Chapter 30: Chapter 28

This is not an update!

Hehehe, just kidding :P

^ That was probably a fail. xD

My eyes fluttered opened lightly to a golden hue of sunlight peering in through my windows. Instantly, my eyes squinted and I rapidly blinked to adjust to my bright surroundings. I could feel the warmth of someone’s arm wrapped around me comfortably. I looked up to see a peaceful Ethan sleeping with his mouth slightly open, making him look cuter than usual.

Suddenly, the realization dawned on me and my eyes widened a fraction. What was he still doing here?!

I jerked upright but that didn’t seem to bother Ethan in any way. We were comfortably entangled together on my bay window. I tried to wriggle myself out of his embrace but failed miserably. Frustrated, I sighed and looked up at him. He looked adorable with his hair sticking out in different directions messily. The sunlight was causing his eyelashes to cast light shadows under his eyes.

“Ethan,” I whispered with urgency.

“Ethan,” I repeated when he didn’t budge.

I poked him and continued till he finally moaned and opened his eyes. Hearing him moan cutely like a little kid on a Saturday morning was music to my ears. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and yawned.

“You have to leave before my mom wakes up,” I said.

“Good morning to you too,” he replied, giving me a lazy grin.

“Ethan, I’m serious. If my mom sees your car in the driveway, she's going to drown me with her questions. Especially after...yesterday," I said, pointing at his car parked right in front of the house.

“Relax,” he mumbled.

“Ethan, you have to go,” I insisted, getting off the window clumsily and grabbed his hand, nudging him.

Instead, he pulled me towards him and gently pressed his lips on mine. I mentally rolled my eyes for kissing him back. My aim was to get him out of my house. Not kiss him.

Pulling away, he rested his head on my forehead.

“Morning, beautiful,” he breathed on my lower lip.

I smiled as my eyes slowly shut. “Morning.”

“Now, leave,” I instructed when my mind flicked back to my mom and her snoring in her room.

He chuckled lightly as he finally got up. Walking over to my door, I opened it and stuck my head into the hallway to make sure that my mom wasn’t there. Observing that the house was silent, I turned back to Ethan, who was standing right behind me with his lower lip jutted out cutely. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed his toned arm and pulled him behind me down the stairs.

“Ash?” he whispered, his voice leaving a soft echo in the quiet house.

“Shh!” I turned to face him and almost fell because he was too close to me. He grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me towards him, saving me from my embarrassing fall.

I exhaled. “Thanks.”

“Like I always say, I’m here to protect you,” he whispered, staring deeply into my eyes.

I felt my cheeks turn scarlet. He grinned, shaking his head.

“It’s so easy to make you blush,” he said, chuckling silently.

Narrowing my eyes, I turned away from him. “No, it’s not,” I mumbled.

“Let’s just hope that your cute blush only exists because of me,” he whispered in my ear.

“Are you always this romantic in the mornings?” I questioned, raising a quizzical eyebrow and opening the door.

“Only if my mornings start with you next to me,” he said, pulling me closer to him by my waist.

I rolled my eyes again. “I feel like I’m gulping down a big cheese pizza in one go.”

He laughed as I rested my head on his chest.

“You really have to leave now,” I murmured in his chest, his strong cologne wrapping me in it.

He sighed. “I know.”

He kissed the top of my head and after persuading him a bit more, he finally walked away. I leaned against my doorframe till his car was out of sight.

“Ashley?” I heard an uneven voice croak. My neck snapped to the voice immediately.

Mom stood on top of the stairs with her long hair entangled. My eyes widened in fear that she might have seen Ethan.

“Why are you up so early?” she asked, covering her mouth with her hand to mute her yawn. “And why are you standing at the door?”

Great, I thought to myself sarcastically. Now, I have to make up another lie. Thanks a lot, Ethan.

“Um, I forgot to close the curtains in my room last night so the sunlight woke me up,” I finished lamely but with a proud smile.

“So, why are you at the door?” she inquired, finally descending the stairs and raking her hand through her auburn hair.

“I thought it had snowed,” I lied easily since I had already thought of this while mom was interrogating me.

She frowned and opened her mouth to ask me more questions but her yawn beat her to it instead. Taking this as a good escape opportunity, I said, “I’ll go freshen up.”

