Sorry for the long-ish wait on this new chapter
Sorry for the long-ish wait on this new chapter.
I don't really have anything else to say, so let's get to the reviews:
Ash Riley: Let's see if you're the first to review this chapter ... haha
angel-prncess-18: Oh yeah, a good drunk Bradin always adds a little something to a chapter. Now I get what you were laughing at. haha There may be another drunk-ish Bradin in this chapter, because I too enjoy writing that. You'll just have to see ...
justthegirl07: Thanks for the idea! I may actually still use it in this chapter, or future ones because it would add more drama.
SecondStarToTheRight15: Yeah, a few of you thought the "Just Friends" song was by the Jonas Brothers. But I do not like those lil guys, so I definitely would not put a song of theirs in my story. haha Usually, my song titles would be more indie or older music. And wow! You are always SO hyper! haha
Krissy: I've never heard the Jonas Brother's version of "Just Friends" but for some reason, I bet that Gavin DeGraw's version would be SO much better! haha And Lucas was a big surprise to many, which I'm happy about. I just hope it was a good surprise and not a bad one ...
RavenRoyale: I'm SO glad my story does not bore you ) Keep checking back for more insanely interesting chapters to come!
Thank you also to JmacKarla and princessoffndrkness06 for reviewing. I'm aiming for 10 reviews this chapter, okay? haha I know you can do it!
Chapter 12: Time of the Season
(A/N: Before I start this chapter, I want to let you know the time all of this stuff has been going on. Before this chapter, it has been summer so school was not going on. Now it will be the fall, so both Bradin and Ashley will be back at school Ashley at Playa Linda State and Bradin at Playa Linda High.)
A week passed since Bradin and Ashley decided to remain "just friends". During that time, they hardly saw each other. It's not like they tried, but Ashley was getting busy, preparing for her sophomore year of college at Playa Linda State. She had to go shopping for new school clothes, supplies, and decorations for her new dorm room. This year, she managed to get a single bedroom in her dorm building, so Ashley could decorate it however she wanted to. A far cry from last year, when Ashley had to share her room with two other girls who both were too into the black and gray colors. This time, Ashley was determined to prep her room out.
Bradin was busy too, getting ready with his brother and sister for his senior year at Playa Linda High. His aunt was majorly into the two-weeks-before-school regime of shopping with her nephews and niece, and this year was extra-special for her since it would be Bradin's last year at home. He didn't want to travel that far away from home, but far enough so as to have his own space. So he was aiming for USC or UCLA. Since it was his senior year, Bradin was determined to make it his best year ever, with little to no drama, and Ashley by his side. He had meant to hang out with her more for the last week before they could officially be together, but he was in charge of driving his little brother to his final baseball games and practices.
Ashley was in the promenade shops looking for things to add to her dorm, when she looked into a music store and saw Bradin flipping through some CDs.
She smiled and walked in. He had not looked up when the little bell above the front door had chimed, so she walked behind him and said, "Excuse me, can you help me?"
Bradin turned around and smiled when he saw her.
"Do you work here?" she asked with a grin.
"Not really, but I've come here the past week enough, so I could probably help you."
"Why are you here so much?"
"You see," he leaned against the row of CDs, "I've been incredibly bored this past week. All I've been doing is carting my little brother from baseball practice to home and unwillingly getting ready with my aunt for the new school year," he rolled his eyes.
"Don't you have any friends to hang out with?" she smirked.
"I did have this one friend," he answered, "but she's too preoccupied getting ready for college to remember that I exist." Ashley frowned at his statement. "Besides, I've tried calling her, but she hasn't picked up."
"I'm sorry," Ashley said. "Maybe I can be your friend?"
Bradin laughed. "I would love that." He let go of the act and reached out to hug her, which Ashley accepted. She put down her bags and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"I'm sorry I've been so flaky on you," she said into his shirt.
"It's okay, I understand," he pulled away. "If I were going back to college tomorrow, I'd be running around like a chicken with its head chopped off too."
"Hey! I don't look like that!" she laughed. "Do I?"
"No, of course not," he answered sarcastically. "It's okay, I get it. And I would help you, but my brother kinda depends on me right now. In fact," he checked his watch, "Shit! I was supposed to pick him up like five minutes ago. I'm sorry, I wish I could stay and talk for a while, but I've really-"
"It's cool, I get it. Go!" Ashley said. Bradin smiled and walked back out the door. "Wait!" she called to him. He turned back around. "Um, I'm pretty much done here. Can I come with you?"
"Sure," he smiled. "But I have to warn you, my family's pretty eccentric."
Ashley laughed, "Whose isn't?"
--
"So, are you Bradin's friend or 'friend'?" Derrick asked Ashley when they arrived back to the house and everyone was meeting her.
Ashley smiled and looked to Bradin for the answer. He gave Derrick the evil eye and said, "I don't think that's any of your business, D."
"But you usually only introduce girls to the family if you really like them," Derrick complained. He whispered in Ashley's ear, "I think he really likes you."
