Girl I Know

♥Ashley's POV♥

I nervously wrung my hands behind my back as I impatiently waited for Emily's reaction. Her face went dull as the words flew out and it took a while for emotion to show and I finally registered the look she gave me. I could sense her mind was reeling with old memories of our high school days.. and to the present.. our amazing lives. She was confused and.. pissed. Yup. Definitely pissed.

"Why didn't you ask me first?" Emily shot out, rather harshly. This had to be the only time I've heard her speak like this.. expect for our freshman year; around May. We all had been at the cottage up in a smaller part of Vancouver; Ian and I were watching movies and discussing.. life; we were pretty normal and we always had fun. I remember Josh and Emily had left to go on a walk, and they came back a few hours later. They had stopped at the end of the path that led up to the cottage, and we both noticed. They had left happy, and by what we heard through the thin glass windows.. their moods had changed.

That was when Josh started hating Emily. Pure hatred. I had never seen Josh so mad, and I had never seen Emily so.. heartbroken. It killed me to watch them both like that and it killed me to take sides. So, I said my goodbyes to Ian and left a secret note for Josh, and Emily and I got the hell out of there. We moved to Chicago and never looked back.

We never looked back until our second year of college. We had just faced the hardest fucking day of classes and we needed an escape. Luckily enough, months before that we had purchased Avenged Sevenfold tickets. The highlight of that year - hell, our lives.

I got a little tipsy that evening, I guess. I don't remember. I just remember waking up on a tour bus and in front of me was Brian Haner Jr - or most call him Synyster Gates. But I prefer Brian... He had a glass of orange juice and an Advil. I remember I was about to punch him in the face because I thought he was trying to rape me or some shit, and he just laughed.

And I guess that's how our happily ever after began.

Emily and Zacky.. I have no idea how they met. I was too drunk. I know for sure they're fucking adorable, and that they really love each other.. and I also know Emily will never get over Josh.

♥Josh's POV♥

My whole body was feeling something different and bizarre as Ian finally pulled up to the house. I let my eyes lift up to take in the house, every detail. Despite the anger and jealousy and sadness I felt.. I couldn't help but smile.

The house was exactly liked they had always said it'd be. The girls had always told us they'd have this "crazy-ass, bad-ass, colorful motherfucking house" - as Ashley always called it - with a bright purple door and fuzzy curtains.

And hell yeah, they did.

I glanced over to Ian and I knew he had to be thinking the same thing. It took a few moments for him to snap back to reality and he looked at me for a moment, distance in his eyes. I felt bad for him. Everyone knew he was in love with Ashley. Expect, of course - Ashley. He had been in love with her since.. ever.

I remember we were seniors, and it was the third day of the school year. We were late for class - like always - but we heard shouting in the hall, so we stopped trying to rush to our class and saw two girls. They were both mouthing-off and cursing at the strictest and oldest teacher who everyone fucking hated. Ian and I couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the teacher looked like he wanted to whoop our asses.

The girls turned around and smirked at us. And in that moment, Ian and I both fell head fucking first just to get our hearts broken. Great.

Ian and I finally stepped out and made our way up the stone path. As we waited in front of the vibrant-colored door, we heard distant bickering in sharp, hushed voices. It struck a feeling in my gut and I knew Ian had to be feeling it too. We knocked again and I heard Ashley grumble something, before swinging open the door. Her blank expression turned to excited in 0.5 seconds and she basically attacked Ian with a hug.

"For fuck's sake, finally!" she exclaimed and hugged me next. I chuckled half-heartedly and hugged her back, pulling away once I saw Emily standing behind her.

My breath literally caught in my front as she stood there and every distant memory came rushing back.

It didn't take much to tell that she was having the same feeling. She cleared her throat a little and gave a forced smile. "Hi," she said and hugged Ian, then paused at me. If it wasn't for Ashley's glare at me, I probably wouldn't have made the step and gave her a hug.

Jesus, I had missed her. I couldn't believe I let myself hate her... I felt like shit. Worthless. And in those five seconds, I found myself falling for her all over again.

Once the awkwardness of the hug had wore off, Ashley clasped her hands together with a grin. "Okay, let's get inside," she said and looked to Ian. "You better have picked out something good or I'm sending your ass back to the video store. Oh, and Zacky and Brian just called. They'll be here soon."

My insides twisted at the name and I felt my blood boil. I had to stay calm, but fuck, it was hard.