((Alright, well – I'm in the holiday spirit, so – I decided to write another chapter – HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Enjoy!))

SONSONSONSON

Ever since Ashley first saw Spencer after first hour, she was a little suspicious as to why Spencer would completely storm through the hallway like she did. Ashley thought of tons of scenarios and came to the conclusion of only one: Spencer was upset and decided to walk away from the situation.

After the bell indicated second hour was finished, Ashley headed down the hallway to lunch. While at her locker, she was approached by an unwanted being.

"Hey, Ashley – will you tell Spencer that I had a great time with her during 'Math'!" Tristin was sure to give the word "math" an exclusive release of air-quotes.

"What are you talking about, Tristin?" Ashley asked her quizzically.

"Oh – don't worry about it… she'll know what I'm talking about."

And with a slight wink of her left eye and a head tilt, Tristin pivoted and turned the opposite direction of the brunette.

Ashley watched the obsessed female walk away and then she turned her head back toward her locker and began to question Spencer. She sighed heavily before slamming the locker door and walking toward the quad.

She immediately saw Spencer sitting at their usual table with her head down, hands above her head and fingers intertwined. Ashley looked at the blonde and knew that something was amiss.

"Spencer…"

She turned around and met gaze with Ashley's brown, pulsating eyes. She swallowed the lump that was lodged in her throat before speaking. "Hey, Ash." She said, not sounding too thrilled.

"Umm…" Ashley wasn't for sure if she should bring up what Tristin had said or just keep it to herself. "So… Tristin came up to me in the hallway and…"

She was taken back by the sudden lunge Spencer did in order to stop the brunette's sentence.

"Ashley – I promise… whatever she told you – it totally untrue! I swear!" pleaded the blonde.

Just then, she slumped down on the bench and sighed of relief.

"Oh my God – good! For a second there I thought you were cheating on me!"

"No way! I mean… with her?" she shook her head from side-to-side, "Never!"

As the two rekindled their trust, Ashley could feel a hole being burned on the side of her face. She sharply turned her attention to where her feeling was and caught eyes with a pair of cold, green orbs. Tristin then smirked, winked again and then left her position.

Ashley decided to keep that little "moment" she just had with Tristin to her own acknowledgement and let Spencer rest easy for the time being.

SONSONSONSON

After the last bell rang, our two lovelies met up with one another and swapped glances.

"You know, if you want… you can come over tonight – it'll be just us! Plus… I need to repay you for last night. You know, with my mom and all the crap I put you through."

"Ash – you don't need to pay me back… I'm not in debt with you! But – I wish I could come over tonight."

"Well, why can't you?" questioned the brunette.

"Because my mom's home and my dad's out on a night-run to help a family that needs care."

She sweetly smiled at the thought of her dad helping a family in need and then her smile soon faded once she remember about her being all alone in the house with her mother. Well, she wouldn't be all alone… Glen and Clay would be there – they could call 911 if anything extreme happened.

"Oh, well – that sucks a big one!" stated Ashley, "But – maybe you and I can do something… afterwards."

Spencer looked over at Ashley with a smile from ear-to-ear and generously accepted the offer.

"Of course! I'd love to do something with you later!"

All Ashley could do was smile back at her love. Considering she was driving and all – there wasn't much she could do but smile.

"But Spencer wasn't driving..." thought Ashley, as she pushed on down the road.

SONSONSONSON

With a fairwell kiss and a moment devoted to a hug, Spencer left Ashley's car and entered her own house.

"Spencer!" yelled Paula through the kitchen's partial wall.

"I'm coming!"

Spencer made her way through the walkway and into the kitchen where she now saw her mother working hard to cut up potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, celery and other kinds of vegetables.

"Hope you like roast!" Paula proudly smiled at the thought of her own creation being minutes away from being devoured by her hungry, devoutly children.

"Glen! Clay! Dinner in fifteen!" she yelled once more.

Spencer just looked from one crock pot to the other and secretly took a piece of celery from her mother's cutting board.

"So, Spencer… how was your day?"

