My eyes dropped to Ashton’s last words on my phone.
Ashton: And I’m not fuckin you.
I rolled my eyes and whispered just before she opened the door to leave. “Right.”
The night air was gray and I was still able to see the clouds float beneath the bright stars. Heating lamps were placed throughout the lawn, and the big screen projected the pictures and bios of actors and the production team in the upcoming film, White Heaven Black Hell. The lawn had been filling up fast in the twenty minutes I’d been out here. I glanced down at my phone again for the time of Ashton’s last BBM. It was sixteen minutes ago when he said he was out of the shower and putting his clothes on.
I had his blanket next to me, saving a spot for him. And when his Panthers crew came along with him, they’d make room for themselves, moving anyone next to Ashton. They were horrible humans that way. But what was taking them so long was the question.
It had been six days since Ashton took me away for his birthday and four since I’d hung out with him. Between me preparing for the fight I had yesterday, his game on Monday, and him practicing for the next Panthers’ playoff game, we hadn’t seen much of each other off the athletic campus. So when he BBM’d me saying he was coming to the lawn movie tonight after their practice and to save a seat for him, I was…nervous. I made sure to wear jeans instead of sweats and earrings instead of a hat. I put on the only lipglass I had, and made sure to splash on a little body spray. I would never admit it to him, but I’d missed the bossy, controlling, mean human, Ashton.
“Can you hold this while I lay out my sleeping bag?” Lyricah was over my left shoulder, handing me a cup of popcorn.
She lay her soda on the ground to the left of her where Samantha, Neemah, and Teefah were setting up their blankets, too. I was expecting them. When I ran into Lyricah in the student center, on my way to class a couple of days ago, she reminded me she’d be here and sitting next to me. Talk about aggressively making friends. I didn’t want to be friends with Samantha’s friends, just cool with them. The same with the Panthers. We were cool, not friends.
I grabbed the popcorn, fighting an eye-roll, then checked my phone again. Nothing from Ashton. My neck twisted, searching the crowd. Where was he?
“Hey, Tori!” Samantha shouted me out on the other side of her friend, now sitting on her blanket. “You know when Dre and the guys are supposed to get here?”
Right. Because he’d sit with her.
I shook my head. “No clue.”
Lyricah finally settled in next to me, her legs in her sleeping bag as she reached for her popcorn from me. “Chilly night, huhn?” Then her chin tossed. “Extra blanket?”
I glanced down beside me to Ashton’s blanket he had me pick up from his apartment earlier to save his spot.
“Spence’s,” I murmured, attention going back to my phone.
“Oh!” she chirped. “So, he will be here?”
I shrugged, wanting her to disappear. Not in the best mood from being a little achy from my fight yesterday, the only thing I was grateful for was my period being off. It was a crappy cycle this time. Still, I didn’t want to be around humans—well, only one. And if I had to sacrifice exposing my energy to others, I’d do it just for some time with him.
Until another feminine voice sang out over my head on the right side. “Oh, here you are.” Fuck! All I could do was stare at her. “I had a feeling you would be here, but not with…” She pushed her pouted lips toward Lyricah, Samantha, and the rest of the science crew. When I turned back to Aivery, I saw Karmen and Andrea setting up the blankets. That only meant one thing. Shit! “It is what it is,” she grumbled, flinging her sleeping bag in the air to unroll it. It lay out on the ground right next to Ashton’s.
“Oh, damn,” Lyricah muttered, under her voice, then tossed popcorn in her mouth.
Aivery settled herself on the ground, not giving any attention to the rolled-up blanket between us. She talked a little amongst her girls, Andrea taking orders for the concession stand.