Chapter Four : I Will Possess Your Heart

Four Years Ago

Ashley was stretched out by the pool in her rose-coloured bikini, her long curls framing her face. The sun was beating down, sending waves of yellow heat drifting across the backyard, but it wasn't hot enough to force her inside yet. Kyla had submitted to her need for air conditioning half an hour ago, but Ashley was determined to stay out. Determined to lay out. Her eyes were closed against the hot light, one leg pulled a little up. A flick of water landed on her knee. She peeked an eye open.

Aiden, having discarded the float he had been lazing on, was at the side of the pool, arms on the edge. He grinned widely when she finally met his eyes.

"Swim?" He asked, flicking a few more drops onto her golden brown skin. She slid her hand down her thigh and wiped the water off, missing Aiden's hungry eyes.

"This bikini isn't for swimming." Ashley said, smiling slightly when she heard Aiden groan. It was an ongoing debate of the uselessness of buying bathing suits you couldn't swim in.

"Ash.." He said. "Get in the water or I'll get you in the water."

"Is that a threat, Dennison?" Ashley asked, leaning up on her elbows a bit and giving her long-time best friend her classic raised eyebrow.

"A promise." Aiden countered. He pushed his strong arms up, lifting his body halfway out of the water. Water dripped off his chest and onto the cement. He was starting to get out when Ashley raised her hands in defeat.

"Fine." She agreed, discarding her fashion magazine onto the small table beside her chair. She tightened the knot on the top of her bikini and strode toward the water. She knew Aiden would really come pick her up, because he'd done it a few million times before, and, to be completely honest, she didn't want him to touch her. There had been something growing between them the past month, something that felt like betrayal when she saw her sister, and she didn't know what to make of it. Maybe the melting sun had fried some sort of barrier between them. Maybe those teenage hormones were finally catching up to them.

Ashley walked to the deeper end of the pool and, without hestation, dove in. Aiden kept his eyes on her the whole time. When she finally emerged from the water, he was already on her side of the pool, beneath the diving board. He stretched his arms up and rested his hands on the board, bobbing slowly in the water. He tried not to stare at Ashley. She swam closer, smiling a little wickedly. From behind her back, she pulled a tiny water gun. He kept his hands on the baord.

"You really wanna do that Ash?" He questioned. She grinned and squirted him in the face. Dropping his arms from the board immediatedly, he pushed off the back of the pool toward her. Wrestling the gun from her grip, he squirted it in her ear. Squealing, Ashley swatted at the toy. She wasn't really the sqealing type, but water in your ear feels pretty weird. Aiden wrapped an arm around her and squrited water on her neck, her forehead. Ashley laughed and tried fruitlessly to bat it away, both of them laughing.

Inside, Kyla paused by the door, a tray of food and lemonade in her arms. The glass kitchen door showed straight through to her sister and her boyfriend. She bit her lip. She turned around and set the food back on the bar.

IOIOIOI

Spencer met Carmen's eyes curiously, half-smiling but a little wary. She wasn't attracted to the girl- no matter how cute her bangs were or how dangerous her eyes looked. Spencer just wasn't interested. Maybe Carmen wasn't her type? But Carmen flashed her a flirty smile and winked once and Spencer decided that maybe a little flirting wouldn't hurt anything. Decided that she was bored and needed to get her mind off things that had purpose.

"Hi." Spencer answered. She smiled innocently because she didn't really smile any other way, unless she and her father had put Jello in Glen's basketball shoes or her mom was asking her about her day. She shifted a little, moving toward Carmen. "What's up?" She asked. Carmen shrugged, leaned back against the bleachers, one arm stretching long and obvious behind Spencer.

"Nothing. Just hanging out. You?" Spencer glanced out at the basketball court where her brother was shooting from the free throw line.

"Waiting on my brother." She answered. Carmen followed her eyes out to the tall blonde sinking shots effortlessly.

"Is that him?" She asked, sounding impressed. Spencer nodded. She was used to the adoration- hell, she had experienced it for years before she realized what a total douche bag Glen could be.

