Chapter XIX: Dropping Eaves

My time with Ashton seemed to be over in a flash that Thursday night, but I saw him on Friday again, and even in our brief encounter our friendship felt more enforced than ever. The weekend came around faster than expected, but I was not complaining about seeing Ash this time, which made it all that much easier.

I got to talk with Pam on Saturday morning as well, and she appeared to be quite pleased that Ash and I had hung out on Thursday night. She gushed about how great a friend I was and how thankful she was that Ash had someone like me in his life. It all seemed ridiculous to me, but Pam was quite convinced. Silently, I prayed that she had not told my parents. That would be all kinds of bad.

Despite my fears and doubts, I could not help but feel somewhat flattered that Pam thought so highly of me—why she did was beyond me. I'd done nothing to earn her praise, and yet she having the time of her life bragging me up.

As much as I was grateful for the awkward praise, I was perhaps even more grateful when she and Jacob left the Savvonski house and climbed into their taxi cab. Then it was just Maine and the ticking clock and the sleeping boy upstairs.

No sooner had I set to work on washing the dishes than my cell phone began ringing. Sighing with mild irritation, I dried my hands and pulled the phone from my pocket. When I saw "Britt <3" flash across the screen, I frowned. What now?

As much as I did not feel like talking to my wonderful best friend right now, I accepted the call and brought my phone to my ear. Trying not to sound as done as I felt, I greeted her. "Hey, Britt!"

"Maine!" she exclaimed, her morning voice strangely alert. Then again, she had been strangely alert every morning for the past week.

"What's up?" I asked her, already having a bad feeling about this.

Sounding far too eager, she began unloading her whole wacky scheme. "I'm just calling to make sure that you get blackmail about Ash. It's been like five weeks already, and you still haven't come up with anything yet. I thought I'd help you out!"

Cue my mental groans. "How so?" The words sounded even less enthusiastic than I had planned, but she didn't seem to notice.

Britt was all business. "Well, have you been in his room yet?"

"Yes."

"Did you find—"

"No. There was nothing in there."

"Okay," she said in stride, "Have you looked around for any diaries or journals or anything like that?"

No! No, Britt! And even if I had, it would be none of my stupid business! "Look," I started to say, but she interrupted me.

"Just answer the question."

My lips parted in shock. Had she really just—wow. Wow, Britt. In a less than cordial tone, I answered her, "Yeah. I suppose I've looked. But did I find anything? No. No, of course I did not."

"You don't have to say it that way."

Really, Britt? Really? "Well, sorry," I replied in a way that made it clear I was far from sorry.

There was a long silence on the other end, before Britt spoke up again, this time in a quiet tone that rang of both hurt and accusation. "You know, you're really petty, Maine."

I made no effort to understand her. "Excuse me?"

Britt ignored me, going on to say, "Just because I have a boyfriend doesn't mean you have to act like a jerk to me. What did I ever do to you?"

Her words had a way of making me sound like the bad guy—and maybe I was—but as far as I was concerned, she was the one acting off color. "Nothing," I snapped. "Except turn into a completely different person!"

"Me?" she said in disbelief. "What about you? Are you not aware of what a hypocrite you're being?"

"Enlighten me," I practically hissed, my free fist clenching.

She did not hesitate to do so. "Think about it, Maine. You met Ash, what, five weeks ago? Remember how you used to hate him? I actually thought he was half decent then, but you wanted revenge. So I went along with it. I helped you! And now that I actually want revenge, you suddenly want to back out?"

This was all news to me. Britt had never really told me how she felt about the revenge. And now that she had, I was feeling little sympathy. "I never even said I wanted to back out!" I exclaimed, although I had thought it quite often lately.

"You think I'm dumb?" she snapped in reply. "It's obvious that you're just barely putting up with me these days. I try to talk to you, and you're always putting up some act. Or you're with Ash. The latter is even worse."

Gritting my teeth, I clenched my phone tighter. "And why is that? You used to ship us!"

"That was before I found out the truth."

I paused, hardly believing what I was hearing. "What truth?"

She took her sweet time in replying, seeming to enjoy every biting second of it. "You're not the only one who can make assumptions, Maine. You made your assumptions about Josh. And I've made mine about Ash. But you know what? Mine aren't groundless." She said the last word with such vehemence that I all but lost it.

"And mine aren't, either! He's a player, Britt! He may be nice as a friend, but he's gone through more girls than I can count. Are you blind or what?"

Her next words came without apology. "At least Josh hasn't done drugs! At least he doesn't have mommy issues!"

I almost dropped my phone. "Who told you that?" Silence. "Who stupid told you that?"

