“Aren’t you going to come lay with me?” I asked, smirking at the white ceiling.
“Just put on the shirt,” he groaned and now handed me the shirt. I hadn’t caught it when he tossed it to me earlier.
“I don’t want to.” I was acting like a child. I flipped my body around and I was now on my stomach. I heard Aspen sigh behind me.
“You’re not going to be comfortable in your dress.”
“I don’t care,” I protested.
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this,” he grumbled and turned me around. Aspen sat me up and climbed on the bed. Despite me throwing beer in his face, he still smelled very good, almost like cinnamon.
Aspen slowly unzipped my dress. When he did, every single thing inside me froze. What was he doing? I felt the cool air hit my exposed back. He reached the end of the zipper and tugged at the bottom of dress. Instantly, I became embarrassed. He was about to see my bra—my ever so childish bra. It was white with little hearts on it. Way to go Target bras. Didn’t Target know that soon a boy would be pulling my dress off?
Despite my embarrassment, I lifted my butt and allowed for the bottom half of the dress to be pulled off my body. I wasn’t looking at Aspen, and I was thankful for that. My face was bright red. At least he wasn’t seeing the front side of my body. My boobs were practically hanging out of my bra because it was a couple sizes too small. And my stomach was a little bloated since it was that unfortunate time of the month. If he saw my front side, I would surely bend over and die.
Finally, the dress was off my body, and I sat on his bed in my underwear, while Aspen’s fingers trailed along my exposed back.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered in my ear. His lips met my neck and it felt as if I was going to melt into him. I wanted so much more of him, but I knew he wouldn’t let that happen, not after what happened at the party.
Before I knew it, he was pulling his dark blue t-shirt over my head and my arms reached through the sleeves. Aspen inched me up the bed and placed me under the covers. He was being so gentle with me, and I loved every minute of it.
“Good night,” he whispered to me and I felt the brush of his lips against my forehead.
“Where are you going?” I asked when he began walking toward the door.
“I’m going to sleep on the couch tonight.” He scratched his back and looked at the ground.
“Can you stay?” I whispered and pulled the comforter closer to my face.
“Do you mean that?” His eyes met mine.
I nodded and patted the spot next to me.
He crawled onto the bed. He was only wearing a red shirt and boxers. That should’ve made me even more nervous, but for some reason, I felt comfortable and safe with him. It felt right being next to him.
Aspen took my hand in his, and I placed it over my chest. I inched closer to him, my body curled up into a ball against his chest, and felt his groin against my waist .
“I’ve had a crush on you since second grade,” I whispered to him. It was the alcohol talking, but I didn’t care. I wanted Aspen to know that.
“Really? Why didn’t you ever say anything then?” he asked. His breath tickled against my neck.
“I was too scared. Besides, my sister had an even bigger crush on you, and you know that she always seems to get what she wants.”
Aspen’s entire body tensed up next to me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, curious at his strange reaction.
“I just wish you told me earlier that you liked me,” Aspen said and snuggled closer into my body.
“Me too,” I replied and slowly, my eyes drifted into darkness.
Chapter 9
My Head Hurts
I woke up with fifteen calls and sixty-seven texts from Caleb.
“Oh my God,” I breathed out and jumped out of my bed. Aspen’s arm fell off me.
Wait, Aspen’s arm? I looked around my surroundings. And no, not my bed.
That wasn’t my bed that I was just in and this wasn’t my room. It reminded me of Caleb’s, except this room was painted dark green instead of black.
I slowly turned around. Aspen was lying in the bed, his leg stretching for miles. It didn’t escape me that he was only wearing boxers. My pajamas only consisted of a large blue shirt, and my dress was sprawled on the floor.
What the hell had happened? Why was I in Aspen’s room? Most importantly, why was I in his bed without any pants on?
I dialed Caleb’s number immediately. Forget the fact that my head was pounding and I was just sleeping in the same bed as Aspen. Caleb obviously needed something.
