Chapter Six

Spencer arrived at Casey's house a half hour before they had to leave. It didn't surprise her when she entered Casey's room and saw that it looked like a tidy tornado had hit it. Casey was running around frantic, half dressed and throwing clothes around.

"I have no idea what to wear!" Casey held out two different shirts to Spencer. "Which one looks better?"

Spencer tried to suppress her laughter at the way Casey looked. She pointed to the shirt in her right hand. "You need to calm down, Case."

"I don't know how to!" She threw the shirt over head and looked at herself in the mirror. "Oh my God, I look like absolute shit." She was about to take off the shirt when Spencer stopped her.

"Casey, breathe, you look fine. But you have to hurry up or we'll be late."

Casey took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. After a few minutes, she seemed to have some composure. "How was your day?" she asked as she checked her purse to see if she had everything.

"Interesting," Spencer said vaguely. She didn't want to tell Casey anything just yet. She knew that Casey too nervous and excited to deal with any of her own drama. "You ready?"

Casey bit her lip and looked at herself in the mirror one last time. "Let's go."

They drove to the theater and only when Casey saw Sally and Ashley waiting in front, did she remember that she never told Spencer about Ashley. "Oh my, God, Spencer, totally forgot to tell you that Ashley was coming tonight." She looked at her with a guilty expression.

But Spencer gave her a little smile. "Casey, I already knew. Don't worry about it. Just pay attention to your girl." She got out the car and started making her way to the theater.

Confused, but too nervous to think about it, Casey followed her.

Ashley's eyes widened with surprise when she saw Spencer walking with Casey. "Sally, did you know she was coming?"

Sally looked just as surprised. "No, I had no idea. Are you going to be okay?"

But she didn't have time to answer for Spencer and Casey had just approached them. "Hey," Casey said shyly. "I hope you don't mind that I brought Spencer."

Sally smiled. "No worries."

Spencer stood back a little and glanced at Ashley. If she didn't know any better, Ashley looked kind of nervous. They all stood in line waiting to get tickets with Casey and Sally in front.

Ashley just stood there staring ahead waiting for her turn to purchase tickets. She had no idea what to do. Even though she joked about being the third wheel on Casey and Sally's date, Ashley was perfectly fine with sitting behind them in the theater and tossing popcorn at their heads. But now that Spencer was here, was she expected to hang with her while Casey and Sally did whatever they were going to do? If Ashley wasn't too busy freaking out that she might anger Spencer more, she would have realized that this almost seemed like a double date.

She was brought out her thoughts by the little argument that was happening in front her. Casey and Sally were arguing about who was going to pay for the tickets. Both insisting that one would pay for the other and all the while trying the patience of the ticket seller. Ashley rolled her eyes and stepped between the two girls and slapped down two twenty dollar bills on the counter.

"Four for Harry Potter please." She smirked at Sally's murderous glare. The ticket seller handed her the tickets. "What?" she said innocently to Sally and gave her two tickets. "It's not like you two will be even watching the movie." She winked at her before stepping back in her spot.

Ashley suddenly got nervous again when she realized that she was holding Spencer's ticket. She looked at Spencer and was surprised to find a smile on her face.

"Harry Potter?" she said amused.

Ashley turned red again and handed her the ticket. "Um, it was just the first movie I thought of. Besides, they were holding up the line."

"Uh huh," Spencer said unconvinced as the four of them made their way to the concession stands.

Ashley bought a jumbo tub of popcorn and a huge drink. They went into the darken theater and frowned when they saw that it was nearly packed.

"There doesn't seem to be four empty seats together," Casey said surveying the room. "But there's two back there and two over there."

Sally didn't give a second thought as she pulled Casey towards the ones further in the back leaving Spencer and Ashley by themselves. Ashley just had time to catch the grin on Sally's face when her and Casey took their seats.

"Bitch," she muttered.

"What?"

