Replies to Reviews:
whocares - Thank you for reviewing again! I'll admit, I'm not really one for drama, but spashley is definitely not happening that easily. I think you'll begin to see that in this chapter.
WordDPlayy - I'm glad that you're liking Spencer and Ashley's roles so far :)
dragonsprit - Slow is the only way to go :)
Godlove - Thank you for the reviews! :D
Guest - You love me? Girl, you trippin'. Thanks for the review though :P
Southfan1253 - Spencer is definitely a bit of a tomboy and she may be taking on a more dominant role. I'm not sure what g!p is though, so I can't answer your question.
Author's Note: You guys are awesome! I love to hear feedback from you all, so please keep the reviews coming. Here's an update with some insight into what's going on in Ashley's head... Enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own South of Nowhere. I do own my original characters though :)
Chapter Four
Ashley's Point of View
I never thought that I would end up spending my night with Spencer Carlin, especially since she had neglected to get in contact with me after I gave her my phone number the other night. I felt like I had been rejected. But I wasn't one to give up easily.
I also wasn't one to feel attracted to someone so easily. But it was different with Spencer. It's like there was some unseen force pulling me towards her.
I wasn't complaining.
I guess that's why I found myself at her high school earlier, watching her race up and down the basketball court. I had never before found it attractive for a girl to play a sport. But again, it was different with Spencer.
It was fascinating to me that someone could put so much effort into a sport. I just didn't see the point. It made me want to get inside the blonde's head, "figure her out", as I had said to her a few nights ago.
Not to mention, she looked hot as fuck going all superstar mode at the end of the game. I found myself getting excited over the fact that they won. And I never got excited over a sport. I suppose I was just wanting to share in Spencer's excitement.
I couldn't help but to seek her out after the game. I just felt the need to be around the blonde beauty.
Upon seeing her, I felt some sort of calm wash over me, as if just being in her presence was enough to make me feel at ease. Which is weird, considering the fact that I don't know the first thing about this girl.
On top of that, the whole time we were talking I had felt an overwhelming urge to be closer to her. I couldn't help but to give into it eventually and I found myself almost kissing the girl. I probably would have, had her teammate not interrupted us.
A part of me was happy for the interruption. I knew that I shouldn't be kissing her, not when I didn't really know anything about her.
This is why I accepted her offer to join her and her teammates for pizza. I felt like it was a great opportunity to get to know Spencer Carlin. Which brings me to where I am now, seated next to her at a table full of basketball players. Spencer had already introduced me to all of her teammates when we first showed up at the Pizza Hut.
To Spencer's left sits Samantha Peterson, the one who had interrupted our almost-kiss earlier. She's only slightly taller than Spencer and scrawny as anything. Her hair is medium length, dark brown.
Sitting across from me is Mary Pulson. She has a head full of reddish-orange curls and piercing blue eyes. I'm not really into redheads, but she seems to make it work for her.
Next to her is Chelsea Lewis. She plays center, whatever that means. She's dark-skinned and has her hair fixed into some intricate braids. She's probably the friendliest of the group.
And sitting at the other end of the table is Carmen Balderas, whom Spencer introduced as her best friend. She has long, jet-black hair with straight cut bangs that fall just above her eyebrows. She apparently plays the small forward position.
I sit quietly and listen as the five of them go on and on about the basketball game, their lingo lost on me. I found myself wishing, for the first time in my life, that I had some sort of sports knowledge.
"And that 3-pointer at the end was fucking awesome, Spence!" Carmen exclaims as she scarfs down her pizza. "We would've lost if it hadn't been for you." The rest of the team voices their agreement. Spencer chuckles as she lifts her glass to her lips, taking a sip of her coke.
Sitting her soda down, she says, "Thanks guys. But really, it was a team effort. And I have the best teammates in the state."
Aw, she's so modest. It's adorable, really.
"Damn right, you do!" Samantha jokes, looking at Spencer incredulously. The table erupts with laughter. I join in.
"So Ashley," Chelsea starts once the laughter dies down, looking over at me with a smile, "What school do you go to? I don't believe I've ever seen you at Cardinal Gibbons before." She was right about that. I didn't go to the same school as them.
"Actually," I start to reply, looking next to me at Spencer, "I'm in college." I had yet to let the blonde in on that fact, so I'm not surprised when her eyebrows shoot up in disbelief.
