I suggested that we go get pizza, but Ashton had something else in mind. Ashton's grand idea was taking me to an old music shop downtown, to show me what "good music" really was.

We entered the store, the smell of old records and albums filling the air, something I had never experienced before. It was all so interesting and I had to stop walking and take a moment to just look around, even though I had no idea what exactly I was looking at. Ashton was already making his way to the back of the store, and once I snapped out of my daze I followed closely behind him, not wanting to get lost in an unfamiliar place like this.

"Okay, this is the part where I introduce you to some good music." Ashton stood in front of me, fidgeting a little as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"I'm perfectly fine with the music I listen to now." I said, and bit down on my lip.

"You won't be saying that when we're done here." Ashton laughed. He walked back even further, passing by racks and racks of CDs until he found what he was looking for.

"Let's start with this." He picked up a stack of CDs and handed them all to me. "The Killers. My favorite band of all time. You can listen to them as much as you like, but don't let them become your favorite band. They're mine."

"What kind of music is this?" I asked, mainly speaking about the genre. The Killers sounded like kind of a scary name to me, I didn't want Ashton to force me into buying some screamo-punk music without me knowing.

"Good music, Murphy!" Ashton exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. He grabbed my shoulders and turned me around, leading me through more racks of CDs. Every once and a while he would stop and pick up an album, adding it to the growing pile in my hands.

"I'm assuming I'm paying for all of this?" I rolled my eyes.

"I'm certainly not. Don't you have daddy's credit card?" Ashton laughed. He searched through more CDs and pulled one out, putting in on the top of the stack in my hands. "Vampire Weekend. You definitely need to listen to them."

This continued for a long time. Ashton giving me CDs and music recommendations and me not having a say in any of it. I didn't mind, though, because even though Ashton was being pushy and a little rude I was breaking him open bit by bit, and that's exactly what I wanted. The second he walked into this shop his whole mood changed, he seemed to turn into a whole other person. It was crazy, how he changed so fast. But instead of sitting here and gawking at him I decided that I was going to use this to my advantage.

"Green Day. You've listened to Green Day, right?" Ashton asked, handing me yet anther CD.

"I've heard a couple songs on the radio." I shrugged. I honestly wasn't a big fan of music, I hardly ever even listened to it unless I was listening to the radio in the car, which I hardly even got to do anymore.

"Christ, Murphy." Ashton shook his head at me. "Your first assignment is to listen to Jesus of Suburbia and tell me what you think. We can talk about that at the bus stop on Monday morning."

"Assignment? I thought you were suggesting some new music for me, I didn't think you would be assigning me songs to listen to." I questioned.

"Just listen to the damn song." Ashton groaned, running his fingers through his hair

"So you like music, huh?" I ignored him and asked this instead, setting down all of the CDs I had collected on a nearby table.

"Music is great. It's a good way to escape from all the shit going on in the world." Ashton shrugged.

"You never listen to music while we're waiting for the bus." I noted, coming to that realization for the first time. Ashton could easily just plug in a pair of headphones and tune me out, but he never did.

"Would you rather that I did? I would just ignore you. That wouldn't be much fun." Ashton said, letting out a loud laugh.

"Well, no." I said softly.

"Exactly." Ashton's laugh faded as he caught sight of something on a shelf behind me. "Holy shit."

"What?" I turned around, watching as he rushed towards the shelf. He picked up a CD and held it carefully, like he was holding a newborn child.

"Shit." He swore again. He flipped the album over more than once almost as if he wasn't sure if it was real or not, like he just needed to make sure.

I tried to catch a glimpse of the artist or even title of the album, but Ashton held it so close to him that I couldn't see. Whatever it was, it had a very big impact on Ashton. Something about this album was special, and I was determined to find out.

"Is that another one of your favorite bands?" I asked, nodding towards Ashton.

"No... I hate them, actually." He drifted off, still completely focused on the CD he held in his hands.

"What's so special about it, then?"

"Kenzie would have loved this." Ashton muttered to no one in particular, taking a step back from me. He bumped into the shelf behind me, but it didn't seem like he even noticed.

"Who's Kenzie?" I wondered out loud, even though I had a very bad feeling that I knew who she was already.

"Huh?" Ashton finally tore his eyes away from the CD and looked up at me. "Oh, she's just an old girlfriend of mine."

"Does she like that band?" I asked, swallowing the lump that was now forming in my throat. I felt awful asking Ashton about this girl like she was still alive when she was clearly gone. I couldn't let Ashton know that I knew she was dead, though, then he would just think I'm trying to make fun of him by asking these questions. No, I had to pretend that I knew nothing.

"They're her favorite." Ashton sighed, dropping his hands to his side. He still clutched into the CD, making his knuckles turn white.

"So, are you going to buy it? Pretend that you like them and try to win her back?" I gulped. I didn't want to push it, but I wanted to make this believable.

"No, actually." Ashton sighed. He set the CD back down on the shelf and walked away quickly, barely giving me enough time to pick up my own CDs and follow after him. "It's not really worth it. A shitty band isn't going to bring her back."

"Did you...did you really like her?" I asked.

"I was in love with her, I still am." Ashton answered.

We were at the front of the store now, and I had set my multitude of CDs down on the counter. I pulled out my credit card and handed it to the man at the cash register, ignoring Ashton scoffing about it behind me.

"Why aren't you guys dating anymore?" I asked hesitantly once I was done paying. I put all of my CDs in Ashton's backpack, since he had almost nothing else in there.

"We, um, got into a bit of a...situation earlier this summer. She's not really around anymore." Ashton shrugged, licking his lips slowly.

"That sucks." I sighed. I had really wanted Ashton to tell me the whole story, then I could stop hiding the fact that I already knew part of it. But I guess he wasn't ready quite yet, and I didn't want to push him.

"Don't feel sorry for me, Murphy." Ashton laughed. "It's over."

He took out his pack of cigarettes again, finally being able to smoke after being inside for almost an hour. He offered me one, and I took it. I put it in between my lips as Ashton searched around for his lighter and we he found it, he grabbed my waist and pulled my forward, putting his cigarette in his mouth as well and lighting them at the same time.

"Thanks." I muttered quietly.

"No problem," Ashton said back just as softly as I had.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked. It was only lunch time right now, we still had a few hours before school actually got out of school.

"We could just walk around." Ashton shrugged. "Unless you have any other ideas."

"You like walks, don't you?" I questioned.

"Well, yeah. Sometimes I just need to get out for a little bit, clear my head." Ashton said, and his lips formed into a smile as he blew some smoke in my direction.

"Hey, knock it off." I laughed, pushing Ashton away from me.

"What, this?" Ashton asked. He stepped forward and grabbed my shoulders to keep me still, taking another short drag of his cigarette before he blew the smoke in my face again.

"Stop that!" I giggled.

"Maybe I was wrong about you, Murphy." Ashton sighed. He stepped away from me and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What does that mean, Irwin?" I asked.

Ashton shook his head and laughed, the cigarette hanging from his lips. He glanced up at me, and finally spoke. "I just...maybe I was wrong."