Something similar to a laugh echoed through the phone. "So you do know. I knew you were lying to me."

That was it. I hung up.

Standing in the kitchen, practically shaking, I brought my hands to my face and closed my eyes. Why was it that I had made up with Ash only to fall out with Britt? My mind fell into a crash course, going over every single word that had gone down between Britt and me.

I just couldn't believe Britt had said those things, and I couldn't believe I'd been such a fool to not notice my own shortcomings. As much as it pained me to acknowledge, she had a point in some ways. I had been rather unfair to her concerning Josh. I'd thought I could get away with it, but that was clearly not the case. What pained me was that I knew I was right, but I was wrong at the same time. I knew Josh was a player, but what could I use to back my words? Nothing. Nothing except rumors and my own instinct.

And now Britt had an instinct of her own—backed by some sort of evidence. Where could she have gotten such information? The drugs were one thing. They were just a rumor. But who could have told her about Ashton's mother? Had she run into someone at the party last weekend? Had they tipped her off? Heaven forbid, she hadn't heard it from Ashton, had she?"

A voice suddenly shook me from my thoughts. "Maine?"

Snapping my eyes open and dropping my hands from my face, I looked across the room at Ash. I hadn't even heard him come downstairs. I prayed he hadn't heard my conversation with Britt.

"Hey, Ash," I greeted him, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to smile.

He approached me and pointed out, "You don't look so good."

I actually did smile at that. "Thanks a lot."

He smiled too, before taking on a more serious look and asking, "Is Britt still stressing you out?"

"Yeah," I replied, frowning. "But it's worse now." After staring at him for a moment, I asked abruptly, "Have you ever done drugs?" Then I slapped a hand across my mouth. Had I really just said that?

Ash appeared equally shocked, but, to my surprise, he didn't look upset. Instead, he just blinked a few times before stuttering, "Uh—no?"

I was still too mortified to remove my hand from my mouth, so I just stared at him, my apology evident in my eyes. I half expected him to still get mad, but after a few seconds, his eyes took on an amused glint. He started to say something but trailed off almost immediately. He seemed to rethink whatever he was about to say and then he just straight out laughed. "You—you're so strange, Maine."

Feeling even more embarrassed, I dropped my hand but let out a loud groan. "I know," I said with regret. "I just—Britt said something, and I wanted to prove her wrong."

Ash was still laughing, but he appeared to sober somewhat as he questioned, "Does she think I'm a druggie or something?"

Ordinarily, I wouldn't have told him, but I wasn't feeling so loyal to Britt today, so I spilled. "I don't know about that, but she thinks you've done drugs before."

He raised his eyebrows. "Interesting." After a pause, he expounded on the matter, "I guess that's what people think. And with most rumors comes a thread of truth. So I'll give her that." He took a breath before admitting, "I've never done drugs, but I have dealt with them before."

I stared at him, feeling both surprised and disturbed by the confession. Sensing my discomfort, he smiled sadly and walked past me to the cupboard. As he removed a coffee mug from the cupboard, he glanced at me and warned, "I'm not perfect, Maine, so don't expect too much."

I nodded, but I knew that it was too late. I had already put a measure of faith in the Ashton that I thought I knew, and I wasn't about to withdraw that faith. I just needed to understand him more. I just needed… "When did you deal with drugs?" I asked him carefully.

Ashton's lips twisted somewhat at that, but he answered anyway. "Ninth grade. Then last year." He looked directly at me after he said that, as if expecting to see my expression change.

Last year? For the life of me, I couldn't fathom how I refrained from wincing. I just tilted my head to the side and asked him another question, "Did those drugs have anything to do with Rowlett?"

He confirmed my conjecture with a nod.

"That's what he was trying to get you to do again?"

He nodded again. "There was a time I would have done anything to get my mom away from him—even if that meant giving him everything he wanted." He finally tore his brown eyes from me and turned to the coffee pot. "Any more questions?" he asked as he filled the pot with water.

After a moment of thought, I shook my head. "Nope. You said all I wanted to know."

He pressed the high setting on the coffee pot and turned back to me curiously. "And?"

"And?" I wasn't sure I understood his question, but I answered nonetheless. Holding his gaze as steadily as I could, I let the words roll off my tongue without shame. "I still think you're okay."

His brow crinkled with befuddlement, and I smirked at him. "Speechless?" I asked, pleased to see his uncertainty.

He just stared in reply.

The only thing that finally distracted him was the sound of the front door opening. We both looked toward the entrance to the kitchen to see who would walk in. I was expecting it to be Daphne, but, a second later, David Simons proved me wrong.

