The Great Escape
AN: Thank you to , Ashleymassarophan1, Melissa Cristina, WWEFan1990, Christal-R, Thee Britty, TJ Sparkles, Cena-Wilson-Crazy, jojocheer28, rory21, RKO.I.F and JeffxMaria for reviewing the last chapter.
You guys ROCK! :)
Chapter Six – Masked Emotions
ASHLEY
With only afternoon classes to attend that Monday, Ashley was free to spend her morning however she pleased. As the sun shone brightly outside it seemed like a wise idea to have a little time alone and walk around for a while.
Her iPod was safely tucked into the pocket of her jeans, providing her with a music escape if she were to need one. She could always count on that for support to block out anything; Eve's rambling sessions, Mickie's over-caring nature...unanswered emails from her parents. Music was simply the best way to go to forget about the world.
It was her phone, however, that sent her crashing back into reality.
She was barely out of the girls dorm before the device vibrated in her hand, sending her into momentary shock as she tried to work out what the sensation was. After realizing, she checked the caller ID and a moment later, she was actually happy to get into contact with the person calling her.
"Ronny." She answered cheerfully enough. "What's up?"
"I think I should be asking you that, college student," a friendly male voice replied. Even though she couldn't see him, she was certain he had a grin on his face. "So what's going on sis?"
"Not much really. The classes here are cool...and I guess everything is the same, but a little more sophisticated."
"Well it's clearly not the same if you're not at home with us."
"Yeah, that's the different part." She laughed, perhaps a little nervously. "But I'm coping."
"I'm glad." Ronny said. "Well I have to go now; recording to do and all that, but it's good to know you're fine..." A beat later, he sighed. "Oh and Ash? Mom and Dad really want to hear from you so call them sometime, okay?"
She felt incredibly fake as she answered "Sure will" and hung up.
Whatever was left of her smile disappeared in the next moment, replaced with a grimace as she slid the phone into her free pocket. It was just a shame that on such a brilliant day she had to be reminded of a persistent problem.
"We must stop meeting like this."
And speaking of persistent problems...
Ashley turned slowly, praying with all she had that the familiar voice wasn't calling out to her. Her shoulders dropped in defeat a second later; it seemed luck just wasn't on her side today. "Oh, God..."
"Well most people call me Adam, but I've gotta admit I like the nickname."
She shot a long look of disbelief in his direction, and then rolled her eyes. "Why are you so annoying?"
"Why aren't you falling into my arms now?" He shrugged, the beginning of a smirk on his face. "The mysteries of life..."
"Wow...amazing."
"Thank you."
"I meant that as an insult, not a compliment." She informed him. After little consideration she added, "You just never give up, do you?"
"Babe, give up is not in my vocabulary."
Ashley saw red. Not one to disagree with her mild violent series, she took too much pleasure in reaching out her hand to harshly grab the area between his thighs. Her grip on him tightened after a moment, as did her glare.
A strangled shriek escaped Adam's mouth as he was forced to bounce on both feet, as if standing on hot coal. He was a little breathless as he offered, "You're a bit eager, huh?"
"Let me give you a free lesson now. A babe is a pig and personally I don't care to be called one." She finally let him go. "You got that, mutt?"
He swallowed, just about able to nod in response. It took a little while to recompose himself and by that time, she was smirking at him. "Well I'm glad we got that sorted out."
"Yeah." His eyes narrowed but not—like she thought—out of anger.
Without another word, she walked away from him, rolling her eyes as she did so. So much for having a morning to herself—now all that was in her mind was him.
Though she had quite a good understanding of guys her age, she didn't get him at all. She was once told—by a proud Mickie James no less—that if a guy liked you, he would annoy and tease you because of it. But that was something to do when they were children; when it wasn't pathetic and stupid like it was now.
Adam Copeland, however, seemed to have a real interest in her, and she didn't know why. It was fair enough to assume they would have the same taste in music or styles, but that was a given by their appearances. This was different; he seemed to seek something in her, not anything about her. Just her.
And really, what was so interesting about her? She simply couldn't work the answer out. In fact, she never really understood why guys from her old school were ever attracted to her...
"Hey, Ashley..."
The dirty-blonde stopped just short of a bench, finding herself frustrated at the calling of her name. Remember to kill Maria when I see her next...
"Come back for round two?" She asked sarcastically, turning to face him. With the wind creating quite the breeze, she was forced to brush loose strands of her hair from her face to meet his gaze.
