I'm Just a Reject.

Maisie woke with a familiar dizziness that she had grown accustomed to after countless nights out drinking, what she was not accustomed to however was the feeling of someone’s strong, muscular arm pulling her close by her waist as she attempted to get up.
Immediately she knew something was up. Sam’s arms were definitely not that muscular.

Frowning, Maisie opened her eyes to survey her surroundings. The bed was rather large with navy blue sheets messily draped over herself and mystery guy behind her. Speaking of, his arm was draped protectively over her waist holding her back to his chest.
The room was dark and somewhat messy from what Maisie could gage from her position on the bed.

She tried again to wiggle out of the boys arms but in doing so he seemed to tighten his grip on the girl and she gave up, lying back down and relaxing.
Fortunately, Maisie was somewhat experienced in manoeuvring out of strong arms, so after waiting for him to relax his grip slightly, Maisie was able to easily slip out of his grasp only to earn a groan from the boy.

Finally Maisie was able to turn and get a good look at the boy she had spent the night with. She took in his dirty blond hair which was stood up in various directions, his furrowed eyebrows, clenched eye lids, pursed lips, and the faint sign of his dimples.
Maisie sat and indulged herself in getting a good look at his boy because damn was he attractive, even if looking slightly pissed and asleep.

She didn't plan to stay to see his hazel-green eyes sparkle in the morning light or hear his hoarse morning voice grumble about the sunshine but upon retreating down the stairs, she found that only his car was in the driveway and she had no idea where she was let alone how to get back to Stella’s to pick up her poor car.
So instead she poured herself a cup of freshly brewed coffee and sat on the kitchen counter, waiting for the boy to wake up and hopefully give her directions - if not a lift - back to Stella’s.

After waiting an hour and still hearing no movement from the boy about her Maisie hopped off the counter and retraced her steps back up to his bedroom leaving her half drank second cup of coffee on the counter behind her.

She quietly entered the room and immediately wished she had knocked. “Oh god I’m sorry!” She squealed as she was faced with the boy, completely naked and with his back now facing the girl. Maisie meant to just walk out of the room and wait for him to come out dressed, but she couldn’t. Her feet were planted to the ground while her eyes lingered on his body.

The boy simply chuckled, obviously rather comfortable with his body. But he did reach for a towel to cover his lower half before turning to face the girl, who's eyes had been shamelessly roaming the boys body. “No problem but could ya close the door, unless of course you would like to see me get changed” He winked at the girl, who's guard was back up. She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Hurry up, you have to drive me back to Stella’s and I’d like it to be before evening” She called while walking back downstairs.
A few minutes later the boy had emerged down the stairs, fully dressed. “You need a lift?” He asked.
“Well yeah, it’s very clear you drove us hear and i have things to do which require my car and I don’t know how to walk back from here” She shrugged in response.
“Right okay, well let’s go then” He grabbed his car keys and motioned for Maisie to follow him.

The ride felt awkward to Maisie, she had never had to say much to the guy the morning after a hook up so she didn't really know what to say. Finally though, the boy pulled up to Stella’s house with Maisie’s car still sat where she parked it.
“Okay well um thanks..” She trailed off, not knowing the boys name. “Um last night was fun, I guess” She mumbled, not really remembering much about the boy or their experience.

She had expected that to be the end of the conversation but the boy in the driver seat chuckled at her. “Woah okay, two things before you go; first, my name’s Ashton, in case you forgot Maisie.” He said, putting emphasis on her name to prove that he had remembered her name. “And second, we didn't do anything last night, like we made out a little but you only came home because you fell asleep on me”
“Oh, well yeah anyway thanks Ash” She reiterated before finally leaving the car.

Aston headed back home as soon as she shut the car door as his stomach was aching for some food, his mind lingering on the thought of the petite brunette for some reason.
It wasn't like he hadn't had his fair share of one night stands with girls but that was just it, it wasn't even a one night stand. They'd just slept together - in the most innocent form of the phrase.
So after making and demolishing a stack of pancakes, Ashton decided to push the thoughts of Maisie aside and forget about her - she was just another girl at just another party.

Ashton internally slapped the hopeless romantic side of him that was yelling ‘There’s something different about this girl though. She’s not just some girl!’. He disposed that side of himself and hadn't trusted it since his early high school years, and since those relationships clearly didn't work Ash decided to forget long-term romantic relationships for the time being and just focus on the easier things in life; alcohol, hook-ups and drugs.

&&&

Maisie stopped her bike on the track and set it down where she sat beside it on a bench. She stared through the greenery to the view of the beach in the distance.
She lit up a cigarette as she imagined all that lay behind the blue waves of the ocean. It was contradictory of Maisie to be doing so much exercise but at the same time smoke and drink as much as she did, but she didn't care. The bike rides calmed her and so did the cigarettes.

Maisie stayed sat on the bench for what felt like forever. It was a spot she had been going to for years and something about it had the power to relax her more than any drugs could ever.
Not many people passed through the track since it was pretty overgrown but that just meant she could revel in the silence undisturbed.
That was until this day. Maisie blew out the cigarette smoke and sighed as she heard footsteps making their way towards her position, they were moving quickly which indicated that the person was running of jogging so wouldn't bother her peace much.

