“Oh my god mom! Mom!” Ashley yelled out running through the front door of the condo two weeks later. “Mom!”
“What is it? Are you ok?” Denise said frantically coming down the stairs to meet her.
“Guess what!” Ashley could barely contain her excitement.
“Breath first, then tell me.” Denise laughed and led her into the living room.
Ashley took a moment to catch her breath and them continued.
“So Meghan was playing Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors but she apparently hooked up with Lewis who was dating Tami, who hasn’t been at school for a week cuz she has mono and now she got mono and she can’t come to school or be around anyone for like a few weeks cuz’ everyone else could get it and so Rebecca was the original understudy for Meghan but she dropped out last week and so now Mr. Davis was looking for someone else who could learn all the lines in such short notice without throwing everyone else off and guess who he picked?” Ashley rambled on so fast Denise could barely catch two words.
“Honey can you run that by me again and maybe a little slower?” Denise laughed a little.
“Me! He picked me!” Ashley ignored her request not wanting to go through the run down again. “I’m playing Audrey!”
“Honey that’s amazing!” Denise hugged her and congratulated her.
“And Mr. Davis said that if I pull this off I’m a shoe in for the summer program! I mean I had a chance before but if I do good he said that one of the freshman spots are mine!”
“You only have a week and a half to learn everything. I know you can pull it off but won’t it be tough with the end of the school year coming up?”
“Finals aren’t until a week after the play so I have plenty of time to study and I’m doing fine in school I just have to learn these lines in the next two days.”
“Well if you need to run lines just ask me.” Denise smiled at her.
“Will do.” Ashley smiled back. “I’m gonna go start memorizing lines now. I already know most of the music, thank god.”
“Ok. I’ll call your for dinner soon.”
“Thanks mom!” Ashley smiled and made her way to her room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Thanks for meeting me for lunch man.” AJ said as he took a seat across from Brian.
“No problem. What’s been going on?” Brian asked as he took the menu from the waitress, smiling up at her. They quickly placed their orders. As she walked away Brian motioned AJ to begin.
“I’ve just been feeling really stressed lately. Keeping clean is harder then I originally anticipated. There are so many nights I just wish I would give up and take a drink.” He confided. “My sponsor helps with my cravings but sometimes I just need to reconnect with you guys, keep my head straight, ya know?”
“What’s been stressing you out?” Brian asked concerned.
“Ashley.” AJ sighed. “I just don’t know what to do about her. She’s growing up too fast and for the wrong reasons, but I can’t seem to get threw to her.”
“Have you talked to your mom about it?”
“I can’t do that. She wants to know she can trust me again, how can she if I run to my mom every time she does something wrong?” he rubbed his head in frustration. “The only way she’ll even talk to me is if everything stays between us, I pretty much have to blackmail her into having a conversation.”
“That’s your problem man.” Brian looked at him as if the answer was obvious.
“What are you talking about?”
“Think about it. She wants you to show her that you’ve changed since rehab right?” AJ just raised an eyebrow not following him, so he continued. “When all this drama was happening with you pre rehab you would blackmail her to get your way…it looks to me like you’re still doing that. Not so much for the wrong reasons, but in her mind it’s still the same.”
“I just don’t know where to go from here. I feel like were in so deep already that there’s no way to mend things anymore.”
“There’s always a way to fix things AJ but for starters you have to start acting like her big brother first and then be her friend.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s take for instance the little incident you told me about a few weeks ago. You didn’t handle that like her brother. I know you, there is no way in hell that you would stay that calm under normal circumstances.” Brian looked at him seriously. “You need to stop sugar coating things just to make her happy. So what if she gets mad at you for a few days? She’ll get over it and she’ll respect you more for telling her how you really feel. You know that she didn’t believe that you were ok with everything that went down, but as long as you let her walk all over you she will.”
“I just don’t want her to hate me.” He stared down at the table.
“You know that she will never hate you, no matter what you do.”
They paused for a moment as the waitress brought their food to the table.
“So what am I supposed to do now?” AJ asked.
“Start trying to really show her you’ve changed. Think back to all that you haven’t done in the past and do the opposite. She wants you to make up for what you’ve missed.” Brian took a bite of her burger as he studied AJ’s face; who was clearly in deep thought. As he swallowed his food he continued. “Let me help you out. What started this whole ordeal in the first place?” Brian asked knowing the answer.
“Me missing all her stuff.” AJ shrugged.
“Come on, work with me.” Brian laughed a little. “More specifically missing what?”
“Her play?” AJ answered unsure of what Brian was shooting at.
“Bingo! We have a winner.” He smirked at AJ’s un-amused glance.
“She doesn’t want me there. She tells mom every time to make sure I know nothing about them.”
“AJ seriously, do you believe she really doesn’t want you there? Or maybe she just doesn’t want you to know because she doesn’t want to be let down again?”
