Author's note:
Ok, so just for freedom4trace, I tried to upload this chapter last night before heading out, but unfortunately the site seemed to be down as I couldn't make any new posts :S Hopefully you get to read this before you go away! This update's a pretty long one, so it should keep you going until next time...
Spencer's here, yay! Let me know what you think by sending a review :)
Hope it doesn't disappoint...
Disclamier: I own nothing but my imagination
Chapter 4:
I follow the directions Pam gave me, and manage to reach the small 'shopping complex' in about forty five minutes. Yes, it's supposedly a thirty minute drive, and yes, I may have gotten a little bit lost; I admit, my orientation skills aren't as honed as I thought, but I got here, didn't I? Anyway, I'm nearly sure Pam left out one of the turns I was supposed to take about five miles back... Let's hope the drive home isn't quite as long. 4.35pm already...
I decide to get Pam's stuff first, making sure to purchase two new toothbrushes before putting everything away in the trunk. I decide to browse the other shops before heading back. They're having a great time at the house, so it's not as if they'll miss me. It isn't a huge place anyway; the only other stores are a music store, a newsagents and a chemist. There's a diner at the end of the block, and a bowling alley and ice rink just at the other side of the car park, with a little bar just down the road behind it. I can see a pier in the distance behind the stores, with a few figures who seem to be fishing. I make a note to venture down to the pier after I finish exploring the stores.
I spend about ten minutes in the music store just browsing the CDs before buying a newspaper from the newsagents and heading into the diner next door. As I push the door open, I notice a sign on the glass stating that they're open until 8pm. I've got plenty of time; it's only ten past five.
I grab a coffee and take a seat in one of the side booths, flipping the newspaper open and starting at the first page.
I'm almost half way through the paper when I flip the page and a flier slips out, landing on the floor at the edge of the booth. I reach out to pick it up, but just as I'm about to grab it, a leg collides with my hand, the owner landing in a heap on the floor, and a CD flying out of her hand, landing just beside the flier. She scrambles to her feet, fixing her shoe which managed to slip off in the fall as I begin to apologise.
"Oh, wow. I'm so sorry, I didn't realise –"
"No, no, it's okay, it was my fault; I should have been watching where I was going."
I look down to see a puddle of coffee on the ground.
"Man, I'm sorry. Let me buy you another; it's the least can do." I pick up the CD that she dropped and look up, our eyes connecting. Suddenly, I find myself drowning in the most beautiful blue orbs I've ever seen. She reaches up to push a stray lock of golden hair behind her ear.
"Umm... Ok, I guess. Thanks." She smiles at me and my knees go weak.
"No problem, uh..."
"Oh, sorry, it's Spencer. Spencer Carlin."
"Spencer... Ashley Davies." She nods at this.
Remember how I said I've been hit on by plenty of girls since Paige's death, but none of them made me feel a thing? Well strangely enough, the girl in front of me is having all sorts of effects on me, and all she's told me is her name...
Suddenly, she's doing this cute little head tilt thing and raises an eyebrow.
"Umm... Ashley?" Okay, I've always liked my name; call me biased, but hearing it from her lips is deliciously perfect...
I'm snapped back to reality as Spencer clears her throat. I notice then that she's looking at the CD I still have in my hand.
"Shit, sorry! Here!" I quickly pass it to her, our hands touching ever so slightly, sending a jolt of electricity through me, which causes me to snap my hand back. Was I the only one who felt that? I clear my throat.
"So Spencer, what are you drinking?"
"Oh, just a regular latte please. No sugar."
"No problem. You want to grab a seat?"
"Sure!" There's that smile again.
I make my way to the counter and order our drinks, taking this opportunity to get a better look at the blonde beauty who has just sat down by the window. The late afternoon sun causes her skin to glow, accentuating her perfect features and creating a halo around her straight, sleek hair which shines in the golden light. Unfortunately, her body isn't on show, as with the evening drawing near, there's a slight chill in the air, Spencer obviously feeling this as her torso is covered with a light jacket. Damn. Wait a minute... Am I perving? Nah... Oh, look, she's taking the jacket off... Ooh, a vest; nice! Okay, so I guess I am perving, but if anyone could see this girl, they wouldn't blame me. Anyone looking through that window is in for a treat.