She nodded while I started climbing up the stairs and entered my room, shutting the door. I sighed and rested my body on the closed door as my eyes shut and a yawn finally escaped my mouth. When I relaxed and took in a deep breath, I noticed that my entire room smelled of Ethan’s cologne. My eyes widened. I quickly rushed towards my dresser and sprayed lots of my perfume in my room randomly.

One of these days, Ethan was going to get me into deep trouble.

*

Abby’s POV

I rolled onto to my back again and stared at the beautiful sky which looked like it was painted by a very creative artist who managed to blend the colors accurately. I sighed dreamily for the umpteenth time.

“Where do you manage to find such beautiful places?” I asked Michael as I continued to admire the sky which was changing it’s colors right before my eyes but I just didn’t realize it. Every time I looked away and then looked back, there was a different yet breathtaking scenery displayed in front of me.

He plopped himself on his elbow as he stared down at me. The mat crinkled under his elbow and he rested his head on the heel of his hand easily.

“I don’t know really,” he replied, brushing off hair from my face. “I just try to look for places which are at least half as beautiful as you.”

I felt myself blush deeply. Michael solemnly gave me such compliments which made the times he actually gave me compliments extremely special.

“Thank you,” I mumbled shyly.

He smiled and fell back on his back next to me and pulled me towards him. I rested my head on his shoulder and let my eyes close.

“Are you hungry yet?” he questioned.

I shook my head, making my fringe fall back on my eyes. “Not really.”

“I bought strawberries,” he whispered in my ear.

Instantly, my eyes opened and I shot up straight, smiling. He laughed at my sudden response and reached for his bag. He removed a transparent box with lovely little red strawberries in them. I greedily grabbed the box from his hand and opened it. I took a big, dark red looking strawberry out and took a bite. I let the taste savor in my mouth for a while and then I finally decided to offer some to Michael. He chuckled and took one from the box.

“I don’t understand your obsession with strawberries,” he said, taking a bite from the strawberry. His face twitched. I laughed when I realized it was a sour one.

“I’ve always loved them since I was young,” I replied, shrugging.

“Why?” he inquired.

I shrugged. “No clue.”

His phone beeped and he wriggled it out of his pocket. He unlocked it as I got busy deciding which strawberry to eat next.

“Ethan wants to me to go to some party tonight and keep an eye on Ash since he’s busy,” he said after reading the text.

I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. “What does he mean by keep an eye on Ash?”

“Apparently, Ash is hanging out with some guy tonight and Ethan doesn’t like him,” he replied, shrugging.

I let my jaw drop. “Michael Lawrence Brooks! You will not go and spy on your friend’s girlfriend for him!”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Calm down. I didn’t say I was going to go.”

“But you were thinking about it!” I shot back, frowning.

“But-”

“Besides, Ethan should trust Ash! Why is he asking you to ‘keep an eye’ on her?!” I exclaimed.

“I don’t-”

“Ethan needs to get a piece of my mind,” I declared. “Give me your phone; I want to talk to him now.”

“Abby,” he said calmly. “I’ll talk to him, okay?”

I debated with myself for a minute before agreeing.

*

Ashley’s POV

I decided to put on simple black high waist shorts and a crop top. Pulling up my hair in a messy bun, I applied some mascara and left my room, grabbing my sling bag on the way.

“Mom, I’m leaving now! I might be late so don’t wait for me, go to bed!” I exclaimed, heading towards the door.

“Don’t be too late, though!” she said from the kitchen.

“Alright!” I said, exiting the door and rushing into the cab that I had called for.

Austin had given me some weird address that I didn’t know so I just handed it to the driver just to confirm it once more.

I plugged in my earphones and shut the world out, letting my thoughts form a cloud around me. Ethan hadn’t called me after he left and neither did I. Maybe he was busy; I didn’t want to disturb him. I let my thoughts wander a bit more. Why doesn’t Ethan like Austin? I had the urge to tell him that he shouldn’t judge people this quickly last night but I didn’t; I didn’t want to trigger an argument. If I started judging people this fast, my first reaction to Ethan would’ve been ‘a cocky guy with lots of self-esteem- a typical high school boy.’

But I didn’t. I don’t do that. I never will, either. I’ve known Austin for quite a while. Obviously, I know him more than Ethan does. Only if Ethan would give him a chance and let his jealousy subside.

The cab slowed down near a cozy, lighted place. I paid the driver and got out. It was a pizza parlor. It was decorated very well with little pizza souvenirs and innovative ideas all over the place. I stood there admiring the place.

“There you are!”