“How is it that you can figure out more about my sister in like 20 minutes then I can in like 2 years?” AJ laughed a little.
“If you would stop stressing about it and just think it all threw the answers would come to you too.” He laughed.
“So you really think she wants me there?” Brian could see the apprehension in his eyes.
“That’s all she’s ever wanted man. Believe me she would be beyond happy.” He reassured him. “Call up your mom and find out when her next show is and surprise her.”
“Rok I don’t know what I would do without you.” AJ laughed. “So now that my problems are sorted out how are things your way?”
The two continued to eat lunch and catch up with each other the rest of the afternoon.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ashley frantically ran around her room gather the last of her things before she headed to the theater for her show. She had worked night and day for the past 11 days running lines, learning the songs dances and staging and trying to keep up in school. She was exhausted but the adrenaline and excitement of staring in her first show at the Academy was enough to keep her running for days.
She tossed the last of her things in her practice bag and ran out the door just as Jared and Tina were pulling into the driveway.
Denise had left earlier in the day to pick up Angel and then Tony, who surprised Ashley by flying in, from the airport. Denise had talked to AJ the prior week and was happy that he was finally taking the initiative to come see her. She had kept her promise and not told Ashley that he would be coming.
She jumped into the back of the van and said a quick hello before Jared made his way to the school.
“So is Steven coming tonight?” Tina asked.
“He’s supposed to, but I haven’t got to talk to him all week. I feel really bad but I had to rehearse so much. I just hope he’s not mad at me.”
“I’m sure he understands.” Jared chimed in. “and if he doesn’t then he’s a jerk.”
“Guys I’m so nervous about tonight. What if I mess up?”
“You kicked total ass in dress rehearsal Ash. You’re going to do amazing.” Tina reassured her.
“Ladies we have arrived.” Jared said as he pulled into the parking lot.
“Tina do you want to help me get ready? I could use someone to keep me calm.”
“You know it.” Tina smiled as they got out of the car.
“Break a leg hun. Knock ‘em dead.” Jared hugged her as they parted, the girls towards the dressing room and Jared towards the entrance. He was helping collect tickets so he had to be there early as well to set up.
“Are you sure this wig looks good?” Ashley said as she straightened it in the mirror.
“You look great hun.” Tina smiled handing her the lipstick. “Hey look someone’s here to see you.”
Ashley looked up and smiled seeing Steven in the doorway. She quickly made her way out of the room and wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him quick on the lips. He backed away a little and she looked at him concerned.
“Can you come with me quick? I just wanted to talk to you.” She nodded and he took her hand leading her to the stairwell so they could talk in private.
“I hope you’re not mad at me for this week. I feel really bad about not getting to see you.” She said once then were alone.
“No not at all.” He smiled faintly. “You look really great. The short blonde look works on you.”
“Thanks.” She laughed. “So what’s up? What did you need to talk to me about?”
“Well…I had a lot of time to think this week. I don’t really know how to get at this but it’s been in the back of my mind for a few weeks now.”
“You know you can tell me anything.”
“I have to be honest, especially when it comes to my career. Dating you was a career move. You were my connection directly to the industry. I made the mistake of taking things to far and now that I’ve made a bad impression on your brother…”
“There’s no point in keeping me around?” Ashley cut him off furious at what she was hearing.
“I’m going to be done with my demo soon and I need to do what’s best for me. I need to focus on my next move, not keep something around that will get me nowhere”
Ashley was at a loss for words. She couldn’t believe he was being so blunt and blatantly disregarding her feelings. She fought back tears as she finally found the power to speak.
“As big of an asshole as I think you are right now why would you do this to me the night of my show?”
“I wanted to tell you sooner but we haven’t had a chance to talk.”
“So it couldn’t wait until Monday, when I’m not about to have one of the biggest nights of my life? But no that would be way to nice of you wouldn’t it? You just can’t take the time to think about any one else by you right?”
“I needed to get it off my chest Ashley. I didn’t want to upset you.”
Ashley couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“You’re full of shit if you didn’t think this would upset me. You know what all I have to say to you is have a nice life. I refuse to let you ruin this night for me. You’re not worth it.” She pushed him out of the way and made her way back to the dressing room.
“What happened?” Tina asked seeing the look on her face.
“Nothing of importance right now.” She said pushing it to the back of her mind. As upset as she was she knew that she couldn’t let it phase her now. This was her chance to prove herself and as long as Steven was only thinking about himself she would do just the same.
“Everyone into your first costumes. Curtain’s up in 15 minutes.” The assistant director announced.
Ashley took a deep breath as she finished getting ready. She was ready to go out there and show everyone what she was made of.
Chapter End Notes:
so so sorry for the long delay but I promise I will never take that long to update again. Thanks for sticking with me and let me know what you think.
