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The next morning Ashley again waited for the bus in front of her community. When she boarded she noticed Marissa and the other girls weren’t there. She saw Matt sitting toward the back of the bus with his friends. He smiled at her and waved her back to where they were sitting.

“Hey.” She smiled at him as she approached taking a seat in the empty row across from him. “Where’s your sister?”

“She woke up late so my moms driving her and the other girls in. She was gonna call you to ride with them but she didn’t have you’re number.” He laughed. “Leave it to her to wake up late on the second day of school.”

Ashley laughed a little and smiled shyly at him.

“So where were you yesterday after school? We didn’t see you on the bus ride home.” He asked.

“Oh. My brother surprised me and picked me up from school.” By now Ashley had become accustomed to calling AJ her brother. She always felt as if he was her big brother anyway and AJ usually referred to her as his little sister.

“Are you gonna ride home on the bus today?” he asked.

“I was actually thinking about checking out the Drama Club after school. So I guess someone will come pick me up when it’s over.”

“That sounds cool. The fall musical is usually pretty good. I kinda always wanted to try out but my sister always told me it was stupid.” He confided in her.

“Are you serious?” she laughed a little. “Why does she think it’s stupid? If you like something you should go for it.”

“Don’t tell her I told you but she tried out once and didn’t make it. She’s thought it was stupid ever since. But you’re right, I shouldn’t care what she thinks. ” He smiled at her as the bus pulled up to the school.

“I’ll see you in class later.” Matt waved as he headed in the opposite direction as they exited the bus.



The end of the day came fast for Ashley. Although she had seen and spoke to Matt throughout the day he hadn’t mentioned anything more about going to the Drama Club meeting after school. She figured it might be because Marissa was around.

As the final bell rang Ashley headed to her locker to gather her things before heading to the auditorium. She closed her locker and almost screamed, dropping her bag in the process, surprised to see Matt smiling on the other side of the door.

“Oh my god. You scared me.” She laughed as she retrieved her bag from the floor.

“Sorry.” He grinned laughing a little. “I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay. I’ll survive the minor heart attack.” She teased.

“So are you still going to the Drama Club meeting?” he asked as she started walking down the hall.

“Yea. On my way there now. What about you? Do you dare go against the words of Marissa?” she laughed.

“Hey! I have a mind of my own as much as she likes to think otherwise and I can do whatever I want.” He retorted.

“So then I take that as a yes?”

“Yes.” He replied simply with a smile.


They walked into the auditorium and took a seat towards the front. It was already crowded and she was surprised at how many people were there. Ashley listened intently as the meeting began.

“Hello everyone. As many of you know I am Michael Dunham the musical director here. Welcome back to those who have been here before and a big welcome to those of you who are new. We will have an amazing time this year in the drama club. For those of you who don’t know we have two big shows a year. The first is our fall musical which takes place just after Thanksgiving and the second is our Spring Showcase where we highlight some of our best performers and do a few group performances.” He briefed everyone on the upcoming events. “I know all of you are anxious to know what our Fall Musical will be and I’m just as anxious to tell you.” He grinned at them. “So without further ado the fall musical will be…” he paused for dramatic effect then continued. “GREASE!”

The chatter grew among the crowd as everyone excitedly responded. Michael shushed them trying to regain control.

“Now there will obviously be our two leads, Sandy and Danny. This roll is only open to eighth graders. The rolls of the Pink Lady’s and the T-Birds are priority rolls for eighth graders but can go to seventh graders as well. There will be plenty of chorus rolls and other jobs available to every one else. We have audition pieces up here. There will be two rounds of auditions for our two leads, a solo audition and then a duo audition for the top 3 boys and girls. We will choose who works together on those.” He began to hand out audition forms.

“As you can see on the forms there are three lines for characters. Put down your top 3 that you would like to audition for and make sure that your song and scene are completely memorized on audition day. Come pick up scripts and lyrics in the front and you are free to go for today. There will be an audition sign-up list on the door make sure you sign up for a time on the way out and auditions are next week after school on Monday! See you all then and good luck!” he dismissed them.