I haven't acted like this for a long time, and Brooke did say she hopes I find someone, so she shouldn't be upset if I started seeing people again. Spencer seems nice. And hot. Alright, I guess I'm throwing myself back into the game here. Time to dust off the old Davies charm and put it to good use...
"Ma'am, your drinks."
"Thanks!" I give the barista a generous tip as my mood is particularly good, and make my way to the table Spencer has occupied, handing her drink over as I take the seat opposite.
"Thanks." She smiles.
"No problem. So, Paramore, huh?!"
She makes a cute little noise as she sips on her coffee, then swallows as she realises what I mean, putting her hand on the CD.
"Oh! Yes! You listen to them?" Her face lights up as she sees me taking an interest.
"Duh. Hayley's a babe." I say casually. She chuckles at this, looking down at the table briefly, before resuming eye contact with me.
"I have to agree with you on that one." Yes! Does this mean she's gay too? Then again, Hayley has the power to turn any girl gay, so there's a flaw in my technique. " Although they actually sound pretty good too."
"Pretty good? How about awesome? Ever seen them live?"
"No, I haven't. You probably won't believe this, but I only really got into them recently" She's still smiling as she answers me.
"No way! Really? Where have you been living; under a rock?" She's laughing out loud now. Glorious.
"I know, I know; I suck! I just got back from college recently and my friend's been raving about them. I did a little research online and liked their sound, so I decided to get their album." She gestures to the CD.
"Well, your friend has great taste! What do you do at college?"
"Actually, I just finished. For good. I majored in Literature, then got my teaching certificate. I'm hoping to go into teaching, but figured I'd take a year out, just get away from education for a while, do my own thing, you know? What about you?"
"I did music. I work in this little music store a couple of blocks away from my house, and teach guitar and piano a couple of days a week."
"Wow, that sounds great!"
"Yeah, I get a kick out of it, you know? No point in doing something you don't enjoy."
"Very true..."
"So, you live around here? I wouldn't exactly pin you as a country girl..."
"You wouldn't?" She asks. Then she smirks before putting on a fake country accent. "And why not? I've lived here all my life, just tendin' to the crops and bein' the perfect housewife to my lovin' husband. 'N' y'all wouldn't pin me as a 'country girl'..." She makes air quotes with her hand as she says the last part before stopping to look at me straight-faced. There's about two seconds of complete silence before we both burst into laughter. When the laughter eventually subsides, she decides to answer me properly.
"No, I'm not from around here. I'm actually here with my brother and his daughter. We're visiting my uncle for a while before we head back home. I actually escaped for the day; saved myself from the risk of dying from boredom. According to them, today is the perfect day for fishing. A great family activity and of course, it's totally child-friendly. I mean, there are no sharp hooks involved at all, and a child is totally accustomed to seeing a fish get beaten over the head a few times to ensure it's dead when caught." I laughed at this. "Although to be fair, they did say they would catch and release, so I guess that's reassuring somewhat."
"You didn't take her with you?"
"Oh, trust me, I offered. My uncle insisted she stays with them. He said he hardly sees her, so wants to spend as much time with her as he can. So he takes her fishing. Naturally. She's six by the way." We both erupt in laughter again.
"So what about you, Ashley? I wouldn't exactly pin you as a country girl..." She mimics my previous question. Sassy. I like it!
"Oh, no... I'm actually here visiting family too." What? We may not be related through blood, but trust me, we're definitely family.
The conversation continued to flow seamlessly between us. I learned a lot about her family, including her aforementioned older brother, Glen, who sounded like a bit of a douchebag to be honest.
Apparently, he was a typical big-headed jock in high school, and managed to get a girl pregnant when he was nineteen. Mama Carlin wasn't happy. When the baby was born though, she eventually came around and all was fine in the Carlin household... Until one day Glen got in a huge argument with the mother of his child and they broke up. Cue angry mama. Things soon got back on track though, and they eventually agreed to joint custody of their daughter. At the minute, Glen had her as they were 'on vacation', although he had to keep calling to check in with his ex to assure her all was fine. Somehow, I don't think he'll be mentioning anything about fishing when he next calls her...