“Where the hell are you Isabella?!” Caleb shouted from the other end of the phone. He was so loud I had to hold my phone an inch away from me.
I glanced at Aspen who was still sleeping. Caleb couldn’t know where I was. “Um, why?”
“’Why?’ Seriously, Ella. You told me that you were going to come over here last night, and then you never showed up. Do you know how worried I was? El, you were drunk and upset. Who knows what could’ve happened to you?” Caleb did sound worried, and he should’ve been. Hearing the explanation did allow for some freaking out. “So, where the hell are you?”
“I stayed the night at Quinn’s,” I lied. If he knew that I had stayed at Aspen’s house, he’ll only get even more furious.
“Now you’re going to lie to me, Ella? Don’t you think I’ve called her already? I’m going to ask you this one more time. Where are you?”
“Aspen’s,” I whispered. There was no point lying to him.
There was no answer. He had become quiet—too quiet. “Caleb?” I squeaked.
“I’m here. I’m coming to get you.” I heard a commotion from his side of the phone. He was obviously getting ready to fetch me.
“No, Caleb. You don’t have to do that. I’ll have Aspen drive me home right now.” If he came and got me, it just would only get ugly between Aspen and him. I didn’t think my hangover would be able to handle that kind of drama.
Caleb didn’t say anything for a while. “Fine.” He sighed. “But I’m meeting you at your house so I know you’re actually coming home.”
“Okay. That’s fair. I’ll be home in about twenty minutes,” I told him, but he had already hung up. I bet he was already on his way to our house.
“Leaving me already?” Aspen asked, his voice husky. I looked over to find him in a daze from just waking up, a smirk resting on his lips.
“Did we do anything last night?” I asked, pointing at the bed.
“You mean you don’t remember me rocking your world?” He winked at me suggestively and jumped up out of bed.
“Oh God.” I sighed and curled myself into a ball onto the bed. How could I have had sex with Aspen? I barely had my first kiss! And now I had sex but I couldn’t even remember it. What kind of person was I? It made me feel like Sam, and I hated myself for that.
Seeing my panicked look, Aspen laughed. “I’m joking, Branson.” He pulled on some dark jeans from his dresser. “You were drunk, so I let you sleep in my bed. When I went to leave, you asked me to stay.” He shrugged. “Don’t worry, we just cuddled.”
“How did I get into this?” I pointed at my lame excuse of a nightgown.
“Oh, well, that was interesting.” He smiled, clearly reminiscing the moment. “You refused to get out of your dress, so I had to pull you out of it.”
My face reddened instantly.
“You saw me naked?” I covered my breasts. What had he seen?
“No, I stood behind you while I pulled off your dress. I only saw you back.” He walked over to me and stared right into my eyes. “You were beautiful,” he whispered.
“Hardly.” I pushed past him and walked across his room to his door. “I need to go home.”
“That sounds familiar,” Aspen scoffed and walked back to his dresser.
I rolled my eyes. What was that supposed to mean?
“Here, wear my sweatpants,” he offered, handing me a pair of
grey sweats.
“I’m fine with my dress,” I mumbled and went over and scooped it up from the floor.
“Ella, don’t be ridiculous. Just wear them.” He pushed the sweatpants closer to me.
“Fine.” I slid on the sweatpants and crossed my arms. “Now can we go home?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” He winked at me and left the room while I followed him.
***
Caleb was sitting on my front step when Aspen’s car pulled into the driveway. He stood up as soon as the car hit the pavement. From where I was, I could already see steam coming out of his ears. He rushed over to my side of the car.
“I’m in so much trouble,” I whispered to myself before Caleb yanked open the door.
“God, I hate you so much,” he said, then he wrapped his arms around me. Not really what I was thinking would happen, but it was better than him yelling at me, so I hugged him back.
“Sorry about the miscommunication, dude.” Aspen waved at Caleb from the other side.
Caleb let go of me immediately and headed straight for Aspen.
