Chapter Thirteen: Dreams

The air conditioning in my house is on, its thirty degrees outside, and I'm laying flat on my back in nothing but green gym shorts and a black tank top. This is pure torture; but I'm still convincing myself that the payout is worth it. The payout has to be worth it.

I hear a knock on the door and shuffling of feet before two very loud people barge into my room. "Time's up!"

Upon hearing those words I swung myself up off the bed and headed for the stash of jackets in the bottom of my closet. After picking out the thickest one that I could find, I headed back into my room and smiled at the two people sitting on my bed.

"You guys suck."

Aiden looks at me and smiles knowingly. "Do I still have to pay you?"

Ashley gives him an incredulous look before turning back to me, "Damn right you do. She just sat up here for fifteen minutes barely clothed in the freezing cold."

I smile at the two as they bicker in front of me, silently wondering how everything could be so cool, this soon after everything that has happened. It amazes me.

"Spencer? Earth to Spencer." Aiden moves his arm in front of my face trying to catch my attention.

"Huh?" I stammer out uneasily.

Aiden just laughs and puts his arm around my shoulders easily leading me to the stairs, "I said, we're hungry. Let's go grab a bite."

I look behind me towards Ashley and see her give me a small wink. I swoon just a bit and turn back around to listen to Aiden.

"So was it like torture?" Aiden enthusiastically asks

"Sort of." I start before staring back at Ashley, "but it was worth every second of it."

I get nothing but a nose crinkling grin and a small wave from her at my double meaning.

Because she's totally worth it.

We're standing silently on the beach. Hands close, but not really touching. I can feel the body heat radiate off her; it's warm and comfortable. Just like we've always been; warm and comfortable. I look down at a slight glow coming from around her wrist.

Smiling, I take her hand and slowly start playing with the green turtle shaped rubber band that's resting on her left wrist.

"I love this." I tell her softly, looking straight into her eyes.

She just smiles and takes my left wrist, slowly turning the blue shark around until she can see the glow.

"I love you."

She leans closely into my body and takes a deep breath. All I can do is smile while taking in my surroundings. Because I know that she truly loves me, despite everything that has happened, we'll always have each other.

"I love you too." I say slowly while wrapping my arms even tighter around her. "I always will."

"Good, because I like having you around. You're nice to look at." And just like that we're back to the same old Spencer and Ashley. The jokesters who can't stop giggling in chemistry class. The girls who drive ninety down the highway just because they can.

The girls who are so far in love that neither of them can think straight.

Oh, and pun totally intended.

Ashley and I had literally spent every second together since that night with Aiden and the whole "breakup" thing.

That was about three weeks ago.

Three of the most amazing weeks that I had ever had in my entire life.

So it's not a surprise that she seems to be the only thing that I'm able to think about most of the time nowadays. Whether I'm just driving down the highway or even making a late night run to the grocery store. She always seems to be there.

It's early and I'm doing nothing but sitting in the middle of the quad looking up at the slowly rising sun. Just imagining how it must look from other parts of the world. If the striking orange, and the piercing yellow spray across the sky like they're in a constant battle.

"Spencer, are you pondering the meaning of the universe again?" Kayla asks me sardonically before scooting next to me on the bench.

"If I said yes, it wouldn't seem that believable, would it?"

She shakes her head before slightly nudging me, "Nope. But I can only guess what's going on in your mind."

"I got the letter yesterday." I say softly before looking back up towards the sky.

"And.." She leaves the sentence open.

"What do you think?" I say with a slight sarcastic anger.

"When are you going to tell her?"

"Never?"

"Spence, you know that'll never work. She is your girlfriend, right?" Kayla questions me.

I remove my gaze from the sky and focus my attention on the girl standing across the quad from my current position.

"I think. I mean, we've pretty much been that way since their breakup."

"But nothings been said?"

"Not yet." I sigh softly and bury my hands in, "I don't know how to bring it up."

Kayla laughs loudly at my comment before catching her breath and turning to face me better. "Maybe you should ask her when you guys are in the locker room after practice."

