Ashton

"You will obviously sit in the front seat, right?" Emily smiled innocently at Jane as we strolled towards the parking lot.

I smirked and opened the door of my blue Convertible. Jane's pretty blue eyes met mine, searching for my response. Poor girl seemed confused. I raised my shoulders in a sheepish manner, clearly hinting that I was only acting on Emily's words. My actions contrasted with my thoughts as I really wanted Jane to sit beside me in the car.

Why was I acting like a teenage boy?

How is it even possible to feel something for a girl you have only known for a week? This shit happens only in movies and books. I am whipped! Fuck.

"Sure," Jane pursed her lips with no obvious expressions on her face.

A few seconds later, she smiled at the ground while loosening her pony tail; it not only caused her dirty golden locks to shower like silk over her delicate shoulders, but it also covered the brown patch on her neck. The sight of the bronze shade kept beating inside my mind like a rhythm wanting to be found; I had seen a similar mark on someone else's neck but the face of the person was not so vivid in my memory. The tint on her neck looked either like a birthmark or a bruise. With the auburn thoughts, a prickling notion started regulating through my entire body; the urge to ask her about the tawny imprint, which I had been noticing ever since our meeting in the cafeteria but it seemed like she would not be so comfortable in talking about it.

I wanted to solve her enigmatic personality; it was alluring and one reason why she caught my attention so easily, unlike other girls who kept throwing themselves at me. Jane's unique obscurity was sprinkled with a muse, bringing out the presence of fear inside me; the more I tried to gain closure, the more she pulled away.

She was like the glistening pieces of diamonds with sharp edges; so divine yet so dangerous. It seemed almost as if it was impossible to unwrap the foil from her frame; I had already witnessed the way she slipped away from my arms when she felt vulnerable and I was not ready to let her run away this time.

As we sat in the car, I quickly slid my seat belt on and turned on the engine. Along with a screeching sound, the radio bleeped and started playing the worst possible song ever;

"Now watch me whip now watch me nay nay!"

"Turn it off! My ears are bleeding," Jane yelled, her face became dark and she poked both of her index fingers in each ear.

I turned down the radio in an obnoxious manner and my sight landed on Jane, she was staring back at me in an execrable way; disgust was written all over her olive face, which made me relax back into my seat as I realized that just like me, she was not a fan of lousy music.Following that, I connected the aux cod with my phone and played 'This Is Us' by the Backstreet Boys. I kept the volume low so that I could converse with the other two people in my car; the saint and the devil.

"So, Jane, since how long have you been working here?" Emily questioned, resting one hand on Jane's seat and the other on mine.

"More than a week or so," Jane replied.

"It is so cool being a doctor, isn't it?

"Um, yeah, but-" Jane squinted and turned around to look at my sister.

"I am just a medical assistant right now and doing my internship, but yeah I'll go in that direction only," she added.

"Cool, you know I am going to study anthropology," my little sister replied. I looked at Emily from the rear view mirror and smiled thinking about how I wanted to do chemical engineering but ended up shifting to the business side in my High School.

"Wow, that is wonderful. Are you sure about that, though?" When she questioned Emily, I smiled again thinking about how familiar my thoughts were to Jane's yet our personalities quite different.

Stop smiling like an idiot, Ashton.

I mocked myself, taking my lower lip in my mouth. The uncertainty of smiling a little too much hit me and the muscle in my jaw twitched.

***

The drive to the ice cream parlor was for about fifteen minutes, time passed by in crooning over the latest songs and talking about random things. The way Jane's eyes glowed and her face beamed into Emily's words, seemed unsealing and enticing. I was enjoying this sight of her, especially the way the corner of her mouth quirked up.I walked towards my car to hand them their ice creams and a quizzical feeling lashed on to me as I heard loud giggles coming from my car.

Was Jane seriously laughing?

I will kill this little Satan sitting in my backseat.

"So what were you guys talking about?" I questioned in curiosity, wondering if Emily told Jane something embarrassing about me.

"Nothing," the girls exchanged glances and twittered together, blurting out the same word. I rolled my eyes, fully aware I was the subject of their previous conversation.

"I am a bit confused, though,"-Jane said quickly as her eyebrows came together.

"Confused about what? Are you wondering why Ashton is not in his ripped and ugly shorts today?" Emily chortled in a childish manner.

A smile appeared on Jane's lips while I gaped at Emily with my bloodshot eyes. Well, almost bloodshot.

"Lame, maybe she wants to ask why you talk so much because it is getting pretty irritating now," I replied, a grin forming on my face.

