Chapter 4 - Stand Still, Look Pretty
"That's not good enough," Spencer glared.
"Well what do you want me to tell you?" Ashley asked.
"How about the truth…" Spencer said.
"The truth?" Ashley asked as she nervously bit her bottom lip.
"Yeah, the truth," she repeated.
"The truth is…" Ashley sighed.
"Hey, how about we go out and grab a bite to eat right now? I'm starving! We can take the food and eat it at the park or something," Ashley suggested. Spencer wanted to yell at Ashley for changing the subject but she decided to let it go seeing as how she herself has some figuring out left to do. "Sounds good to me, let's go!" she shouted as she got off Ashley's bed. Spencer extended her hand out towards Ashley and helped her off. Ashley couldn't help but smile at Spencer's gesture. "I really like this girl," she thought to herself. The two girls made their way out of Ashley's house and into her car.
"So…" Spencer's voice trailed off.
"So…" Ashley repeated.
"What time is it?" she asked, clearly trying to make conversation and avoid a possible discussion of THE subject. "It's about to be 6pm," Spencer answered. "Sweet. What are you in the mood for? I kind of want something greasy and fattening. Mmmm fat!" Ashley said as she pondered the thought. Spencer subtlety admired the brunette next to her as she thought about what she was hungry for. "BURGERS, FRIES, AND SHAKES!" exclaimed Spencer. "Ohhh weee, I thought you'd never ask!" Ashley replied giddily. "I know the perfect place too," she continued. "Cool, then what are we waiting for?" she stated rhetorically.
They had gotten their food from this small place a few blocks from Ashley's house and were now sitting on a greener-than-average patch of grass in the suburban park. "This is beautiful," Ashley said out of the blue. "I know, it's perfect! The park is really gorgeous" replied Spencer. "Not as gorgeous as you," Ashley thought. Slowly the sun was starting to set as both girls ate their food and drank their shakes while giggling and talking about random things.
"So Aiden is like one of the girls now huh?" Ashley said, more of a statement than a question.
"Yeah! He's so funny…" Spencer laughed while playing with her straw.
"I can't believe I used to date him," Ashley snorted and shake accidentally erupted from her nose. "Oh my God! That is the greatest thing ever!" Spencer said as she pointed towards the mess Ashley had made.
"I know, I know. I'm a riot!" Ashley smiled as she waved her hand in the air pageant-style.
"Here, let me help you clean up a bit," Spencer offered. Spencer gathered napkins from one of the paper bags as handed some over to Ashley.
"Thanks," she replied with a smile.
"Ugh, it's all over my pants!" Ashley whined.
"Oh don't be a big baby about it. It'll wash off, I'm sure," Spencer softly answered.
"Hey Spence?"
"Yeah Ash?"
"It's getting dark. I'm kind of afraid of the dark. Or like being in large open spaces when it's like totally dark out and you can't see who or what is approaching you. Yeah, that's just not my thing," Ashley explained.
"Are you serious?" Spencer asked.
"Uh huh. Long story. Can we head back to the car though?" she pleaded.
"Sure hun."
They gathered up their trash and walked towards one of the bins before heading back for the car. As Ashley trailed behind, she heard an owl, causing her to scream and run towards Spencer. "Spencer help me! What is it?" she asked, a look of fear crossing her face. Spencer laughed at how cute Ashley was behaving. "Ash, it's just a bird or something. Probably an owl?" she replied. "I hate those things!" Ashley yelled out, secretly hoping the owl would hear and understand the human language. "What, the birds or owls?" Spencer asked. "The owl!" Ashley said as she began to move closer to Spencer. "Don't worry, they're not going to swoop down and bite your head off," Spencer said with a laugh. "Yeah shows what you know! I heard they like to poke people's eyes out. SPENCER I LIKE MY EYES IN MY HEAD," Ashley insisted. Spencer shook her head and simply said, "Right…"
"Will you hold my hand?" Ashley innocently asked.
"Now? Why what's wrong?" Spencer replied.
"I'm just terrified of the owl things that's all," Ashley stated.
"Sure thing Ash," she smiled as she took Ashley's hand into her own.
Ashley cautiously intertwined her fingers with Spencer's as they began their lengthy walk back to her car. She remained silent for a while because she couldn't believe she'd overreacted over a stupid owl. However, she was happy that it made her work up enough courage to ask Spencer to hold her hand. A grin formed upon her face as she felt Spencer's thumb sliding over her hand causing her to glance over only to find that she too was off in her own world.
"I can't believe I'm holding her hand," Spencer thought to herself. She smiled and kept on thinking. "And why does it feel so right?" She unknowingly began caressing Ashley's hand with her thumb. She mentally slapped herself for being so neglectful of Ashley and snapped back to reality. This was it, it was now or never, and Spencer found herself aching to know the answer. Suddenly, Spencer stopped in her tracks and spoke up. "Hey Ash, can I ask you something?" Ashley too snapped out of her daze and looked Spencer in the eyes. "Oh God, this is it," Ashley thought to herself. Spencer couldn't help but stare at the movement of Ashley's pretty mouth as she replied back, "Sure Spence… go for it."