The Right Girl

Wrought iron gates sealed me away from my dreams- the boys at the all-boys Catholic school across the street, Jesuit High. But that barrier was only up for eight hours a day, five days a week. Once that barrier went down, those dreams became my reality. Empty bottles, bare bodies, and writing sweet abandonment notes is how I usually spent my Saturday mornings, all whilst grabbing my clothes and throwing them on, cussing out the migraine the drinks the night before had caused. But, no matter how much it all hurt, I was always there the next week, doing it all over again.

This night was no different, but I wasn’t feeling the guys at the party I was at. I usually liked to find some guy who knew what he was doing, but wasn’t overly cocky. Considering this party was thrown by Thomas Parks, a.k.a King Cock himself, it was hard to find one of his friends that wasn’t just as cocky as the next. I partied with my girls, giving a few lap dances here and there, then walked out to the main road. I wasn’t stupid enough to drive myself home, and I knew that Thomas or whomever would take care of my car.

So I walked to the main road and hailed a cab. It pulled up to the curb and I messily got in, getting a dirty look from the driver. I told him my house address, and he pulled away from the curb. It was a pretty smooth ride considering I usually got car sick after too much alcohol. I took off my shoes and rubbed my feet, not believing that I had worn heels once more.

“Miss, I’m going to pick up this boy real quick,” the cab driver said.

“That’s fine,” I managed to slur.

The cab pulled up to a curb in front of some concert venue. A cute boy with shaggy brown hair that I knew went to the public high school a few blocks away from my own school stepped into the cab, looked at me, and started to back out again, saying, “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know-”

“No, no, you’re fine,” I said to him, grabbing his hand. I felt a shock and convinced myself he was wearing something that caused static. I pulled him back into the cab, and he gave me a tentative smile. When I gave him my winning smile back, his smile grew more confident.

He put out a hand and said, “John O’Callaghan. You?”

“Roberts,” I giggled, putting out my hand and grabbing it in my own. “Ashton Roberts.”

“Alright, James Bond,” he laughed, growing comfortable with his pose. He cocked his head, and I remember why he looked so familiar- he was on the baseball team, and I had seen him at several games. As if reading my mind, he said, “I’ve seen you around at my baseball games before, but never at my school. Want to explain, missy?”

“I go to the Academy a few blocks away. Our baseball team is horrible, and yours is pretty good,” I said. I leant on his shoulder and put my arms around him, giggling. He smiled, and I could smell alcohol on his breath as well. Fun.

“Ah, Catholic girl who drinks. My favorite,” he said with a wink. I made some sort of satisfied noise and leant closer to him. He took my legs, surprising me, grabbing my thighs as he pulled me towards him, clashing our lips together. I was pleasantly surprised, and it felt so amazing with him holding me. He had pulled me onto his lap, and I ground my hips against his as one of his hands slowly slid up the bottom of my dress. The cab driver was giving us weird looks, and John laughed as he said, “Stop right here, please.”

I got out and saw a huge mansion pop out from the shadows. I asked, frazzled, “This is your fucking house?”

“Ah, yes. My dad’s a business man, but he and mom are currently on vacation. My younger brothers are at some friends’ houses,” he said as the cab pulled away. He kissed my neck and caught my head when it fell back. “We have the house to ourselves.”

I giggled and he slipped his hand in mine, his fingers interlocking with mine. My heart picked up the pace as we both ran inside, him leading me to his room. I jumped onto the bed and he was quick to climb over me, pressing his lips against mine. They trailed all over my body, and I gripped his skinny upper arms. I felt him smile against my skin, and he slipped off his shirt. I sat up and he helped me slip out of my skin-tight dress. He marveled in my body as I put my hands on the edge of his jeans, unbuttoning them and pulling them down. His hands slid underneath my boy shorts, his palms cupping my butt. I put my hands around his neck and kissed him roughly, as he slid his hands up my back and unclipped my bra. It fell to the floor behind me, and he laid me back down on the bed, his hands traveling the length of my body.

He asked me, “Ashton?”

I grinned at him, kissing him and whispering, “Go for it.”

And so he did.

--

As I pulled up to the baseball field at his school, that was all I could think about. The way he held me, the way I felt when he looked into my eyes and shared that cocky smile. It could make any girl go crazy with lust. I got out of the car, my best friend, Cora, walking beside me. She looked at me and asked worriedly, “You gonna be alright, Ash?”

Cora had been my best friend since we were two. Unlike me, however, she didn’t party. She hated alcohol and dancing in public, and she hated making out with random guys. She was the smartest person in our grade, book-wise and logically as well. And she knew about everything that happened with John, down to every little dirty detail- because I told her. Sure, people around our school knew that I had hooked up with the hot baseball player and Homecoming King over at the public school... but they didn’t know how I felt about him, how we had breakfast together the next morning and how he was the one who never called back.

“Yeah, chances of me seeing him are very slim. I hear he always talks to recruits after every game anyway, so I can make a getaway then,” I said, laughing as if it weren’t that big of a deal. Cora watched me with one raised eyebrow, rightfully not believing one word I said. I kept walking inside, using the ticker-taker at the door as an excuse to ignore Cora’s stare.

We walked in and Cora sighed. “You can always go home, Ash.”

“No, Cora. Plus, I would not leave you alone. What if something were to actually happen between you and Josh?” I asked, gasping sarcastically. Cora gave me a dirty look, but there was a smile behind her eyes. Josh was the star of our baseball team; the only good one on the whole team, actually. He was genuinely the sweetest kid at our school, and Cora had undeniably falling for him. But she was always too shy to make a move, and I’m not even sure he knew she existed.

“Shut up,” she said to me, laughing now as we made our way up into the bleachers. We sat down in our normal spots, and almost immediately, we were surrounded by people from my school. As Homecoming Queen, I was widely known and everybody wanted to be my friend, as bad as that sounded.

I looked hard for him, trying to make it not obvious that I was looking for him. Finally, he stepped up to the pitcher’s mound to warm up. I looked away and began enjoying myself, watching him out of the corner of my eye. He knew what school I went to and knew that he was playing the same school, so the chances of me being in the crowd were high. But who was I kidding? He didn’t call back, he didn’t care.

I sighed, and Cora noticed the sadness in my face. She grabbed my hand and gave me a look that asked me if I wanted to leave. I shook my head, and we sat through the first seven innings on the game before I gave up. I gave everybody hugs just as John made another homerun, and then walked down to my car.

I walked with the screaming crowd fading behind me. I exited the field and had made it to the road when I heard a deep, but definitely unfamiliar voice behind me say, “Hello, stranger.”

I turned slowly, and met those blue eyes a girl could never forget.