"If you have your aunt and uncle here then why do you stay at the hotel, Ashton?" Jane asked while ignoring our silly fight.

Right after those words slipped out of Jane's mouth, silence overcame us along with the loud noises of the cars speeding up on the road ahead of us. I peered into the thoughts as I searched for words to answer Jane's query.

"Well, I didn't want to overburden them with Emily already living at their house," I paused and licked my lower lip.

"I mean they pay half of Emily's school fee and the other half is paid by my late father's left over fortune. Then her basic living necessities and the hospital bills with uncountable zeros attached to it," I glanced at Jane, recognition was dawning on her face as she listened carefully to each word brimming out of my mouth.

"When the fear of overburdening them knocked my life, I started working side by side with college and insisted that I would pay for Em's tuition but they never agreed. Plus my dad's best friend owns the hotel. I am living there for free. We are always welcomed there," I sighed.

"Yep, Ash is pretty hardworking," Emily pitched in and smiled at me as if her heart was swelling up. I turned around and patted her head warmly.

"My uncle is still pretty mad at me for staying at the hotel though, but I don't care, I mean I can't let them pay for everything. They say that they don't have kids to spend but that is no excuse; they are already doing too much for us," I continued and turned right into the twenty-fifth lane where my uncle's cottage stood hovering over us.

"See you later guys, "Emily shouted, stepping out of the car.

***

Finally, some alone time with Jane.

Jane was silent the entire time, but a highly unusual smile was clouded all over her features. I broke the silence between us by throwing random questions at her in order to have a conversation.

"So, how is Hawaii treating you so far?" I asked, studying her mysterious face.

"Fine, I guess," she replied shortly.

"Oh, where are you from?"

"Texas-"

"I am from North Carolina,"

"I know, your mother told me," her eyes bore into mine.

"You are in college, right?"

"Yes," she said, raising her eyebrows. I wanted to ask where but she didn't seem too interested.

 "So what brought you here? Vacationing alone, huh?"

"I needed a break," she shifted in her seat, looking down at her fingers. Jane was no longer looking at me in a lively manner; the chirping happiness shining out of her soul now replaced with an elegiacal chant.

"So it was a desperate attempt to run away?" As those words slipped out of my mouth, I mentally stabbed myself with a knife; I wanted her to take her time and open up, but my words caused a harsh trail of reality in the air around us as they fell out.

"Hm, I guess," she nodded, her eyes fixated on the road.

I was shocked at her response, I thought she would snap at me yet she answered in a humble tone. It seemed like I was finally being able to have a few normal conversations with her. It was enough considering the boat we were floating on but she was still trying to avoid eye contact with me.

"So you were working, right? Where?" She interrupted my thoughts.

"Well, at first I worked at a retail store for a few weeks. It was not enough and thanks to a friend, I left the job when he told me about the new upcoming event. It was called the Battle of the Bands; we had to sing covers and my friends forced me to sign up for it. I ended up making my own band and we rocked the show. Ever since then, I have been performing at many places and earning enough to pay more than half of my tuition fee," I ran my fingers through my hair, summoning the jubilant memory.

"I can't believe that you can sing," her eyes sparkled as she tucked a strand of gold behind her ear.

I was glad she hadn't realised we were going to the beach since I was supposed to drop her at the hotel but I changed my mind. I knew for sure if I told her before, she would not have agreed.

"You want me to sing for you? Maybe then you will believe me," I teased and leaned into her, she reacted to the closure by inhaling a sharp breath and quickly looking away. Sigh.

I stopped the car right outside the Honolulu Beach.

"Umm, okay," a flush crept up her face, giving it a crimson touch and finally the sudden realization hit her;

"Why are we at the beach, Ashton?" She shouted, folding her arms and rolling her beautiful eyes at me.

"Because I wanted to take you here, now shush."

With that I got out of the car and headed towards Jane's side, she looked up at me through her long eyelashes, surprise written all over her face as I opened the car door for her. The gesture was so simple, yet it felt so good; doing something nice for her by putting my gentleman-like skills and watching her facial expressions change from pale to scarlet was enough to make it obvious that nobody had ever done anything like this for her. I shut down her side of the door and stomped towards my trunk to get my guitar. In the meantime, Jane looked at the lilac sky, which had layers of gold and ivory running wildly all over it. I watched her absently, my stomach whirled as the warm air welcomed me to the beach.

The marine haze surrounded us along with the roaring of the pebbles brought back by the waves. Hidden under the sand in temporary burrows or nestled in the kelp wrack, were crabs, shaped like eggs. The sea creatures kept shifting positions with the tide which moved back and forth, causing a harsh war in the sea ahead of us. These small creatures hopped and crawled up and down the beach just like the flow of the drums beating inside me.

