"Ash…" Kyla stands over her sister dropping water onto her forehead every few seconds
"Ash…" Kyla stands over her sister dropping water onto her forehead every few seconds. "Come on Ash, wake up."
She mumbles something and wriggles her nose as the water drips down it.
"She's going to kill you when she wakes," a sleepy Chelsea chimes in from the doorway, leaning against the frame.
Kyla tries to hold a giggle in, "I know, but it's the only way and so worth it."
"Just like smack her a few times or something." Chelsea responds, knowing it's going to take a lot more than a few drops of water to wake up a hung over Ashley, but she can't tell Kyla that.
Clay comes up behind Chelsea wrapping his arms around her waist, "You guys ready?"
Chelsea just shakes her head as she leans back against him with a smile, "No, Ashley's comatose."
He watches Kyla drop more water onto her forehead and can't help but smile as he shakes his head, "She's going to flip… her pillow is already soaked."
Eying the pillow, Chelsea looks at Kyla, "How long have you been in here?"
"Oh I don't know, maybe fifteen minutes or so…" Kyla says with a smirk.
"What is taking so long?! They're not going to have any bacon by the time we get there!"
"Shh! Aiden you're going to wake her!" Kyla yells at him, while pointing a threatening finger.
"Umm, Kyla? Isn't that the whole point? Besides you're yelling louder than me."
Kyla thinks about it for a second and nods, "Oh yeah!" Earning an eyeroll and head shake from Chelsea.
Just then Ashley starts to stir, mumbling something about a leaky faucet.
Sitting up, Ashley wipes her face and looks around the room very confused. "What the… why? What are you all doing in here?" She eyes everyone for a second before her headache kicks in. She brings a hand to her head due to the throbbing pain, "and why am I all wet?"
Instead of answering, Chelsea decides to take advantage of her confused state, "Hey we're all just going down for breakfast… remember the late start because of the teacher's meeting breakfast thing?"
Ashley nods, "Oh yeah, right… just give me a second."
An incoherent Ashley stumbles into her bathroom and begins brushing her teeth and changing as Chelsea finds her aspirin and gets her a bottle of water, knowing she'll need it.
She comes out of the bathroom still not looking fully awake, "Alright let's go," she states as she downs the aspirin and water, throwing an appreciative smile Chelsea's way. "They'd better have French toast left." They all nod in agreement and file out of Ashley's room, heading for the dining hall.
--
"And you're sure this is what you want to do?"
"Yes Mrs. Keaton, I need this."
"Does your mother know Spencer?"
Spencer sighs as she shifts in her seat across from her aunt. "Yeah she knows… she's not thrilled, but she supports my decision."
Mrs. Keaton nods, "And this has nothing to do with our little tiffs we've had."
The younger girls shakes her head, "Oh no, I promise!"
"Good. Well I'd love to sit and chat some more, but the meeting is about to start." She begins to stand and Spencer does the same, 'I'll make the announcement then."
They get to the door and Spencer pauses, "Aunt Susanna?"
"Yes honey?" She pauses at the office door also.
"Thanks for understanding… and I am sorry."
Mrs. Keaton pulls her into a hug, "Of course honey. I told you, whatever you needed."
They let go of each other, and walk out of the office, heading towards the teacher's lounge.
--
They all sit at their regular table. Plates filled with French toast and bacon.
"Mmm, this is amazing." Aiden says between mouthfuls, "I'm so glad we decided to come."
"Aiden finish chewing before you speak!" Kyla scolds. He looks at her sheepishly and mumbles an apology. As if remembering something, Kyla abruptly jumps up from her seat, "Oh yeah! Aiden do it!"
He nods and stands also, making sure he's chewed and swallowed his food first. Bringing two fingers to his mouth, he whistles loudly a couple times, causing the packed dining hall to go dead silent.
Ignoring Ashley's grumbling about the loud noise, Kyla stands up on her chair and everyone's eyes are on her. "Hey everyone! As the President of the Drama Club, I just wanted to remind you all that we're having auditions next week on Monday and Tuesday at 4p.m. for the winter talent show! Everyone is welcome… except for you Carmen!" She states as the raven haired girl strolls by.
"Kyla sit down!" Chelsea warns, not ready for a fight with Madison and her minions this early in the morning.
"What?" She asks innocently. She steps down from her chair, hands on her hips. "You didn't have to sit through her audition last year like I did. The girl should just stick to what she does best… painting and having her nose up Madison's ass." This earns a chuckle from Ashley and Aiden. "I'm doing the girl a favor really. It's just…" she shudders as she remembers last years audition, "whoever told that girl she should sing any song by Alicia Keys should be slapped." She shakes her head as she sits down, continuing to mumble to herself about last years auditions.
