Author's Notes
Now for my not so long awaited new Spashley story. Right on for me. This fic is slightly AU. I kind of wanted to experiment with how Spencer and Ashley's relationship might go if Spencer's family wasn't in the picture, so I kept her in Ohio until she graduated high school, and she's now going to college in LA with Ashley. Dun dun dun. Let's see how things go, shall we? Also, make a note that I have never seen the UCLA campus, so I'm forced to base it off of my own. Sorry about that. There's not a lot going on in this chapter. It's kind of like an intro. So, yeah. Let's see where this goes.
Disclaimer: I do not own the South Of Nowhere characters. They belong to Tom Lynch.
In The Sun
Chapter 1
By Persephone's Nautical Nun
- Spencer -
I felt my body give an involuntary shudder as the wind picked up, blowing my long blond hair about my face. I had been in California for a few months, but the sunrises still took my breath away. It was a new morning, a Sunday to be exact. I hadn't gone to bed the night before, but I was wired. I never slept on the weekends.
I let my thoughts wander to my hometown in Ohio. Sure, it was nice to watch the sun peak out above the mountains, but I found the clear view of the sun as it made its way across the country much prettier.
I had graduated from a small town in middle America. Out of my class, I was the one who moved the farthest away from home. My family had been supportive, as a general rule. The move was hard on my mom. I was her baby, and I guess it was hard for her to let me go.
It was the start of my second semester at UCLA, and it was cold out, what with it being the middle of January. It had stormed the night before, and I was sitting in the aftermath. It was sprinkling lightly, but not enough to make me want to leave my perch on the railing outside the campus post office.
I'm pulled away from my thoughts as I notice the antique looking lamp posts in the courtyard finally decide that it was light enough for them to turn themselves off. I pulled out my cell phone, checking the time. Seven o'clock. Any minute now...
My eyes immediately locked onto the figure coming into the courtyard, her head bent down, trying to avoid puddles. Loose brown curls fell in front of her eyes, but she made no move to alter their position. I licked my lips unconsciously as she wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to ward off the chill, I'm sure.
I had first noticed her a week ago when I moved back into my dorm after Christmas break. She walked across the courtyard every morning, and she never once looked up at me.
I don't know why watching her had become part of my morning routine. All I knew was that I was drawn to her, and that's all that mattered to me.
The tiny drops of rain started to come down faster, making the girl below me quicken her pace. I imagined the drops of water stinging her face as she walked into them. My eyes lingered in the direction she had disappeared for a few moments before finally getting off the railing, stretching my muscles. The bookstore was going to open soon, and I had books to buy. Classes started the next day.
---South-Of-Nowhere---
- Ashley -
It was raining. I hated the rain. Okay, so maybe I didn't hate the rain. I actually really loved it. I really only hated the cold. But the cold plus the rain really wasn't very good for me. It made me wet, and that just meant that I'd be colder, longer.
You can see why I'm angry with the rain right now.
Still, my morning walk around campus routine was so engraved in my head that I wasn't about to let a little water stop me. I knew I would be teased mercilessly by my roommate, Kelly, when i got back to the apartments, but I didn't care.
Kelly. We had been sleeping together for about a month and a half at the beginning of my first semester here, but she wasn't what I wanted. I tried to make it work, but there was something missing.
She was still my friend, though, depending on how you define that word. She spent half of her time competing with me, and the other half trying to win me back. I swear, I don't know why I still put up with her. It probably has something to do with my irrational fear of being alone, which you'd think I'd be used to by now, considering my parents were never around growing up.
I walked past one of the lamp posts in the courtyard and chuckled softly to myself. These things were installed last year in a pitiful attempt to give the campus a touch of class. Even though i was a freshman, I knew the campus pretty well. I had grown up in LA.
For the past week or so, I've been feeling some one's eyes on me as I walked through the courtyard. I t wasn't a creepy feeling, though. I twas surprisingly soothing. That's why I never looked around to see where the feeling was coming from. I didn't want to be disappointed if there was no one there after all.
I left the courtyard and that soothing feeling started to fade.
I stopped in front of the music building, looking up at it. I was going to be spending a lot of time there this semester, just like the last one. It was almost like my second home on this campus.
The rain started to come down even harder, and I took this as a sign to finish up my walk and get home.