As we walked to the door together, Aspen turned to Caleb. “I enjoyed our talk.” he said sternly, giving Caleb a nod.
Caleb pursed his lips and raised a hand. “Same here,” he said and then he shoved his hand back into his pocket.
“What did you guys talk about?” I looked at the two of them.
“Nothing,” they both said at the same time.
“Shall we?” Aspen asked, extending his hand towards the door.
“Boys,” I said, shaking my head. “You guys are just too complicated.” With that, I strode out of Caleb’s house with Aspen.
Chapter 19
Lots of Kisses
It wasn’t every day that I got to feel like a princess. Sometimes Dad and I would have Ella and Daddy days where we would go bowling and eat pizza. It didn’t sound like much, but to me that made me feel special. Those were the days when I was free of Sam. Everything was great, just as it was now with Aspen. Of course, Sam would be at the party. She went to every party, but this time Aspen would be with me. He would make me feel like a true princess like how Sam makes me feel like crap.
“We’re here.” Aspen shook my arm and brought my head out of the clouds. “Where were you?” Aspen asked and looked closer at me.
“Just thinking.” I smiled. “Thinking about how lucky I am,” I said just before I kissed him.
“How lucky you are?” Aspen took my hands into his. “Ella, I’m the luckiest guy in the world for having the privilege to date you,” he said and kissed my knuckles.
“Aspen,” I said and kissed him again. He tasted of chocolate. The words I love you rested on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t say that. We’d only been dating for two weeks. It was too soon to say those words. It was true that I loved him, though. I had been in love with him since I first saw him in the lunch room in second grade. I could still even remember what he was wearing. It was a blue collared shirt with jeans. It looked as if his mom dressed the top half of him, and he took care of the bottom part. Instantly, I knew that he was going to be the boy I fell in love with. Ten years later, I was making out with him in his car, and it felt good.
Aspen leaned deeper into me and rested his weight against me. I smelt his minty cologne as he kissed me harder and harder. My hands pushed up against that door to help me support our bodies.
“Dude, get out of the car!” Someone shouted and banged against the glass behind me. I gasped, and Aspen jumped off me in shock. In his haste, his head hit against the sunroof.
“Shit,” he cursed as he rubbed the top of his head.
Looking out the window, I noticed that it was Greg who was banging on the door. He flashed a smile bigger than his face.
“Way to go Aspen.” Greg laughed, nodding his head.
I covered my face and let it fall against the leather seat, trying to hide my laughter.
Aspen got out of the car faster than I’ve ever seen. I heard shouting from behind me, but I knew Aspen wasn’t honestly that mad. He just wanted to keep making out with me, and honestly, so did I. Greg laughed as Aspen continued yelling.
Fixing my dress, I hurried out of the car to Greg’s rescue.
“Aspen.” I tried to hold back my laughter, but it was funny the way Greg reacted when he saw us.
“Don’t do that again, Greg.” Aspen gritted through his teeth.
Greg waved his red solo cup in the air. “Cute costume guys.” Greg winked at both of us and strolled back into the red house. Aspen’s hands were shaking.
“Aspen, relax,” I whispered and rubbed his back. He was growing warm.
“Sorry,” he murmured and took my hand. He put on a smile and nodded toward the house. “Let’s go have fun.”
“I would love to, Your Highness.”
***
The party wasn’t what I expected. In my head, I pictured a bunch of girls in slutty bunny costumes and guys all dressed as lifeguards. Instead, everyone was surprisingly clothed. They were all in actual costumes which left me impressed. Vinny was there, and he was dressed as a vampire. Taylor was dressed as a fairy, but her dress went down to her knees. It was nice not having to shield my eyes away from boobs and butts hanging out.
Aspen squeezed my hand and pulled me out back where rows of coolers were placed.
“What will you be having?” He beamed at me. Already, he had a Twisted Tea in his hand and was pouring it into a cup.
“Just water,” I said. My hand snaked behind him and I pulled his keys from his pocket. “I’ll be the designated driver.” The keys spun in my hand just before I slipped them into my wristlet.
