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Disclaimer: I do not own anything. All disclaimers belong to Tom Lynch and The-N.

Chapter 7: Buried Desires

Ashley's POV

December 24th

Spencer and I agreed to exchange gifts for Christmas, but we can't tell what we are getting each other because it would ruin the surprise. Yet, I have nothing to spill because I haven't found anything that suits Spencer. I typically am picky about getting my friends gifts for whatever the occasion is, but it's different with Spencer. I don't want to get something too expensive and then make her think I'm trying to get something out of her, yet, I don't want to get anything cheap because she means a lot to me. I have a different connection with her that I can't exactly explain, so I need to get something that would mean more to her.

I'm in the mall right now, parading around, seeking to find a unique gift for Spencer. I've been to all the stores I thought would've had something, but I was terribly mistaken. My legs are tired of lugging my body around and I'm tried of getting my hopes up in every store only to get shot down.

I stop looking from left to right to look at Kyla. I say, "Let's just go home. I'll have to forge something by tomorrow." I turn around to start walking.

She tugs my arm to turn me around. She says, "Wait. What about that store?"

I turn around to see a brand new jewelry store. It doesn't seem like it's the expensive stuff so I figure I would check it out and then we're out. I begin to walk towards the store as Kyla follows shortly behind me.

I spectate the store before going to far to analyze if it's worth the look. I walk past the earrings because I don't think Spencer has her ears pierced. I'm probably completely wrong, but I walk past them anyway. I get to the section of the necklaces and decide to snoop through. One of them sparkles through the corner of my eye. I turn to see matching "dog tag-looking" necklaces that have "best" and "friends" written on them. I really liked them even though they were utterly corny. They are better than anything I've seen in the mall so I'm buying them. I don't care how much Spencer laughs at me for it because it was the best I could do.

Now if I could only come up with a decent speech to go with my poor excuse of why I got this then I'll be fine.

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I feel my phone vibrate through my pocket. It's another call. I pick it up without looking at the number and casually say," Hello."

Spencer anxiously says, "In five minutes, meet me at my house so we can give our gifts."

I hurry my words, "Okay. Bye."

Oh no. I need to wrap my gift and make a card (or find one) within the next five minutes. I quickly run up to Mom's room to dig for wrapping paper and tape. I made a mess during the process of wrapping the thing, but the end product was worth it. Now I need to find a card. I go into Mom's closet where she stores all of the Christmas junk and dig into the card box. I shuffle through each card, glancing at the fronts to decide whether or not to pull it out. I spot a funny card and instantly pull it out to sign it with a nearby pen.

I leave the room a mess, but plan on cleaning up later. I run downstairs and out of the house, snatching my jacket on the way.

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I don't have to knock as Spencer is anxiously waiting at the front door. She has a huge grin on her face, which causes me to return it back. She says as she opens the door, "Hey."

I reply quickly as she unexpectedly grabs my arm to bring me upstairs. Either she's in a hurry or she's just overly excited to give me my present. I wish I could be that energized to give her my present.

We run into her room and she quickly closes the door. She still has that smile on her face. I don't mind it, but its kind of scaring me right now. She points to her bed, cueing me to sit on it. She says as she bites her lip, "Close your eyes."

I refuse, "Spencer…"

She says, "Uh huh. Close your eyes." She waves her finger at me and shakes her head. I close my eyes, but only to get this over with. I hear her walk around the room to grab the bag. Her footsteps inch closer to my body, making my heartbeat faster. The anxiety of not knowing is killing me right now. She says eagerly, "Open."

I open my eyes to see Spencer, holding a decorated bag that has my gift in it. I take the bag from her hands and peak in. The tissue paper in covering my sight of whatever may be buried underneath. Why does Spencer have to make this so complicated? I fold the paper on both sides to reveal an iPod. What?! I gasp and look up at her. I take the iPod out of the bag and sort of wave it at her. I say, "Are you crazy? You're giving me your iPod? You're brand new iPod?"

She tries to justify this outrageous gift, "First of all, it's not that new and secondly, you really deserve it."

I say in shock, "How do I deserve it? You realize you pretty much spent $150 on me?" She doesn't answer me. "I can't take it. I'm not taking it." I put the iPod in front of her, but she pushes it away.

She demands, "You're going to take it and you're going to like it. You deserve it."

I ask in confusion, "How do I deserve it?"

She says, "Because I know how much you really like your music and when your iPod broke, you were devastated. So then I knew what better gift to give you than my iPod."

I beg, "Take this back. Your mom bought this for you. I feel terrible even having it my hands right now."