"Umm… my day? Well…" Spencer thought of what happened with Tristin and then she couldn't help but be overpowered by Ashley's offer. "Umm… it was – eventful." She said, trying to sound cheery.

"Eventful, huh?" Paula smirked; wondering if an event happened that she might need to know about. "What kind of 'events' happened today? Did anyone ask you out?"

Spencer thought of how random her mother's question was and how in the world she was going to answer that. Technically, Ashley did ask her out, but believe it or not… that is not the reply Paula Carlin would like to hear from her Catholic daughter.

Paula noticed Spencer's daze and loudly snapped her fingers in front of her face. "Spencer!" she said sharply.

The loudness of her mother's fingers made her jump a few centimeters off the ground before she answered, "Umm… well – you know, mom! When you ask me about my day," she continued, "I'm not going to say 'fine' or 'okay' – so, I'll say 'eventful' because I want to keep it spicy!" she said, with a little dance to show off her vocabulary.

Paula just mused herself listening to her daughter ramble on and on about how "spicy" her life was. She knew this move was for the better.

SONSONSONSON

With the table stacked of dirty dishes, eight p.m. was approaching the Carlin household. Clay set off to venture into the wonderful world of Chemistry, while Glen went to his room to listen to his newest CD. As for Spencer, she still had the thought of "afterwards" on her mind. She took a deep breath before entering the kitchen, but released her collected air when she saw her mother doing the dishes.

"Hey, mom?"

"Yeah, honey."

"Umm… can I go over to my friend's house? She only lives a couple of blocks down and I really…"

"No, sweetie – it's almost 8:30 and I don't want you wondering the streets of L.A. at this time of night."

"But mom – I wont be 'wondering' the streets… I'll be safe in Ashley's mansion."

Ashley… the name sounded familiar to Paula and for some reason, it gave her chills up her back.

"I'm sorry, Spencer – but no is no! Now go upstairs and do your homework. I'm sure you've got a ton of it stowed away in your messenger."

With the look of defeat, Spencer heavily moved her legs upstairs and while walking past Glen's room, she was not surprised when he made an unwanted comment.

"So, baby sister – trying to scam on some chick, huh?" he smirked.

"Glen, shut up! Just go back to your Bow Wow CD and try to be more gangster." she said while throwing up a sudden peace sign above her heart.

Before leaving his doorway, Glen discreetly slipped Spencer the finger and returned his headphones back to where they were.

Spencer dreaded calling up Ashley and breaking the news to her. But – it was getting "late" and she didn't want her waiting up for her all night; wondering if she was going to be able to come or not.

Spencer punched in Ashley's seven numbers and let it ring once, twice and then… the sweet sound that is Ashley's voice.

"Hey. I was wondering when you were going to call. Are you ready?"

"Umm… not exactly."

"Why – what happened?"

"My mom… that's what happened. She wont let me go out this late on a school night. I'm real sorry, Ash."

Ashley tried to play it off as if she wasn't disappointed, but among hearing Spencer's voice on the other end of the phone, she was morbidly depressed. She was really looking forward to seeing Spencer again. If she would've known she wouldn't see Spencer again for the rest of the night, she would've put more into their last kiss.

"Oh – it's okay. We'll plan something some other time, alright?"

"Okay, Ashley. I'm real sorry, though."

"Spence… don't even worry about it. Hey, look – if it makes you feel any better, I'll stop by and pick you up in the morning and we'll go eat breakfast before we get High with the King!" she said with a slight chuckle.

Spencer laughed too at Ashley's put down of their school before saying, "Okay! I'll be ready sometime around… seven or so. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, but – I'll just call your cell before I leave. That way, you can make your excuse to leave without your mom caring."

"Yeah – that'll be the day… when my mom doesn't care as much."

"Yeah… I guess that is pushing the envelope a little bit, huh?"

"Pushing? More like ripping it to shreds!"

The two girls laughed a bit before hanging up their phones in anticipation of their next meeting.

SONSONSONSON

((So – this turned out to be just a filler chapter! Sorry for that! I hate fillers, but – sometimes, they're much needed! Lol… well – HAPPY HOLIDAYS and yeah … review, please! Later… ))