Marco rode shotgun, with Ashley and Ellie in the back. Marco started asking Craig how his album was coming along.
"Eh, most of the songs are written. Basically we just need to finish recording them," Craig says.
Ellie starts ignoring the conversation taking place in the front seat and nudges Ashley.
"Soooo, Craig looks nice," she whispers.
"Ya, so?" Ashley whispers back.
"Kinda like he's trying to imPRESS someone."
"Well he's doing a good job. Do you know how hard this 'just friends' thing has become?" Ashley asks.
Of course Ellie knew. She had to sit on the sidelines and watch Craig with Manny all year. But she realized this was tougher for Ashley. While her affection for Craig was, at most, a crush, Ashley had been in love with Craig for years and probably always would be. The other difference, and it was a big one, being Craig actually loved Ashley back. She needs to just give in already, Ellie thought. What's the worse that could happen that hasn't already happened?
Craig doesn't hear their conversation, just whispering. He looks up in the rearview mirror and smiles at Ashley.
She sees him and smiles back, and immediately feels red in the face and looks down in embarrassment.
Ellie laughs. "This is gonna be so fun," she says.
Ashley rolls her eyes.
The rest of the car ride consists of the three talking, while Ashley sits back and listens, afraid to say anything that might humiliate her.
They decide to eat at a local pizza joint that was across the street from the movie theater.
Craig puts the car in park and turns it off. "You guys go ahead," he says pointing to Marco and Ellie. "I want to talk to Ashley for a second…that is, if it's OK with you?" he asks her.
"Um, OK."
"Order the usual…you still like cheese pizza, right Ash?"
"Yes," she smiles.
Marco and Ellie head for the pizzeria.
Craig turns around to Ashley and asks, "Did I do something wrong?"
"What? Why would you ask that?"
"You were just really quiet the whole way here. I thought maybe I did something."
"No Craig, you didn't do anything. To be honest, I just didn't want to embarrass myself any further after the whole turning red scene."
"Oh, I hadn't noticed," Craig smiles.
"Uh huh, I'm sure you didn't. So you ready to eat or what?" she asks.
"Ya, as long as you're fine. I want you to have fun tonight, Ash."
"I plan to and I'm fiiiiine. Let's go."
Marco and Ellie were already sitting at a booth across from one another, so Craig and Ashley sat on the other side of each. Ashley was thankful that, for the time being, she didn't have to sit so close to Craig.
They ate their pizza and chatted about their summer plans. When it was Craig's turn, he mentioned that he'd be leaving back to Vancouver in a week. Ashley immediately got quiet. How could she forget he had to leave again? This was the first time he had mentioned it in front of her, but she still knew and completely forgot…or maybe she was just in denial. Either way, this was all the more reason to not get close to Craig. She couldn't get attached again, to only have him leave her in a week's time. It was now more important than ever to keep her heart guarded from Craig.
When everyone was done, they walked across the street to the theater. They didn't look at movie times before they left; they just figured they would see whatever worked best after eating dinner. The only movie that did work was Adam Sandler's "Click." No one was particularly excited to see it, but they figured it couldn't be that bad. Craig made a crack about how if the movie was terrible, at least they had Kate Beckinsale to look at. The girls didn't find his joke to be very amusing.
They made their way into the theater, stopping to get drinks, popcorn and Sour Patch Kids for Craig. Marco and Ellie picked their seats, which left Craig and Ashley to sit by one another. Craig was at the end and Ashley was sandwiched between him and Ellie. Ashley turned to Ellie and gave her the 'you're so dead' look.
"You're gonna have to get over this or just give in already," Ellie whispers.
There was a slight pause before Ashley began…"Ellie…he's leaving," Ashley says almost choking back tears.
Ellie grabs her hand and squeezes. "Ya, but not forever."
Ashley forces a half smile.
The lights dim and the movie starts. Craig asks Ashley if she wants any popcorn. She says no without even looking his way. Halfway through the movie, Ashley goes to set her arm on the armrest not realizing Craig's was already there. She immediately jumps upon feeling the warmth of this hand and quickly places both hands in her lap. Craig is mildly pleased by Ashley's behavior; at least he has some affect on her.
The movie is almost over and Ashley grabs her soda to make sure she gets her money's worth. Craig had made several casual glances her way, but never actually stared but when she grabbed that soda…all he could do was stare at her lips and trace them with is eyes, wishing they were on his. He must've been staring long because next thing he knows, he hears Marco and Ellie snickering. Ashley looks over at him and almost chokes on her soda after seeing Craig staring at her.
"What are you doing?" she manages to get out.
"I…uh…I gotta go to the bathroom," Craig yells and immediately runs out of the theater before anyone can say anything.
Ashley puts her hands over her face and rubs her eyes.
The movie ends and the credits roll.
"Oh, thank God. Get me out of here," Ashley says.
They walk out and find Craig standing by the car waiting for them.
"You have a problem buddy?" Marco asks while laughing.
"Uh, nope. All is good. Let's go."
Ellie goes to get into the car and Ashley runs over to tell her to switch her spots. She's not dealing with the rearview mirror incident again.
The car ride back to Craig's is mostly met with silence, with a few remarks from Marco every now and then.
They go into the house and Marco and Ellie immediately wink at one another.
"I gotta go actually, but I'm just gonna walk," Ellie says.
"Well, you shouldn't walk by yourself. I'll go with you," Marco adds.
They both say goodbye as they're walking out the door without stopping to look back.
"Well that was subtle," Ashley says.
Craig smiles.
"Hey, I wanna show you something," Craig says. "Come with me, but you have to cover your eyes."
Ashley is a little hesitant, but she gets up and follows Craig to the door. He stands behind her and covers her eyes with his hands and leads the way. Ashley thinks to the last time Craig used his hands as a blindfold…a near perfect day. She smiles, as does Craig who's remembering the same thing.
"You're not leading me to a bed with rose petals made into a heart with our initials inside are you? Because you've already used that one."
Craig laughs. "No, I'm not. But you were thinking that too, huh?" He opens the door to the garage and tells her to open her eyes.
She pauses for a few seconds before opening them completely. She looks around and sees that nothing has changed. The same papers are even still scattered everywhere.
"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Ashley asks.
"See all those papers…"
"Hard to miss," she interrupts.
"Ya, well Manny threw them everywhere."
Ashley made a face that clearly indicated she wasn't happy he was bringing her up in conversation.
"Just go pick one of them up. Any one, it doesn't matter."
Ashley walked a few steps and picked up the nearest piece of paper.
"Read it."
Ashley gets halfway through and says, "Craig, I really don't know why you want me to read lyrics to songs that are about Manny."
"Are you actually paying attention to what you're reading? Because it's very obvious those lyrics are not about Manny. And that's actually why they're scattered everywhere."
Ashley gulps. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"Because Ashley, I want you to know what you mean to me. Every single song…they're all about you. I've only written songs about you. I only get inspired when I'm thinking of you or when I'm around you."
He walks toward her and she instantly turns around so her back is facing him and closes her eyes. He walks closer and puts his arms around her waist while smelling her hair. His nose grazes her neck, which forces her to take a deep breath and exhale slowly while biting down on her lip.
"You are the only person I will ever write about, Ash. I hope you know that."
"Craig…please," she pleads breathlessly, eyes still shut.
He places his hand on her shoulder to turn her around, but she snaps out of it and ducks under his arm and runs for the door.
"I'm sorry. I can't do this," she sobs. "I'm so sorry."