Author's Note:
Yes, dumle2209, I think I have lost at least one reader. Something about not wanting to see good people getting hurt... Who said anything about hurting anyone, right? :P Anyway, at least I have a good few loyal readers such as yourself, so I'll keep writing. Wouldn't want to leave anyone hanging...
Well, hopefully that last chapter did its job in making my intentions clear. People seem to be responding well anyway... Can I go at my own pace now? :)
After the revelation last chapter, I think I can have a fair bit of fun playing around now, don't you? Nothing like a bit of dramatic irony, eh? I wonder how Ash will deal with being the only character privy to all this information... ;)
Thanks for all your reviews, you awesome, awesome people!
A little more Spashley interaction in this chapter. I'm sure there are a quite few people who will be happy about that...
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.
Chapter 9:
I wake up feeling pretty refreshed. I guess that's what a good night's sleep will do for you. We did go to bed quite early last night...
I make my way into the bathroom and freshen myself up slightly before swapping my shorts for sweat pants and making my way downstairs. It sounds pretty quiet; I don't think anyone else is up yet.
I rub my eyes as I enter the kitchen. I'm pretty thirsty. I wonder if there's any orange juice left...
I make my way over to the fridge, still rubbing my eyes as I walk. I know the route to the fridge off by heart; years of practice. Who needs eyes, eh? So overrated.
I take the time to stretch my body before opening the fridge, letting out a satisfied groan as my muscles pull in all the right ways.
Yes! There's the good stuff... I pick up the carton of orange juice, opening the lid as I turn around and close the fridge door with my foot, ready to put the juice on the counter. When I turn around however, I'm pretty shocked to find Spencer standing there in the corner just up from me, toast on the counter top and knife in hand, eyes wide. I guess I'm not the first one up then...
The carton of juice falls from my hand with the shock, juice going everywhere, my heart rate picking up significantly. I can't be sure whether it's from shock, or just the sudden realisation that Spencer is in the room... Either way, it's still pretty fast...
"Shit!"
"Oh my God, I'm sorry! I should have made myself known as soon as you came into to the room..."
"No, no. It's fine. I should have had my eyes open anyway... Stupid. If you were a serial killer, I'd be dead by now..." she giggles at this.
I lift the carton from the floor and throw it into the bin, reaching for the kitchen roll. When I get on to my knees to clean up the mess, Spencer is already there. She must have grabbed some of the kitchen roll while I threw the carton out.
We're both wiping at the floor frantically, when our hands collide, causing us both to jump up slightly and bump heads.
"Shit, sorry!" She begins to apologise.
"No, it's fine! Look, don't worry about this mess. I was the one to drop the juice; I'll clean it up."
She gets up then, backing up to the counter as she just stands and watches me, biting her lip.
Once I've cleaned the floor, I throw the used kitchen roll in the bin before pouring myself a glass of milk.
We're both just standing there, her watching me as I sip on my milk.
Just then, I get flashbacks of Casey's conversation with me last night. As I think back to it, I let a small chuckle escape from my lips.
"What are you laughing at?" Shit, she heard that?
"Huh? Oh, uh... Nothing. Just something Brooke said last night..."
I think about making Spencer aware of Casey's intentions, but the more I think about it, the more my sense of humour gets the better of me... Nah, let's not spoil the surprise. I'll not say anything; it'll be funny. I'll let her stew for a while...
She nods, eyeing me curiously.
"What did she say?"
"Uh... Oh, you know what... It's not really that funny now that I think about it. It was more the way she said it. You know what kids can be like..."
"Yeah... They come off with some great stuff..." I guess she bought it.
"Yep..."
"Yeah... Hey, you wouldn't know if Pam has any jam, would you? I've been trying to find some, but I can't see any anywhere..."
"Oh, yeah! She hides it at the back here. Chase seems to have a bit of a weak spot when it comes to jam..." I make my way beside her before standing on my toes and opening the cupboard above us, reaching up to find the jam.
When I manage to find it, I close the cupboard and step back, my feet firmly on the ground. I hold the jam out in front of me.
"Here you go." I look up then.
It seems I slightly misjudged the space between us. There's really not a lot of it... Spencer's biting her lip again... I know this because my eyes are glued to them right now.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
I'm still looking at those lips, damn it. Why do they have to be so enticing? I take a chance and glance up to her eyes. She's doing that thing again. You know, where she looks at my eyes for a second, then my lips, before doing it again? Yeah, that.