“You’re the best.” He smiled and kissed me. I could already taste the alcohol.
“Get a room.” I heard someone scoff behind me. There was only one person that held a voice that evil.
“Sam.” Aspen nodded at the shadow behind me. If I could have crawled into a ball and died at that moment, I would have.
“Are you guys on a date?” Sam smiled as she glided her heels across the patio. She eyed the both of us very closely. “You guys even have matching costumes,” she commented, eyeing us, “How cute.”
“Go away Sam.” I rolled my eyes. No matter where I went, she always had to find a way to bother me.
Sam shook her head. “No can do, Isabella. I have to keep tabs on the both of you.”
“Oh, knock it off, Samantha!” Aspen shouted.
My eyes narrowed at the beast in front of me. “Why do you care?”
Sam smirked at Aspen, and he looked as if he was going to pounce on her at any moment. They held each other’s gaze for a while, but then finally Sam snapped her attention back toward me.
“Just curious.” She held her twisted smile at me and shrugged. “We’re all playing beer pong inside.” She pointed behind her at the house. “I actually came out here to see if you guys wanted to play.”
“Cool,” Aspen said, but continued to glare at her.
Sam threw up her hands. “Just trying to be friendly!” she said then spun around to head back into the house.
“Learn about privacy then,” I suggested.
Sam looked at me over her shoulder. On her lip was a wicked smile and her eyes reflected the moonlight. “Oh sweetie, with me, there is no privacy.” With that, she winked at Aspen and skipped back into the house where she was greeted by James.
“God! I can’t stand her!” I screamed and began pacing around the grassy yard. Aspen reached out for me to soothe me, but I continued walking away. “She thinks that she owns me! Like she has to know every freaking detail about my freaking life!” The only problem with that sentence was that I wasn’t saying freaking. Sorry.
“Ella.” Again, Aspen reached out for my hand, and this time he got it and pulled me to an abrupt stop. He placed his hands on my cheek as my breathing gradually slowed down. “She’s your sister.” That was all he said. He said that as if that meant something to quell my anger toward her.
“My sister?” I spat. Sam got me so mad. She has not done anything to me yet, but even her presence was already making my blood boil. “That means nothing to me!”
I would’ve gone on yelling. There was so much to say about my awful sister. She actually was my evil twin. But I couldn’t keep yelling. Aspen had stopped me. With his lips. They were soft and felt so smooth against my skin. His lips brushed the sides of my face and then greeted my lips.
“Relax, baby,” he whispered between breaths.
And just like that, I relaxed.
***
“How was your little evening out with Aspen?” Quinn prolonged Aspen’s name for a while as she stared me down.
We were walking down the hallway heading to Trig. It was the Monday after Halloween, and Quinn needed to know every detail about the date, and the previous hangout with Caleb.
“It was fun.” I smiled and continued walking. The memory of his kisses were embedded in my brain, and I was loving that.
“Oh yeah?” Quinn eyed me up and down. “How fun?” Her hands began creeping toward my legs to tick
le them.
“Oh please.” I pushed away her pale hands. “Not that kind of fun.”
“Yeah right.” Quinn laughed. “You’ve wanted to hop on that since I’ve met you.”
Shaking my head, I kept walking. My obsession with Aspen was sad, but hey, he was mine.
“Are you and Caleb okay?” Quinn asked as we began heading up the stairs to the second floor. “Becca and I asked him to hang out on Saturday night, but he said no. Said that he really just wanted to spend the night in.”
Truth was, Caleb and I hadn’t even talked since Saturday. I wasn’t necessarily mad at him, but it bugged me that he always needed me to spend time with him. It was as if I always needed to babysit him.
“We’re fine,” I lied just slightly.
“Really?” Quinn raised an eye.
I let out a long breath. “Why does he get so mad when I don’t hang out with him?” I threw up my hands. “He shouldn’t want to spend every second with me if he likes Becca. I mean—”
“Woah, woah, woah.” Quinn has just stopped walking. “You’re saying that Caleb likes Becca?”