She explains, "Don't worry, I asked my mom and she thought it was perfect for you. You've been such a wonderful friend to me. You saved my life."

Now I'm confused beyond belief, "You almost died in my house."

She shakes her head; "I bet if I wasn't at your house that night, something a lot worse would've happened. I probably wouldn't be here." I run out of excuses, so I give her a disappointed look. "Just take it, please. I really want you to have it."

I sigh. I say quietly, "Okay." I stand up to give her a big hug. "Thank you so much. This means so much to me." I break away. I break the tension by chuckling.

She smiles and asks, "What's so funny?"

I look down at my present to her. I say, "Well, it's just that now I feel bad about what I got you. It's not even close to being as nice as a new iPod."

"Pfft," she says. She slowly bends down to grab the bag. She pulls out the card first to view it. She laughs loudly at the front picture. It's a picture of a snowman holding up a hairdryer with the other one with his hands raised, pleading to not have the hairdryer being blown at him. I thought it was funny. She says, "Cute." She opens the inside and reads the usual "Merry Christmas" and then places it on her bed. She reaches in for the jewelry. She drops the bag on the floor to open the box with her hands. She opens it up and gasps. She says, "I love it." What? She's either being a really good actress or for some odd reason, she really likes them. She removes the "Best" necklace and hands it over to me. She says, "You get that one because you're the best." I didn't realize how corny she could really be when she wants to. I laugh it off and take it from her hand. I put the necklace on as I watch her do the same for hers.

I clarify, "I tried to get something better, but there was just nothing that I found that was decent enough to give you."

She assures, "This is fine. This is great, actually. I really like it." She smiles.

I ask, "Are you sure? You're not lying to me to make me feel good about the present, are you?"

She smiles, "No. I really like it."

We stand there for a few seconds, staring at each other's necklace. I say to break the quietness, "There's this New Year's party that Aiden throws every year. His parents aren't usually there so it's a lot of fun. It can get pretty crazy sometimes." I pause. "I was wondering if you wanted to go. It could help you take your mind off things a little bit."

She says, "Yea, sure. Wait…how come Aiden didn't ask me himself?"

I bite my lip. I say, "You really want to know why?"

She nods her head.

"Because he thinks you're afraid of him."

She laughs loudly. She says, "That's ridiculous, but really funny." She shakes her head. "What's there to be afraid of? He's a shrimp."

He may be a shrimp, but he can get his alcohol down—really well.

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At the party

Spencer and I went to the party together to make sure she wasn't alone and in an awkward position being alone. Mom dropped us off at the front of the house. We step out of the car as she says, "Have fun girls." Just before I close the door she adds, "You'll call me to know when to pick you up, right?"

I give her the "Yes, Mom. Now go" look. She realizes that's her cue and drives off when we're completely out of the car. I scoff and look at Spencer before we begin walking. I shake my head in a playful manner as we walk towards the house.

I ring the doorbell and Aiden immediately greets us with a cup in his hand. I notice his stature isn't very strong as I gaze at his presence. I smile at Spencer and say, "Looks like the party already started."

He waves us to come in and says, "Come on in. It's freezing out there." It's not too cold out, considering it's December in Ohio. I guess drunken people get colder quicker than those who are sober. "Everyone's downstairs."

No kidding. I thought the entire ruckus, chaos, and extremely loud music was coming from your neighbor's house. I lead Spencer into the basement and quite a few people immediately greet us. I know a lot of them, but there's just too many. There's more than there were last year. I think Spencer will be all right with all of the people because she probably knows the majority of them from school. I wonder if she's friendly with any of them.

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An hour later, 10:00 pm

Everything seems to be a little calmer than it was when we first got here. I guess the whole "Woo! Let's party!" phase seemed to die out quickly.

A group of us are sitting in circle, including Spencer, chatting about whatever's on our minds. Everybody's coupled up on a couch, cuddling: Aiden and Shannon, Danielle and Jake, and Chelsea and Sean. Spencer and I are on the other couch, not cuddling. Damn.

Aiden randomly ejects from his mouth, "My dad said I should go to Ohio University and become a lawyer. He says I know how to argue and lie really well." He chuckles, as does everyone else, except Spencer. She appears to be deep in thought about something. She doesn't look okay, like something is bothering her.

Danielle says, "My dad doesn't want me to go to college. He wants me to live at home the rest of my life." She shakes her head. She scoffs, "Typical dad." Not two seconds after Danielle finishes speaking, Spencer lifts herself off the couch and proceeds to walk upstairs. Danielle looks at me and asks, "Is she okay?"