We're both in some kind of trance as we continue staring at each other.
"Good morning, ladies!" Jesus Christ! We both jump, putting more distance between ourselves as we calm our racing hearts.
"Morning, Chase."
"Morning." We pretty much greet him at the same time.
He makes his way to the fridge before opening it. I don't think he realised how close we were standing just then...
"Aww man... who drank all the OJ?" I make a face at this.
"Sorry, Chase..." He tuts before replying.
"I should've known... One of these days, I'm going to get there before you, Ash."
"Yeah, I bet you will... Just like you got me back for the Chavo stunt..." I start to relax when I realise he actually is oblivious.
"Hey, give it time; I'm working on it." He takes the milk out of the fridge. "I guess this will have to do..."
Spencer turns back to her toast and begins to spread the jam on top. I move over to the sink to wash my glass, revealing what Spencer is doing to Chase. He furrows his eyebrows as he looks over her shoulder.
"Hey, where'd you get the jam?"
So as it happens, today, everyone has decided to take my excellent suggestion from a few days ago into account. Yes, we're going to the beach. You know what that means, right?
Sun, sea, sand and...
Bikinis.
Yes, bikinis. I'm particularly keen to see Spencer in a bikini. Unless she wears one of those granny costumes, but I really can't see it... Anyway, at least now I won't have to feel guilty about checking her out on the sly. Technically, Spencer and Casey are still together, as neither has the balls to break it off with the other yet, but if neither of them want to be with the other, there's no harm in checking out the goods, right? I fail to see a problem...
Brooke is really excited. She and Lucy have already made plans to make 'the biggest princess castle ever'. Let's just hope Max doesn't get too excited and decides to demolish it... There would be tears, and they wouldn't be Brooke's. Yeah, I've taught her to stand up for herself. No one is going to push my girl around.
Pam and Rob have decided to stay behind again. They mentioned something about not having the bikini bodies they used to. Apparently, Pam used to be a bit of a babe back in the day. Rob had a fair bit of competition, but of course, his heart of gold won him the girl in the end...
Annie's decided to hang back too. She hasn't been feeling great this morning and claims she'd feel even worse if she had to be seen in public parading around with a stomach like that... Are you kidding me? I bet she'd look great!
Anyway, we've decided to just take the two cars today; the boys and Emily in one (lucky her), and the girls in the other. Dale's SUV is pretty big, so we piled most things in his trunk, whereas I just put a few of our personal belongings and some towels in mine.
Despite my protest, everyone thought it would be a great idea to pack a picnic... Have you ever brought a picnic to the beach? Sure, it may look like the people are having a lovely time in the posters and things, but really, it isn't that great. Sand everywhere. I'll tell you what else isn't that pleasant on the beach, despite all the hype...
The kids are pretty excited about it though. I guess if they're happy...
I've been driving for roughly half an hour already, so we still have an hour to go. Casey's riding shotgun as Spencer sits in the back with the two girls.
"I spy with my little eye something beginning with... C!"
"Car?"
"Nope!"
"Cow?"
"Nope?"
"Cushion?"
"Where do you see the cushions?" Ah well, it was a good guess, Brooke...
"Oh, I know! It's you, Casey!"
"No..."
"How about a clue?" Great idea, Lucy!
"Okay... Well it's actually two words. C and then A. There could be an F after as well... I'm not sure if it's all one word..."
We spend quite a while trying to guess what it could be, but none of us can think.
"Okay, Casey, I don't know what it is. I give up..."
"Me too." That's Spencer.
"Me three." And Brooke,
"Me four." And Lucy. Guess we all give up...
"Really, guys? It was 'cool air freshener'!" I turn to look at her for a second.
"Cool air freshener? Seriously?" Spencer's snickering in the back as Brooke and Lucy look at each other, confused.
"Well, yeah. I may not like your music, Ash, but I have to say, your air freshener is pretty damn cool."
"Casey, we've been trying to guess what that was for the past fifteen minutes... You do know that's not how you play 'I Spy', right? You can't just add a random adjective before the noun..."
"Well why not? It'd be way too easy if you didn't..." I sigh.
"Casey, you suck at this game..." Nicely said, Brooke! Spencer's laughing harder now.
"Yeah, she does, doesn't she?" I wink at Brooke in the mirror.