That thought didn't last long, because when the footsteps became meters away from the girl they stopped. “Maisie?” A voice called out, the person making their way towards her slower now.
“Are you stalking me now?” She asked the curly haired boy. This was now the second time in the past week that Maisie and Ashton had happened to run into each other. The first time took place at the ice cream parlour where they both happened to visit and was sufficiently awkward.

Maisie attempted to ignore Ashton as he waltzed into the store, laughing loudly with his friends, and instead tried to focus on Sam but she really did not care for his all too explicit recount of walking in on his mum in the shower the previous night.

All throughout their time in the parlour, Maisie would sneak glances at Ashton who would almost always be starring right back at her.
“Mais are you even listening?” Sam snapped her out of the semi intense staring match between herself and Ashton.
“Uh yeah sorry, zoned out” She shook her head and focused only on Sam.
“Who are you checking out? They better be hot as hell if you're going to ignore me!” Sam whisper-yelled at the girl and turned to follow her previous line of sight. He quickly swung back around to face Maisie once more. “No. Not him Mais” He said sternly.
“I wasn't going to- wait, what do you mean no?” She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. 
“That’s Ashton Iriwn, he's bad news and I don't want you getting mixed up in people like him” Maisie rolled her eyes at her best friends protectiveness.
“What do you mean ‘people like him’, he was at the party with Calum” She shrugged her shoulders.
Sam demanded she explain what she meant by that but she was cut off when said boy approached the table.
“Hey sweet cheeks” Both Sam and Maisie rolled their eyes at the boy.
“What do you want?” Maisie asked slightly too rude than she intended.
“Well I heard my name being spoken and i assumed it was because you were telling your friend here about how I was the best you’ve ever had” Maisie scoffed.
“Oh please, we did not have sex. I fell asleep on him and he let me stay round his” She explained to Sam.
“Well thats why I came here, to give you my number so you can call when you’re ready to experience the night of your life” He left a napkin with his number messily scrawled on it on the table, stood up and turned away with a wink.

“You wish” Ash chuckled as he sat beside the girl. “Actually, I was on a run but I got a bit lost” He admitted.
“Oh please, you sounded like you knew exactly where you were going” Maisie took another drag of her cigarette.
“Sounds like you were stalking me” The boy chuckled and nudged Maisie with his shoulder.
“Right, that’s why I was here first” She shook her head at the boy.

They ended up talking for quite some time, and were actually getting along quite well, much to Maisie’s surprise. That was until things started to get awkward.

Not in the same way as at the ice cream parlour though. More like there was some weird tension between the pair.

They could both feel it but attempted to hide it as they continued to talk.

After a while though, it became to hard to hide for Ashton. He had watched Maisie’s eyes travel down from his own eyes to his lips three times before he decided to do something.

The fourth time Maisie’s eyes travelled down, Ashton leaned forward and connected their lips. Maisie kissed back at first but pulled away soon after.

The kiss wasn't like most kisses. It wasn't filled with lust or passion. It felt awkward to both Ashton and Maisie.

“I have to admit, that wasn't what i was expecting” Ash furrowed his brows in confusion. Their kisses at Stella’s party felt so good, he wondered what was different.
“That’s because we were drunk and horny last time” Maisie chuckled and stood up. “Well this was..good. See ya around Ash” She said as she mounted her bike once again.
“Wait, I actually am kinda lost, can you at least tell me how to get back?” He rubbed the back of his neck whilst looking around.

“Are you going to the beach or park?” Maisie asked, silently hoping he would say beach so she wouldn't have to feel obliged to accompany him.
“Park” Maisie internally sighed.
“Oh well, uh I guess you can follow me then” She shrugged and started walking her bike back to where she had come from.

After a while of walking in silence, Ash spoke up. “Aren’t you going to ride?” He jutted his chin towards her bike beside her. “I’ll run, I can keep up”
“Are you sure?” She challenged.
“Oh I’m sure” He smiled smugly but she still didn't mount the bike.
“Actually, would you care to make this interesting?”
“What are you thinking?” He raised his eyebrows as Maisie put her bike back in the ground and chained it to the bench, making a mental note to pick it up the next day.
“Let’s race, loser buys frozen yogurt after” Ashton quickly agreed and they set off.

Maisie had a large advantage, since she knew the track like the back of her hand, and Ash knew it.
They ran almost side by side for the better part of 20 minutes before they caught a glimpse of the clearing that lead to the small park. At that point they both picked up pace and it became highly competitive, but in the end Ashton’s large frame over-took her and won.

“You’re quick Fields I’ll give you that, just not quick enough” He grinned at the girl as she took a large gulp of her drink.
“shut it Irwin” She nudged his side softly. “Come on then, let’s go get some fro-yo”

They took off towards the shop and fell into a comfortable silence.
At the shop they fell into friendly conversation, and Maisie had to admit she enjoyed being able to talk so openly about herself to someone besides Sam.

They were both oddly comfortable in each others company, as if they had been friends for years and not just met a week ago. They were quite flirty with each other but it was clear to them both that it was nothing more than friendly and that they would just be those kind of friends.

Once they had finished their frozen yogurts, the pair exchanged numbers and set off in their own directions. Both very clear that, despite their first encounter, they were nothing more than friends - if that. Maisie still felt unsure of the boy and trusting him.