I stand up and shrug my shoulders. I look back as I walk towards the stairs, "I'll be right back." As I walk up the stairs, I yell, "Spencer!" I hope for an answer back, but she isn't giving it to me. I walk towards the front door and see it just closed. I quickly grab my jacket and head out to catch up to her. I knew something was wrong. I should've asked her before it got to this.

I run out of the house and soon enough, catch up with her. We walk side-by-side on the sidewalk as I wait for her to utter something—anything. I'm not going to jump to conclusions or even ask her what's wrong because if something is bothering her this much, I need to allow her to open up to me.

After a few minutes of entertaining myself with my visible breath, Spencer asks, "Do you think it's crazy that I miss him?"

I calmly ask, "Miss who, Spencer?"

She hesitantly says, "My dad. I mean, do you think it's crazy that I wish he were still alive?" She looks down as we continue to walk.

I try to comfort her. I say, "No, I don't think so. You lived with him and grew to love him for 15 years. I think it's only natural for you to miss him, despite the fact that he almost killed you and had an affair."

She admits, "The thing is, I miss him. I miss the fun times we used to have together. I miss having a set of parents, instead of just one. I don't know. It feels really empty in my house and in my heart. I'm crazy for even thinking this."

I assure, "No you're not, Spencer. Your dad was a very big part of your life. Everything probably had the 'happily ever after' feeling to it, until all hell broke loose. You can't be crazy for wanting the 'happily ever after' feeling because we all want it in some aspect of our life." I pause to think of an example. "Like how…" I want to kiss you right now because you look so adorable, being sad. I almost said it, but I stopped myself. Close call. "How I want to get a job in the music business, hopefully fall madly in love with someone, get married, have a bunch of kids, and live happily ever after, but I know it won't go that way. It never does—for anyone." She appears to be deep in thought, almost to the point of confusion. I say, "I have no idea where I was going with that, but that's the first thing that popped into my mind."

Spencer laughs. She stops short and smiles at me. She says, "You're right, though. I just wish I could go back to when everything was normal or at least before I moved here."

I pout, "Oh don't say that. If you never moved here, I wouldn't have met you." I create a frown.

She says, "Maybe that would've been a good thing." She laughs, but I don't seem to find that funny. I turn around to walk back to Aiden's house. She laughs a little harder. She quickly runs up to catch to me. "Oh come on. I didn't mean that. If I didn't meet you, my life wouldn't be nearly as fun as it is now." I smile, gesturing I'm not mad at her. She nudges my shoulder and says, "Thanks."

I ask, "For what?"

She says, "For helping me. You always know what to say."

Yea. That's to hide what I really want to say most of the time.

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An hour later

I look over at Spencer who is wobbling around, trying to find her balance. She's got the same dazed look in her eye like Aiden had when he opened the door. She has a cup in her hand as she stumbles towards me. I say, "Spencer, can I have a sip?" She nods her head and hands it over. I sniff the punch and realize someone spiked it. I suggest, "Meet me in Aiden's bedroom. I need to have a talk with you." She obeys my orders and proceeds into his bedroom.

I carry the drink in my hand as I walk towards Aiden. I reach Aiden and almost throw it in his face, but I hold myself back. I say in a raised voice, "Are you crazy?"

He asks, "What?"

"Did you spike the punch?"

He says slyly, "So what?"

I say angrily, "So what? Spencer drank it and she's obviously had enough for it to be noticeable. If Spencer's mom finds out what really happens over here, your parties are gone, along with Spencer's friendship with me."

He seems concerned now. He asks, "She's drunk?"

I say, "Not quite." I look over at Aiden's bedroom door. "But you better hope she looks a lot better by the time we leave or you're dead."

I drop the drink onto the table and walk into his bedroom. I look at Spencer who seems a little more alert than before. I ask, "How much punch did you drink?"

She says innocently, "Not a lot. Only a cup."

I say, "Yea, well that could be good or bad."

She asks, "Why? What's wrong with the punch?"

"The punch was spiked and by the looks of it, you were too."

She asks in concern, "Do I really look that bad?"

I console, "Not that bad, but you can tell you had something to drink."

She says quietly, "Oh." She looks down at the floor. "At least I know to not drink it anymore."

"You better not."

15 minutes later

Aiden makes an announcement, "Hey guys. How about a little Truth-or-Dare?"

Everyone cheers it on because it's been a tradition for his parties for a few years now. And now that we're older, it gets dirtier. He waves his arms for everyone to gather around in a circle. Spencer and I sit next to each other, as usual. As soon as Aiden sits down he says, "I'll go first."