My eyes narrow slightly at her reference and as I open my mouth to retaliate Kayla cuts me of, "Oh wait, you guys are too busy making out."

"Seriously, shut up."

"Fine; but it's fucking hilarious, Spence." She nudges me again before going to stand up.

"But in all seriousness, she needs to know." Kayla turns around and heads towards the art wing. Leaving me to sit alone with my thoughts.

I slam my fists softly on the bench beside me and whisper out a soft "fuck".

"Is this a bad time?" Ashley's angelic voice rings out and I can't help but involuntarily smile at the sight of the brunette cautiously moving towards me.

"No, never."

"Good, because I have some good news to tell you." She states before sliding next to me on the slightly damp bench.

"And what you that be?"

She send me another grin before grabbing my hand and turning to face me, "So remember how I was going to apply to San Francisco State?"

"Vaguely." I reply with mock-irritation.

She hits me softly in the arm before I smile at her and reassure her that I remembered.

"Well, they sent me a letter." She pauses while still smiling at me. "I got in."

I squeeze her hand tighter and wrap her in a strong, but gentle hug. "That's great, Ash."

"I know, right? Plus, it's a full scholarship." She still smiling and I feel a slight bit of guilt wash over me.

Ashley, noticing my sudden mood change, leans closer into me and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek. "What's wrong, Spence?"

I sigh before turning to look into her deep brown eyes, slowly getting lost in them. "San Francisco seems so far away."

"Don't worry Spencer. We'll be okay, it's only five hours away." She states softly.

"It's not that Ash." I start before slightly choking up. "It'll be so much more than five hours."

"What're you talking about?" She questions disconcertingly.

I drop her gaze and stand up in front of her. She looks up at me with worry in her eyes; the whole scene looks exactly like something that you would see in a really bad romance movie.

I kneel slightly in front of her and take a deep breath, "I just got offered a scholarship."

She gives me another confused look. "Where?"

"It's a basketball scholarship and this school has the best architecture program in the United States." I say while trying to stall the inevitable heartache that will ensue.

"Spencer, stop fucking stalling. What college is it?" Ashley's tone is alarming and I can feel her irritated gaze land on my eyes.

"The University of Miami," I state quietly.

We're just sitting here, neither of us speaking. I'm afraid that she's actually lost her ability to speak. And that would generally suck, because I like talking to her.

"Miami? Like in Florida?" She questions while still in a daze.

"Yeah." I duck my head down as she comprehends the magnitude of the situation.

She just stands up and walks away from me, without saying another word. It takes me a few seconds to realize that she's actually walking away from me, but I run to catch up with her and slowly turn her around. Only to see her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Ashley," I start silently. "Please don't cry. We have a whole year before any of that can be solid. Things could change in that time."

She nods her head softly and escapes from my grasp. "I have to go, Spence. I'll call you later."

I watch her walk away, heading towards the junior parking lot, and I feel my eyes start to water as I watch her go.

I feel nothing but emptiness as I walk towards my first class of the day.

I feel nothing but despair as I go to basketball practice and find that Ashley isn't there.

And most of all, I feel nothing but loneliness when she doesn't call me that night.

Author's Notes: Flights can really get someone writing. Good God, I wrote so much. Thank you all for being patient. I know how frustrating it can be to wait.

Also, side note. To the lovely anonymous reviewer that decided to leave me a review, I thank you. See, your honesty has made me realize something that I've truly been ignoring throughout my whole "fan fiction" experience. Haters make me smile. So the next time you decide that us writers "are so irritating," I would love to remind you that you didn't have the gall to post that lovely little review with a penname. But, I'm not going to call that irritating because I'm an adult, and as an adult, I'm going to smile and care about the people who actually review my story based on it's content and not based on the author. Some of the best stories in the world are based on true stories (i.e: Catcher in the Rye, all of Edith Whartons novels were based on her failing marriage, Every single Ernest Hemingway novel). But, like I said before, I thank you for speaking your mind. But next time, do it in some way that I could PM you and not have to waste time writing this in an authors note.

Anyways, thank you all for the support. I appreciate it.

Love,
Liz

Disclaimer: South = Not mine. But a girl could wish.