A Certain Romance || Ashton Irwin

Self-doubts and Courage

"I'm so disgusted." Was the first thing Michael said when he walked into my house after the football game. These greetings were my favorite, coming in at second place compared to the showing up unannounced and/or showing up with the juiciest gossip. "I am outraged." He walked straight to the kitchen and stopped in front of the fridge, pushing the sleeves of his leather jacket up. "I almost wanted to play defense for the opposing team just so I could sack Ashton's stupid ass."

Michael was the most bothered by the Ashton and Veronica deal. Which only further proved that his longtime obsession with operation "Dethrone Calum" was starting to get unhealthy and a tad maniacal. He had a pregame meltdown when it hit him that I was no longer a hopeful candidate of winning over Ashton and having him spill Calum's secrets to me. He had more of a meltdown than I was letting myself have. After the party last week I finally felt like Ashton and I had gotten through to each other, but maybe I was just on a completely different page as him.

Was it normal to meet someone then be in a relationship with them less than a week later?

How did these things work nowadays?

I watched him intently as he picked through the contents of my fridge, hoping he wouldn't be disappointed with his lack of good findings because I did the worst job grocery shopping. I would bring great shame to Liz and Sammy's mom. While watching him decide if the fridge was even worth his time, I kept pulling at the hem of the dress I wore. The upside to my mom "disappearing" was that I could go through her closet and pick out whatever I wanted to wear. She wasn't the kind of mom that would lend her daughter her clothes, she was more of type that banned her daughter from even touching the doorknob to her closet. The last time I stepped foot in her closet would have to be ten years ago. I was about seven or eight and completely mesmerized by everything she had in there. I didn't realize how badly her sense of style had changed since then. There were one too many things with floral print and tons of pastel colors that drove me insane. With enough searching in the far back of her closet I found something with the tag still on it. It didn't scream "Jesus freak, mother of two," it screamed "dirty little secret."

The dress was appropriate for what Arrie and Michael and Lydia wanted me to accomplish tonight. Mission: Make Ashton Jealous. Sammy was completely out of this plan, thinking it wasn't a good idea because if Ashton really liked me and really wanted to be with me the way he said he did, then he would be with me. I was wasting my energy, trying to hit him with revenge. A part of me new she was right, but another part of me was ready to make him pay.

The black velvet body con dress was held up by two thin straps and had a slit coming up the right leg as it rested just below my knees. I was feeling self-conscious, but Lydia said if I opted for no bra and no underwear underneath my dress tonight, confidence would hit me as soon as I stepped foot into Tom Brooks house party.

I fought and pleaded to go to Tom's party tonight instead of going clubbing with fake IDs because I felt that that wouldn't end so well. Plus, I never had anything against Tom. Just the fact that he was a little stupid. Though he was sweet and sometimes his intentions were confusing, he still meant no harm to anyone. And I'd rather go to Tom's than Calum's any day.

"Veronica!" Michael slammed the fridge shut after pulling out leftover pizza and a bottle of water. "Of all the girls he decides to pick! Veronica!" Not bothering to heat up the pizza, he began to stuff his face. That was the usual for him. "He has a damn goddess living right next door to him! How could he pick Walmart over Prada?!"

"I'm more like Target...but thanks Michael." I smiled nervously, fidgeting with the hem of the dress again. I felt slightly weird that Michael hadn't bothered to look at me. The fridge was more important than how fantastic I looked. "Um, Luke wasn't coming?"