"Oh, okay then, smarty pants. I guess we'll play something else then, you know, since I'm so bad at 'I Spy'..."
So, eventually we arrive at the beach after various delightful games, all of which Casey sucks at. Casey, Spencer and I lift the towels and things from the trunk before finding a good spot on the beach and setting it all down.
The boys soon join us, Dale and Glen carrying a box of random stuff while Chase carries the food. When the box is dropped off, the three of them make their way back to the car to grab any leftovers they couldn't carry during the first run.
Meanwhile, us girls help the kids change into their swimming gear. They already have everything on underneath their clothes, so all we have to do is strip them. Of course, as soon as their layers have been shed, the four of them run off into the sea to play in the waves.
With the children off playing, it's our turn to strip. I came prepared and brought a large bag to store our clothes in until we're ready to go. Once I'm ready, I fold my clothes and put them in the bag, leaving it for anyone else who wishes to use it. When I turn after setting the bag down, my eyes are assaulted by possibly one of the greatest sights I've even witnessed.
Spencer is bent over as she folds her clothes, and she's definitely not wearing a granny costume. She has on a light blue bikini, and let me tell you, I am not disappointed one bit. If I thought her ass looked good before, it's sure as hell perfect now. She has a really attractive back too... I never thought I'd describe anyone's back as attractive, but it is. It's just so smooth. And the way the sun hits it, accentuating the curves as it slopes...
She turns around then to put her clothes in the bag beside me. When she does though, I catch her on as her eyes get distracted from the bag, trailing up my legs and torso until they connect with my own. Looks like Glen isn't the only pervert in the family... I don't mind her checking me out though. In fact, it feels pretty damn good.
I smirk as she diverts her gaze elsewhere.
I open the box the boys left off before they went on their second run. What have we got?
A football, a beach ball, a few buckets and spades, a baseball, a Frisbee and a few water pistols...
I grab the biggest looking pistol before going to the water and submerging it for a while, waiting for it to fill up. When I'm satisfied, I make my way back to our spot, seeing Casey and Spencer just sitting there talking. They seem to be pretty oblivious to my presence, so I take up aim and open fire, laughing at the screams I elicit.
"Oh my God, Ashley!" Casey shouts to me as she wipes the salt water from her face.
Spencer just smiles. God, she's beautiful. And that bikini she's wearing just brings out the blue in her eyes, making thrm look even more amazing...
I'm standing laughing as Casey starts making these hilarious faces. I guess some of the water must have gone into her mouth as she was talking...
Just then, I feel something cold and wet hit me from both sides. I guess the boys are back... Glen and Chase have geared up with their own water pistols and seem determined to defend the girls. Looks like it's time for a water fight...
We've spent a good amount of time at the beach so far, just playing around and having a laugh. Brooke seems to have taken a liking to Spencer as she's barely left her side since we got here, roping her into helping Lucy and herself build their princess castle. Fair enough...It's not like I wanted to build a princess castle anyway. Casey and I are happy enough messing around with the boys and Emily.
"Daddy, I'm hungry..." A girl after my own heart. Thank you, Emily, I'm getting pretty peckish myself...
"Okay, Emsy, anyone else hungry?"
"Yes." It's unanimous. Picnic time!
The seven of us make our way up to the spot, using the wipes we brought to wash our hands as Dale opens the box.
Everyone is given a little plastic plate. That way, we can just put whatever we want on our plate and hold it up so hopefully no sand will be ingested...
When they see the food being dished out, Brooke and Lucy bounce over, Spencer following behind.
"Ash, Ash! Guess what! Guess what Spencer's favourite animal is!"
"I don't know, Brooke... What is it?"
"A rabbit! Just like me!" She smiles at me. Uh-oh, looks like someone's got a new favourite...
"Wow, that's great, Brooke..."
"And guess what... Spencer had a rabbit when she was just a little bit older than me..." She proceeds to tell everyone the story of the pregnant rabbit Spencer had when she was younger.
"Really? You never told me that one before..." She didn't, Casey? She told me the first night we met...
"Ash, do you think we could get a rabbit? A white one, so that we can call it Snow!"
"Uh... Yeah, maybe, Brooke. We'll have to see..."
"Yes! Then you can come over and play with us, Spencer! She can come over and play, right, Ash?"
