i wake up and i'm in Zach's bed. i grab my phone and realize it's 3:15.
shit
i told breckin i'd meet her at the beach around 3 to go surfing. i quickly dial her number.
ashley: hey breck sorry i fell asleep i'll be there in 15
Breckin: no worries i'm just tanning right now.
ashley: sounds good, see you soon!
i hang up and i soon come to realize all my surfing stuff is at home. my home. where my parents are still staying. hopefully i can sneak in through the back without them noticing. i run done stairs and almost trip in the last step.
"woah, what's the hurry for?" jonah asks looking up from his book.
"i was supposed to meet Breckin at the beach 15 minutes ago. do you know where Zach is?"
"i think he's in the kitchen."
"okay thank you!" i run into the kitchen and see Zach and Kamri.
what the hell is she doing here?
"oh." they both look up and notice me.
"oh hey, ash."
"what is she doing here?" i glance over at Kamri.
"she came to apologize." i cross my arms.
"so go ahead i'm waiting to hear this grand apology."
"ash, i'm so so sorry i didn't mean to hurt you. he was just trying to catch up. you know that we had been close since we were like 5 and he's changed. he misses me, us."
"mhmm, well i got to go. Zach can you drive me home?"
"wait you're going home?" they say at the same time.
"yes, i need to get my surfing stuff. now let's go i'm late." i walk outside to his car and wait for him to meet me out there. when he enters he starts the car. i don't say a word. this whole situation makes me so pissed. everything that's been happening with my family is already enough and now my so called bestfriend betrayed me. yea. life is so great right now.
"ash.." i cut him off.
"i'm fine, thanks." he pulls the car off to the side of the road causing me to sit up in my seat. "what are you doing? i told you i'm going to be late the meet Breckin."
"i'm worried about you."
"k"
"come on, i know things are pretty shitty for you right now but you need to let me help you."
"i don't need help, i need to meet Breckin."
"don't take all this out on me, i'm just trying to help." he lets out a sigh and pulls back onto the road. i think over and over about what he just said. he is right, i shouldn't be taking this all out in him. he's one of the very few people who understands me and actually cares about me. tears begin to fill my eyes.
shit, why am i always so emotional.
"are you okay?" i sniffle.
"yea, im so sorry Zach. you're literally the best boyfriend ever, i shouldn't take all this out on you. you're right i'm being stupid. i'm an awful girlfriend. you deserve so much better."
"hey, don't say that. you're all i need, i'm so proud of you for being so strong with everything that's going on. don't worry about me, i love you."
"i love you too Zachy." he pulls into my driveway and drops me off.
"pinky promise me you'll be okay?" he gives me a tight hug and holds up his pinky. i wrap my pinky around his.
"promise." i give him a soft kiss and get out to walk around to the back of the house. i watch as he drives away and i take a deep breath. i go to the back door and sneak in. i grab all my stuff and quickly head down towards the beach. i hear breckin's music blasting and i start running towards her.
"hey breck!" she jumps up and pulls her shades down.
"oh, gosh you scared me! let's go!" we grab our boards and head out to the water. i feel instant relief as i let the salty water wash over my body. the ocean has always been my safe place, the place i go when everything seems to be falling to pieces. i haven't been able to surf as much lately and i am so glad to be back. we surf for a little bit before heading back to the sand to eat dinner. i had Drew bring us some taco bell. we of course got our usual orders, chicken quesadilla, nachos with cheese, and a baja blast freeze. i turn on some music to jam to while we eat. my favorite artists to listen to when i just want to chill and relax are rex orange county, surfaces, frank ocean and forrest. their music always helps me relax. i've always had an emotional connection to music. music is my safe place, when ever i'm down i always resort to putting my earbuds in and drowning out the world. after we finish eating we decide to take a few instagram pictures. i enjoy photography a lot and whenever breckin and i go to the beach i always bring my camera. i love the thought of capturing a moment in a single photo that you can hold on to forever and reflect on.
"that's a good angle! the sunset looks so pretty behind you!" she does a few different poses then we switch and she takes some of me.
"move to the left a bit." she motions her hand towards my left a tad then holds her hand up indicating that she wants me to stop. "that's perfect." after we snap a few photos we head back into the water for one last swim before it's too late.
"so, i heard about what happened at bob evans." i turn towards her in a snap.
"who told you?"
"kamri."
"oh yea, what do you think i should do?" she sighs.
"i honestly have no idea. what she did was definitely wrong." i shrug my shoulders.
"yea, i'll just think about it for a bit i guess. i love her, and we've been friends forever. this just sucks a lot."
"yea, come on. let's go home it's getting late." we grab our stuff and head back up to the house.
"breck..." she turns back toward me.
"yea?"
"i still haven't talked to my parents since all that shit went down last time."
"oh ashley, i won't force you to do anything but you need to eventually. but for now we can go over to the wdw house if you want."
"yea, i don't think i'm ready yet. i need to fix things with molly first before i even think about facing them."
"that's understandable." we put our stuff up and climb into my jeep.
———————————————————————————
when will ashley finally be ready to talk to her parents?
how is kamri going to fix things with ashley?
will ashley try to make things better with molly?
find out in the next chapter!