“Yeah, didn’t you know that?” I stared at her. I didn’t think it was a secret he liked her. He didn’t hide it very well.
Quinn burst into laughter and started up down the hall again. The bell would ring at any moment.
“What’s so funny?” I chased after Quinn, but she was already halfway down the hall.
“Oh nothing!” Quinn called back. “You’re just so naïve!” Her laughter echoed down the hall just as the bell rang, and I sprinted down the hall so I wouldn’t be late for class.
Chapter 20
Hell Rises
“So,” Sam said, taking a seat next to me, “I hear that you have your counties game today.” Sam swung an arm around me and pulled me close to her. Her skin-tight dress clung to her body as she rubbed it against me.
The lunch room was crowded as usual. But what wasn’t so usual was Sam sitting next to me. On a typical day, Sam would sit on the opposite side of the lunch room surrounded by her friends while I sat alone at my normal table in order to focus on my studies. With soccer becoming so intense, it barely gave me any time to do my homework or study, although even without soccer, I barely studied. Lunch was the period for me to get some food and knowledge in me.
That’s what a normal day looked like in the cafeteria. And it definitely didn’t consist of Sam plopping down next to me and talking about my after-school activities.
It was a very strange moment, and I felt extremely uncomfortable.
“What’s it to you?” I snorted and threw her arm off my shoulder. She reeked of Pink perfume.
“I just want to wish my little sister good luck.” She smiled. All I wanted to do was punch her. She always used the “little sister” term with me. She was literally born three minutes before me. That hardly gave her the right to be my big sister.
“Go away,” I mumbled and buried my face in the sandwich Mom had made me.
“Will Aspen be going?” Sam asked, her head cocked to one side. She watched me closely, a smile growing on her face. She knew that this was slowly getting to me.
I stopped eating. My sandwich fell on the table.
“Stop.”
“I’m just curious.” Sam shrugged and took one of my chips.
“Well stop,” I said again. I was sick and tired of her always asking questions about Aspen. She had a boyfriend for Christ’s sake! Shouldn’t she be spending her time worrying where he was?
“I don’t plan on doing that.” She pushed away my bag of chips and stood up. “I’ll see you at the game.” Winking, she left my table and rejoined her friends who all welcomed her back, laughing.
***
Everyone came to the soccer game that day. It was a miracle that the girls got to counties. We always lost the game before this. Maddison was on the sideline with me. The entire game she talked and talked about what was happening on the field. Hello! Maddison! I was watching the same game right next to her.
“Can you believe all these people showed up to watch us play?” Maddie said as she scanned the crowd. “It’s so awesome.” She smiled and began nodding her head.
“They’re here to watch them,” I said, gesturing to the players on the field, “Not us.”
“Mood killer,” Maddie mumbled, but I waved her comment aside. If I engaged, there would just be more talking, and nobody wanted that.
Aspen was in the crowd smiling at me. I would have smiled back at him, but Sam was glued to his waist. At any minute, I swore that the entire field would catch fire from my anger. Hell would have even risen to the earth’s surface because of how mad I got by just looking at Sam’s flawless face. She really was that too: flawless. Somehow, she never gets acne, while it felt like I was covered in it. She was even an inch taller than me, and even though it was only an inch, it bothered me. To make it even better—or worse, whichever was preferred—she looked even more perfect strapped to Aspen. The contrast between her pale and his tan skin just made them look like the ideal couple.
“You rock!” Aspen called when he noticed I was watching him.
I gave him a tight smile and tried to wave, but my hand felt weak. My entire body felt weak.
“Way to go, Cait!” Maddie suddenly shouted next to me. My focus went back to the field now. Forget about Aspen. He could never like a wicked person like Sam, right?
My eyes searched the field for the ball, and I noticed we had a penalty shot in the opposing team’s box. Cait was standing over the ball, and all the other players were scattered around the goalie box.
“What happened?” I asked. Maddie glared at me with a look that said, You should’ve been paying attention. Rolling my eyes, I looked toward Hannah.
Hannah was nice enough to tell me what I had missed. “She was about to shoot when number seven side tackled her.”
