sᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ sᴘᴀʀᴋs.

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴ
'ᴛᴀxɪ'

ᴀsᴘᴇɴ ᴛʜʀᴇᴡ ᴏɴ ʜᴇʀ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ʙʟᴜᴇ ᴄᴀᴘ, ᴊᴏɢɢɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪғᴛ ᴀɴᴅ sʟɪᴅɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ᴘʜᴏɴᴇ ɪɴ ʜᴇʀ ᴘᴏᴄᴋᴇᴛ.

She tapped her foot, waiting for the elevator to arrive, tapping the button multiple times and adjusting the headphones around her neck so they were now sitting on her head.

As soon as the doors to the lift slid open, Aspen's jaw dropped, seeing the person she had least expected to be there. Jenna.

Shuffling, the brunette moved to the side, not even looking up from her phone, a black cap resting on her head.

She didn't even notice the familiar presence that appeared beside her, until the doors had fully shut.

The two made eye contact finally, both of them instantly turning away from eachother, the tension in the lift getting thicker by the second. 

Aspen and Jenna both grew hot, time ticking slower as the lift dropped a couple floors, before the darker-girl finally turned to face the other girl, "You look good."

She was wearing some baggy jeans and a hoodie, whereas Aspen was wearing some cargos and a t-shirt with a varsity jacket; they had pretty similar styles and were almost wearing the exact same colours.

"Thanks," She stated blankly, eyes scanning the lift numbers for a brief second, before dropping back to the girl beside her, scanning her similar outfit, "You too."

Awkwardness floated in the atmosphere, making Aspen inwardly cringe, trying to think of something to ease the tension.

"Uh, how are you getting there?" She eventually came up with, knowing they were both going to the same place.

"I ordered a cab. You?"

"Yeah, I was thinking about getting one too," Aspen instantly mentally facepalmed at how uncomfortably the conversation was going.

Thankfully, the doors opened just in time, making the two let out a quiet exhale each, stepping out of the small confined space.

"I'll see you there," Aspen quietly called after the girl that rushed out of the hotel. She sighed loudly, plopping down on one of the couches at reception.

Her hands found her phone, dialling in the number that she had searched up just a few minutes ago: In all honesty, she had no clue how she was going to get there: she had called many taxi companies a ton of times and there was no taxis available in the next hour.

So, here she was, on her last resort, the only cab company she hadn't called yet, mostly because she heard that they were either very unefficient or just really costly.

After few minutes of waiting, she was finally past the waiting bit, her eyes lighting up as she got directed to a representative. However, as quick as they had lit up, they dulled right back down again at the three familiar words that she had repeatedly heard that day.

"No taxis available."

She cursed quietly to herself, her fingers finding her temples to slowly rub them, before she decided to jog outside, supposedly trying to find a stray cab on the road.

The breezy wind hit Aspen's face, almost making her shiver in her spot. She groaned, desperately looking around for any free cabs and finding none, trying to think of what to say to the cast group chat. considering Noah and the other three were put at a club.

Just then, a cab pulled up right next to her, the person in the backseat rolling down the window.

"Get in," Jenna gestured to the seat beside her, which made Aspen sigh in relief, but the brunnette said no words, before rolling up the window again.

Aspen beamed a great smile, hopping beside her in the back seats, sparing Jenna a short glance. And if she hadn't done so, she most definitely would have missed the subtle smirk that tugged at the side of her lips.

The darker skinned girl cleared her throat, turning her attention away from the brunnette and now to the taxi driver who was on the road,

"Thank you," she said, almost in a whisper, unsure if the other girl had even heard her, due to the silence that came after it.

"Don't thank me yet," She joked nonchalantly, her eyes finding the girls face, "We're splitting the cost."

Aspen giggled quietly, fidgetting with the silver ring that was on her finger. She was starting to take a liking to the actress. "I guess that's fair."

The whole rest of the drive, pretty much just consisted of the two being on their phones and having small talk with the driver.

After what felt like forever, the two had finally arrived at the restaurant. It was a tall building, but looked pretty sectioned off from the rest of town, which was good for them.

The total came to fourty-five dollars and ninety-five cents, Jenna instantly taking out her credit card to pay half contactless, before the driver stopped her.

"We dont take card."

Aspen heard Jenna curse to herself, continuing to dig through her pockets to try find any money, but she had already found and counted her half of the money, before deciding to add Jenna's half too.

She took a deep inhale of the cold cab air, handing the driver the money and thanking him for driving. He thanked them both back, practically shooing them out of the car, because he must have been busy.

Jenna muttered a bunch of disagreements with her, but it all went over Aspen's head as she disregarded her worries with a, "Don't worry, it's fine."

The two shuffled out of the car, Jenna looking away from the taller girl, a smirk sneaking upon her lips, as they neared the restaurant doors.

Jenna was slightly behind the other girl, having to jog slightly to catch up, whilst she combed back her hair with one hand, "You didn't have to do that."

Aspen slowed in her tracks, turning to the older girl with a small smile. It was nice to know that Jenna cared even though she had hated the girl this time a couple of weeks ago.

"It was the least I could do," Aspen said softly, her eyes finding the brown ones.

She turned her attention from her to the restaurant door ahead, pulling it open. The ravennette held the door open, already seeing most of the cast sitting in a booth.

"After you, your majesty," She told the girl, referring to the first time the two had met. She softly ushered her into the restaurant, tipping down an imaginary hat, which evoked a small laugh from the young actress, as she entered.

"Thank you, darling."