"You didn't tell me that," she says, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
"You didn't ask," I shrug.
"What college do you go to?" Mary asks from across the table, forcing me to look away from Spencer. I look around and notice that everyone's eyes are on me.
I clear my throat, feeling slightly self-conscious. "I go to Johns Hopkins," I inform them.
"Dude, that's sweet!" Carmen supplies from the other end of the table, "My brother goes there. Maybe you know him?"
"Carmen, there's like 20,000 students that go there," Spencer chimes in, "I doubt she knows your idiot brother." She rolls her eyes at her best friend before going back to her pizza.
She has a point. There's little chance that I know her brother. "What's his name?" I find myself asking anyway.
"Gabriel," she answers me. Huh, it does sound familiar. Gabriel Balderas.
"Doesn't he play for their lacrosse team?" Samantha asks.
"Yep. He's their star player," Carmen states proudly. Lacrosse? Was that the sport with the stick?
"Is that the sport with the stick?" I ask, voicing my thought. Carmen and Samantha start to laugh uncontrollably at my expense. I sink into my seat. Spencer notices this and gives me an apologetic look.
"Where did you get this girl from, Spence?" Carmen jokes, but Spencer doesn't find it funny. Instead she glares at her best friend.
"Lay off her," she says irritably, "Not everyone knows everything there is to know about fucking sports, Balderas." She's so cute when she's defending me.
"Simmer down, Carlin," Samantha teases, eliciting another laugh from Carmen.
"Fuck off, Peterson," Spencer retorts. Chelsea and Mary appear to be unfazed by the exchange as they talk amongst themselves. I guess this is a common occurrence.
I move my hand under the table and bring it to rest on Spencer's thigh in an attempt to calm her down; I'm not sure if it does. But it does gain me her attention as she turns to look at me. I can see the fire in her smouldering blue eyes fade as she peers into my own eyes.
"You ready to get out of here?" she asks me softly. I nod.
Spencer turns to her friends and says, "Ashley and I are blowing this joint." They all sort of nod in acknowledgement as she fishes some money out of her wallet. I go to grab my own money, but a hand on my own stops me.
"Don't dare try to pay for yourself," Spencer scolds me playfully, setting enough money down to pay for the both of us. I don't argue with her.
"See you at practice tomorrow?" Samantha asks as she lets us out of the booth. Spencer scoffs.
"Of course."
"It was nice meeting you all," I tell them, standing at the head of the table. They all respond with a "You too," as I turn around to follow Spencer out into the cool night.
Ten minutes later I find myself sitting in Spencer's car in her high school parking lot, parked next to my Corvette. I had driven it to her game earlier.
Spencer kills the engine and turns in her seat to look at me.
"Thanks for putting up with my friends," she says, that apologetic look on her face again.
"It was worth it," I state with a smile, eliciting a smile from her as well. "Seriously though, they're not that bad." I was being honest. I thought they were pretty cool.
Spencer chuckles at this, apparently not convinced. "So, are you going back to campus, or...?"
I give her a confused look. She must think I live on campus. "Oh, I don't live on campus," I inform her. "I live in an apartment a few minutes from there."
Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. She seems to do that a lot. "You have an apartment?" she asks in disbelief.
"Yep," I answer nonchalantly.
"How do you afford that?" she questions as she moves her arm to rest on the top of my head rest.
"My parents pay for it. They're kind of wealthy," I tell her. I turn in my seat, much like she had done, and capture her beautiful blue eyes with my own.
"Huh," she says, not really knowing how else to reply. Her fingers start to play with the hair on the top of my head as I lean it on the head rest.
"I should probably get going," I state reluctantly, "I have class in the morning. And you have school."
"Yeah," she agrees with a sigh.
"Will you call me?" I ask, hope evident in my voice.
"Definitely," she says with a smile, which I return before moving to get out of the car. I close the door and lean down to peer in at her through the open window.
"Goodnight, Ashley," she says softly, a smile still gracing her gorgeous face.
"Goodnight, Spencer," I reciprocate her smile and throw in a wink before backing up and watching her drive off.
Once her car disappears from my view, I climb into my own car and make my way home.
My dreams that night would undoubtedly be filled with the blonde basketball player.
I was looking forward to it.