As we continued to chat, I even found out a bit about her childhood, like how she had a pet rabbit called Bill (original, I know!), who they thought was a bit overweight, until one morning they realised that one rabbit had multiplied into eight. Needless to say, Bill's name was then changed to Jill...
I opened up a bit about myself in return, telling her stories of my childhood and mentioning my 'sister'. I didn't actually tell her anything about that part of my past. As far as she knows, Brooke is my biological sibling. I didn't lie to her; it was just a case of not mentioning anything. Of course, when she asked about my parents, I told her the truth. She seemed genuinely sorry to hear about my father's death, and the mother who never bothers with me.
We're so caught up in conversation that we don't notice the movement of people around us, the staff now getting ready to close.
"Umm, excuse me ma'am. I'm sorry, but we're actually getting ready to close now..."
"Oh, I'm sorry, guess we lost track of time... We'll get out of your way now." I apologise to the barista before Spencer and I get up from our seats and head for the exit, Spencer putting on that damn jacket again.
When we get outside the diner, I turn to Spencer.
"Okay, so you probably have to get back to your uncle, but do you think you'd maybe like to go for a walk... with me?" I bite my lip, internally praying that the answer would be yes. Brooke would be fine for a while longer; it's all good.
"I don't know..." Shit. Get ready for the let down. "It's getting pretty dark out. You're not some crazy psycho killer looking for your next victim, are you?" She raises her eyebrow playfully. Oh, thank God. My face breaks out in a smile.
"Nah, I got over all that. They sent me to some psych ward and sorted me out. I swear I don't do that anymore." She smiles at my reply.
"Good." She starts to walk on before looking back over her shoulder at me. Now that's sexy. "You coming?" I wish. I jog lightly to catch up to her before falling into pace with her.
We've been walking for about ten minutes and have just arrived at the pier. Spencer goes to the edge and sits down, her legs dangling as she leans her arms on the lower rail of the fence. I join her, gazing out at the ocean, admiring the calm waves as the moonlight bounces off them. We sit in silence for a while, just enjoying the tranquillity of the moment before I decide to break it.
"What's your favourite colour?" Spencer turns to look at me then, probably thinking she misheard me.
"What?" She asks. I turn to her then, our eyes locking.
"What's your favourite colour?"
"Why are you asking me what my favourite colour is?"
"Well you've told me about your family, but I want to know the important things about you." She chuckles then.
"I wouldn't really classify that as an important thing."
"Well I would. So what is it?" She locks eyes with me then, the two seconds it probably takes her to answer me feeling like an eternity.
"Brown." I maintain eye contact with her.
"Brown?"
"Yep."
"Brown." I nod, as I take in her answer. "Okay, you like brown. Not a very common favourite, but hey, brown's cool."
"Shut up. It used to be red, but... I kind of like brown now, okay? Anyway, what's yours?" I gaze into her eyes, now seeming darker in the evening, the moonlight reflecting off them, making the different hues of blue even more beautiful.
"Blue." No hesitation. She blinks, but doesn't say anything. Instead, her eyes drift to my lips, which I unconsciously lick, before returning to my eyes. Then she does it again, her eyes remaining on my lips for longer this time. I'm aware that I'm now mimicking her actions. Once I look at her lips, I find it hard to tear my gaze away. They're just so smooth, and inviting. And Kissable. The distance between us seems to be getting less and less, until there's barely any, and I can feel her delicious breath on my lips. I look into her eyes once more to see if there's any hesitation. There isn't; she wants this too. I swallow before inching forward those mere centimetres and our lips connect. It's chaste. It's sweet. It's perfect.
She moves her hand to my face as mine moves to her neck. I'm just about to deepen the kiss when a shrill ringing shocks us, causing us to jump back. Spencer stands up then, reaching into her pocket.
"Shit. Sorry, it's my phone." I rise onto my feet. "I should go, sorry." She looks genuinely upset at having to leave. "I had a really nice time, Ashley. We should... bump into each other more often." I smile at this.
"Yeah, I had a good time too. Umm... Here." I reach into my pocket and hand her a card.
"What's this? 'Amplified'?"
"Uh, yeah... It's the store I work at. Umm... My number's on the back there. You should give me a call, you know... if you ever want to hang out again..." She smiles at this.