"You dropped this." He informed her, holding out a tatty piece of paper.
She didn't recognize it. "What is it?"
"Hell if I know..."
He held it out once again and she took it, slightly cautious. Black-chipped fingernails picked it apart to reveal a very familiar note: Don't cause any more trouble, Ash. Haha. We love you. She found herself swallowing lightly as she looked back at him; it was an old note from her friends back home.
"Well...thanks."
"Sure." Perhaps a little cautiously, Adam nodded. Before she could notice his mood change, his smirk returned. "See you around, Ashley Massaro."
He jogged away, leaving her eyes to widen. She shouted after him, "You know my last name too?!" but he didn't respond.
Shaking her head in disbelief, she slipped the note back into her pocket and took a seat on the vacant bench.
There was something about Adam that was different; she just didn't know what. Nor did she intend to find out.
"I'd have to say Champagne for my Real Friends, Pain for my Sham Friends. A classic title song."
"I'll agree, but only because it's Fall Out Boy and they're one of my faves." Ashley nodded in agreement as she walked in-between two guys, heading from her class to her dorm. "But I gotta add that Panic at the Disco has some pretty weird song titles too."
"Oh yeah, definitely."
The dirty-blonde girl grinned as she glanced in-between them. She hadn't expected to make friends so easily—being known to be the 'cold-hearted' one; mainly by Eve—and yet here she was with two people who had the same awesome music taste as her.
She actually knew them from her old school, but had never, for some unknown reason, made the effort to talk to them. She'd vaguely recognized them when she entered the classroom last week but, again, hadn't made an inclination of a greeting. It was them who came to her; for this, she was grateful.
Brian Kendrick and Paul London were the best of friends, often known as 'Londrick'—a combination of their last names—for being so close.
Not only did their tight friendship surprise her, but their kind personalities did so too. It was a rare moment when she found a guy who wasn't a jackass to her, and now she'd found two. She had a great feeling about this friendship, but didn't know why.
"So how about favourite bands?"
"The Used," answered Ashley in incredible timing as she turned to the blonde of the two. At his knowing grin, she shrugged nonchalantly. "Well you know...I'm a big fan."
"Sure." Paul chuckled from beside her. "I think we're going to have to steal your iPod one day and check out what you've got on there."
"Oh no, the iPod always stays with me I'm afraid," she smiled briefly at the two, "it'll never leave my sight."
"Protective?"
"You could say that...but okay, back to bands. I also love—and I mean love—Avenged Sevenfold, Puddle of Mudd, Rev Theory...and I guess you can't go wrong with a little Linkin Park." They nodded in appreciation, and she almost beamed with the response. "Although, of course, my best friend has awesome taste in music too. Different, but still awesome."
"Oh right," nodded the dark-haired one. "You hang out with Maria and Eve too, right? I've seen the four of you around school."
"Yeah, that's them—though actually, Eve isn't exactly a close friend of mine..." She trailed off, adding a moment later, "a friend through association really."
"Oh." Brian commented. "Well all that matters is that you have good ears. Your music taste amazes me."
"Well so does yours. You know, I think we should stick together."
Paul laughed. "Yeah, we should."
As they'd made it to the girls dorm, she bid goodbye to them and slipped inside the doors. She was thrilled with herself as she tracked down her door number, and it showed by the big grin on her face.
She'd never thought it possible to make friends so easily, but apparently she was wrong.
But everything returned to the norm when she entered her room, only to find her three friends running around in what looked like the middle of complete chaos. Her own bed was hardly recognizable with clothes and make-up boxes scattered across it; Mickie's was the symmetrical picture.
It was Eve who came to her attention first. The brunette looked frantic from her kneeled position on the floor, and she asked Maria, "Have you seen my mascara?"
Ashley, at a complete loss of what was going on, had to offer, "You probably left it in your room next to your How to be a Slut for Dummies book."
Now all three definitely noticed her standing at the door.
The Latina merely scowled in her direction. "When you see your therapist, do you tell her how bitter you are for no good reason?"
"Sure I do—oh and I also tell her that no matter how many times I tell someone how annoying she is, she never seems to get the point..."
"Funny that. I was just talking to Maria about you too."
Mickie made an over-the-top sigh to gather their attention. "Now girls, we're not going to get into an argument now. We're all going to get ready for dinner tonight, okay?"