"Sure, Brooke; she can come over to play." That depends really, on who she's coming over to play with. I'm afraid I may have to fight Brooke off on this one. Maybe Spencer can bring Lucy over to play with Brooke while she plays with me...
I put these not so pure thoughts to the back of my mind as I get stuck in to my lunch. I take back what I said before. Maybe picnics on the beach aren't so bad.
After our al fresco lunch, we play around again, Spencer going back to her sandcastle building duties as I play Frisbee with Max and Emily. They aren't the best throwers, but hey, they're trying. Casey is in the sea wrestling with the boys.
Max throws a particularly powerful throw and the Frisbee goes flying towards the three girls building their castle, only stopping when it comes into contact with the barrier that is the back of Spencer's head.
I run over to apologise when she turns around, stunned.
"Spencer, I'm sorry! Max has a pretty good arm... I'll move them over a bit closer to the water..."
"Hey, don't worry about it, it's fine! Here." She hands the Frisbee to me, our eyes locking in the process.
"Thanks." I don't move. I'd be quite happy to live out the rest of my days just staring into those eyes...
"Umm, Ash? The kids are calling you. Maybe you should –"
"Oh! Yes! Sorry... Thanks!" I turn around and make my way back over to the kids. Just as I'm about to throw however, my name is called.
"Hey, Ashley!" A slim redhead approaches me. When I say redhead, I mean she's an actual 'red' head. That colour is definitely not natural; that shit came straight from a bottle. I do have a thing for the hair though; I've always found red hair kind of sexy...
"Uh, hey!" She smiles as she stops in front of me. Damn, she's actually pretty fine, even without the hair...
"You don't remember me, do you?"
While the kids have abandoned me after realising I wasn't going to throw the Frisbee again, Casey has been nice enough to come back to shore now, lingering around in the perimeter, clearly eavesdropping in on the conversation, and is currently mouthing something to me whilst nodding her head.
"Sure I do... You're uh... You're..." What the hell is Casey saying? Milk? Mill? M... "Mel!" Casey is nodding frantically now. "You're Mel!"
"Well what do you know, you do remember me."
"Heh, yeah..."
"So... Are you still friendly with Casey?" Casey's progressed from helping me to encouraging me... At least I think that's what she's doing. She's giving me the thumbs up. Just a second ago, she licked the tip of her finger and gestured as if she was touching Mel, who apparently caused her finger to burn...
"Oh. Yeah, still friendly. Can't get rid of her." She laughs at this, although it sounds pretty fake if I'm honest...
"You're funny... Well, I've got to go now, but here..." She hands me a slip of paper. I'm assuming her number's on there. "Call me." With that, she leaves, making her way off the beach towards the car park.
Casey watches her leave before bounding over to me.
"Oh my God."
"What?"
"Melanie Cooper just gave you her number."
"Yeah, and?"
"Melanie Cooper, Ashley! Don't you remember?"
"Melanie Cooper? Melanie Cooper... Melanie Cooper... Melanie... Wait!" I hold my hand up to Casey, signalling that I'm thinking. "Hot Pants Melanie?"
"Hot Pants Melanie, Ash. Yes!" It takes a second, but it all comes back to me...
I think she's the first girl Casey and I actually noticed wearing hot pants one Summer, back when we were about sixteen. Ever since then, we've thanked God for such an epic invention involving the deduction and stylish manipulation of denim jeans...
"Wow..." Well, I'm stunned.
"Yeah, wow... You realise I've been crushing on her since we were thirteen, right?"
"Seriously?" That was before she even started wearing the hot pants.
"Uh... Yeah! And she's only gone and got hotter! Man, you always get the good ones!" I could say the same about you, Casey...
I turn around to make my way back over to the girls, but when I look up, I notice Spencer throwing me daggers with her eyes. Okay... What's her problem?
I decide to bypass the girls; Spencer doesn't look too approachable right now. Instead, I make my way over to the towels we've set out, intending to lie down, but I see my phone flashing as it sits there. I must have a new message...
Spencer? But she's right over there...
Who's the girl? X
Ah, I see. Someone's jealous.
Just an old friend. Why? X
As I set my phone down, I chance a glance at Spencer. She's still looking at me, but immediately checks her phone when she hears I've replied.