“Who do you think you’re gonna audition for?” Matt finally spoke as they picked up the scripts in front.

“I think Sandy and then a Pink Lady. Might as well go big or go home right?” she laughed a little.

“You’re right. There’s no harm in at least trying. If we don’t get the big rolls maybe we’ll at least be in it.” He replied as they headed to the sign up sheet.

“It would be cool though.” She smiled as she signed her name to the paper. As they left the auditorium Ashley searched for her phone in her bag.

“I have to see if my brothers home to pick me up or I might have to wait.” She said as they walked out the front door and sat on the steps.

“My mom is usually out so I guess I have to wait around here until she gets home.” Matt said as he sat down.

“What about your dad?”

“Oh.” Matt frowned. “My parents are divorced my dad moved to Miami so he’s not around that much.”

“Oh I’m sorry.” Ashley said feeling bad.

“It’s ok.“he smiled a little reassuringly. “What about you? Are your parents still together?”

Ashley froze for a second. She didn’t know what to say. ‘Both my parents are dead?’ that didn’t sound to cheerful. She panicked and said the first thing that came to mind.

“I live with my mom.” She lied. She knew lying wouldn’t solve anything but she didn’t want people feeling sorry for her. “I better call my brother before he goes out or something.” She quickly changed the subject.

“Hey Alex…” she said as he picked up. “Yea I’m done can you come get me? Thanks see ya soon.” She said as she hung up.

“I called home Marissa said my mom wouldn’t be home till six so I guess I’m stuck here.” He said as he put his phone away.

Ashley thought for a second. She knew it was risky introducing him to AJ especially since no one had asked her about him yet but she would feel bad leaving him there by himself for a few hours.

“I’m sure my brother could drop you off at home.” She looked over at him.

“Are you sure? I mean I don’t wanna waste his time.”

“It’s no problem really.” She reassured him.


A few minutes later AJ pulled up in his truck. Ashley and Matt walked toward the car. He rolled down the window as they approached.

“Hey Alex.” She smiled at him as she opened the door. “You wouldn’t mind dropping my friend off at his house right? His mom can’t come get him until 6.”

“No problem. Hop on in.”

“Thanks so much. I really appreciate it.” Matt said as he got in the back and shut the door.

“It’s no big deal.” AJ said turning to face him. “I’m AJ by the way.”

“Matt.” He replied as he shook his hand.

“So Matt, where to?” AJ asked as he pulled away from the school.

“Sunshine Villas.” Matt replied.

“Ok. I know exactly where that is.” He said as he headed in the direction of Matt’s house. “So what were you doing after school that you missed the bus?” AJ turned his attention to Ashley.

“Drama Club meeting. The auditions for the musical are next week.”

“That’s cool. What musical is it?” he asked.

“Grease.” Ashley grinned. “It’s my favorite.”

“I always wanted to be in Grease. John Travolta made Danny Zuko so cool.” He confessed laughing.

“Have you always been a dork?” she teased.

“Shut up or I’ll drop him off and make you walk home.” He retorted.

She stuck her tongue out at him and just turned the radio on.

A few minutes later they arrived at Matt’s house.

“Thanks so much again.” Matt said as he got out of the car. “I’ll see you tomorrow on the bus.” Matt smiled at Ashley.

“Bye Matt.” She smiled back. “See you tomorrow.” She watched as he walked up the driveway to his house.

“Bye Matt.” AJ mocked her batting his eyes. “Someone’s got a crush.” He teased.

“I do not!” she shot back.

“Uh huh whatever you say.” He laughed as he drove them back home.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Her first week of school flew by and before she knew it the weekend had arrived. AJ had returned back to California to get back to work with the boys and Ashley knew it would be a while before she saw him again. She was laying across one of the chairs in the movie room watching TV when she heard her cell phone ring. She paused the TV and picked it up not recognizing the number.

“Hello?” she asked timidly.

“Hey Ashley.” The familiar voice brought a smile to her face. ”It’s Matt.” He informed her although she had already figured that out. Grinning from ear to ear she tried to maintain her cool.

“Oh hey.” She said nonchalantly.

“I hope you don’t mind but Marissa gave me your number.”

