Loving Ashton

|FIFTEEN|

"A party? Tonight?" I repeated, We - Ash, Gina, Chris and I - were all in the kitchen talking about what we should do tonight and Chris suggested that we should throw a party. Chris shrugged, "I mean why not? It is the first night of spring break, Why not start it off with a banging party." He said. "I'm down." Gina said with a beaming smile, I rolled my eyes "Well now I don't have a choice." I said, Chris grinned "You bet your ass you don't." He said to me. I looked over at Ashton who was eating his yogurt, either completely unaware of tonight's plan because he was too engrossed in his yogurt or didn't care.

"What do you think?" I asked. He shrugged not looking up from his cup of yogurt. "I don't care." He replied. Chris clapped his hands "Invites sent." He said. I gave him a strange look. I mean he literally just came up with the plans. "So it's not a party, It's a small get together," I said. He chuckled "Sure thing sunshine." He said and gave Gina a pat on her shoulder "I'll be by the pool." He said and walked out. She gave his retreating figure a dreamy smile before looking at me, "You do have an outfit for tonight, right?" Gina asked. Ash got up and walked out of the kitchen leaving Gina and me alone.

I shrugged, "I mean kinda but not really." I said truthfully. I didn't pack for a party, to be honest, That was actually the last thing on my mind which thinking about it now, Should have been the first thing on my mind. I mean all three of my friends are hardcore party-goers and two of three of them host these hardcore parties. Gina smirked at me "You can borrow my clothes. Who knows, Maybe Austin will show up." She said wiggling her brows at me. I raised my brows "Austin?" I questioned, "I mean he obviously has a thing for you." She said. I cringed "He does?" I mumbled. This time she raised her brows "Yeah, You don't seem too thrilled about it though." She said. I shook my head, dismissing the topic altogether. "We should get ready for the party."

🏹

I was back in the environment that I wasn't too fond of, The room reeked of alcohol and musk. I walked downstairs and made my way to the sofa which to my surprise wasn't even occupied, Everyone was either gathered by the kitchen fishing drinks or in the middle of the house dancing. For a while, all I did was hum to the music and watch people in the middle of the house either be rejected and neglected or dance until they made their way upstairs.

And to be honest it was kind of interesting to watch. Suddenly the chair dipped and I looked over to find Austin beaming at me."Hey." He smiled "Austin, I didn't know you were going to be here." I breathe. He shrugged "I wouldn't miss a chance to have a good time, I didn't know you were here though." He said. I shrugged "Wasn't really a choice." I laughed.

"You look amazing by the way." He said and I smiled at him "Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself." I said. My party attire wasn't out there, Gina sort of gave up on dressing me up because I refused nearly everything in her closet and I ended up wearing a red muse cropped shirt with distressed jeans finishing the look with black vans. "So, I've been meaning to talk to you about something." He said getting serious, I raised my brows and looked at him "Okay." I said as he played with his fingers a bit.

He's nervous, and his being nervous was making me nervous. "So like, I don't know if you noticed but I like you. A lot, Like not as a friend but more than that." He started and even though Gina and Ashton already told me this, hearing him say this to me made me freeze in shock.

"I think you're the most laid back and genuine person I've been around in a while and its something about you that has caught my attention. You've been on my mind since the day I met you." He continued, I couldn't speak, I just sat there and listen to him spill his guts. And while he was speaking I could feel myself being watched but I couldn't move. Austin was actually confessing his feelings to me.

"So long story short, I'm kind of asking you to be my girlfriend." He said with a small smile. I chewed on my lip and stared at him.

I opened my mouth to answer his question when the weirdest thing happened, A drunk Fiona fell into his lap giggling. Austin's eyes widen at this and looked at both her and I. The next thing we both knew drunk Fiona plopped her mouth on his and wrapped her arms around his neck. I sat there in shock as Ashton's words played on repeat in my head like a broken tape,

And the girl in your English class, Fiona, That's who Austin is compatible with.

I leaned back in my chair and started to think about all the things Ashton has been telling me and how they've been coming true ... Not all at once but slowly. How in the hell did Ashton know who's compatible with who? It was like some kind of Cupid Gimmick unless he played those online love meter games then something was up. Austin pulled away from Fiona breathless, Fiona was staring at Austin dazed while Austin looked back at her. "Princess, want to go to the pool?" Ashton's voice rang from behind me. I slowly turned to him, "Sure" I said getting up from the sofa.

I followed him outside to the pool which was surprisingly empty. "Did you tell them that the pool was off-limits?" I asked and He shrugged "I don't want to clean up puke." He said. I laughed when he said that "That's kind of inevitable you know, Pretty sure everyone in the house is drunk off their asses right now." I said, "Trust me when I say, I'm not cleaning up vomit." He said sitting down at the edge of the pool. He peeled off his shirt and jumped into the water, with jeans on. For a moment I just stared at his decorated body. "You coming in or are you going to stare?" He asked, I peeled off my crop top and kicked off my shoes before jumping in with him.

"Enjoying yourself tonight?" He asked as I swam to him. I shrugged "Weird things happened tonight." I started "Which is funny because usually, I'm into weird things because I can explain what's happening. But this a different type of weird." I said. He rolled his eyes "Have you been listening to rumors again darling?" He chuckled then looked behind me. His relaxed demeanor dropped, I looked behind me and saw a man leaning against the glass door. He looked ... Just as good Ashton.

No, He looked just like Ashton, and he wore the same smirk with his arms crossed over his chest. "Summer go back to your room." He said, "What why?" I questioned. He didn't respond he just got out of the pool and walked towards the look alike. The look-alike gave him a cocky smirk and went in for a handshake but was rejected by Ashton. Ashton just glared at him and walked back inside, The look-alike turned back and winked at me before following Ash into the house.

Suddenly Ashton's voice rang in my head,

Go back to your room

I got out of the pool then grabbed my shirt and my shoes. I slowly made my way inside and the stairs to my room. Why would I do I need to be here? Was there going to be some sort of brawl? The rumors I heard from the beginning of the senior year started to run through my head again.

Maybe he is in a gang

Maybe he was actually the help for a mafia

Could he possibly be the Mafia leader

It all kind of made sense, His unexplainable disappearances, and sudden mood changes. I looked downstairs and found Ashton and the look-alike leaving the house. As if they could feel me staring they both looked back up at me. Ashton was glaring at me while the look-alike gave me a chilling smirk before walking out of the door.

Ashton, what did you get yourself into?