Always a Friend

Chapter 3

"Why all of a sudden the interest in wanting to date?" Ashton asked, sipping on his cold brew. 

"The big dance is coming up soon, and I don't want to be sitting at home while all my friends are having a great time at the dance." I took a sip of my iced latte and looked around the busy coffee shop. "So, I've got to find the right date before the dance." I took another sip of my latte. 

"Ashton, what are you doing here with her?" 

"Olivia, I didn't know you liked coffee?" Ashton said, getting up from the booth. 

"Yeah, I'm here with my friends. Why are you here with Gemma?" Her upper lip curled up as she glared down at me with her judgy brown eyes. "You didn't answer my question, Ashton." She whipped her long blonde ponytail. 

"Gemma's my friend. Last I checked, we aren't married, and I can go out with friends. Am I wrong?" He frowned, glancing up at her. 

"I...I...I didn't mean anything by it." She stammered. 

"Olivia, you did too. We all know it. I think you should go back over there with your friends." He motioned toward the table where her friends sat, staring and whispering. They'd look over our way, then lean in towards one another, covering their mouths, which gave it away that they were talking about what was happening at our table. Olivia glanced over her shoulder, glaring at her friends, who had quickly looked away when they saw her start to look their way. 

"Fine." She turned to face us, pressing her lips together. "You'll never get another chance with me again." She whipped her head, flipped her ponytail, and walked back over to her friends. 

"It's a wonder she doesn't have whiplash," I whispered, lifting my latte to my mouth. 

Ashton quickly covered his mouth to muffle his chuckles while grabbing his coffee. He managed to take a drink without spewing it all over me. He set his cold brew down on the table; his eyes narrowed as the crease between his brow deepened. I looked over my cup at him and shrugged my shoulders all innocent-like. I took a couple more sips of my latte, trying not to look over toward Olivia and her snob-ass friends. 

"Sorry about you and Olivia." 

"It's okay. She had no right to talk to you that way. She's a bitch. Some of the guys tried to warn me about her. I thought they were joking, so I wouldn't date her." 

"She's coming back over here," I whispered, lifting my drink. 

"What the fuck does she want?" He rolled his eyes. 

"I've decided to give you another chance," Olivia said, trying to sit down next to Ashton. 

"What the fuck? You tried to cause shit with my friend, and now you want to give me another chance?" He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. He ran his hand through his hair, something he did whenever he was angry. "Olivia, Jude tried to warn me about you, and I didn't listen. Well, I'm listening now. Get your ass back over with your friends, and don't come over here again." 

"Jude! That asshole! What did he say about me?" She crossed her arms, shifting her weight to her left leg. She flipped her ponytail again. "Well..." 

The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Don't you ever get a headache from doing that all the time?" I tilted my head to the side. Ashton busted out laughing, spitting his coffee all over the table. Lucky for him, he missed me. Olivia's anger-filled eyes flashed over at him and the coffee droplets all over the table. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, turning her head to the right. Ashton and I were too busy grabbing napkins, laughing, and cleaning up the table to care about what she thought of us. 

"You two are so immature," Olivia said, walking away. 

"Thanks." Ashton laughed. "Let's get out of here." He scooted across the booth cushion. 

"Okay." I scooted out of the booth seat. Ashton stepped to the side, letting me walk in front of him. We got to the car and saw Olivia and her friends come around the corner of the building; they hadn't spotted us yet. Ashton told me to hurry up and get in the car while he jumped in the driver's seat. We sat there for a few seconds, thinking she wasn't headed our way for some stupid reason, until Ashton's eyes met hers in the side mirror. He threw the car in reverse, squealing the tires as we sped out of the parking lot. It wasn't until we were about halfway down the road that it dawned on me that we weren't headed home. We weren't heading toward the beach either because he turned right toward the mall. The traffic was getting more crowded the closer we got to the mall. I hoped Ashton knew what he was doing, going to the mall with me. We were bound to run into Olivia or some of her friends. I'm sure they had already heard what happened back at Sweet Escape. I had no idea what we were doing at the mall and was afraid to ask. Ashton drove down to the end of the mall, pulling into a parking spot close to the bookstore. I sighed in relief after he got out of the car. 

I couldn't hold it in any longer. "What are we doing here?" I asked, closing the car door and walking around to the back of the car where Ashton was waiting for me. I turned to the left, scanning the parking lot for Olivia and her friends. I knew they weren't around, but I couldn't resist the urge to keep looking for them. 

"Gemma, Olivia isn't here," Ashton said, motioning me to follow him toward the bookstore. "She's at the beach with her bitchy friends. She told me last night that's what she was doing today." He opened the glass door on the right for me, letting me walk in. 

"What are we doing here? You hate the bookstore." I walked over to a table of books and started browsing. 

"True, but you love this place, and after what happened at Sweet Escape, I wanted to make it up to you." 

"Thanks." 

"If you're serious about this finding a date for the dance, then you need to get a hold of Chloe or Ava and ask them to help you with makeup and clothes. That's one thing I can't help you with. You don't have to tell them the real reason; make something up. I've seen Sarah's makeup and what some of the guys have said about it. It's not good; I'll just leave it at that because she's your friend." He walked toward the back of the store where they kept the magazines and the games. I put the book down and started following him to the back of the store. 

Author's Notes:

I think Olivia might be a problem for Gemma in the future. What do you think? 

If you like the story, please consider giving it a vote. Thanks! Amber.