The Worst Choice

The next morning, I was sitting at the table eating cereal. Aurora and my mom were there too, but nobody was speaking. My mom’s been a little weird to me after the whole incident with the antique shop. I understand being mad, but she’s been… completely different. It’s awkward between us and when we do talk, she’s usually just telling me what to do.

“Are you almost finished, Aurora?” I asked, glancing at the clock. “We’ve still gonna pick up Nash.”

“Yeah, let me just go get my book bag,” Aurora said, putting her bowl in the sink before disappearing upstairs.

I got up and put my bowl in the sink. “You’re picking up Nash?” I heard my mom ask.

I turned around to face her, leaning on the sink. “Yeah. I figure it’s not really out of my way, so,” I said.

“Hm, interesting,” she said shortly.

I sighed. “Mom, I-“

“I’m ready!” Aurora called, coming down the steps. I frowned, but walked out of the kitchen anyway. I followed Aurora out of the house and stood in front of my car, admiring it. It was such a shitty car, but since I’ve been without it the past month or so, it feels like I’m looking at a purple Lambo or something. “Ash? You okay?”

I sighed in content. “I’m amazing, and so is my car,” I said, gazing at it a couple more seconds before walking over to the driver’s side and unlocking it.

Aurora scoffed. “Yeah, right,” she said. “I can’t wait until I get my first car.”

I snorted, starting up the car. “Your car won’t be much better than this one,” I said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned out to be your first car.”

“I definitely hope not,” she muttered.

The entire car ride to Nash’s, I couldn’t help but think about my mom. Nash told me that Jeremy comes and checks up on him every now and then, and he has civil conversations with him. Hell, Nash goes on and on about how cool Jeremy is. But my mom on this other hand… she isn’t as forgiving. Which I don’t understand because I’ve always considered my mom to be pretty lenient when it comes to things. I mean, come on, she let Nash stay the night after she found him sleeping in my bed without her permission!

Before I knew it, we were in front of Nash’s house. “Nash lives here…?” Aurora asked in confusion.

“Yep,” I answered shortly. I’ve never been on the inside of his house, so I can’t really speak for that, but the outside didn’t look… that bad.

Who am I kidding; the place looked like it was abandoned and probably haunted. I mean, it looked like it could be a cute little house with effort, but it was made out of cement and there were barbed wires on the left side of it, separating it from a big field. It had a little porch thing at the front door, but the wood holding it up looked like it was ready to collapse any second. There were piles of logs on the porch, along with a white lawn chair that was broken and lying sideways. The door had a rectangular window on it that was covered with something so you couldn't see inside and the windows were black.

I saw the door open before Nash hurried out of it, closing it quickly. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt, dark skinny jeans and the black skater shoes he always wore. But he still pretty much took my breath away. How an outfit so simple could do that, I have no clue.

Nash opened the back door, throwing his book bag in before sliding himself in. I looked back at him and saw him trying to situate his long legs in the tight space. “Aurora can sit in the back, right?” I asked, looking at her.

“Oh, yeah. Sure,” she answered, going to unbuckle his seat belt.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Nash said, yawning.

“You sure?” I asked, turning back to look at him.

He gave me a sleepy smile. “Yeah, it’s a lot easier to sleep back here anyway.”



“Ashlyn!” Kat screamed, before running and hugging me tightly, causing me to step backward a few steps and Nash let go of my hand.

“Kat, calm down,” I said, laughing but hugging her back anyway. “We saw each other not that long ago.”

She pulled away. “Yeah, briefly while you were picking up trash on the side of the road,” she said. “By the way, how are you and Nash?”

Nash answered before I could. “We’re good.” He laced his fingers with mine again.

Kat jumped, like she didn’t even see him there. “Where did you come from?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I guess my parents got horny a couple years ago and-“

“Okay, okay,” she interrupted. “I get it.” He just smirked at her.

“Where’s Taylor and Jenn?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Taylor went with Tommy to get their schedules and Jenn caught a ride from Harry. I guess they’ll be a little late…” she trailed.

“Harry?” I repeated. “Who the hell is Harry?”

“That guy she’s been dating for the past couple of weeks.”

“Wow, I love how everybody tells me these things,” I said sarcastically.

“You haven’t been the easiest person to get ahold of lately,” she said. “But come on, let’s go get our schedules!”