"Yep. That's Glen." She answered. Camen looked back at her and Spencer could feel the girl's eyes on her face. Their slightly awkard silence was broken by a voice calling out across the gym.

"Carmen, chica, let's go!" Spencer looked over to see Madison, Glen's new flavor of the month, standing by the door with her hand on her hip. She raised an eyebrow expectantly. Carmen sighed and pushed up off the bleachers.

"It was great to talk to you Spencer." The dark eyed girl smiled- smirked -with a twinkle in her eye. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." Spencer smiled back. She watched as the girl rounded the court and Madison waved her arms at her. Carmen ducked, and Spencer could see her smirk from the bleachers. When the two had disappeared through the heavy gym doors, Spencer crossed her legs and turned her eyes back to Glen. He was the only one on the court and when the ball rolled a few feet away, he caught sight of Spencer sitting by herself on the bleachers.

"Hey." He said, ball tucked under his arm. He walked toward her, his swagger easy and natural. "You just gonna hang here?"

"Yeah. I don't have any other ride home." She answered. She could tell he was nervous, because he was asking questions he already knew the answer to and he was standing awkwardly with the ball almost clutched beside him. Spencer flashed him a reassuring smile. "You're gonna do great."

"Oh, I know." He said confidently. Spencer shook her head, because she couldn't tell if he was faking it or not. "Where's Clay?"

"Chelsea gave him a ride home."

"Cool." Doors banged open behind him and a flash of something went through his eyes, but then it was gone and he was just Glen again. The basketball team was spilling out onto the shiny gym floors behind him. "Gotta go." He raised his eyebrows and turned toward them. The ball dropped from between his arm and side, and he dribbled it confidently. He slapped some guy's hand and Spencer knew he was gonna do fine. Last minute jitters were something Glen had always suffered from.

She slid her feet to the bleacher below her and tapped boredly. It would be a while of sitting there. She was just pulling out her cell phone to text a few people in Ohio, when another body landed beside her. Glancing up, she saw none other than Ashley Davies, her choir T.A. The older girl smiled as she sat down and Spencer's heart skipped a beat.

"So, you a basketball fan?" She asked, glancing out at the boys as they passed and crossed and squeaked. Spencer smiled and looked down at her lap.

"Uh, not really." She looked up and smiled, squinting a little. "What about you?" Ashley shrugged and took her eyes off Spencer's face.

"Used to be. Not really into sitting around watching teenage boys, though. So, what are you doing here?" Spencer gestured with her pen toward the court.

"Brother." She explained. "He's hoping he gets to play for the team here. Star player and all." Her heart was thumping a little as Ashley leaned closer. So, she had a little crush on her T.A. That was allowed, right?

"I used to know one of those." Ashley smiled gently. "Star basketball player, then the cheeleaders, the smart kids...King hasn't changed much. It's all about being someone." Feeling bold, Spencer tilted her head toward her young teacher.

"And who are you?" Spencer asked. Ashley chuckled and glanced over at her.

"Today I haven't really decided yet." She answered. Spencer laughed and Ashley grinned. Their gaze lingered for an instant before Ashley glanced down at her bag.

"So, I was thinking to get you caught up, we could start with the easy stuff..." Spencer lost track of the girl's words as Ashley bent over. There was a curvy, dotted tattoo on the brunette's lower back. It slid down tanned, muscled skin and ended a little above her dark jeans. "But if you want we could get started on the...tattoo." Spencer glanced up at Ashley face, a little embarrassed to have been caught staring. The girl was watching her intently and she smiled a little when Spencer met her eyes. "One of the good things about growing up- you can do whatever you want with your body." The second the words left her mouth, Ashley cringed. "I mean, tattoos and stuff-"

"I got it." Spencer saved her from trying to fix the awkward phrasing. Her smile turned teasing. It was surprising how easily they were talking, considering Ashley was a teacher and Spencer was the student. Then again, she was only the T.A. and couldn't have been more then three years older than Spencer herself. Ashley made an embarrassed face and leaned back a little.

"Have you seen much of la la land?"