"Trash-y-ton!" he greeted in a sing-song voice as he sauntered into the room. I stifled a laugh and glanced at Ash to see his reaction.

He didn't seem as upset as he had the other times Dave called him names. Instead, he smirked at his friend and replied, "Hey, Davenport."

Dave dropped his grin, but picked it up again when he shifted his gaze to me. "Hello, Maine."

I smiled back in amusement. "Hey, Dave."

He rounded the island and walked past Ash, coming to a stop halfway between us. Leaning back against the island, he turned his head my way and asked, "Is he giving you trouble?"

Glancing over at Ash, I answered, "Nope."

Dave raised an eyebrow. "That's odd."

Ash just shrugged his shoulders before returning to the coffee pot to make his coffee. Dave turned back to me then and whispered loudly, "He couldn't stop talking about you yesterday."

I tried and failed to not turn red.

"Dave," Ash said in a warning tone.

"What?" He said it so innocently that I almost laughed.

After he had poured his coffee safely into a mug, Ash swiveled to face his friend. All I saw then was some sort of intense eye communication, before Ash finally said, "Screw yourself."

I couldn't help but laugh. At least now I could blame the redness in my cheeks on my laughing.

"Maine!" Dave said in feigned horror. "You think he's funny now?"

Still chuckling, I offered him a shrug. "Sorry." Before they could say more, I changed the subject, "Anyway, I've got work to do, so I should probably stop talking to you guys."

"Yeah, Dave," Ash goaded him. "Stop bothering the girl."

"She's talking about you too," Dave retorted.

I just shook my head at both of them before pointing toward the exit. "Get lost."

And they did.

I did not run into Ash or Dave again until a few hours had passed. Even then, I did not physically see them. I heard their voices—and I did something I was not proud of. I eavesdropped, just as I had two weekends prior. It was lame, I knew, and I had not planned to do it, but as soon as I heard them mention the name Britt, my intrigue was captured.

Leaning close to the exit of the laundry room, I listened as Ash and Dave discussed the topic of Britt and Josh. Actually, it was less of a discussion, and more of a rant—on Dave's part, that is.

"So she starts talking me up," he was telling Ash, "like I'm some sort of basketball hero. I'm just standing there, thinking, 'who in the world is this chick?' but then Maine shows up and I remember that it's her friend." My ears perked at the sound of my own name. "Then Maine says something about Britt wanting to use me to get to Josh. At this point, I'm starting to feel really funny about the whole thing, but I get this idea in my head. I think, 'if I set her up with Josh, maybe she'll find out how he really is and let go of her silly little fantasy.' It's obvious that Maine had already been trying to talk some sense into her, so I didn't think there was much I could do."

Dave let out a loud sigh, before concluding, "So I gave in. And here we are. In a mess."

Ash's voice sounded then. "And why are you in a mess?"

"Because," Dave said, not sounding pleased in the least, "I'm an idiot, Ash."

Ash snorted. "No doubt. Tell me again how you managed to fall for this girl over the course of one week? Does she have super powers or something?"

My eyes widened in disbelief. Dave likes Britt? How even—

"It's not like I planned this!" Dave snapped in defense. Dude. He actually does.

"Obviously."

"Ashton," he groaned.

"I know. Sorry, dude." There was a pause, followed by a loud sigh. Then Ash spoke up again. "What's so great about Britt?" I could hardly believe they were talking about this.

"What?"

"I mean, why do you like her?"

"Does it need explaining?" Dave asked with a weak laugh. I leaned closer to the exit to hear him better. "I like her because—she's just—she has so much energy. You know? And when she looks at me—I can��t explain it. I just feel like I'm myself when I'm with her."

Ash cleared his throat then, obviously regretting asking. I almost laughed, but I was still too shocked by Dave's revelation to do so. Plus, my location would be revealed if I laughed, and then this would all be over. Ashton's next remark surprised me even more. "Yeah. I know what you mean."

He does?

"So you guys are more than just friends?" It was Dave who spoke this time. What is he talking about? Whom is he talking about?

"Ha." Ash laughed out loud. "Yeah. Right. As if I'd—"

Dave interrupted him almost immediately. "You should."

I wasn't in the room, but I could practically see the look Ash was giving Dave. "What—"

Again, Dave interrupted him. "You wouldn't, but you should."

By now I was beyond confused, but I couldn't seem to stop listening. I wanted to know exactly what was going on, but how could I when they were saying both everything and nothing at the same time? I just needed to know whom in the world they were talking about. It couldn't possibly be—

Ashton interrupted my ridiculous thought by saying, "I should what? Jump into something I'm not ready for?"