Oh. No reason, just curious. X
Yeah, 'curious'... Well, she can be jealous all she wants. Despite her and Casey wanting a mutual split, they're still together. I'm single, so therefore have the right to mingle. It's not as if I want to mingle anyway. Really, all I want is Spencer, but at the minute, I can't have her. Give it time though... If we really can't stay away from each other, I'll maybe think about starting something with her after she and Casey split, only if I'm sure Casey will be okay with it obviously. Until then though, I guess all I can do is look. Well, I'm definitely making the most of the looking...
I slip on my stealth shades as I lean back on my elbows. Yes, stealth shades. Don't tell me you've never checked anyone out behind the disguise of a stylish pair of sunglasses. They're the greatest invention ever... After hot pants of course. What's better though is wearing sunglasses whilst checking out girls in hot pants. It doesn't get much better than that.
I take a moment to appreciate the beauty in front of me. None of them can tell I'm looking at her. Yep, greatest invention ever...
We stay at the beach until about 5pm, taking it in turns to dry off and get changed in the little toilet stalls at the top of the beach while the boys take our things back to Dale's car. No one is getting into Baby covered in sand...
When we're ready, we head back to the cars, but not before Glen gives me another high five. I admit, we didn't get off to the best start, but after our double team at the fair, we've been getting on just fine. He's actually pretty funny, and his sense of humour, although a bit immature at times, is actually quite similar to my own.
The drive home is relatively uneventful. I thought Brooke would have fallen asleep, but she seems happy enough chattering away to Spencer. Lucy and I are playing an alphabet game whilst Casey sits with her head against the window fast asleep.
When we arrive at the house, Dale puts Max and Emily to bed. They're done in from all the fun we had today. Hopefully they won't be up early in the morning with the early night, and if they are, let's hope they go wake mom and dad up before they decide to say hello to anyone else.
Pam sets out a little buffet for us at the table; just a few small things. We're not really that hungry after our picnic earlier.
After dinner, we all do our own thing again. I decide to chill out on the sofa, just watching the television. There's nothing really on, but I'm thinking of heading to bed soon; I'm pretty tired myself.
Pam and Annie are having an in-depth conversation about the book Pam is currently reading. Apparently Annie has read it before, and Pam will be shocked to find out who the killer is...
I'm assuming the boys are out back again, as it's relatively quiet in the house, Brooke and Lucy chatting quietly on the other sofa as they attempt to paint each other's nails.
Casey and Spencer are in the kitchen after volunteering to do the dishes tonight.
I'm sitting for about ten minutes before I feel the sofa dip beside me.
"Hey." It's Spencer.
"Hey."
"What are we watching?"
"I'm not quite sure... Apparently it's a documentary on active volcanoes in America, but it could be mistaken for a documentary about rocks..."
"Hmm... Interesting."
"Yeah..."
Just then, there's another dip in the sofa as Casey joins the party.
"So Ash, you text her yet?" Spencer looks at me then.
"Uh... No, not yet, Casey."
"Well why not? Do it now."
"You know, I'm pretty tired. I think I'll just wait until the morning..."
"Who is she texting?" That's Spencer.
"Oh, just this hottie we bumped into today. She's an old friend. We used to hang out when we were younger."
"An old friend, huh?" Don't look at me like that, Spencer.
"Yeah... She seems nice."
"Damn right she seems 'nice', Ash! She's a total babe!"
"Yeah... Well, I'm kind of tired. Brooke, you ready for bed?" She pouts at me. "Come on, I'll take Lucy up too."
Once we've gone through our bedtime routine of musical teeth brushing, with the addition of Lucy, I put the pair of them to bed, saying goodnight to Paige in the process. No bedtime stories tonight; they're both exhausted.
I make my way to my room after getting ready for bed and see my phone flashing on the bed.
So she's an 'old friend', huh? X
I have to chuckle at this. She is so jealous it's not even funny...
Yes, she's an 'old friend'. I'm not interested. Goodnight. X
I set my phone on the bedside table before turning off the lamp, closing my eyes as I wonder what delights tomorrow will bring...
A/N – So... How do we like a jealous Spencer? Serves her right, no? I think she deserves a little taste of her own medicine. Expect a little more of this in the next chapter or so. Then I'll maybe think about gradually letting everyone become happy again :P
P.s. There's a chance that updates may become less regular. I need to start reading/researching for my dissertation. It sucks, I know, but it has to be done unfortunately :(
Anyway... I'm out! Hopefully I'll be back with another update soon :)