But for being so strict, the petite brunette wasn't being taken seriously. Perhaps it was because of the yellow tank top dangling from one of her bunched ponytails...either way, all three were laughing now.
She looked simply heartbroken and whined, "What?"
"Nothing, Micks." The dirty-blonde shook her head and moved onto her next query. "But why are you making this much mess? We're only going out to dinner."
"Not anymore." Maria beamed as she jumped off the bed, a variety of tops jumbled in her hands. "We were going out to dinner, but now we're going out to dinner with the guys."
"The guys including?"
"Randy..."
"And Mike and Phil." Eve added when her best friend trailed off with a dreamy look on her face. "So you can understand her excitement."
"Well you look pretty happy too," laughed Mickie. "Your face lit up when you heard Mike was going."
"Well I just feel bad because he was ill and I didn't see him at the party," said the brunette a little defensively. "Besides you don't have reason to talk. You're practically obsessed with the tattoo guy."
"He has a name, you know."
"Ooh!" Eve and Maria chorused in high-pitched voices, teasing their friend.
Even Ashley couldn't help but to laugh as her best friend's face turned red. Ambling over the pile of clothing on the floor, she plopped herself down on what was left of her bed, simply watching as the three girls got changed.
"What are you just sitting around for?" Mickie asked with wide eyes as she bounced onto the bed enigmatically, nearly tumbling off with the effort. "Come on; we're leaving in half an hour."
"Oh, I'm not coming."
Maria pouted as she turned to her. Her red hair in the middle of being curled, she couldn't exactly bounce around too, but she did make her point. "But you have to! Is it because the guys are coming too? We could invite Adam too if you'd like."
"NO!" exclaimed the dirty-blonde and sat upright from her once relaxed position. "No, no, no, no..."
In the middle of her repetitive refusal, Eve managed to smirk and say, "I'd actually like to see those two at dinner."
"No way. Sorry, Maria; I'm just not in the mood to come along. Besides, I've got work to do."
"All you do is work."
"Because it has to be done," argued Ashley, crossing her arms over her chest. "Seriously girls, you go on without me. I'll be fine on my own."
After twisting her lips in thought, Mickie eventually relented. "Fine, but it won't be the same without you, Ash."
"I'm sure the night will still be great," smirked the Latina, who was now applying make-up with her compact mirror. She ignored the scowl she got and said, "So how was everyone's day?"
As Maria and Mickie chipped in with their little stories—the redhead's including Randy, of course, and Mickie's with funny anecdotes from Chris and Christian—Ashley sat back, closing her eyes as a sudden exhaustion swept over her.
She couldn't help but to ponder over her sudden tired state; it was odd, as she didn't think she'd had that much of a stressful day. Maybe it was just the adjustment it took in regards to starting at a new college.
Yes, she was sure that was the reason.
Fifteen minutes flew by rather quickly for her and before she knew it, the trio were heading to the door, apparently unable to wait any longer to get going. She felt a little guilt as two offered pouts, but she waved them off all the same.
Now alone, Ashley tiredly rose to her feet, trudging over to the laptop on her desk. Once logged on, she automatically clicked onto her emails...but stopped herself a moment later. Her finger hovered over the new emails button for some reason, hesitant to click and open up the page.
11 unread emails. Open?
The bold font seemed to taunt her, she realized, and she turned her laptop off at once. Swallowing lightly, she found her bed again and relaxed into it. Though tired, her eyes remained open as she stared blankly at her dresser.
11 unread emails...
They were probably from home...maybe a few from friends too. But she simply didn't want to know, didn't want to be reminded of past times. This was the new chapter of her life that was she in now, and that was that.
Before she could allow herself to even begin to think back to a couple of weeks ago, Ashley closed her eyes, willing herself to think about something else. And, eventually, she thought about someone else.
Adam Copeland's smirk crossed her mind.
With as much effort as she could muster, she flew up into a sitting position, eyes wide as if she'd just suffered a nightmare.
Oh please don't tell me I'm thinking about him. That's just...wrong.
After scolding herself for a good minute or so, Ashley flopped back down into her bed with a loud groan. Coursework, Adam, her friends, her new friends, the drama that was her life...she just didn't want to think about it right now.
It seemed sleep was everything to her, as it helped to take her mind off her troubles.
But she was far from peaceful when she finally drifted off into a light doze...
So there's the next chapter. Please review :)
Coming up next is Eve's chapter.