Ashley almost forgot that Spencer was still standing next to her. "Um, if you want to find somewhere else to sit-" But before she could finish, Spencer was already making her to the two empty seats that Casey had pointed out earlier. Not quite sure what to do, Ashley stood there for a few seconds before Spencer turned around and beckoned her over. Ashley gulped and walked across the row avoiding the feet of the already seated movie goers and sat down next to Spencer.

Her arm immediately went to the armrest and so did Spencer's. Ashley quickly removed it and just held onto her jumbo tub of popcorn. She put her drink in the cup holder and stared ahead at the movie screen.

The lights were still on and people were chatting idly. Ashley was eating her popcorn but she could feel Spencer staring at her. It made her tingle. She turned her head and glanced at Spencer.

"That's one big tub of popcorn," Spencer commented.

Ashley blushed again and kind of wanted to hit herself. She had no idea when the hell she lost her nerve. She was never nervous around girls. She was never nervous around Spencer but now she felt like she was going to explode. "Um, I thought I was going to be sitting next to Sally and she eats like a pig." She tilted the tub towards Spencer. "Would you like some?"

Spencer smiled and reached into the tub. "Thanks." Ashley felt her stomach flip. Spencer never smiled at her like that.

The lights dimmed and the audience seized their talking. The previews were very short and the movie started. Despite her best efforts, Ashley wriggled in her seat with excitement earning a giggle from Spencer. She thanked God that it was now dark and Spencer couldn't see her blush again.

Ashley wasn't quite used to being in a dark theater with a girl and not be making out. It seemed like whenever she went to a movie with a girl, the girl would attack her once the lights dimmed. Not that Ashley didn't enjoy the making out, but sometimes she actually wanted to watch the movie.

It was hard to pay attention to anything with Spencer sitting right next to her. It seemed like all her senses were heightened. And it didn't help that Spencer kept reaching into the popcorn tub which was sitting right in Ashley's lap. At one point, both girls reached in at the same time and their hands touched. Ashley pulled her hand out so fast that popcorn went flying everywhere annoying the people sitting around them.

"Sorry," Ashley mumbled.

Spencer couldn't help but glance at Ashley throughout the entire movie. She's never seen her so fidgety and jumpy. It was like someone else had taken over Ashley. It looked and sounded like her but it definitely wasn't the Ashley she was used to.

Spencer wasn't sure what to expect when she agreed to go tonight but it definitely wasn't this. She had expected Ashley to fall back to her usual routine now that she was finally out with her.

When the movie ended and the lights came back on, both girls sat there waiting for people to clear out before standing up. They turned around and found their two best friends engaged in a very heavy make out session. They seemed to be unaware that lights were on and people were trying to get pass them to leave.

"Well, it seems like they got over their first date jitters," Spencer said laughing.

Ashley felt her stomach do a somersault. Spencer sounded so cute when she laughed. They went up to Casey and Sally's seats and threw some popcorn at them.

"Hey, the movie's done!" Ashley yelled.

Casey and Sally pulled apart and looked around dazed. They went completely red in the face. "Wow, when did that happen?" Sally said.

The four of them left the theater and went to the parking lot. It was still quite early and Ashley could tell that Sally didn't want her date with Casey to end quite yet so she suggested they all go her uncle's diner for a bite to eat.

"So, how's everything going?" Ashley asked once her and Sally were in her car.

Sally smiled. "Good, it was a little nerve-wracking at first, but once we were in the theater, I thought 'fuck it,' and just put my arm around her."

Ashley also smiled. "And proceeded to make out the rest of the time?"

"No, we tried to watch the movie but got bored out of our minds and then started to make out."

"Bored?" Ashley said a little offended. "Of Harry Potter?"

"Whatever, forget about the movie, what about you and Spencer? How's that going?"

Ashley didn't know how to answer without sounding like an idiot. "Well, nothing really. We haven't really talked or anything. I just kind of just kept my mouth shut and kept to myself."

Sally raised an eyebrow. "You didn't try to talk to her at all?"

"Well, what do I have to say?"

"Well, you've never had trouble talking to her before," she pointed out.

"That was before," Ashley rationalized. "You know before she told me she loathed me and thought I was a heartless bitch."