“Oh yea that’s no problem.”

“I was wondering if you’ve memorized your lines for the audition on Monday yet.”

“I looked over them like once but I haven’t really focused on it yet. I wanted to get the rest of my homework out of the way first.” She informed him.

“Oh yea that was a good idea.” He paused for a few seconds before speaking up again. “Cuz’ I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to run lines together. I mean I know they pick pairs for the duo audition but I figured it be good to work on it with someone and since you’re auditioning too I figured you might want someone to run it with. If you don’t want to that ok I understand.” He quickly stumbled threw the sentence.

She could hear he was nervous and tried to stifle a giggle.

“Um yea no that’s a good idea. My house is pretty quiet there’s a lot of room to practice if you wanna come over here.” She offered.

“Um yea sure that sounds fine I can have my mom drop me off. Is now okay?”

“Yea sure.” She gave him all her information on how to get to her house. “I’ll leave your name at the gate and they’ll let you in. See you soon.” She smiled from ear to ear as she hung up. She ran upstairs to let Denise know that someone would be coming over.

“Aunt Denise?” she called out looking around from room to room.

“I’m outside sweet heart.” Denise called back.

Ashley walked outside to the covered pool area and took a seat next to Denise who was reading a book relaxed in a lounge chair.

“I thought you were watching a movie.” Denise asked placing down the book on the nearby table.

“I was but one of my friends called and asked if we could run lines for the auditions together and I know I should have asked first but I was excited and I kinda just told him he could come here. I hope that’s okay.” She rambled hoping Denise wouldn’t be mad that she hadn’t asked permission first.

“That’s no problem dear. Is this the friend that Alex was teasing you about all week?” she asked with a coy smile.

Ashley blushed a little. AJ couldn’t help but to tell everyone about her ‘crush’.

“Don’t worry about it sweetheart I know he’s just your friend. I won’t tease you.”

Ashley smiled at her and gave her a hug. It was just then that she had remembered her little lie that she had told Matt a few days earlier.

“There’s one more little thing I forgot about.” She said her smile fading. Denise signaled her to go on.

“Well the other day we were talking about who we live with and stuff and I didn’t want anyone to feel bad for me or anything about not really having parents anymore and so I kinda lied and said that you were my mom. Which is kinda true now so I guess I didn’t really lie but I just didn’t know what to say. I’m not ready for everyone to know all that about me.” She sighed trying to fight back tears that wanted to fall.

“Honey I know that this past year has been hard on you and it’s okay to not want to let everyone in on what’s going on. Especially people you just met. Now you know that I would never want to take the place of your mother but if you feel comfortable with the situation then you are more then welcome to tell people that I’m your mom.” Denise embraced her.

“Do you think my mom would be mad at me?” she couldn’t fight back the tears any more. She quickly wiped them away as they fell down her cheek.

“Honey no one will ever replace your mother in your heart, no matter who you call mom. She knows that you love her and she wants you to be happy.”

“Aunt Denise?” she asked pulling out of the hug and wiping away a few more tears. Denise nodded a yes. “Can I call you mom?” she asked timidly.

“Of course you can sweetheart.” She kissed her cheek and pushed a stray hair out of her face. “Whenever you want.” She reassured her.

“Thanks.” Ashley smiled a little and took a deep breath getting up from her chair. “God I better go splash some water on my face before Matt gets here.” She laughed a little. “Thanks so much for everything. You’re the best.” She kissed her cheek and ran off to clean herself up.



Five minutes later the sound of the doorbell echoed through the house. Ashley, who had just finished changing clothes, rushed down the stairs to the front door. She took a deep breath to compose herself before opening it.

“Hey Matt.” She smiled at him and opened the door further so he could come inside.

“Hey.” He smiled back as she shut the door. “This house is huge. You were right when you said I wouldn’t miss it.” He laughed a little.

“Yea. It is pretty big.”

“Just you and you’re mom live here?”

“Mostly. But my brother has his own room and sometimes my grandfather stays with us so he has a room. C’mon I’ll show you around and then we can get down to business.” She said as she gave him the tour of the house.

When she finished showing him the whole house she took him outside to introduce him to Denise.