"Yeah, I will. Thanks, Ashley." She leans up and plants a kiss on my cheek before making her way off the pier, turning back to give me a cheeky wave as she walks off into the distance.
I smile then. Maybe Spencer's just what I need. I touch my cheek where her lips had been seconds ago, my smile widening as I think back to the kiss.
I sit back down in my previous position, just gazing out over the water. My mind suddenly turns to Paige. Two years. It's time. I would never forget her, but I can't keep holding myself back for her when I know she's never coming back. She would be happy for me, wouldn't she? Happy that I can move on with my life, even if she can't be here with me. Brooke said so. And despite not being around anymore, there's always a part of Paige that will live on in her. I have to let myself be happy again; for Brooke, for myself, for Casey. I'm sure she's missed having her best friend around. I can't be broken anymore; enough is enough.
Speaking of Brooke and Casey... I better get back to the house. I know Brooke will have stayed up for me. Pam will have attempted to get her into bed, but if I know Brooke, she'll have fought off sleeping, making sure we both say goodnight to Paige before finally giving in.
I jog back to my car and start to make my way to the house, hoping Brooke isn't upset with me.
As I pull up outside after an easier, and quicker journey home, I check my watch. 9.10pm. Shit. I quickly grab the bags from the trunk and make my way inside.
I leave the bags in the kitchen, save the toothbrushes I have stashed in my back pocket, Rob offering to unpack everything for me, before I make my way to the living room. I see Pam sitting on the sofa reading, with Brooke's sleeping form beside her, head resting in Pam's lap. Hearing me enter, Pam turns her head to look at me.
"Hey," she whispers, "she wanted to wait up for you, but she fell asleep. She wouldn't go to bed until you came home."
"Yeah, I figured." I made my way over to Brooke and crouched down in front of her, using my middle finger to move her hair away from her face.
"What took you so long? You were away for hours!"
"I know, I'm sorry. I just went for a walk." I'm not going to mention I met someone just yet. I'll tell them tomorrow. I know Pam will be ecstatic and I just can't deal with that right now. It's been a long day, what with the drive, and meeting Spencer, and I'm too tired to answer all the questions I know will be asked.
"She's very like her, isn't she?" I instantly know what she's talking about. Despite there being sixteen years between them, I swear Brooke's a mini Paige. There are going to be a lot of hearts broken... And a lot of legs too; I'm telling you, I'll be beating them off with a stick. Whether she turns out to be gay or straight, I don't mind, but if anyone hurts her, I will hunt them down. Seriously, I'm not kidding.
"Yeah." I smile before wrapping Brooke up into a little blanket cocoon and lifting her into my arms. "I'm going to take Brooke up now. I'll be down in a minute."
"Alright, dear. Tea?"
"You bet. Thanks, Pam."
"Anything for my second niece." I giggle as I start to climb the stairs, Brooke stirring slightly in my arms.
When I reach the kids' bedroom, I set Brooke down gently on her bed. Max and Emily are already fast asleep in the bed they're sharing, snoring peacefully.
"Ash?" Her eyes flutter open as I pull the duvet around her.
"Hey, I'm back. I'm sorry I came home late. Can you forgive me?" I stick my bottom lip out as I pout playfully. Brooke giggles.
"Okay. But Paige is sad you haven't said goodnight yet." She pulls out her little white teddy bear that she must have tucked safely under her arm and holds it out to me.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Paige. Goodnight." I lean in and place a kiss on the teddy bear's nose. Brooke places the bear beside her and kisses her head as she says her goodnight herself.
"Night, Paige."
I place a kiss on Brooke's forehead.
"Goodnight, Brooke. Love you."
"Night, Ash. Love you too."
I take a seat next to Pam on the sofa when I return to the living room, my tea already set out on the table in front of us.
"Where are the others?"
"Take a wild guess" I grin at this.
"Ghost stories?"
"Got it in one."