The beach was crowded; on the right was a group of hula dancers who were surrounded by a group of people from all age groups; girls with hazel skin, grassy fringe skirts, floral head gears and coconut shell bikinis were expertly twisting their bodies and swinging their bellies to a live Hawaiian music performance and instruments such as the ukulele. The hula dancers were beautiful, but not as much as the girl walking beside me. The distance between us was a couple of centimeters and our hands were parallel to each other; so close but not enough to entwine. Jane's eyes softened as she got lost into her personal mantra, her eyes trailed towards the visual elegance falling on the sea as the tides enveloped one after another without waiting for anyone.

After walking for a few minutes, we finally spotted a comfortable place for us to sit, away from the reef which looked like an overflowing city. I sat on the shore with my legs crossed while Jane sat in front of me; her gaze fixated on the waves, the ones which deepened her eye color even more.

"Have you heard of Dan and Shay?" I scratched my chin.

"Nope, but please don't sing horrible songs. I'm still not sure about this, I mean what if you were lying and have a pathetic sore voice?" She teased.

Good, she hasn't heard about them, I can alter a few lyrics accordingly and she would never know that I was talking about her.

"Challenge accepted, I'll show you, Hope," I replied confidently and she rolled her eyes again.

I closed my eyes to focus on the chords as I stroked the first string, I adjusted the guitar on my lap and opened my eyes to stare back right into Jane's eyes; she was already eyeing me and I returned the gesture by looking directly into her eyes. I wanted to make a connection with her mysterious personality while singing. I gasped for breath, slight nervousness developing inside as I sang:

It is our first week, the sandy beach,

Where it all begins,

It is a 102°,

Nothing to do,

So I thought I would sing,

We are summertime sipping, sipping, sweet smile dripping off her lips,

How can I ever forget?

The moment I finished the line, I inhaled a deep breath as Jane's lips curved into a beautifully arched smile, causing her delicate pink cheeks to lift up and swell into puffiness. The sight of her cheeks so mesmerizing. I analyzed the aesthetic beauty who reacted to the strings of my guitar by closing her eyes and letting her head swing from side to side; she looked like my personal muse. The way her body responded like melody to the song made me fall even deeper for her;

Watching that blonde hair swinging,

To this song I'm singing,

She is California beautiful,

I am playing' everything but cool,

I can still hear that sound,

Of every wave crashing down,

Like the tears she cried that day but still had to leave,

She is everything I want it to be,

The summer of 16, you and me.

Right after I hit the last string of my guitar, Jane's lips quivered but her dry eyes never became glossy.

"Wow, Ashton, that was really beautiful. Your husky voice really fits the so-" she hesitated.

The surreal shyness dancing around her became my new favorite thing about her; the innocence was captivating and intoxicating.

Was she just playing dumb the entire time or she really didn't realise that I was literally singing this to her?

"Thought you would never accept that you loved my voice. Thanks, bud," I smirked at her.

"I didn't know that someone was fantasising about being friends with me, what a creep," she coughed, throwing her hands in the air.

"So you sit in my car, make fun of me, chat with my entire family and end up getting lost in my voice but still don't consider me as your friend?"

"Well, in my defense, you forced me to go with you for ice cream and instead of dropping me back to the hotel, you tricked me and brought me here," triumph scribbled all over her face.

"You could have walked away, but you didn't. You like spending time with me, you had a good day. Your acceptance doesn't matter anyway; I know enough, " my mannerism became cocky.

"You want me to walk away?" Her eyes narrowed in a playful way.

Woah, she is good.

"Only if you want to," I replied, keeping my composure; I drew my attention towards her lips as she licked them and lightly hooked her bottom lip between her teeth, it made the heat radiate in my body.

"You know I will, Ashton. Don't challenge me, I have done it a few times already," she paired her wrinkled eyebrows with a small frown which added a sweet touch to her face. No, don't.

"You don't have a car, Jane. I'm your only option."

"I don't care, catch me if you can," she glanced mischievously.

The words blew quickly out of her mouth and within seconds she was running on the sandy shore. She looked like a musical note wanting to be sung out freely. I lifted my shirt off as I ran after her and jumped into the ravishing blue water. 

Note: I have changed the lyrics of the original song mentioned above. It is sung by Dan and Shay and the name of the song is "19 You and Me."

P.S: Check back on Friday, two chapters will be up for y'all and don't forget to vote and comment. ;).

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