This Love ✔️

13: This Invitation

This Invitation

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I scramble through my blankets and colored pencils to try to find my phone.

Finally on the last ring I find it under my sketchbook.

"Hello?" I ask into the phone.

"Hey, it's me." Bash's voice replies.

"Oh hey!" I respond surprised. I didn't have time to check the caller I.D. when I picked it up. I remember the last time we spoke on the phone and we spent three hours talking about each other and ourselves. It didn't seem something that Bash did a lot so I wonder why he's calling again.

"What's up?"

"I- uh... are you busy?" He stutters over the phone.

I'm about to say kind of because I don't have the time to speak to him on the phone for another three hours again but stop when I hear a crash in the background. It sounds like glass shattering and is followed by a man yelling.

"Nope." I pop the 'p' to make it sound calm and not like I know exactly what he's up to.

"Wanna hang out?" He is trying to sound calm but I can hear the eagerness in his tone.

"Sure!" I say trying to sound like I love his idea. "Why don't you come over? My parents are asleep so they won't even know you're here."

God I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea about this.

"Okay that's cool. Text me your address."

Then he hangs up.

Does he not know manners?

Either way I quickly text him my address. I assume he wants to get away from his house as soon as he can.

'I'll be there in ten.'

Confused at his reply I go into my bathroom to wash my teeth. After dinner I had ice cream with almonds and caramel sauce, not a good mix for a clean mouth.

I've been to Bash's house and I know he lives at least ten minutes away. How could he get here so fast?

Hopefully he's not speeding.

Maybe he didn't actually mean it. People usually don't usually mean it.

I'm half way through clearing off my bed when my phone starts ringing again.

"Hey."

"I'm here." Bash answers. Again he hangs up.

"Rude." I mutter to myself.

Quietly I creep down the stairs to the front door. Thankfully my parents are at the very end of the hallway, far away from the stairs.

I peep out the window next to the door but don't see any car. Confused I open the front door to see if he's anywhere nearby. He said he was here.

"Hey."

Startled I jump back and almost scream. With a racing heart I turn to the dark figure in the corner hiding in the shadows.

"You scared me." I say breathlessly. "Why are you hiding in the shadows anyways? It's creepy and I don't like it."

"Maybe you shouldn't be so vulnerable all the time." Bash counters back.

"Whatever." I roll my eyes. "Come in side, it's freezing out here. And be quiet, my parents are sleeping upstairs." I walk past him into the warm house.

"Please, I've had to sneak past girls' parents all the time in the dead of night." Bash speaks behind me in a proud tone of voice.

"Don't be proud of that Bash." I tell him simply.

Quietly we walk up the stairs together. Whenever a staircase creaks beneath our feet I can't help but want to laugh. In which Bash would tell me to practice more.

I roll my eyes at that.

"And here we are. No over protective father barreling down the hallway." I sweep my arms around my room when we arrive.

"The nights still young." Bash chuckles behind me. I hear him close the door behind him.

When I turn around to face him I gasp. His right eye is completely swollen and purple.

Bash notices me staring and looks away. "Save yourself the trouble and don't ask." He snarled between his clenched jaw.

I didn't have to ask. I'm sure even if I did ask he would lie and tell me he got into another fight on the street.

I knew his father was the one who did this.

"I didn't see your car out front. Didn't you drive?" I ask changing the subject as he hoped.

The angry look leaves his face. "I parked down the street. I didn't want your parents see my car out front."

"Ah." I fall back onto my bed. "You have had a lot of practice haven't you?"

A proud smile covers his face. "Yes I have."

"I told you not to be proud about being with a lot of different women. They find that off putting."

He makes a move to sit down on my bed. Before he can fully sit down I push him back up to his feet. I point to the comfy black chair near the bed.

With an irritated sigh he walks around the bed to sit in the chair.

"I never said I did it with multiple different girls. You just assumed." He leans back in the chair and puts his feet up on my bed.

"Take off your shoes if you're going to do that." I push his feet down to the floor. "Did you have a girlfriend?"

He leans down to untie his black boots. Everything is black with him except his gray shirt.

"Yeah."

"How many?" I ask curious.

Bash is obviously hot so it's no surprise girls want him but after the other night when he told me he didn't believe in love I thought he wasn't into relationships.

"Just one." He throws his boots unceremoniously on the floor.

"Well that beats me by one." I say trying to cheer him up because I noticed his harsh throw and clenched jaw.

"You've never had a girlfriend?" He asks sarcastically.

"Oh shut up." I laugh throwing a pillow at him. He catches it and puts it behind him head to lean on.

Now I feel bad for not letting him lay in my bed. He looks really tired... but I'm tired to and I don't trust him to sleep in the same bed as me.

"But on a serious note, have you ever had a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Never?" He asks shocked.

I've only had my eyes set on one guy for the past six years. Sure I had a few boys here and there who would try to approach me but I never liked any of them back. I felt that if I dated them without actually liking them I would be really rude. I was never going to do that.

The thought of Lucas brings me back to earlier tonight. Just the idea of seeing him again outside of school made my stomach flip. The good kind of flip.

Maybe we finally have a chance now. Maybe I will get my first real boyfriend soon.

"What are you smiling about?" He asks grumpily.

"None of your business." I shoot back.

"Come on, you're about to explode. You want to tell someone, just tell me."

Could I tell him? He's a guy, he would know what to do if I ask for advice right? I mean I'm letting him stay here, for the night if he wants to so the least he could do is be nice about it. Besides he's right. I feel like I'm about to explode if I don't tell someone and Mary Jane and Ella are most likely already asleep.

With a deep breath I tell him. "Okay fine, so I've loved this guy since I was in seventh grade and he just started talking to me and he wants me to tutor him so I am! Every Sunday!" By the time I'm done speaking I've somehow gotten on my knees squealing.

Bash blandly stares at me for a couple silent seconds before falling out of the chair laughing.