Author's Note:

Okay, so who had the light up shoes? I'm going to admit that I kind of lied a bit for the sake of the story in the last chapter... I'm pretty sure I had one pair of said light up shoes. Man, they were badass... I wonder if they make them in adult sizes...

As always, thank you all for your reviews! Your words of encouragement are what keep me writing! You're all awesome! :)

Apparently, there are a few people like dumle2209, who are hooked on this story, yay! Thank you so much for even taking the time to read my creative ramblings :) I totally get how frustrating it is waiting on updates, and I'm trying to make a new post every two days or so. Sometimes, life just gets in the way, eh? Next one may not be up until Tuesday... It's a pretty busy weekend :S

freedom4trace – How am I going to guide you all through this drama? Well, I may have a couple of ideas up my sleeve... But will there really be any drama? We'll have to wait and see, won't we? :P

TheDWall - Spencer needs to break up with Casey, you say? All in due time... All in due time... But for now, let's make them sweat it out for a bit ;)

Another longish chapter for your reading pleasure. Let me know what you think :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination.


Chapter 7:

Unbelievable.

I shake my head as I look at Spencer one last time before lifting my things and exiting the bathroom.

When I reach my bedroom, I flop down on my bed, waiting until I hear Spencer leave before making my way back into the bathroom to make myself look more presentable.

When I eventually make my way downstairs, everyone is waiting.

"Well, you took your sweet time, princess." Dale and Chase are snickering at this. Thank you for that, Glen. He's only been here what, two hours, and he's already giving cheek? Sure, just make yourself at home, Glen, really.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Glen... Some of us like to spend a little time improving our already flawless looks. I guess the others are just lost causes..."

"Oh, burn!" Chase gives Dale a high five as Glen sinks back into his seat. Yeah, who's the badass now?

"You sure you guys don't want to come?" Casey asks Pam and Rob.

"Oh, we're positive, dear. We wouldn't want to cramp your style. Besides, it'll be nice to have a little bit of quiet for a while." That sounds good, Pam. Can I stay here too?

"Okay, if you're sure... Don't worry though, there won't be quiet for that long. We should be home for dinner, right, Glen?"

"Oh yeah! The fair's only an hour away, and I'm sure we can't spend the whole day there... Besides, I've heard great things about your culinary expertise, Pam. After tasting your nephews' attempt at burgers today, I'm hoping they haven't been exaggerated..."

"Hey! You said they were good! You had three!" So much pride, Dale. Do much pride...

"Yeah, well, I was hungry..." Glen shrugs, Pam laughing at the banter between the two.

"Oh, Glen... Such a charming young man... I'll have the dinner ready for seven. That should give you plenty of time."

We say our goodbyes to Pam and Rob before making our way to the cars, Dale smacking Glen over the head for the remark he made earlier before heading for his SUV with Annie and the twins.

Spencer better not go near my car. I swear to God, if I have to sit in a car with her for an hour...

"Hey, sis, you coming?" She glances over to me before following her brother. I may not like the guy that much, but right now, I could hug him.

I watch as Glen opens the back door to let Lucy climb in, Spencer disappearing into the passenger's seat. Dale opens his window, leaning out as he calls to Glen.

"Hey, Glen, you lead, yeah? I have no idea where this place is..."

"Yeah, yeah, you got it. Stay close though dude, 'cause I ain't stopping."

Just then, Brooke pulls on my vest.

"Ash, I want to go with Lucy..." Well, it looks like Brooke's got herself a new BFF...

"Sure. Glen?" He turns at the sound of his name being called. "Got room for one more?"

He gets this sleazy grin on his face before replying.

"Oh, you want to ride with me now, do you? I don't know, I've got a kid in the back, you know... Got to keep it PG."

"Oh my God! Not me, you slime ball; Brooke!"

"Oh..." He looks deflated as I stand there, my mouth still hanging open in disgust. "Sure. Hop in!"

Jesus.

Happy enough with the arrangement, Brooke runs over to the car and hops in the door Glen's holding open for her.

