“My parents are making me move to London. They’re letting me finish the rest of the term here… But as soon as my exams are over we’re leaving. I’m never going to get to see you guys again.”


Ashley’s Point of View

The silence was deafening when I finished speaking. I looked down, tears falling from my face as I silently started to cry again.

“Wh-what?”

It was Andy that broke the silence, his voice cracking as he asked his question.

“I’m moving to London.” I repeated, looking up at him to give him a deathly glare. His blue, beautiful eyes were glassy with unshed tears and he looked like he was just told that his parents died. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this kind of reaction from him since it was his entire fault.

“But…” He started, trailing off. Finally, tears started to roll silently down his cheeks, dripping off the end of his chin.

“I don’t know why you’re so upset Andy. You knew this was going to happen because I told you it would. Yet you still made me go to the hospital.” I muttered angrily, looking away from him to the rest of my friends. They all looked shocked and close to tears. By the look on CC’s face, he was waiting for me to burst out laughing and tell them I was joking.

“I thought you were lying!” Andy cried. I looked back at him, my mouth slightly open as I stared at him.

“Why the fuck would I lie about something like this?” I screamed, getting to my feet, my hands clenched at my side.

“I don’t know,” Andy muttered, sinking back into the couch. “I just thought you really really didn’t want to go to the hospital and you were trying to lie as an excuse not to go.”

“Damn it Andy! That’s the reason I didn’t want to go! The only reason I didn’t want to go! If it hadn’t had been for my parents I would have jumped into the damn ambulance myself!” I screamed. My tears had stopped momentarily, the sadness replaced by the intense anger boiling in my gut.

“I’m sorry okay?” Andy cried. He looked like a complete mess; his eyes were red and puffy, his eye makeup was running horribly, leaving thick black streaks down his face, but I still couldn’t help but think he was the most beautiful person I have ever seen.

I looked away quickly, blushing furiously. “Sorry doesn’t change the fact that I’m moving to London because of you.”

“It’s not Andy’s fault, Ash, it’s Justin’s. If you want someone to blame, blame Justin.” Sandra said quietly. I looked away from Andy and my gaze rested on Sandra. She was still sat on the floor beside me, looking up at me with sad, red eyes. She was crying too.

“I wouldn’t be moving to London if Andy hadn’t made me go to the hospital.” I replied flatly.

“You wouldn’t be moving to London if Justin wasn’t an ass hole.” Jake said softly.

“I was worried about you Ashley.” Andy said, his voice breaking slightly, when I remained silent after a moment. “I was scared that you were seriously hurt… That you were going to…”

“What? Die?” I asked, finishing his sentence when he trailed off. I meant to have to question come off harsher, more full of rage, but when I heard that Andy was worried about me, that he thought I was going to die, I felt the anger quickly leaving my body.

Andy nodded in response and looked down. “I’m sorry Ashley.”

I didn’t reply for a moment. How could I be mad at Andy for doing something that he thought was for the best? I couldn’t. “I’m sorry too Andy.” I said softly. “It’s just…” I felt tears coming to my eyes again. “I’m never going to get to see any of you again.”

Silence fell over our group once before. Finally, Jinxx cleared his throat. “When are you leaving?”

“My last exam is on the 21st.” I replied quietly. “I’m done at twelve, and we’re leaving right after.”

“So we don’t even have a month left…” Sandra whispered. I just shook my head as my answer. What else could I say?

……………………………

“I should probably get going.” I said suddenly, an hour later.

“Okay.” Sandra said quietly.

“Will we see you again tomorrow?” Andy asked, sounding, to my surprise, hopeful.

I gave him a small, sad smile. “If you want to, I guess.”

He smiled. “Yeah. We should probably hang out as much as possible before…” He trailed off and I just nodded to show him I understood.

“I’ll walk you to the door.” Sandra said.

I smiled at her even though I thought it was a bit weird that she wanted to walk me. Sandra and I stood up and I adjusted my shirt to make sure it was covering my cuts. I glanced over at Andy and Jinxx and noticed they were watching me with knowing, sad eyes. I coughed awkwardly and looked away.