"Uh, yeah, Universal City, Santa Monica Pier..." She started rattling off places she had visited with her family when they had first moved. It had been fun then, more of a vacation. But the reality was sinking in and she wasn't sure she liked L.A. as much as she'd hoped she would.

"Ok, stop, stop, you're killing me." Ashley interrupted her, laughing a little. Spencer glanced up, confused, and Ashley's smile softened. "That's not the real L.A." She felt impulsive suddenly. She was half a second from asking Spencer if she wanted a tour of the city when she saw Mr. Perterson walking inside the gym, toupee a little crooked and eyes wandering. Ashley paused. "Well, um, it was cool talking to you Spencer." She smiled at the blonde as she gathered her stuff and stood. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, okay?" Spencer nodded, a little put off by the sudden end of the conversation and Ashley's shift into teacher mode.

"Yeah, okay." She grinned and tilted her head slightly. Ashley paused for a second under that smile and the random instinct to ask Spencer somewhere edged in again. She shook her head once and walked away.

Smooth, Davies. Real smooth.

IOIOIOI

"Hey, we're home!"

Spencer called out as she dropped her bookbag into a chair by the front door. She pushed off her shoes and left them under the chair. Beside her, Glen ditched his gym bag at the door.

"In here kids!" Paula called from the kitchen. Spencer, in sock feet, padded across the hardwood floors and into the tiled kitchen. Paula was standing over the bar chopping vegetables while Arthur slid something into a pot. "How was school?" The older woman asked, smiling tenderly at two of her children. Spencer smiled a tiny, private smile.

"Good." She answered.

"Who was that hottie I saw you talking to in the gym?" Glen asked, finally hanging up the phone. He had been talking to Madison the whole ride home and if Spencer heard him say "cool", "yeah", or "basketball" one more time she was gonna lose it. She frowned.

"Ms. Davies?" She questioned.

"Was she the second one?" Glen asked as he popped open a soda.

"Two girls? On your first day?" Arthur interjected from his spot at the stove. Spencer rolled her eyes and smiled. She tried to ignore Paula's awkward silence on the issue.

"No, Dad. Carmen and I just have a class together, and Ms. Davies is my chorus teacher- or one of them. We were just talking." Spencer slid onto a bar stool across from Paula.

"She was way hot. And she's a teacher, which makes her hotter." Spencer shook her head.

"Dream on, Glen."

"What? It could happen. It could so happen."

"Yeah, in your mind."

"What, are you gonna go for her?"

"No!" Spencer denied. "But that doesn't mean that..." They kept going, because they were Glen and Spencer and they fought over everything, including girls they would never have. Especially girls they would never have.

"Kids..." Arthur warned, to no avial. Paula stayed quiet.

IOIOIOI

"Hey, we're home!"

Ashley glanced up from her guitar as Kyla's voice rang through the house.

"In here!" She called back, returning her eyes to the sheets of music circling her. A few seconds later Kyla walked into the room, a baby hanging off her hip. "Hey." Ashley grinned warmly at them, sliding the guitar off her shoulder and onto the floor. "And how are you today, little girl." She cooed in a baby voice, reaching her arms out to hold her niece.

"She's cranky..." Kyla sighed and rolled her eyes. Dropping down beside Ashley and her music, the younger girl watched the two. "And of course now she's in a better mood." Kyla complained as the tiny little girl giggled in Ashley's arms. She couldn't have been more than a year old and she wrapped Ashley's curls around her finger. Kyla leaned backwards, shutting her eyes.

"Yeah, that's right Jenny, who's my favorite neice?" Ashley cooed at the little girl who fidgeted in her arms, twisting and grinning. Ashley tickled her lightly. Kyla, still stretched out on the floor, groaned.

"Alright, I'm going to bed. Will you put her down?"

"Sure." Ashley agreed. Kyla pushed herself up and yawned. Then, as an afterthought, she leant down and mussed Ashley's bangs. "Love ya, sis." She was halfway out the door when Ashley looked up, a soft smile on her face.

This was where she needed to be, no matter what.