So that leaves me with... Casey and Chase. Meh, it could be worse. I guess Chase isn't that bad. They better not mess with my music again. They mess with that, and they're out. Hell, I'd rather have Glen ride shotgun with me than have to listen to that shit again. Seriously... Someone needs to tell that girl that it's not the 90's anymore; Britney Spears is so not cool, oh and Lady GaGa is certainly not a 'legend'. Tell me about Freddie Mercury. Then you'd be talking about a legend... And no, Chase; no, I do not have any Kanye West or Eminem...

The three of us get into my car, buckling our seatbelts as we get ready to follow Dale, who's just taken off after Glen. I settle for listening to the radio for now. I know for a fact if I switch my Ipod on, there will be an argument. I'm not kidding. Bitch about me as a person all you want, but bitch about my music, and someone gets hurt, and it ain't me...


We're about five minutes into the journey before Casey brings up Spencer.

"So what do you guys think of Spencer? She's nice, right?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Chase butts in first. "Does she like basketball?" Haha, great question, Chase. Straight in there!

"What?" Casey turns to look at him with confusion. "Does she like basketball? Why would you even ask that, you doofus?" She hits the front of Chase's snapback, causing it to fall down his face.

"Hey!" He manages to recover from his sister's assault. "It's a legitimate question!"

"What? I don't know... I guess... I mean, her brother does, so I guess she'd have to have at least a bit of an interest, right?" She's looking at me now. Shit. I shrug.

"Anyway, Ash, what do you think? You like her, right?"

"Uh, yeah. I mean, she seems cool... I haven't really talked to her yet, you know? So I guess I haven't really had a chance to get to know her..."

"Oh, you will. They're staying here for the full month, so you'll have plenty of time!" She's smiles at this. Yes, I'm aware that I'll have plenty of time, Casey; thank you so much for reminding me. It's fucking fantastic!

"Yeah, that's great, Case. Really great..."

"I think she's hot!" Way to point out the obvious, Chase! Casey chuckles at this.

"Yeah... Hey, speaking of hotties... Who's the girl from last night? The one you were telling me about earlier?" Oh shit.

"Wow, wow, wow, hold on a minute... You met someone last night?" Yes, Chase, shower some more attention on me. Come on, I love it...

"Uh... yeah..." Casey raises her eyebrows as she coaxes me to expand with her eyes.

"Well? What's her name?"

"Uh... Her name. Umm... Her name is... Sarah..."

"Sarah?"

"Uh-huh..." Casey looks disappointed.

"Well that's not a very exciting name..." Chase seems to agree with Casey as he makes a little noise and shakes his head.

"Hmmm... Yeah, I guess you guys are right... In fact, you know what? Now I think about it, I don't think she's actually a very exciting person. So, I guess I'll just send her a text and be done with it..."

"What? But I thought you liked her?" Casey, shut up.

"Uh... I did. But then you said her name wasn't exciting and it made me think, 'shit, yeah, she actually wasn't that exciting', so yeah, I don't want someone who isn't exciting... Like, can you imagine? That is so not me. I'm so exciting..."

Chase takes this opportunity make his opinion on the matter known.

"Yeah... What you want is someone with a better name... Like Brandy... Or Roxanne... Shit, how exciting do they sound?" Casey turns to him then, her face oozing with disbelief.

"Brandy or Roxanne, Chase? Really? They sound like they're in the line-up of America's Next Top Hooker!"

"Well that's still exciting, right?"

"Exciting? Sure, if you want to call contracting herpes or gonorrhoea 'exciting'..." Chase slumps back in his seat, defeated, before muttering his fantastic manifesto regarding the hygiene of hookers everywhere.

"Well I think they look very clean..."

"Oh God... Let's not talk about this. How did we even end up on this topic?" I giggle at Casey's outburst. "Alright, I'm bored of this radio... What have we got?" She reaches for the Ipod I keep stored in the glove compartment. You better watch yourself, Casey...

She must have just pressed 'play', because Queens of the Stone Age's 'My God is the Sun' starts playing from about three quarters of the way through. I guess that's what I was listening to last...

Just then, the music is cut off.

"Man, Ash... Why do you never have anything good on here?" Excuse me? "I mean, seriously... Queens of the Stone Age? I mean, I know you're not butch, but people will be asking questions..." Oh no you didn't...