It's tradition. Ever since we were young, on our first night at the house, we would make a huge fire with the wood we'd collected and sit up telling ghost stories. What's the first night in a different bed without a little fear and trepidation? Pam never joined in anymore though. No matter how ridiculous the stories were, she always got freaked out. The last straw was that one year we actually thought she had a heart attack. We must have been about fifteen at the time. Case and I thought it'd be funny to climb out our window just when Pam was getting into bed and make our way over the roof to her and Rob's window. Casey had grabbed a torch which she used to shine through the window, flicking it off and on and waving it about in hopes Pam would freak out. Coincidentally, I had brought my recently purchased laser pen, and sporadically shone it through the window too. Oh, had I mentioned that we made Pam watch 'Predator' with us earlier on in the evening? Yeah, the reaction was priceless. Poor Rob was awakened by what he thought was the shrill cry of the banshee from Dale's rather creative tale, and actually fell off the bed when Pam dived on him in an attempt to use him as a human shield. Obviously, Casey and I found this hilarious and sat there on the roof laughing for a good two minutes until we heard the worried cries of Rob. When we poked our heads round the window, Pam was hyperventilating before she actually fainted right there. We immediately regretted what we had done and made our way back into the house, racing to Pam and Rob's room.
The paramedics were called and eventually showed up at the secluded house, and Pam soon came to again. 'Shock', they said. That's what had caused it. Needless to say, Casey and I were both in the bad books for days, but we learned our lesson. Since then, Pam excluded herself from story time, and we never tried to pull a stunt like that again. I nearly went into shock myself. However, that didn't stop us from playing pranks on the others...
"Pam?"
"Yes?"
"You wouldn't still happen to have any of the Halloween stuff in the basement, would you?" I ask with a mischievous grin. Pam chuckles.
"You know what... I think I just might."
On a few occasions when we were younger, we visited the house around Halloween. Pam and Rob always insisted on decorating the house to make it look as creepy as possible. We used to stay up extra late, Pam and Rob having arranged plenty of fun activities for us to do, before we'd retire to bed, where Casey and I would make a fort out of our bed sheets and sit inside with a torch while we attempted to spook each other by sharing more ghost stories.
Every year without fail, Rob would jump out at us at some stage with a pretty realistic werewolf costume, complete with werewolf headpiece and claws. Despite knowing it was coming at some stage during our stay, he never failed to make us jump. As luck would have it, guess what I happened to find in the basement...
I managed to make it to the other side of the bushes surrounding their little camp without being seen or heard. I poke my head around the side to check where they're all sitting. Chase is sitting at the opposite end of the fire, Dale a few spaces to the right, with Annie cuddling into his side. They're all entranced by the elaborate tale Casey is finishing off, waving her hands around as she gets into it, before ending on a serious note, her face straight.
"And they still haven't caught him to this day..." Chase laughs at this.
"That's ridiculous, Casey! They found him on the road, remember? And anyway, how does a Chihuahua magically evolve into a werewolf?"
"Nuh-uh; you were just too young to be told the truth, little brother. And hell if I know. I just saw it, okay? True story."
"Yeah, right..." he grunts in disbelief. I can only guess what the story Casey has just told was about...
Pam and Rob once had a little Chihuahua called Chavo. He was a great little thing, but one day, he went missing and we were all worried sick. A couple of days later, he was found out near the little shops on a road after being hit by a car. Obviously, Casey had a great imagination and decided that Chavo's memory deserved to be honoured, and so, had transformed him into a bloodthirsty werewolf for her story, who, according to her, was still on the loose.
Casey takes a seat and it's Dale's turn to talk. A soon as he starts his tale, I make my way closer to Chase behind the bushes. As soon as I'm close to being directly behind him, I move against the foliage, making it rustle slightly. Chase turns his head, startled by the noise, but soon turns back to Dale as I stop moving. I rustle the leaves again; this time, a little more to the left, making him look over his other shoulder as he stiffens.
"Did you guys hear that?"
"Chase, give it up; it's Dale's turn." Casey scolds him.
"No, I'm serious! You didn't hear that?"
"No." The three of them chorus.
Chase looks defeated as he slouches again on his log.
I wait a few seconds before rustling the bushes again.
"Ok, don't tell me you didn't hear that, 'cause this time, it was freakin' loud!"He stands up then, pointing his finger near where I'm hiding.
"Chill, bro; it's probably a squirrel or something." Dale tries to reassure him.
"Well it'd have to be a damn big squirrel to make a noise like that!"
"Alright, where is it?"