Ashley smiled as best she could and said, "Bradin and I are just friends. That can go on the record right now."
Bradin noticed Derrick's smile falter after hearing that, but then Ava said, "Okay, I think we've roasted Ashley enough for one night. I'm sure they have some party to go to or something."
"Actually, there is a party tonight, but it's with the same crowd, so we were thinking we'd just chill here until Ashley has to go back to her dorm if that's okay," Bradin said, hoping his aunt would let them hang out in his room alone.
"That sounds alright," Ava said. "Well, you two have fun."
Ashley said goodbye to everyone as Bradin led her to his room aside from the living room. When Bradin closed the door behind her, Ashley let out a sigh and said, "You're family is so nice."
Bradin chuckled, "I guess." He opened his outside door to get some air in the room.
"No really, they are," she said. "Compared to my family, anyway."
"You never told me about them," he said as he sat down on his bed.
"There's nothing much to tell," she said, then added, "Why do you have two beds and two closets?" She gestured to the bed closest to her, unmade, and the closed closet across from it. "Did someone used to live in here, or something?"
"Nice use of changing the subject," Bradin smiled. "Derrick used to live in here with me, but since Johnny moved in with Aunt Ava, he moved upstairs and got his own room."
"So now you get twice the living space; nice. And I was not changing the subject."
"Do ya wanna sit down? You're kinda making me nervous standing there," he gestured to the unmade bed two feet from her.
Ashley smiled and sat down, facing Bradin. Looking into his eyes, she realized that she knew a lot about him but he knew practically nothing about her. That had not been intentional; it had just escaped her mind until now.
"My mom and dad got divorced when I was 10 and Trey was 12. I think it was harder on him, since I didn't really know what was going on. My dad stayed down in San Diego, while my mom moved up here to Playa Linda. Since in their divorce they shared joint custody of us, Trey and I would move back and forth between them halfway through the year; I would stay with Dad January through June and then come up here July through December. I suppose it could have gone better for us, but they really didn't want to work together.
"So it stayed like that until Trey's death and I decided to emancipate myself from them, even though I wasn't 18 yet. They actually signed the papers for me, and I haven't seen them since that day," Ashley finished her story. "Needless to say, it wasn't a happy childhood, but Trey was the one who made it bearable. I just wish I could see where he went wrong …" She trailed off as tears started coming to her eyes. She fought them off to say, "So that's my family."
Bradin instantly moved over to the bed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. He quieted her down, since by that point she was in full-on tear mode, and rocked her back and forth on the bed.
After a few minutes, Ashley stopped crying and tried to pull away, "Sorry about that. I haven't told anyone that in a long time. Um … I think you can let go now."
"For being a candy stripper, you're not all that good taking comfort yourself," Bradin commented as he backed away a little.
"I am, it's just … weird you know?" she moved away a little, but not by much so their arms and legs were still touching. "I don't know how much to go."
"You know, we only have a week left," he whispered.
Ashley looked up at him and swallowed as she looked at his lips for a second. "Did you find anyone else?"
"Of course not," he looked at her closer. "Did you?"
"No," she smiled. "I've been trying to fight this for so long, you know. I can't do it anymore."
"Callie already has a new boyfriend," Bradin mentioned. "Seriously, this time. He's a nice soccer player, or something. All of my friends, including some of Callie's, want me to move on."
"Then maybe you should," she said quietly as she moved toward him. He moved towards her and was about two inches from her lips when an alarm went off. Then backed away and Ashley sighed. She had set an alarm for 7:45, 15 minutes before curfew at PLS.
"I can't believe you have an eight o'clock curfew," Bradin said as she stood up. They looked at each other for a moment, deciding whether or not that moment should have happened or not.
"It's just for orientation week. I gotta go," Ashley said. "Walk me?"
"Sure," Bradin smiled. He took her hand and led her out the back door.
--
"So you can let a guy into this dorms, anytime?" Bradin asked incredulously as Ashley led him into her main dorm building.
"These are old dorms, Bradin. They're co-ed," she pointed to some guys watching TV in the rec room.
Bradin smiled and followed Ashley to her dorm door, down the first floor hallway. As they approached room 113, Bradin held onto her hand and loved the natural feeling of her skin next to his.
"Here we are," she said, stopping in front of the closed door.
"Can I see you tomorrow?" he asked.
"Yeah, we can meet for lunch around 12:30. I don't have class until 3:30. Call me," she said with a smirk. "So …" she looked down at their hands. "Are we going out now?"
"I think so," he smiled. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do this." He gently pushed her against the door ad kissed her with all the passion he could muster. He heard her moan into it, so he upped it by reaching under her shirt and taking a feel of her breasts. She squealed with desire, then quickly moved away to look if anyone overheard them.
"Bradin!" she said in shock, but he could tell that she liked it.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he smirked, then turned around and walked away, leaving Ashley standing speechless, wishing for more.
Song of the chapter: Time of the Season by Ben Taylor (on the Prom Night soundtrack, if any of you have that)