I jumped at the voice and my heart rate instantly shot up, making my breathing quicken. Austin was standing in front of me with a grin on his face. I hit his shoulder hard.

“You almost gave me a mini heart attack there!” I exclaimed.

He laughed. “Good to know.”

“Shut up,” I replied.

“Took you long to get here,” he said as we entered the cozy little hut-like place.

“Well, it isn’t my fault that you had to find a pizza parlor in the middle of nowhere,” I retorted.

“Who cares where it’s located? It’s a very famous place. The pizzas here are amazing,” he said, sitting down on his chair.

“Let’s hope for that because I am starving,” I said, grabbing a menu off the table.

He shot me a grin before he started to scan over his menu as well.

“So, how’s your boyfriend?” he questioned, still reading his menu.

“He’s great,” I replied with a brief smile. “What about you? Girlfriend?”

“We broke up a few months ago,” he said.

“Oh,” I said and gave him a sympathetic smile. “You’ll find someone who’s meant to be for you.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “Not that speech again; got it a bazillion times.”

“You got it a bazillion times because it’s worth listening to it that many times and because it states nothing but the truth,” I said, annoyed due to the fact that he was laughing over his break up.

“I guess,” he said, shrugging. “It’s fine now, I’m over her.”

I didn’t say anything. But instead, thoughts flooded me. Will Ethan and I ever break up?

Of course.

No relationship can last forever. Even if we manage to be together for long, how long will it be before we can’t stand each other? Will it just end up being another high school relationship?

I shut my eyes in frustration. Why was my mind wandering to place I didn’t want it to?

*

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”  Austin asked me again. “I could drop you home if you want me to.”

“No, it’s fine,” I replied with a smile. “We’re probably not going to be seeing each other for long after this, so let’s try to spend as much time together as we can.”

He grinned at me.

“The timing was really bad. Did they really have to arrange such a pumped up party as a farewell?” he whined.

I glared at him. “It’s a farewell party! It’s sweet of them to do so!”

“There are outsiders here so I haven’t even seen in the campus,” he replied, sighing.

“The more the merrier!” I exclaimed with fake excitement.

“Right,” he said sarcastically.

“Why are you so grumpy?” I asked.

“Because I had something planned for us,” he said, letting his shoulders drop.

“Well, now the plan’s changed,” I said, pulling him along with me.

Random people came up to Austin and gave him the weird boy-ish hugs. The boys asked him…different questions which I was positive had another meaning behind them and I wanted to know what the questions meant because they were clearly directed towards me.

“You want to dance?” Austin asked after he finished talking to a classmate.

“Yeah, sure,” I replied and we headed to the dance floor.

It wasn’t very big and the volume of the music was tolerable. We could hear each other’s voices while talking at least. Whoever the DJ was, he was incredible. He played every song I have been or am addicted to. In almost ten minutes, the energy was sucked out of me thanks to the music. I took in deep breaths to kick the adrenaline out of me.

“Do you want a drink?” Austin asked when the tempo of the song slowed down.

I nodded eagerly. “Yes!”

“Just go to the place where we were before, I’ll get us a drink,” he said, smiling.

I nodded and slowly made my way out of the maze of people. I removed my ballet flats and held them in my hand. They were killing me for some unknown reason. After a moment or so, I saw Austin make his towards me while holding the glasses up above everyone’s heads.

He reached me and handed me a glass of Coke. I finished the entire glass in three huge gulps.

“Woah there, you seem very thirsty,” he remarked.

“Yeah,” I replied, nodding.

My stomach felt uncomfortable and heavy. This is what happens when you take in this much liquid altogether.

Austin grabbed my hand and said, “Follow me.”

Confused, I lifted the weight off my right leg and started to follow him but instantly felt uneasy. I felt dizzy and there were black spots dancing in front of my eyes.

“Austin, wait,” I said between heavy breaths.

He looked back at me but continued pulling me with him.

And that was the last thing I remembered that night.

A/N- Hello! Firstly, I want to thank all of you for being so patient! And a big thank you to all of you wished me luck on my exams!

You guys probably hate me for the cliffhanger-ish thing. :3

Michael and Abby lovers got a bit of them! Speaking of which, do you like strawberries?

Anyway, I really have to go to bed now! Good night <3

Please leave comments and votes! They are very appreciated

Oh! And also, I made a trailer for this book! :D Just go to the previous update, it's all there :D

Bye! <3