"It's somewhere over there..." Chase slowly inches forward in an attempt not to startle the 'squirrel'. When he gets a little closer, I rustle it again. "Dude! See! Hold on, I think I can see something here..."
He leans down, his face coming closer to mine. Just before he sees me, I jump out at him and roar, shocking him into jumping back and landing on his fragile little derrière.
"Holy fucking shit!" He shuffles backwards in panic, attempting to scramble to his feet. "It's Chavo! Fucking run!"
"Hey, watch your language, you little shit!" Casey shouts back as she edges backwards, unsure of what just happened.
Dale must realise what's going on, as he's doubled over laughing, Annie watching him in confusion, confliction evident in her eyes as she's torn between running or staying with him.
"Chase! Chase! It's Ashley!" He manages to get out through laughing. "It's the werewolf! The one Uncle Rob used to scare us with when were kids!"
"Huh?"
I'm laughing as I see the realisation dawn on his face, Casey and Annie soon joining in.
"Ash?" I pull off the mask.
"Ta-da!" This just makes everyone laugh more. Except Chase of course, who's evidently still trying to get his heart rate back to normal as his breathing is laboured.
"You... You really scared me, Ash. That wasn't funny..." He shakes his head.
"Evidently. They aren't amused at all..." I gesture to the others, who are fighting back smiles as they cover their mouths and avoid all eye contact.
"I'll get you back," he tells me.
"Sure you will, pal. Sure you will." I pat him on the back as I take a seat on one of the logs and rid myself of the costume. "So who's next?" I grin as the others return to their seats and Dale begins his story again.
After spending roughly an hour telling ghost stories around the fire, and Rob having terrified the five of us after joining in when Pam went to bed with a tale that was based on a true story, we decide to retire for the night.
We make our way up the stairs together, before saying our goodnights and going our separate ways into each of our rooms.
Casey heads straight for the bathroom, so I decide to get changed before getting washed. I'll only be waiting on Casey and Chase anyway; Dale and Annie have an ensuite in their room just like Pam and Rob, and being a typical boy, I know Chase won't take long. Hopefully, Casey will be quick.
Just as I'm about to get undressed, my phone beeps letting me know I have a new text message. I unlock the screen and see it's from an unknown number. I smile as I already know who it's from.
Hey, It's Spencer here. I hope I didn't wake you. I didn't want to text earlier incase I seemed like a crazy stalker, but the more I thought about it, I didn't want to wait until tomorrow either, so yeah... I'd like to see you again. I have something on tomorrow, but maybe the day after if you're free? X
Hell yeah! I read the message about three times before I actually reply.
Hey, Spencer. Don't worry, I wasn't sleeping. I'd like to see you again too. That sounds great. I'm actually busy tomorrow too, so that works out perfectly. Does 1pm suit? X
I get undressed and slip into a vest and shorts as I wait for the reply. Sure enough, as soon as I'm changed, my phone goes off again.
Great! 1pm is perfect! How about we meet at the diner? There's something I need to tell you, so maybe we could get a coffee while we talk again. X
Okay... When someone tells you they need to tell you something, ninety per cent of the time, I think you'll find that whatever it is, you won't like it. Casey and Chase finish up in the bathroom, so I decide to get washed as I think about what it is she needs to tell me. Is she straight? Is she in the closet? Is she with someone? Is she married? Is she really a man? Is she all of the above? As I finish brushing my teeth, I come to the conclusion that whatever it is, it can't be that bad. I mean, Spencer seems like a really lovely girl. Girls like that don't have huge problems, right?
I hop under the duvet as I return to my room and text her back.
Sure, I'll see you at the diner at 1pm. Sounds serious... Should I be scared? X
My phone beeps within seconds.
No, not at all! It's nothing, don't worry. I'll see you on Monday. Sweet dreams. X
Okay, that puts my mind at ease somehow.
Alright, I believe you. See you then. Goodnight. X
With that, I set my phone on the bedside table and drift off into a peaceful slumber. For the first time in almost two years, my night time thoughts are free from the ghosts from my past, and somehow, I find myself dreaming of a certain blonde with blue eyes...
A/N - Well? Did you like it? Dislike it? Did Spencer live up to your expectations? I kind of like a confident Spencer :P Let me know your thoughts and I'll be back with another update soon :)