She continues to flick through my music, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"Have you at least got some Nicki Minaj?" Oh hell no...

"Casey?" I keep my eyes on Dale's SUV as I address her.

"Yeah?" She looks up then.

"Ask me if I have any Nicki Minaj one more time. Go ahead, I dare you. I'm telling you... You do, and I'm stopping the car. I don't care how far away this place is. You're walking. You have just managed to push yourself way down in my estimations..."

Casey looks sheepish as she continues to browse through my Ipad. She takes a risk in looking up at me, her head tilted slightly with puppy dog eyes out in full force.

"Rihanna?" I turn to look at her then, eyebrows raised as I use my foot to brake slightly.

"Okay, okay, I get it, geez! I won't mock your music anymore. Hey, keep up with Dale!" She puts my Ipod back into the glove compartment before muttering as she switches the radio back on. "I guess the radio isn't so bad..."

There's a lull in the conversation before Chase decides to speak up once more.

"Hey, Ash... You wouldn't happen to have any Eminem, would you?"

Oh for crying out loud...


After a further half hour of riveting conversation, we follow Glen and Dale as they pull up in a large car park beside the fair.

By the time we park up, Dale and Annie are already out of their car, Max up on Dale's shoulders as Emily holds on to Annie's hand, the four of them making their way over to the entrance. I glance over to see Glen leading the way, little Lucy clinging on to his hand as Brooke follows behind with... What the fuck? Why is she holding Brooke's hand?

Casey comes up beside me as we make our way to the others, Chase already half way there.

"Awww! Looks like Brooke's made a new friend..." Yeah. No shit, Sherlock.

"Well! Nice to see we all made it!" Yes Glen, we're all here. Your mathematical knowledge astounds me. "Who's up for some fun?"

Naturally, the kids all cheer in unison, along with Dale, Chase and Casey. Annie just laughs, and Spencer and I share an awkward look.

"Well what are we waiting for then? Let's go, go, go!"

Of course, everyone scrambles as we make our way to the ticket booths. Spencer and I hang back a bit, not wanting to get crushed in the fuss. We're just standing there smiling awkwardly as we wait in the line, my walls crumbling with every second that passes.

"So... You ready for some 'fun'?" Her awkward smile shifts into a genuine one at my question.

"Oh yeah... Lots of it..." We both chuckle then, taking the awkwardness out of the situation. When we both look up again, our eyes lock, creating a new tension in the air.

"Uh... Ma'am?" Shit!

"Yes, sorry! Here!" I hand my money to the woman in the booth. "One adult and a child please." Brooke's already in there with Lucy, but I don't want to get caught without a ticket for her if asked.

I wait as she deals with my request, turning to Spencer.

"Did Casey not pay for you already?"

"Oh. No, it's fine. She's already in there with Glen, so..."

I turn to the woman in the booth again.

"Make it two adults."

"What? No. Ashley, it's fine... Really."

"No, just take it. It's fine. I'll get Casey to give me the money for it later."

"No, Ashley, I can't. You –"

"Spencer. I'll get it later. Really." She sighs before relenting.

"Thank you."

"No problem." I hand over her ticket as we make our way towards the others. Who am I kidding? I'm never going to see that money again, but I just couldn't help myself; she's just too cute. Who says chivalry is dead? Well, apart from Casey that is...


So as it turns out, the fair actually is pretty fun...

We had made our way around the majority of rides, taking particular pleasure on the Waltzer and Sticky Wall. The guy's a jerk, but I have to hand it to Glen; he pulled some pretty hilarious moves on the Sticky Wall. Who knew he was that flexible?

I also learned that I've got pretty good aim, beating all of the kids, plus Chase, in target practice. Yeah, they were water guns, but still, they're close enough to the real thing...

The kids had a great time on the trampolines, and Brooke and Lucy loved it when Chase and I took them on the Helter Skelter a few times. The Carousel was pretty fun too, and we had a ball on the Bumper Cars. Annie didn't go on much though. She said she wasn't feeling great, so would only go on the slow rides.