“You’re sorry?” Caleb spat and pushed Aspen onto my front lawn. “You should’ve driven her to my house like she wanted you to, dude,” Caleb sneered and pushed Aspen once more.
“You texted him?” Aspen locked eyes with me.
“Aspen, I don’t remember anything from last night.”
“Well, that’s kind of good.” He smiled and ran his fingers through his hair.
Before his fingers could make it out of his hair though, Caleb punched him. Aspen hit the ground. Clearly, he was not expecting that, and frankly, neither did I.
“Caleb!” I shouted. I ran over to the boys, but Caleb had already jumped on top of Aspen.
“She didn’t want you, man!” Caleb yelled as he continued to punch Aspen’s face. Aspen tried to defend himself, crossing his arms over his face.
“Dude, get off me!” he yelled and kicked his legs frantically. It was the first time I had seen him so powerless.
“Caleb, stop!” I tried to pull Caleb off Aspen. His shoulder came back with me, but then his arm popped and his hand flew back, hitting me.
Wow, getting punched really did hurt like a bitch.
“Ella!” Caleb exclaimed and quickly jumped off of Aspen. “I’m so sorry! Come on, let’s get you inside.” He helped me up onto my feet and we walked into my house.
I looked over my shoulder and met Aspen’s. He smiled at me with a wave before I saw Sam run out of our house and into his arms.
Now that hurt even more than the punch.
***
“Ella, I’m so sorry,” Caleb said, sighing while I sat on my bed. He handed me a bag of ice, and I placed it over my eye.
“At least now I know what it feels like.” I laughed.
“I am such an asshat.” He chuckled, which made me laugh as well.
“Hey! That’s my line!”
“I know, that’s why I said it.” He knelt down in front of me. “I just want to see you smile.” He rubbed his fingers across my lips. “I’m really sorry.”
I shrugged. “You were worried. It’s understandable.” I looked out my window and saw Sam trying to look at Aspen’s cuts. “You may have ruined my thing with Aspen, but...” It was too hard to think about it. I had Aspen between my fingers, but unfortunately, he slipped right through them. If only I knew what happened last night.
Tears began to sting my eyes.
“El, maybe that’s a good thing. You were really upset last night.” He looked at me with his puppy dog eyes. “He told you that you were a game to him.”
What? Aspen had actually said that? He actually called me a game?
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. It was too cruel of a thing to be even believable.
“Why do you think doesn’t he want you to remember last night?”
“Maybe he declared his love for me and now is scared to say it!” I protested. He couldn’t have called me a game. He liked me, right?
“If he told you that he loved you, then why did you want to come over to my house?”
Caleb had a point. The room was spinning around me. My eyes began to burn even harder from the tears.
“Did he really say that?”
Caleb nodded.
“God, I’m such an idiot.” I cried and fell to my floor. “Why would anyone love me? I’m an ugly, stupid mess.”
Caleb wrapped his arms around me and sat next to me. “Don’t say that. I know for sure that somebody loves you.”
I sniffled. “Really?”
Caleb nodded and pulled me closer. “I promise.”
“Thanks, Caleb. You always know what to say to make me feel better.” My head rested on his shoulder.
“I know. I know,” he whispered into my messy hair.
“Hey guys. Look who I found!” Quinn suddenly announced when she barged into my room. I snapped up immediately to see what Quinn was talking about. Then I saw her. Quinn was holding Rebecca by the ear. “She was sitting outside your bedroom listening in,” Quinn reported and let go of Becca’s ear. Becca cried out when she did and held it. I cringed at Becca’s ear. Getting pulled like that hurt, especially if it was Quinn doing it.
“I was concerned about Ella!” Becca exclaimed and pointed at me. My face buried deeper into Caleb. I was such a mess.
“Why were you even here?” I asked her and wiped my eyes from the tears.
“I… um…” Becca looked toward my bathroom. “Slept over.”
“You had a sleepover with my sister!” I shouted and jumped up from the bed.
This was just the best day ever.
