincidentally it's Elliot surrounded by a couple of boys that I think I may have seen around. He gives me a warm smile and scoots next to me in line chuckling as he says, "Can we join you? This line is taking forever."

With a nod we laugh quietly as the people behind us groan in response, but don't say anything to us. "I didn't expect to see you here." I admit, watching as he adjusts his glasses.

"I could say the same for you." He shoots back jokingly.

"My friend forced me." I explain, motioning to Calum and Penny in front of us who seem lost in their own world as they bicker.

His mouth drops into an 'o' as he slowly nods, "Same. Well, kind of. Our friend is in the band so we came to watch him play at half time." His friends are right behind us, mumbling and laughing amongst themselves as well.

He asks if I'm ready to present next week, and we continue to talk about the project until we boy our tickets. After waving goodbye and parting ways, their group jogs over to the band section to see their friend I assume.

We find some seats near the top of the bleachers, and it's already dreadful. The first half of the game is slow, and our team is winning by a landslide. Calum and Penny actually seem to be enjoying themselves as they unknowingly shout about what's going on and laugh.

I lean forward to rest my elbows on my knees, chin lazily in my hands. I finally sit up when it's half time. The homecoming representatives elected for each club are announced as they make their way down the field arm in arm.