We had stopped off at the confectionary stand before heading to the Ferris Wheel, which is where we are now. It's pretty large as far as Ferris Wheels go, so there are three people to a seat. Chase is with Annie and Emily, and Brooke with Dale and Max. Casey is with Spencer obviously, and rather than being a 'spare wheel' so to speak, and put myself in an awkward situation, I decide to bite the bullet and share with Glen and Lucy.

We've just taken off before Glen starts to speak.

"Well this is cosy, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Very."

"You know... You can move closer. Lucy doesn't mind sitting on my knee, do you Luce?" Lucy just looks at him.

"No thank you. You don't have to do that. Really. In fact, you don't even have to talk..." Thank God Lucy is sitting in between us right now. I don't think I could stand being sat way up here right beside him.

Glen seems to take my advice on board, as there's silence as we're slowly lifted higher and higher. I'm looking over the edge to my right, Lucy pointing out all the rides we've already been on.

Suddenly, I feel something hit my chest. I glance over to Glen only to see him gazing out over his side. I avert my eyes back to the view, only to feel the same thing seconds later. I look down to my vest only to find a Skittle lodged down my bra.

"Glen, what the fuck?" Lucy gasps at this.

"A swear!" Fuck. Brooke must have explained the jar to Lucy while I was in the shower this morning.

"Yes, Lucy, I'm sorry. The jar, I know. I'll sort it later. Glen?" He's snickering.

"What a shot!"

"Ugh, seriously? Don't do that again, you hear me?" I lean down to whisper to Lucy. "Your dad is a jerk..." She just smiles. Cute kid.

We go back to our previous position just taking in the view before I feel the same sensation again. Immediately, I start on Glen.

"Glen, really?"

"What?"

"I just said don't do it again. What are you, six?"

"Seven actually. But I didn't do anything, I swear!"

"Oh, you didn't? Well then tell me, since when did Fruit Pastilles start magically raining from the sky?"

"Fruit Pastilles? Dude, I'm eating Skittles..."

I look up above us in confusion only to see Chase hanging over the edge of his seat, looking pretty pleased with himself as he waves at us.

"Right." If it's a war he wants... "Glen, hand me the Skittles."

"What? But I want to eat them..."

"I'll buy you more, just hand them over." He does. Good boy. I pour a good handful into my left hand before handing them back to him and taking aim with my right.

The first one misses by inches, but the second one is pretty bang on, hitting Chase in the back of the head as we near the peak of the circle, our seats now nearly even as we get ready for the journey down.

"Dude! Nice shot!" Thanks Glen. "I wonder if I could hit him from here..."

I have to hand it to him; Glen's a pretty good shot too... The three of us are having a great time just throwing sweets at each other in mid-air.

Soon enough, when we're on our way down, and Chase is the seat below us, I feel something hit me from above. I look up only to discover that Dale has joined the party. Not only that, but he's hooked Brooke and Max up with ammo, and is egging them on as the three of them bomb us with haribo grenades.

Chase is torn between keeping an eye above or below, so I'm assuming Casey and Spencer have decided to join in as well...

We're all having so much fun that we forget there are other people around too, and that some of them happen to be walking around on the ground, which also happens to be where most things end up after they fall from the sky...

Needless to say, as soon as we get off the Ferris Wheel, we're asked politely to leave. It doesn't bother us though; it was so worth it. Besides, we'd left this ride to the end anyway, so we're ready to leave regardless.


We're all laughing as we make our way back to the car, Glen and I reminiscing about a few particularly good shots we had.

"Dude! That was awesome! I can't believe you actually got it in his mouth! What are the chances?" He high fives me before we go our separate ways, ready to go back to the house.

As Casey, Chase and I pile into my car, there's a collective sigh before Casey makes a statement.

"Well that was fun..." The three of us just laugh as I turn the engine on and take off.


Okay, so we all had a lot of fun, and I'm sure everyone is feeling pretty tired, but the day seems to have really taken a lot out of Chase, who I'm pretty sure is fast asleep in the back. I have my suspicions that Casey nearly nodded off a few times too, but she still pulled through...

"Hey, Ash?" She whispers to me.

"Yeah?"

"Check out Sleeping Beauty." She tilts her head towards the back. I take my eyes off the road for a second to see Chase curled up in his seat sleeping like a baby.