“She felt bad about what happened!” Becca cried. “She said I could just stay the night.” She looked at the ground sheepishly. “I’m sorry.”
“You know, I felt bad about being so mean yesterday,” Quinn pointed out. “But now you just proved yourself to be an even bigger bitch than I thought.” She smiled at Becca.
“Woah, I didn’t realize the fight was this bad,” Caleb said and stood up. “I think I’m just going to let you girls handle this.” He began creeping toward the door.
“Caleb, stay.” I sneered.
“Staying.” Caleb nodded and sat back down on my bed.
“I’m sorry, Ella. Can’t you just tell me what’s wrong? I’m worried about my best friend,” Becca said.
“No, Becca. I can’t tell you, because you’re just going to share this news with Samantha.”
“No!” Becca yelled. “I don’t tell her your secrets!”
“Oh yeah? Like you didn’t tell her about my date last night?”
“I didn’t!”
“I smell bullshit,” Quinn snorted.
Becca shot Quinn a look. “Fine, don’t believe me.” She walked back to the door. “But if you ever want to talk, my door’s still open.”
“It’s highly unlikely that we want to talk to a liar like you,” Quinn snapped.
“I deserve that.” Becca nodded and left my room.
“Jesus Christ, she’s such a little faker!” Quinn exclaimed.
Caleb snapped into focus and jumped behind my bed to hide. “Is he here?” Caleb asked and his eyes frantically searched the room.
“Who?” Quinn asked.
“Jesus Christ. I haven’t been the best of boys lately.” Caleb smirked. “He would whip my ass if he saw me.”
“You’re obnoxious.” I laughed and threw a pillow at him. Caleb caught the pillow and fell to the floor, laughing.
At least I still had him.
Chapter 10
We’re Not Dating
I stared down the hallway looking at Aspen. I noticed the multiple tiny bruises that littered on his face. Clearly, Caleb didn’t go too easy on him. My eye had a purple decoration around it as well because of the fight, but thankfully I was able to cover up most of it with makeup. Aspen didn’t have the fortune of doing that.
Aspen was surrounded by his soccer friends. They had a big game today aga
inst their rivals. The whole school was rooting for Aspen to win. Even I was. It was an important game, and I knew that they needed all the support.
Aspen caught me staring and smiled, but I hid my face. We hadn’t talked since the weekend. I should’ve reached out to him and seen if he was okay, but I wasn’t okay, so why should I call him? He could’ve sent me a text or two, though. I shuffled down the hallway, but unfortunately, I had to walk by Aspen; he was standing next to my classroom.
“Branson!” Aspen called as I walked past him. It was really hard not to stop. But I headed straight into my classroom, sitting in my usual seat in the back. “Ella, can we talk?” Crap. Aspen had followed me into the room.
“Don’t you have a class now?” I asked him while I pulled my notebook from my soccer bag.
“I’m in your class, remember?” Aspen looked at me as if I was crazy and squatted into the seat next to me. “I’ve sat right here since school started.”
“That’s unfortunate,” I mumbled.
“You didn’t think that in the beginning of the school year.” Aspen winked at me.
“You’re repulsive,” I spat.
“You love it.” Aspen kept joking, but didn’t he realize that it wasn’t a joke to me?
“Do you still find this fun?” I asked him. Now I was definitely not being easy to get, and that was exactly what Aspen wanted. It infuriated me to think that I was just a game to him.
Suddenly, Aspen looked guilty, his eyes wide. The color in his cheeks was now gone and his hands formed into tight fists. “Shit, you remember that?”
“Caleb told me.”
“Of course he did,” Aspen sighed and fell back into his chair.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped at him.
“He likes you, Ella. Of course, he’s going to do anything in his power to separate us,” Aspen explained, but I refused to listen. Caleb didn’t like me. We were best friends. He was only looking out for me. Besides, he liked Rebecca. How he could still like her after she lied to all of us was beyond me, but I knew he liked her.
Try and Catch Me: A Young Adult Fiction Page 6