“Or he could be standing outside the window.”

I turned around and looked over my shoulder after my other interrupted me. There in the window stood Ashley Purdy with a dumb grin on his face, waving at me. I couldn’t help but smile. I wen to the door and opened it up. Ashley’s parents stood in the door way. I greeted them and let them inside to talk to my parents and my grandparents. I stepped outside on the front porch and hugged Ashley. The sun was just setting and the fireflies danced around us.

“Wow Ashely, you look so different.”

He chuckled, “You do too! Time definitely helped you out.”

I blushed at his comment. He hadn’t changed a bit.

“So how have you been? I’ve heard that your band is pretty awesome.”

He smiled at that, “Oh I guess you could say that. You know all about me, how are you?”

“I’m good. I’ve been working my butt off since college. I was thinking about going back to get my masters and maybe moving to get it.”

“Where to?”

“Oh I don’t know. Maybe to LA?”

Ashley’s face lit up. “That’s where I live! You could totally stay with me! I need someone to watch my apartment anyway while I am touring!” Ashley looked like a kid in a candy store. I have to admit, we were best friends in childhood and we still talked on the phone on occasion. Even when we weren’t together, we still managed to impact each other’s lives.

“I’ll think about it Ashley.”

“It will be fun, just like old times!” We both laughed. “I need to get going through. I left my band mates in the house. I need to make sure they don’t eat all the food for Christmas dinner.”

“Ok, I’ll talk to you later then. I may pop over and we can talk about LA.” I gave him one final hug before he left. I went back inside and talked to his parents a bit then took my stuff upstairs to the room I stayed in every summer as a child. It still had the same handmade quilt. I laid down and reminisced some more about those summers long ago. I thought about how much fun I had with Ashley when we were little.

I remembered one time when we were out in the field playing some game. I think we were pioneers. We ended up disturbing a nest of wasps in the ground and took off running back to the house. We both had a few stings but even at 7, Ashley manned up and made sure mine were taken care of first.

Another memory that I was fond of was when we were a little older, maybe 13. Cowboys and Indians didn’t suit us much anymore so we just took walks and talked about deep teenager things. On this walk we were talking about our dreams.

“I want to be a rock star,” he said. I remember looking at him in disbelief.

“A rock star? How are you going to be a rock star living here in the middle of nowhere?”

“I’m going to move to California when I’m old enough.”

Even at such a young age, he was cut out to be a rock star. He already had that drive. That was a good memory.

The last thing to come to my mind was our last summer together. We were both 16. It was hard to believe that 12 years had passed since we had seen each other. That summer, I viewed him as a little more than a friend. He was my first summer fling. We had packed a dinner in a picnic basket and took a stroll to the river on the edge of that big field. It was at sun set so all the fire flies were out and lighting up the field. We had a romantic evening together and that night, we both lost our virginity on the banks of that river.

I smiled fondly at that memory. That was one thing I would never regret. I don’t guess Ashley regrets it either considering he is such a ladies’ man. I sighed and rolled over. I stared out the window, looking toward his childhood home. I dreamed sweet dreams of summers past that night.

---

The next morning I was woke up by the smell of breakfast. I went down stairs and greeted my family.

“So what are your plans today?” my dad asked.

“I was planning on going up to see Ashley. He mentioned staying with him if I moved to LA. I was thinking of just going to visit to see if I like it and to see if I like UCLA. You know, that was where Dr. Lovvas did his study on Autism.”

“That sounds like a great idea honey,” my mom said. “I’ve heard good things about their psychology department.”

Right now, I had a B.A. in psychology and a B.S. in child development. I was working with children at a special needs day care. I wanted to get my masters so I could do therapy. UCLA seemed perfect for what I needed.

After I finished breakfast and got ready, I cut across the field to Ashley’s house. I heard talking from the back porch so I went back there first. He was sitting on the back deck with his band mates and a couple of girls. He spotted me walking up the steps.

“Hey Jolene!”

“Hey Ash.” Ashley popped up from his seat and came to me.

“I need to introduce you to my band.” He went down the list, starting on my left.

“Jake, this is Jolene, Jolene this is Jake.” I shook his hand. Wash, rinse and repeat for the rest of them plus Sammi and Juliet and I have been introduced to Black Veil Brides.

“So how do you two know each other?” Andy asked.

“I used to come here every summer. My grandmother lives in that house up front. We just became friends.”

“Best friends,” Ashley corrected.

“Well, I actually came over here to sort of take you up on your offer. I would love to come to LA but I just want to visit to make sure I like it. I wanted to see UCLA and meet some staff before I made a decision.”

“That’s awesome,” Ashley beamed. “You can stay with me. It will be like a sleep over!”

Everyone laughed. CC piped up, “you can even paint your nails!!” everyone laughed again because nail painting is something that they do often. (Have you even seen Ashley’s nails? He may be better at nails than I am!)

“Well, looks like it’s a done deal!” I stayed with them for a few more hours. We all sat around and talked about nothing. I hugged Ashley good bye when I left and told him I would give him a call when I was ready to come visit. He said ok and we parted ways.

Notes

Sorry for the wait. I am currently in summer school because I am an over acheiver and I am doing a major and a teachign lisence, which is like a major and a half. So I have been swamped with work. But I am done now so I hope to get this out quicker.

I hope everyone saw my big gigantic note to read the prologue again. If not hen the POV change may have thrown you for a loop. So go back and read it and ready the author's note if you haven't already. ALSO, thanks to my commenters! It makes me feel great to know that I have commenters and subscibers already!
Ok, I'll shut up now. Stay tuned!