𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 ⁽ᴬˢʰˡʸⁿ ᴮᵃⁿⁿᵉʳ ˣ ᶠᵉᵐ ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ⁾

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑

First person POV

"Hi!!", Aiden and I said, both simultaneously and enthusiastically. ( after recharging the good old social batteries I was actually ready to talk to people ) Her dad kindly answered the door, and all we saw of Aslyn was a blur of her hair as she ran to a room in the back of the house. Luckily, her parents were incredibly hospitable and let Ben, Aiden, my aunt, uncle, and I into the house. We were invited to sit and chat, but Ashlyn didn't 't come out of wherever she was hiding for almost 20 minutes. Finally, she walked out, and I immediately felt my face growing warm. Aiden shot a glance at her, then at me, then her, then me. Poor Ash already looked like she was about to punch us all after 30 seconds. I was about to finally greet her when my uncle said something.

"Sorry for coming on such short notice, but Aiden said Ben, [Name], your daughter, and himself had become fast friends, and so we wanted to introduce ourse-" He was cut off by a sudden outburst of Mrs. and Mrs. . Banner choking on their drinks. "Don't mind cough- us, g- hack- go on" ashlyns dad said, barely getting it out.

"Anyways..'' my uncle continued, slightly startled, "I was just saying that we're happy to see Aiden, [Name], Benny fitting in. We move around a lot so Aiden's always been homeschool, and even for [ Name] and Ben, it's been a while since they've attended public school." I was sort of staring at Ashlyn while the adults were chatting, so I heard bits and pieces after a while. After a few, the words 'field trip ' caught my attention. As soon as Aiden continued with his sentence, it was clear that Ashlyn wanted to punch him. "I thought it would be fun for Ashlyn to come along!" Of course, I nodded along with him enthusiastically. that I could possibly be sharing a hotel room with Ashlyn made me ecstatic!

"..What 'field trip'?" ashlyns mother asked. "Oh, you didn't know?" I said, shooting a quick look at Ashlyn, then at her parents, who had puzzled looks on their faces. "We were assigned a group history project about Savannah." I said, trying now to sound overly excited. "Oh right, Ash was talking about that earlier." I smiled. So Ashlyn talked about it, that's a good sign! We talked over details of the field trip among other things.

After dinner and everything we started to head out. Thank god, honestly. Look I love my cousin and all, but I can only match his energy for so long. Before we left I took the pink field trip slip from my pocket. "Here, in case ya change your mind." I said smiling, handing her the paper. "It was nice seeing you Mr. and Mrs. Banner." I waved goodbye, closing the door. As soon as I got in the car, I let out a loud sigh. "What's wrong with you, Lover Girl?" Aiden asked teasingly, poking my side. My eyebrows raised slightly," Lover Girl?" I raised my eyebrows at the title 'lover girl'. Look I might have a gay panic around pretty girls, and want to get to know said pretty girls but I'd hardly call it love. "Yeah!" Aiden responded enthusiastically, "You're practically simping for her out right. I mean your staring isn't that discrete." Ben nodded in agreement with Aiden's words. "Oh C'mon, I may simp over pretty women but love? Cringe." I rolled my eyes. Aiden raised an eyebrow,"I- don't you bitch about being single?" I rolled my eyes in response "Don't you do the same?" Ben sighed and pushed his head against the window. I knew he knew this little spat would continue for a while.

"Admit it, you're just scared of rejection." Aiden was sitting at a desk in the corner of my room, and I flopped on the bed. "And? What about it, hoe?" I bitched, while reaching over to my nightstand. On it was the nasty, crustiest, dustiest, mustiest, most likely having fungus, can of monster energy. "[Name] how long has that been there?" Aiden looked concerned but secretly we both knew he totally wanted a sip. "Since we moved here." I raised the can, shaking it slightly so you could hear the liquid slosh around. "Wanna sip?" I smiled mischievously. "I'll raise you one, we get shot glasses from downstairs and put that battery acid plus some other nauseating shit in it." He mirrored my smile,"Whoever gets sick, owes the winner 50 bucks." My eyes lit up. Money <3. "You know I'm always down for a good bet, cousin. You're on."

... I got sick :D ...

Like... I didn't mean it. But, the psychopath added fucking ancheovie juice to the shot glass. And that shit, is nasty as fuck. So the whole week I was out for the count Aiden was annoying Ashlyn every second of the day for the field trip. Poor thing, I thought empathetically. The field trip was tomorrow and luckily enough the Satan's Spawn Shot was all out of my system. I looked down at my desk cluttered with work. Journal's for personal and professional reasons cluttered the table. A sketchbook with poorly doodled middle fingers and your mom jokes. College course papers scattered across the desk ( I might act dumb, but I'm smart enough to know you can take college courses early) , and in the corner were a dozen applications. I turned on the lamp put on a good playlist, had water and mountain dew, and got to work. Afterall, there's plenty of time to work, and on the bus ride plenty of time to sleep right?

"[Name] why do you have such bigass eyebags?" My eye twitches as I looked over at my cousin. "Shut the fuck up." I griped, my voice still raspy and all blegh. Aiden made an OooOOooO noise. "Someone's tired~" Aiden teased, and I just raised my middle finger. I sat in a free seat, or what I thought was a free seat until I saw Ashlyn leaning against the window. I muster up my best smile for her,"Mind if I sit here?" Its my best 'I'm a totally normal person who definitely isn't a failure' voice. She only nods, and I plop myself down next to her. "Thanks Red!" I smiled and pulled out my phone and headphones. She looked up questioningly. I gestured to her hair with a grin,"Contradictory isn't it? Since your hair is red and warm, but your personality is... well- cold" I smiled as bright as I could. I put headphones in so I could be alert for at least the first hour.

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Now Playing

I wanna be yours - Arctic Monkeys

(Playlist: POV- your very, very single)

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Ashlyn POV

This is so uncomfortable. I thought irritably. I'm not used to someone sitting beside me. I could also hear her music from her headphones. She looked up from her phone and grinned at me again. "Aren't you going to ask me how I've been?" She was clearly joking- right? I mean I did notice she was gone from class for most of the week, but, you know, that's not my business. So, I did what any fed up introvert would do and stared at her blankly. And, just for a moment, her smile fell. It's then I noticed how tired she looked. Eye bags clearly visible, and her eyes slightly dull. And I also noticed tiny scars decorating the side of her jaw neck. Not anything too noticeable, but just enough. I was reminded of my Dad, and how he told me to 'make friends' "How have you been?" I sighed. Why me?

1st Person POV

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Ben:

[Name] go to sleep, it's been an hour. 

I will let Aiden annoy you to sleep.

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I looked up at Ashlyn in surprise. "It's been an hour?" I asked before yawning. She looked at her phone and nodded. "I'm so sorry I've probably been talking your ear off." Ash shook her head, "You're better than that guy." She gestured to Aiden who was sitting behind us. I chuckled a bit,"You could not be more right." I looked back at the two and saw Ben frowning at me. I let out a sigh and put my head down. Just like that the combined exhaustion from the lack of sleep, sickness, and stress crashed down on me. And within minutes, I passed tf out.