“Thanks,” I said with a tiny nod. Hannah smiled and everyone’s attention now turned to Cait. Her fingers kept rubbing against one another as she stared at the goalie who was jogging in place.
“I can’t watch,” Coach Lavester said and took a seat. She buried her face in her hands. Maddie patted her back for comfort, but Coach whacked her hand away quickly. Hannah and I laughed, which earned us a glare from Maddie.
Cait scored the goal after that. Everyone went crazy in the crowd. Coach Lavester even jumped up and hugged all of us on the bench. It was first time I ever saw her show much affection. We won the game, too. Our defense was able to block the balls that rolled to our side. Nobody scored another goal after Cait.
We were playing Crestful again, and this time they seemed to have come at us with a lot more strength than the first game. If it wasn’t for the penalty shot in the beginning, I didn’t think we would have won. We got lucky, but secretly, I just wanted the season to end. After that game, we’d have divisions, and if we won that, it was off to states. I hated being on the sideline, so honestly, I wanted the season to be over. It made no sense for me to bust my ass at practice just to get benched when it came to any game.
“It’s awesome that you won,” Aspen said, walking over to me. I smiled and let him bring me in for a light kiss on the lips.
“Thanks for that,” I said once he pulled away.
“Honey, we are so proud of you!” I heard my mom’s voice as she pranced over to me and engulfed me in a hug. I murmured “Thanks” and looked toward Quinn and Becca for help. The hug was suffocating.
“Don’t hog all of her!” Quinn squealed. She tapped my mom on the shoulder, waiting for her turn. Mom frowned, but pulled away. I was relieved to be in the friendly arms of my best friends.
“She didn’t even do anything.” Sam scoffed all of a sudden. My eyes shot away from my parents and to the devil herself. Sam smirked at me from behind Aspen. Her arms were folded comfortably on her chest.
Caleb frowned. “Sam, I know you’re mad that you’re not getting that much attention right now,” he said, smirking and regarded h
er with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. “But don’t worry.” Caleb began to walk closer to her. Sam scrunched her nose and hid further behind Aspen. “I can give you all the attention you need,” Caleb purred and locked his hand around Sam’s arm. She let out a yelp as Caleb spun her in toward him and her body rested against his chest.
“You’re revolting,” she sneered and pushed herself away from him.
“Stop hiding your love for me!” Caleb shouted and tossed his hands in the air.
Sam’s eyes darted around the field to make sure no one was listening, but unfortunately everyone was watching them. Mom and Dad were even snickering to one another at the funny scene, which it was. Quinn and Becca were practically laughing their asses out on the floor.
“Babe, we can tell people now.” Caleb shook his head at her as he talked. “Don’t worry.” He went in for another hug, but this time Sam ducked away and fled to Aspen once again. He wrapped his arm around her as she hid from Caleb.
“Knock it off, dude.” Aspen rolled his eyes at Caleb’s childish antics. My eyes narrowed, though. It was only a joke. It was only meant for fun. Why did Aspen have to go off and act as if Sam was a damsel in distress?
“Grow up.” Caleb laughed. “It was a joke.” He looked between Sam and Aspen. “If I were you, man, I’d have my arms around the other Branson.” He turned around and began his walk down the path toward his car.
Becca’s eyes frantically looked at everyone who was there. He’s my ride, she mouthed just before she bolted off after Caleb.
Caleb turned around before he left the field. His eyes locked with mine, his blue eyes sparkling. “I’m sorry.” He nodded toward the field, grabbed Becca’s hand, and together, they disappeared down the path.
I knew what he was sorry for. He was sorry that we won, that I didn’t get to play once. He was sorry that Aspen didn’t understand how much soccer depressed me. Aspen claimed to hate soccer, but he played the entire game. I hated the sport too but in a completely different way. My hatred was because all I did was watch. At practice, I worked my butt so hard to place a spot on the varsity team, and for what? To watch the game from the bench? That wasn’t what I wanted. My parents were such soccer fans, so it was embedded in my brain to play the sport. It sucked that I sucked.
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