Page 13 of When love and Hate Collide

I shake off the thoughts running amuck in my head and head out of the bathroom. The moment I step out I’m greeted with music filtering through the door opposite Ashlyn’s room.Dean’s bedroom. A chill passes through me while I stare at the door frowning. Who’s in his room? Dean’s at the air force. Ashlyn said he wasn’t coming back for the summer because he was stuck doing some training and she would have told me for sure if he was back home.

“Jeyla!”

I jump out of my thoughts when I hear Ash hollering my name from her bedroom. I look back at Dean’s bedroom door once more before walking off into her bedroom and closing the door behind me.

“Fucking hell, if that was the longest piss in the world.” Ashlyn complains looking up from her phone when I walk in.

Minutes later Ash is chattering on about a party and I’m laying with my head in her lap while she places cooling under-eye gel patches under my puffy eyes from a night of drinking and lack of sleep. I’m adrift, deep in my thoughts. My fingers idly stroking my bare ring finger on my right hand. The giddy feeling of my steamy hook up moments ago vanishes and is almost instantly replaced with thoughts and memories of feelings I’ve been trying so hard to drown out over the past few weeks.

It’s partly the reason I’m back home, seeing my family was just an excuse. I needed to get as far away as possible from school to heal and hopefully forget the lie I’d been unwittingly living the past year.

Through the ramblings in my mind, I couldn’t even hear my best friend calling my name until gives me a soft smack on the forehead to get my attention.

I’d been so lost I didn’t even notice my eyes are drowned in tears until I blink, and tears roll down my cheeks. Ashlyn takes one look at me and sighs. “Oh no, Jey, come on babe. You promised, no more crying,” she pleads sullenly using her fingers to brush away the tears rolling down the side of my face. “You’re ruining your eye patches over that good for nothing scumbag.” She states peeling them off and setting them aside.

I nod and sit upright, drying my eyes with the tissue Ash magics out of thin air and hands to me. “I know, and I know he’s not worth it, but I can’t just magically erase him out of my head or my heart, Ash. It’s just not that easy.” I admit grimly and lower my gaze to the bunched-up tissue in my hand.

“I know it’s not easy, Jey.” She sighs taking hold of my hand and squeezing comfortingly. “It’s going to take time to get over everything, but you will bounce back from this. That lying sack of shit doesn’t deserve your tears, chickita.” She asserts lovingly while combing her fingers through my hair.

I smile, albeit sadly and nod, waving my hand silently indicating I’d rather move on from the subject. “Ugh, I know. I’m just being an idiot. What were you saying before?” I ask, drying my eyes with the tissue.

“Oh! I was saying that you’ll never guess who called me while you were taking the world’s longest piss?” She says, eyes wide and bouncing with elation. “Shane!” She squeals, grinning so broadly she’s bearing every single one of her teeth. “He’s having a party tonight and he heard that we are back home and wants us to go. You down? Please tell me you’re down!”

I groan inwardly, fully intending to say no, because I’m still hanging out of my arse from the night before, but when I see the excitement gleaming in her eyes over seeing Shane, I just couldn’t do it, I couldn’t say no. Ash has been infatuated with Shane since we were kids. It wasn’t until we were sixteen that he finally started noticing her and they dated on and off for a while.

Perhaps a party is just the distraction I need to drown out the chaos in my head. Then again, I said that about last night and look how that turned out. “Sure, I’m down. I do love a Shane Owens party,butI am not drinking tonight. I don’t think my liver can take another drop of alcohol,” I say, pointing my index finger at her with a playful scowl and she smirks back at me.

“Oh, boo thang, if I had a penny for every time I heard you say that I would be sipping a chilled glass of Cristal in my lavish eight-bedroom mansion right now.” Ash points out and I chuckle knowing full well she’s right.

“Excuse you, you’re the alcoholic one out of the two of us, I’ll remind you.”

“And I’m fucking proud!” she exclaims jumping off her bed and walking over to her wardrobe. “Now, be a good bestie and help me find the outfit that will blow Shane’s eyeballs out of their sockets when he sees me.”

“Ash, don’t go there again.” I advise with a heavy sigh and she stops rummaging through her wardrobe to look back at me over her shoulder. “Boys like Shane don’t change, and we both know when it comes to him you melt quicker than a chocolate teapot.”

“Jey, come on, give me some credit babe. I’m not the same girl I was two years ago. Neither of us are. I just want him to see what he’s missed out on, you know?” she justifies and all I see is the broken hearted girl watching him openly flirting with other girls, completely mugging her off when he’s supposed to be dating her.

I’d like to believe that she will have the strength to withstand his charms, but I know my best friend and Shane Owens is her kryptonite. I guarantee she will wind up in his bed tonight and wake up hating herself for it in the morning.

“Just promise me you’ll be cautious, okay?” Ashlyn smiles warmly and holds her index and middle finger up and crosses them before she kisses them.

“I promise.”

Satisfied by her response I smile. “So, what time are we going tonight?” I ask while Ashlyn goes back to pulling out outfit after outfit from her closet.

“It starts at nine.” She replies holding out a red mini skirt to show me. I shake my head and Ashlyn looks at the skirt one last time before putting it back in her wardrobe.

“So… eleven then?” I voice and Ashlyn guffaws. I love her, but Ashlyn’s concept of time differs from the rest of the world—she’s yet to make it on time toanything. “Am I driving?”

“Nah, I’m thinking we take a cab. It’s not far and that way you can relax and have a drink or two.” Ashlyn responds showing me a baby blue mini dress with spaghetti straps. I scowl but nod in approval.

“Ash, I am not drinking tonight.” I state firmly and Ashlyn laughs again.

“Not even the devils kiss?” She questions, wagging her brows at me suggestively.

Oh lord, those little blue shots are scrumptious, but oh so dangerous. Each one tastes just like candy going down, but the aftereffects are lethal. I had three the last time and I couldn’t remember my own damn name the next morning. “Nah uh, no, no not after the way I suffered last time. I may have a beer… maybe.”

“Jey, as your best friend it is my duty to point out when you are being a killjoy.” Ash states, taking hold of my shoulders and stepping closer to me. “You’re shitting all over my vibe here, boo. What did we say before we came back home? We are here to have fun, remember?” I nod and she smiles drawing me in for a hug. “There’s my girl, now shake off that grandma inside holding you hostage and embrace your youth!”

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