"Aww, poor baby must be tired." I put on a baby voice as I stick my bottom lip out in a pout.

"Yeah. Hey, check this out..." She pulls out some black eyeliner and wiggles her eyebrows mischievously. I snicker at this.

"Oh my God, Casey. He's going to kill you when he sees himself..."

"I know. It'll be worth it." She unbuckles her seatbelt and hops into the back, getting started on Chase's ultimate makeover.


By the time we arrive back at the house, it's just gone past 6.30pm, and I can already smell the sweet aroma of Pam's cooking from outside.

We're the last to arrive, so all eyes are on us as we enter the living room. Almost immediately, Glen and Dale Start snickering, Spencer trying to fight off a smile.

"Dude. Miaowww!" Glen does a claw action with his hand as Dale laughs.

"Bro, I always knew you were a pussy, but never did I mean it quite as literally as this!"

"Huh?" Chase looks baffled as Emily runs to Annie.

"Mommy, mommy! How come Chase got face paint and we didn't?"

"Sorry honey, he must have gone and got it done when we weren't looking..."

"I got what done, now?" I take my phone out and hold it in front of him, showing him the photograph Casey took earlier, before adding another dollar to the jar. He makes a pretty cute cat, I must admit...

"Aww, man! I thought girls were supposed to be nice!" He backs out of the room and makes his way upstairs, presumably to the bathroom.

"You should think about wearing that more often! It really brings out your eyes!" I shout after him as the rest of us continue laughing.


Dinner goes by without a hitch. Pam had made us all spaghetti bolognese, and man, was it good...

When I say it goes by without a hitch, what I mean is, nothing horrendous happens. Dale and Annie did make an announcement though. Apparently they wanted to wait until everyone had arrived, so didn't make it before now. Anyway, it turns out that Max and Emily are getting a new brother or sister. And I thought Annie was just getting a little lazy... I guess she's actually just very pregnant...

So we all decided that it would be a good idea to hit the hay earlier tonight. It's been a pretty busy day, and I don't know about anyone else, but I'm feeling pretty tired.

Since the Carlins' arrival this morning, sleeping arrangement have changed slightly. While we were at the fair, Pam changed the sheets on the bed Chase had previously occupied. Now, Spencer would sleep there, and Chase had the top bunk in Casey's room. Pam has a rule see; because Dale and Annie are married with children, it's totally fine for them to be in the same room and bed. The rest of us however, aren't so lucky. I guess that works for me though; I'd feel a bit awkward if I knew Spencer was sharing a room with Casey...

Anyway, I'm still in the same room, as are Pam and Rob and Dale and Annie. The kids are still in the same room too, except, now Lucy's in beside Brooke. Glen pulled the short straw. I'm pretty sure he could have slept downstairs on the sofa, but instead, he's set up a lovely pink inflatable bed on the floor of the kids' room. I remember him muttering something about having to get up in the middle of the night for the bathroom. Apparently, stairs are too much effort...

So now, I'm waiting to get into the bathroom again, lying on my bed as I stare at the ceiling. There's a knock on the door as Spencer pokes her head in.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Can I sit?"

"Sure." She makes her way to the bed before sitting on the edge beside me.

"So today was fun..."

"Yeah." There's silence as she figures out what she's going to say next.

"Look, I really like you, Ashley. I'd like it if we could at least be friends. None of this awkwardness." I think for a second before replying.

"Yeah. I'd like that too. I think I can do that."

"Good." She smiles at me before standing up and making her way back over to the door. "I'm still breaking up with Casey at the end of the month though. Whether you like it or not..." And with that, she's gone.

God. This is going to be a fun month...

A/N – I have to say... After writing this and reading it back, I kind of want Chase to be my best friend. Could you imagine the things he'd come off with? He has some lovely words of wisdom, doesn't he? Anyone else think Brandy and Roxanne sound like lovely clean, respectable young ladies? :P I'm tempted to give them both a little cameo...

Don't forget to drop in a little review to let me know your thoughts. It makes me smile :D

Ps. I mean no offense to anyone whose name is Brandy or Roxanne. Like I said, I'm sure you're lovely clean respectable young ladies. In fact, hit me up if you could do with a little more excitement in your life ;)

Until next time...