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I HATE YOU
:: vii. | better me

It's been about two weeks since Ashely called it quits with the cute, blonde scott boy. She didn't regret it but she did feel guilty. He is such a nice guy. She knew he deserved better and she knew it wasn't with her.

She walked into the school building with her head held high. After that wild Friday night, she was starting to feel a lot better. About everything and herself. She also happened to remember the dance was also this coming weekend. She was a little bit excited cause she already knew who she wanted to take. Yeah, it may seem a little fast but she's the type of girl to just live her life. You aren't guaranteed another day, that's what she lives by.

Since she has first period off, she was going to go to the gym to scout the basketball team. So she walked in and like every other time, her eyes immediately went towards Rachel. And just like those times, Rachel's eyes met her's. Their shared glanced lasted longer than usual. Way too long for Ashely's comfort. She quickly shifted her eyes elsewhere and continued to walk to the bleachers to watch the boys.

Rachel on the other hand was stretching with Brooke. Cheer competition was coming up soon and they needed to be ready but as Brooke would say, they needed to be perfect. All the girls got in formation and started their routine as they followed Brooke who led.

Rachel couldn't keep her eyes off Ashely, for some reason they were glued to her has Ashely's eyes were glued to Jake. Rachel noticed of course. It was a bit odd, she thought lucas and her were together. As soon as Brooke told them to break, she went over to Ashely and sat next to her on the bleachers.

"Can I ask why you're staring at Jake and not Lucas?" Rachel sat awfully close to the blonde.

"You can ask but I won't answer." Ashely grew a wall . . . only for Rachel. She wasn't just annoyed by her presence but she hated her.

Rachel scoffed, "What's it going to take for you to accept my apology?"

"Funny, I don't ever remember you apologizing." Ashely aggressively got up and jogged over to Jake once she saw the boys heading back into the locker room.

"Hey, Jake." She popped next to him.

He turned to her with a slight surprise, "Ashely...."

"What are you doing tonight and next weekend?" She was quite direct with her words.

"Next weekend is the dance, isn't it?" He being Jake, just wanted to clarify.

"And you're taking me." Ashely simply smiled, "See you tonight." With that, she walked off as confident as ever. She was feeling like herself again or maybe she was just excited to see Jake play at the game tonight.

• • •

"How's the music thing going?" Ashely had just approached Haley who sat by herself in a weird, secret place which was on the roof of the school.

"Shhhh. People can hear you." Haley grabbed Ashely's arm and sat her down next to her.

"We're on top of the roof and it's secluded." Ashely stated the obvious.

Haley just rolled her eyes and continued to strum on her guitar. Ashely watched and it was magic. Haley was so good when it came to music. Sometimes even, Haley would let Ashely sing along with her just for fun but when Haley wasn't having fun . , . music was serious to her.

As Ashely was getting into the moment, relaxed by Haley's humming .. . Haley suddenly stopped. Haley leaned her guitar next to her and turned to her blonde friend.

She took a deep breath, "I have something to tell you but you can't tell Nathan. At least not yet."

Ashely shook her head, "I don't even talk to Nathan."

"That's besides the point." Haley let out a sharp sigh, "I got offered to go on tour— with Chris Keller."

"That rag-tag wannabe Channing Tatum?" You could tell Ashely obviously didn't like him one bit.

"Please don't say anything." Haley ignored her comment about chris. "Please?"

With a roll of her eyes, Ashely agreed. "Fine."

Soon the bell rang and Ashely left Haley to her thoughts, leaving to go to her class. The only thing going through her mind right that second was Jake.

• • •

Speaking of Jake, she couldn't keep her eyes off him the whole game so far. Just like before, Rachel noticed. That made her wanna puke. She hated seeing her girl get all doughy eyed for Jake Jagielski.

Halftime finally came around and that's when Ashely made her way to the boy's locker room. She followed Jake in there and yeah it's weird but like I said, she found this newfound confidence.

"Uh, I don't think you're suppose to be in here." Jake felt oddly uncomfortable.

"Cause I'm a girl?" Ashely crossed her arms, ready to be offended.

"Yeah." Jake scratched the back of his neck. "Curious, how come you've been stalking me all day?"

She simply shrugged acting as innocent as ever, "Maybe I took an interest in you."

Jake knew she was lucas' ex girlfriend and he didn't want to do anything that could jeopardize his friendship with him but just like most of everyone else in the school, he did have a thing for Ashely. Besides, he was having quite fun playing this little game she cooked up.

He stepped towards her bit and she did the same. Their lips soon touched and they just followed each other in sync. It was totally different from kissing Luke but she liked it and she liked him. 

The buzzer soon went off signaling that halftime is about to be over. The blonde and burnett both pulled away with a smile. He quickly pecked her lips before running back on the court.

Ashely stood there for a second with a smile and let a slight giggle. She soon made her way out and headed back to the bleachers to continue watching the game. Rachel of course noticed, like she does all the time. Though she didn't like what she saw, an evil grin appeared on her face.

"Let the games begin." She mumbled under her breath as her eyes stayed glued to Lucas.

a/n:
do i smell a Jake &
Ashely thing? yes.

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