He clears his throat as he looks around the room, trying to find just the right person to start off with. I look him straight in the eyes, daring him to pick me. To my surprise, he actually does. He says, "Ashley. Truth or dare?"

I'm feeling a little mischievous so I say, "Dare."

He nods his hand and looks at everyone and then the room and then back at everyone. Everyone is extremely quiet, waiting for Aiden to create something. He's doing something that's creeping me out a bit, I might say. He's looking back and forth and Spencer and I. I think I know what he's going to say, but I don't want it to be true.

He says with a huge grin on his face, "Make out with Spencer."

Dammit, Davies you were right. What do I do now? I stutter, "Uh…no. I thought we weren't going to do that kind of stuff anymore?" That was my lame excuse that got me absolutely nowhere.

Its not that I don't want to kiss Spencer, I don 't want her to feel uncomfortable kissing me. But other than that, I'm completely for it. It would be so hot.

He boos me, "Oh, chicken!"

I bite my lip and turn towards Spencer. She shrugs her shoulders, expressing "why not." I lean my face into hers as I slowly close my eyes. Our lips graze each other's just for a second until they are fully connected.

Now, most people say you feel sparks when you kiss someone you like or love, but I'm pretty sure I have a whole firework show going on right now. I've never kissed a girl before, but I'm glad Spencer was the one to "break me."

I slowly maneuver my lips with hers as I take my left hand to grasp her face. I guess with that touch, it cued Spencer to make the kiss deeper. Before I know it, we're twirling our tongues around, almost to the point of wrestling with one another.

The room is pretty much silent, other than our mouths going at it. Aiden, the Almighty Obnoxious, yells, "Move the hand!"

I guess my hand was preventing Aiden from seeing Spencer's face and/or our lips moving. If he's worried that we're not really making out, he shouldn't because as soon as we're done—whenever that may be—I will have the biggest grin on my face.

I move my hand and continue to maintain my amount of passion in the kiss. Aiden never told us for how long to kiss, so I'm guessing it's up to us. I know I don't want this moment to leave yet, and by the feel of it, neither does Spencer.

At least a full minute goes by before I break away from Spencer's lips. Everyone surrounding us seems to be in various levels of shock when we part. It might've been too realistic for them to handle. I wait anxiously for the silence to be broken.

A few seconds later, people slowly being to converse with each other. I dip my head behind Spencer's head, to whisper, "Aiden's room in a couple minutes?" I move my head forward to look at her reaction.

She simply nods her head in agreement. She's a little tipsy still, but I think she's considerably better than before, for some reason. I wonder if the drunk Spencer was the one not wanting to leave my lips. Oh God, I hope not. I hope it was the, at least, partially sober Spencer.

A few minutes go by and everyone's back to their original party positions. The Truth-or-Dare game ended right after our kiss. I think Aiden was afraid somebody, at the party, would've gotten a little out of hand with the dares.

Spencer and I stand up and walk towards Aiden's bedroom, without causing any commotion. We slip into Aiden's bedroom and I slowly lock the door to get some sort of privacy. I can tell by Spencer's demeanor, she's still a little tipsier than I thought. She might even be drunk. Please let that not be true, though. Spencer places herself onto the bed, hardly being able to support herself. I hesitantly walk myself over and place myself right next to Spencer, almost touching her. I turn my head to look at her, but I don't say anything. I can't even think of something to say.

Her eyes closely watch her own finger as it grazes my cheek in swirls, eventually ending up on my lower stomach. I can tell she's not all here, well at least not the sober Spencer. She finely puts her hand on my cheek and leans in for another passionate kiss. I allow her to do what she pleases with my mouth then I push her away from me. I look her straight in the eyes and say, "Spencer, you're drunk."

She has an irremovable grin as she says. "No I'm not."

I reply bluntly, "Yes you are. You probably don't even know what you're saying; let alone what you're doing. I just hope you can't remember any of this in the morning because otherwise we're going to have an interesting conversation." I push her hand away. She puts her hand on her head, expressing a headache, which was probably caused by the alcohol. I say, "Let's get you home."

She doesn't refuse as I grab her waist and support her to get home.

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Mom, Dad, and I just dropped off Spencer at her house and now we're in our driveway, heading into our house. I slowly walk behind my parents, but then am disrupted by Mom pulling Dad aside to say in a sexy tone, "Why don't we finish what we started before?"

One of the most disgusting things for a teen to witness is their parents getting it on, especially outside where everyone can have a visual. I hold my scoff in as I leave them behind. I know they'll be there a while, by the looks of it.

I proceed through the dark foyer to turn on the lights near the kitchen. As soon as I flip the switch I see two bodies on the couch that I found even more disgusting than my parents.