"Ash-"

"Look, it's okay. I'm fine, okay? Let's just get something to eat alright?"

Sally dropped the subject as they pulled into the parking lot of the diner. They sat in the booth that Terry had reserved for Ashley and her friends.

"I didn't know your uncle owned this, Ashley," Casey said when they sat down.

She was sitting next to Spencer which Ashley was grateful for. She had no idea if she could deal with sitting next to Spencer without an armrest separating them. But Spencer did sit right across from in the booth. Ashley prayed her foot wouldn't accidentally brush up against her. The last thing she wanted was Spencer to think she was playing footsie with her.

"Yeah, he gives discounts to King High students who come here for lunch," Ashley said.

Terry stood at their table and smiled at them. "Ladies," he greeted.

"Hey, uncle Terry," Ashley said also smiling.

"Double date?" he asked winking.

"What? No, no. Just these two," Ashley croaked pointing at Casey and Sally. She avoided Spencer's eyes as she once again turned red.

"Ah, I see," he said unconvinced. "What can I get you?"

They all ordered their food and started to talk about the movie. Casey and Sally soon dropped out the conversation since they stopped paying attention to the movie half-way through. Ashley kept ranting on and on about how it was the worst movie out of all the movies. She pointed out specifics and it seemed the only person who was really listening was Spencer. She added her own insight and agreed with her on many points. Casey and Sally just agreed not knowing what they were talking about.

When Ashley realized that the only person listening to her rant was Spencer, she trailed off and blushed once again.

"And yeah, I didn't really like it," Ashley finished lamely and sipped her drink.

Sally laughed. "You have to excuse, Ashley. She's a Harry Potter geek."

"Thanks, whore," Ashley said glaring at her best friend.

"Well, Spencer's also a Harry Potter geek if you haven't noticed," Casey said and Spencer also gave her a glare. "What? You and Ashley just had an entire conversation about it."

This time it was Spencer who blushed. Ashley had the sudden urge to squeeze her or something. She looked so cute blushing.

After they finished eating, Sally suggested that they all go to the park that was in walking distance of the diner.

"It's going to be closed," Ashley pointed out.

"Like that's ever stopped us," Sally said as her and Casey went ahead and started walking towards the park.

Spencer and Ashley trailed behind and followed their two bubbly friends who were now holding hands.

Once they arrived at the park, Casey and Sally went to the playground and into the plastic tunnel. God only knew what they were going to do in there.

Ashley was once again left alone with Spencer. They stood in the middle of the park looking around. It was now dark and the sky was clear so the stars were shining.

"Wanna sit on the swings?" Spencer asked tilting her head.

"Sure." The two of them sat on a pair of swings and started swinging slightly. They didn't talk and just listened to the noises around them. The crickets were chirping and they occasionally heard Casey and Sally giggle in the tunnel.

"I don't hate you," Spencer suddenly said.

Ashley whipped her head and stared at Spencer. Even in the dark, she could still see how blue her eyes were. "Um,"

"I was just having a really bad day and you were just,"

"Annoying the shit of you?"

Spencer laughed. "Well, yeah."

"I'm sorry." Ashley looked down.

"Do you really like me?" Spencer asked softly.

Ashley looked up. "Yeah, I do. I really like you."

"Then why did you insist on acting like an ass every single time you were around me?" Spencer said somewhat angrily. "I mean, you had to know that it annoyed the shit out of me."

"I honestly didn't think it really bothered you," Ashley said truthfully.

"What? You thought it didn't bother me?" Spencer said incredulously with wide eyes. "After three years of telling you to leave me alone and ignoring you, you thought it didn't bother me?"

Ashley tried to back track. "Okay, I knew it annoyed you but I thought, well, I thought deep down you liked me and that you liked the little game we played." Ashley knew right away that it was the wrong thing to say when she saw anger flash in Spencer's eyes.

"It's always just a game to you." Spencer got off the swing and started to walk away.

Ashley hit herself on the head. That's not what she meant to say but it seemed too late to rectify her mistake.

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