Ashley can't help but laugh as she recalls Madison and herself encouraging Carmen to audition; telling her any song by Alicia Keys would in fact be a great choice.
"What's so funny?" Chelsea asks, before downing her milk.
Shaking her head, Ashley smirks, "Oh nothing... it's just, I heard Carmen sing and Kyla's right."
They continue to eat their breakfast and laugh as Kyla shares stories about last years horrid auditions. "And then the next thing we know, half the curtain is on fire, and Jack is stop, drop, and rolling in his boxers only because an ash hit his shirt."
Cracking up, they all fall into silence once again, devouring their food. As Ashley looks up from her plate, she notices all the teachers file in; clearly finished with their meeting. Spotting Spencer, Ashley stands, "I'm just going to get more bacon… anyone need anything?"
She leaves before giving anyone a chance to respond, causing Aiden to yell to bring him back some too.
Catching up with the young blonde, Ashley slows her pace a bit, "Miss C, hey…"
Spencer pauses with a smirk on her face, "Miss C, huh?"
Ashley nods, "Yeah… listen, I just wanted to apologize about the other day."
She glances around her nervously and smiles, "Not to worry. We can just pretend it never happened."
Ashley looks to the floor for a second than back up at Spencer, who is making a strong effort to avoid eye contact. "Spence, I can't pretend it didn't happen… not what you said. I want to fix this…"
"I don't know what to say Ash." Another teacher walks by and Spencer takes a step back, "Well I better get in line if I want to eat before classes start. See you in you English Miss Davies." She smiles a half smile, and joins the other teachers in line.
Instead of getting in line also, Ashley heads back to her table, deep in thought. "Hey, I thought you said you were going to get bacon?!"
"I'm not hungry anymore." Ashley mumbles. "Anyways, get it yourself, you have two perfectly working legs!"
Aiden mumbles something about not being hungry anymore and focuses his attention on his plate. They all fall into easy conversation once again until the bell rings, signaling the start of the day. They all clear their trays and leave the dining hall, heading their separate ways.
"Hey Kyla… wait up!"
Kyla pauses in the hallway and smiles as her sister catches up with her. Linking arms, they make their way to their lockers, deep in discussion.
--
Later that night, Spencer sits in her office in search on her computer when her cell phone goes off.
"Hello?"
"Hey girl! It's Allie!"
"Hey you! I haven't heard from you in like a week or so… what have you been up to?"
"Miss me?" she chuckles lightly, "great news! I have two restaurants to visit in Connecticut. I'll be there this weekend!"
"That's great, we should meet up."
"Oh I know! I was going to see if you wanted to come to dinner with me on Saturday or Sunday. Both restaurants are in New London. Apparently the towns trying to grow or something and these restaurants are having their grand openings."
"Sure, sounds great. How about Saturday? I usually catch up with grading on Sunday."
"Sounds good. Well listen, I have to run, but I'll call you later this week when I have more details. Tata!"
Spencer says good bye and hits the end call button on her phone. Smiling to herself for a second, she focuses her attention to the computer screen. Completing the form, she hits the send button and shuts down her computer.
Deciding she's not ready to retire to her room just yet, she grabs her gray messenger back and heads to the library.
When she gets there, she heads to her usual table only to find a certain brunette sitting at it. "Hey…" she says lightly.
Ashley looks up with a small smile, clad in reading glasses. "Hey yourself."
"What are you working on?" Spencer points to the notebook in front of Ashley.
She shrugs and instinctively covers it up slightly, "Oh just writing down some thoughts."
Spencer nods and points the chair across from her, "Mind if I join you? This is kind of my spot and I hate breaking habit."
Ashley nods and watches as Spencer takes a seat across from her. "What are you working on?"
Pulling her things out, Spencer holds up a black and white photo. "It's kind of just a hobby of mine…" She holds up another photo, this one in color. "I like to fill in the color…"
Ashley holds out her hand, "Can I see all of them?" Spencer doesn't answer, but rather just hands them to her. Looking through all of them, Ashley smiles, "these are amazing Spence."
Spencer blushes slightly, "Thanks." She reaches to take them back and their hands brush against each other during the quick exchange, not going unnoticed by either of them.
They smile at each other, and then fall into a comfortable silence; Ashley working on lyrics about Spencer, unbeknownst to the blonde sitting across from her so caught up in her pictures.