“So, I’ll see you then, yeah?” I said, smiling.

“Yeah, see you Ashley.” Andy said, returning my smile. A chorus of byes rang up from the rest of the group and I started to walk towards the stairs, Sandra trailing behind me.

The short walk up the stairs was awkwardly silent between Sandra and myself, and remained silent until we got to the door.

“So… I’ll text you when you get home?” Sandra said, looking at the ground.

What the hell was wrong with her?

“Uh yeah, sure.” I said with smile.

“Alright, well we’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, for sure. Just text me or whatever when you guys want to hang out.”

“Sounds good. So, bye then.”

“Bye.” I laughed. I couldn’t help it, she was being so awkward and I didn’t know why.

She went in for a hug and I hugged her back with a smile, thinking nothing of it. I mean, we hugged all the time because we were friends. So, because of that, I thought nothing of it, until she stood up on her tippy toes and kissed me on the cheek.

What. The. Fuck.

She pulled away, fear filling her eyes. Before I could say anything, she ran down the stairs without another word.

……………………………

I got home around 11:30. I thought my parents would be asleep, but they weren’t. They were sitting on the couch watching some film, and when I walked in, they immediately attacked me with questions.

“Where the fuck were you?” Dad screamed from his position on the couch. Before I could respond he was in my face, glaring down at me.

“I went to Andy’s for a bit.” I said quietly. I wanted to give him attitude, I really did, but I decided against it. It wasn’t worth it anymore because I’ve already accepted that I was moving to London.

“You should have texted us.” Mum said from behind Dad.

“I know. I just didn’t want to bother you guys after the way I acted. I wanted to cool down for a bit and I felt I should let you guys do the same. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Dad hissed.

“Yes,” I said quickly, cutting him off before he could yell at me some more. “I’m sorry for not texting you guys to let you know where I was going, and I’m sorry for the way I acted. I know you guys are just trying to do what’s best for me… I just couldn’t see it before, so I’m sorry.”

At that, Dad’s face relaxed. “I know that moving is hard for everyone, especially to another country, but we honestly think this is for the best.”

“I know. And at least you’re letting me finish the school year?” I said, giving them a weak smile.

Mum returned my smile and Dad leaned in the hug me. I tensed up for a moment, but then relaxed and hugged him back.

“Go to bed Ashley, you should get some sleep.” Dad murmured before pulling away. I nodded, suddenly extremely exhausted.

“Okay,” I replied. “Night guys, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I was starting to go up the stairs to my bedroom when I remembered that the guys wanted me
to hang out tomorrow.

“Hey, Mum? Dad?” I called, hanging over the railing of the stairs.

“What is it, sweetie?” Mum called from the living room, pausing the TV.

“Can I hang out with my friends tomorrow?”

“Yeah, of course.” Dad called.

“Kay, awesome. Thank you!” I called before running up the stairs.

“Night!” I heard Mum call.

I walked into my bedroom and shut the door before throwing myself onto my bed. Still fully clothed, I crawled under the covers, pulling my phone out of my jeans. I sighed happily, happy to be back in my own bed, and unlocked my phone to see I had a text from Sandra.

Hey, did you get home okay?

Honestly, I considered not replying for a moment because of what happened between us at Andy’s house. Finally, after five minutes of staring blankly at my phone, I decided to reply.
At least I might be able to figure out what’s going on with her. I thought as I typed out my reply.

Hey, yeah I did. Did you?

She didn’t respond for at least seven minutes, which made me sigh in relief that she wasn’t waiting by the phone or anything. Sandra had always been horrible at texting back, so maybe there was nothing wrong with her after all.

Haha no. I’m still at Andy’s. Just about to leave though.

Your parents are fine with you being out until stupid hours? :P

They don’t care. I doubt they’d care if I stayed out all night.

