After a few more minutes of comfortable silence, Ashley pulls into my driveway and I brace myself for anything else she has to say that may leave me feeling awkward. Surprisingly enough, no smartass comments come and I open my door.
"Thanks for the ride, Ashley," I say, climbing out and shutting the door behind me.
She rolls the passenger side window down and stoops her head to look at me.
"It's no problem, Spencer. If you ever want to hang out or something… Well, you know where to find me."
She winks subtly and it causes me to blush slightly.
"Yeah… uh. Yeah. We might have to get together some time."
She grins.
"Great. Just give me a time. I'll be there. Bye, Spencer."
I'm already walking towards the front door and I raise my hand up in acknowledgement.
Pushing through the door, I feel as though I've been in a different version of reality while I was in Ashley's car.
I especially feel this way when I notice that Aiden, being the loving husband he is, left the house in total disarray when he left this morning. When he left in my car. I'm getting irritated again. I take a few steadying breaths, eyes closed, and groan audibly as the phone starts ringing.
The answering machine can get it. Right now, I just want to sit down, have a glass of wine, no, a bottle of beer, and sit. In silence. Nobody bothering me. And then I'll---
The answering machine picks up and I hear a slowly-becoming-familiar husky voice filling the air.
"Hey, Spencer, it's Ashley. Uhh.. You left your phone in my car. So… I'm turning around now and I'm… going to give it back to you. Yeah. I'll be there shortly."
The phone clicks and I grin at her message.
A few seconds later, a tentative knock comes at the door and I all but break my neck as I hurry to open it.
Ashley stands there, looking as though she feels somewhat uncomfortable being at my door and I grin even more.
"Hiya stranger," she says, her eyes meeting mine then going back to the ground.
And it's weird because she's never been awkward before. Well, at least she wasn't a little while ago. I'm usually the one who is socially retarded and finds a way to make a fool out of myself in public; Aiden's commented on it several times in the past.
"Do you… want to come in? Have a drink or something?" I'm aware it's only noon, but living my life, drinking hours are between 7am and 4am. Sue me.
She looks as though she's thinking of a reason to say no.
"I promise I won't kill you or anything," I say, my lame attempt to be comforting. I'm even more awkward when other people are awkward, "Although, I can't promise there isn't something living in my couch cushion that might attack."
She laughs and it's a fantastic sound.
"Um.. Alright. But, only if you promise I'm not ruining any big plans you may or may not have."
I roll my eyes.
"Fine, I had plans to get wasted alone, and it is a big inconvenience to break that promise to myself… But, just this once, I think it'll be alright."
She looks as though she doesn't know how to respond to this and I smirk, stepping aside and gesturing her into my house.
"Welcome to my humble abode."
Two hours and 7.5 beers later, Ashley and I are both feeling… Good.
Actually, I can't speak for her, but I'm feeling pretty great. Nothing beats Corona and reruns of Roseanne. Ashley seems content, or maybe just bored, but either way, conversation flows easy and I feel like I'm getting a crash course lesson in her life.
She's a little more open than I am, but I'm enjoying it. She's had an interesting life. Her dad, none other than the Raife Davies, married her mom when they were both only 17, had Ashley when they were 18, her sister Kyla when they were 20, and moved to L.A. when Ashley was seven. After a pretty brutal divorce, one that Ashley glossed over in her story (for reasons I didn't pry for), Ashley picked up with her dad and moved here, a quiet town in southern Virginia, which was a much needed change from the noise and bustle of the big city. Her sister, on the other hand, went with Christine (her mom) and they moved to somewhere around San Francisco. Ashley had her first kiss when she was ten, lost her virginity when she was 16, and lost her second virginity when she was 19.
This is where I stopped her as I was completely confused.
"Wait, wait. Second virginity? I mean… Don't you just get the one?"
She smirks and looks me dead in the eye.
"Well… I lost my technical, first-time-having-sex virginity when I was 16. And…" she pauses, looking as if she's unsure if she should continue.
"And…?," I press.
"I lost my first-time-having-sex-with-a-girl virginity when I was 19."
She looks as if she's expecting me to chase her out of my house with Holy Water and a crucifix.
"So you're gay," I state, less of a question than a conclusion.
"I'm…. Not into labels. I follow attraction. I don't care if it's a man or woman. Why miss out on the opportunity to have something great with someone just because of their hardware?"
I take a moment to process this and I think it scares her a little.
"You aren't.. you know… Freaked out or anything, are you?," she asks timidly, as if scared of the answer.
I laugh, and she visibly relaxes.
"Not at all."
Her smile is positively radiant.