“Mom?” she said timidly poking her head out onto the patio feeling kind of weird at first. Denise smiled and waved them back putting her book down again.

“Hey sweetie I heard you answering the door I was wondering when you would make your way back here.” She smiled. “You must be Matt.” She shook his hand.

“Yes mam.” He answered politely as he shook her hand.

“Mam is so formal.” She laughed. “You can call me Denise.”

“Okay.” He smiled a little loosening up.

“We’ll we’re gonna get to rehearsing. We’ll be in the movie room if you need us.”

“Ok you kids have fun.” She smiled as they left the room and headed to the TV room.

“Your mom seems really nice.” Matt said as they sat down on the recliners.

“Yea.” Ashley smiled a little. “We have sodas and chips and stuff over there in the cabinet if you want anything.” She quickly changed the subject. She felt secure calling Denise mom but she still needed some time to get used to it.

They rehearsed for about an hour before calling it quits. Ashley found herself at ease talking to him and she was surprised that she wasn’t nervous to sing her audition song for him either. She was also in awe of how good he was. He had such a good voice there was no way that he wouldn’t get picked to play Danny. Even though when she had finished her song he told her that she had the best voice that he had heard from all the years he’d seen the school play she still doubted herself and her abilities. She shook all her doubts aside and decided to just give it her best shot, the worst that could happen was she didn’t get picked.

As they put away their papers Ashley felt her stomach start to grumble. She glanced at the clock and saw it was already 6:00. ‘No wonder I’m hungry. I haven’t ate since this morning.’ She thought to herself.

“What time did your mom say she was picking you up?” she asked.

“She can’t come until like 9:30. I hope that’s ok?” he replied.

“Well I’m starving. We can go upstairs and get some dinner and watch a movie till she comes if you want.”

“That sounds good to me. I’m staring to get a little hungry.” He confessed.

Ashley headed up the stairs with Matt in tow and found Denise in the kitchen.

“Hey mom?” She smiled at her. “Do we have anything for dinner we’re getting kinda hungry.”

“Two steps ahead of you sweetie. I already ordered some pizza.”

“Awesome.” She smiled taking a seat at one of the counter stools and motioning for Matt to sit down.

“I heard you guys practicing, it sounded really good.” She smiled at them. “I think we might have the next Sandy and Danny right here.”

“I wish.” They both said in unison laughing at each other.

“Well the pizza should be here any minute. I have some laundry to do so the money’s on the counter.” Denise said as she left for the laundry room.


A few minutes later the doorbell rang and Ashley got the pizza. She brought it into the kitchen and placed it on the counter.

“Wanna eat this in the movie room and watch a movie till your mom comes?” she asked grabbing plates and cups from the cabinet.

“Yea sounds good. I’ll carry the pizza down for you.” He said grabbing the box.

“Thanks.” She smiled as they headed downstairs.

They decided on watching ‘Meet the Parents’ and settled in on the recliners with their pizza. When the movie was over they brought their plates and the leftover pizza back upstairs. Just as they placed their plates in the sink Matt’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and saw it was his mom. After hanging up he turned his attention back towards Ashley.

“My mom said she’ll be here in five minutes. She wants me to wait outside.”

“I can wait with you.” She said as they headed towards the door.

“Thanks again for practicing with me and for dinner. I feel good about the auditions on Monday now.” He smiled.

“Me too.” She smiled back shyly. “I’m glad we got to practice.”

“Yea…”he nervously stuck his hands in his pocket.

“Yea…” Ashley sighed biting her lip not knowing what else to say.

He looked over at her and started to lean closer to her. Ashley could feel the butterflies in her stomach start to fly. Just as he was leaning close enough to kiss her he heard the sound of his moms horn coming from the drive way.

“Matt. Come on we need to go.” She called as she rolled down the window.

Both Ashley and Matt blushed in embarrassment and turned away from each other.

“Umm. I’ll see you at school Monday.” He said quickly as he fled to the car.

“Bye.” She said shyly feeling her cheeks flush.

When the car was finally out of sight she took a deep breath trying to regain her self before returning inside to relax for a while before going to sleep.