Her reply took me by surprise. She’s never mentioned her parents before, but I never thought anything of it. Sandra just seemed like the type of teenager that didn’t really get all mushy or talkative about her parents, but I never thought it was because they didn’t care about her.
I stared blankly at Sandra’s reply, trying to craft a response of my own, but my mind kept coming up blank. What could I even say to that? Eventually, I gave in to my seemingly uncaring and boring response. I sighed as I sent it.

Oh.

Yeah haha. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to go for coffee tomorrow? Like, before we meet up with the guys?

Yet again, I found myself staring at her response in utter shock. My fingers shook slightly as I slowly typed my message.

You mean, as a date?

Yeah, I mean if you want to.

Uh, so is this what the kiss on the cheek is about?

I never got a response from her, even though I saw that she read my message since we both had iPhones and her read receipt was on. I sighed deeply and locked my phone, tucking it under my pillow. Why did I have to ask that? I knew that if I came out and just asked about the kiss, she wouldn’t reply. Sandra would just shut off completely with the bluntness of the question, because that’s just how Sandra worked.

I stared into the darkness for a while before I felt my phone vibrate. Thinking Sandra actually responded I reached under my pillow to grab my phone and read her response. Turns out, she didn’t think talking through text would be best anymore because she was calling me.

I paused for a fleeting moment before answering the call.

“Hello?”

“Look,” Sandra started, getting right to the point. “I like you Ash. A lot. I think I have for a while. At first, I just thought I developed a crush on you to get over Andy when I realised I would never get a chance with him… But when Justin put you in the hospital I realised that it wasn’t just a rebound crush… I think…” She added quietly. She cleared her voice quickly. “I really truly like you Ashley. So yes, I’m asking you out on a date.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. The silence seemed to stretch on for minutes, or hours, or even days, but I knew that it had just been a few seconds when Sandra decided to break it.

“Ashley?”

I cleared my throat, sputtering the first thing that came to my head.

“I’m moving soon.”

Sandra let out a quiet laugh. “I know, but not for a month-”

I cut her off quickly, my mouth suddenly dry. “It’s a little less than a month.”

“Whatever. All I’m saying is we have time. You know, go on a couple dates, and see where things go… Maybe we’ll really hit it off and like, continue kinda dating when you move? Just give me a chance Ashley, I’m not asking you to marry me.”
My reply was a shot in the dark. I had no idea if it was true or not, but I needed something to say so we wouldn’t fall back into an awkward silence.

“You’re still not over Andy.”
It was Sandra’s turn to pause. I waited for her response for a couple seconds and was about to say something else when she started talking.

“No, I don’t think I am… But in all fairness Ash, neither are you.”

I had nothing to say to that, she was right. Then a terrible thought crossed my mind that made my guts twist in guilt; I needed to get over Andy, I really fucking needed to. Loving him hurt way to fucking much and it was driving me insane. So yes, I needed to get over Andy, that much was clear, and maybe Sandra was giving me the key to do just that, but was I really willing to use one of my best friends like that?

“So… what time tomorrow?” My mouth asked before my brain could process what was coming out of it.

“Time?” Sandra asked.

“Yes, for the uh, da- coffee tomorrow?”

“Really?” She asked, excitement seeping into her voice.

“Yeah. I mean, why not. It’s just a date. Like you said, you’re not asking for me to fall in love with you.” I laughed. I couldn’t help it because, admittedly, her excitement was kind of cute.

“Uh, I don’t know. Ten maybe? I’ll pick you up.”

“Sounds good. See you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, alright. Night Ash.” Sandra said, her voice still filled with excitement and happiness. I couldn’t help but smile.

However, as soon as we hung up, the smile slipped from my face. Was I really willing to use on of my best friends like that?

Apparently, I was.




A/N: Ahh! Don’t hit me! I know it’s a horrible chapter… But it’s supposed to be somewhat of a filler. I’m sorry. :(
Even though it’s not great… Please leave a comment telling me what you think. Good or bad, comments make me melt in happiness because it means people are actually reading my story, and actually care enough to tell me what they think.

I love you all. I promise that the next chapter will be out relatively soon.

xoxox