"When are you ever going to be ready?" Dave retorted in exasperation. "Does she even have any idea that—" Again, who is 'she'?

"No! Of course not. Do you think I'm stupid or what?"

"For not telling her? Yes." Tell her what?

"Then—then—" Ash struggled for an answer. "Then you have to tell Britt."

That got him. A dead silence filled their room and mine. All I could hear was the ticking of a clock and the beating of my own heart. After what seemed forever, Dave finally muttered, "You know I can't do that." I felt my own heart constrict at how true his words were.

Ashton's reply came a second later. "I can't either then." I didn't know about that. I didn't even know what he was talking about.

Dave still hadn't given up. "It's not the same, Ash, and you know it."

"Try standing in my shoes, man. How would you feel leading a girl on when you know you're just going to end up hurting her?" After a moment's hesitation, he added, "Or maybe she'll be the one to hurt you. What if, deep down, she thinks you're the scum of the earth?" Something told me the latter was what he was more afraid of.

"You can't keep living your life that way!" Dave shot back. "You can't just live to protect only yourself. Just because your mom left you, it doesn't mean every single girl on the planet is going to be like that!"

Okay. I definitely did not know Ash felt that way. Apparently I wasn't the only one shocked by what Dave had said, for it took Ash a long time to even attempt to respond. And when he did, I realized just how close these boys were. I felt like such an intruder.

"But I have to live that way. How do you think I made it through last year?"

Dave was prepared. "You made it because you trusted people, Ash. That is how you made it."

Surprisingly, Ash seemed to accept this. That didn't stop him from saying, "I can't trust everyone, Dave."

"I know that," he responded. "I'm just asking you to trust the ones who care about you—me, Josh, your dad, Pam. And Maine too."

Me?

My heart stopped. Or it sped up. I couldn't quite tell the difference right now. Everything was starting to feel a bit hazy and unreal. Silently, I slid to the floor and just sat there, waiting for whatever came next. I didn't even try to tackle what the boys' words meant anymore. I just listened.

Ash's next words took on a slightly different theme. "Josh? You really want me to trust him?"

A pause. "No. But you should at least pretend you do."

"So you don't trust him either?"

"Why would I?"

"You put your girl in his hands, man."

Dave cursed under his breath.

"Exactly," Ash said with dry amusement. "Looks like we're both failures."

"You aren't," Dave disagreed. "Not yet."

Ash laughed in his usual dry manner. "We'll see about that."

I wanted to hear more, and I would have, if Dave hadn't changed the subject. "Speaking of which," he said, "where is Maine?"

I froze, holding my breath in trepidation. I was probably only a few yards' length away from where they were standing, and if they caught me, there would be no chance of escape. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I held my legs close to me so that if anyone were to look glance in the laundry room, they would not see me. I was grateful that I had not turned on the light when I first entered the room—especially when I heard Ash say, "I think she was doing laundry earlier."

The sound of footsteps neared my hiding place. Squeezing my eyes shut, I prayed desperately that the boys would not find me. I could have sworn a shadow fell on me, but then Dave said, "Not in here."

My eyes flashing open, I looked up just in time to see his frame disappear back into the other room. There was no way he hadn't seen me. No stupid way. Dismay hit me, but it was soon replaced by confusion. Had Dave just covered for me? Why would he do that? It wasn't as if he had anything to gain from it. Either way, I was incredibly indebted to him.

And his service didn't end there. Almost immediately after pronouncing the laundry room empty, he suggested that he and Ash check upstairs. The second their footsteps faded out of earshot, I peeked out of the laundry room and made a run for it. I had to find an inconspicuous job as quickly as possible, so I raced to the door, quietly opened and closed it, and then raced all the way around the house to the back pool. I hoped that Ash didn't look out the window, but I figured that they would be checking the rooms, not the windows.

Thus, I did as much awkward scrambling as I needed to get my hands on a towel and some water—I wouldn't be telling Pam that I used pool water to clean the deck, but it was my only option at the moment. Now all I needed was soap. But I didn't have soap. After staring at my towel and the deck for a long moment, I realized what I had to do.

Carrying my towel with me, I casually walked back toward the front door. I didn't try to mask the sound this time as I entered the house, nor did I run for my dear life. Instead, I approached the kitchen calmly, grabbed a container of soap, and turned to leave.

By now, I could hear footsteps on the stairs again, so I glanced that way and met the eyes of Ashton. Trying my best to act normal, I greeted him, "Oh. Hey, Ash."

Although I was the guilty one, it was he who took on the look of a deer in the headlights as he froze on the steps. "Maine." He said my name as if he couldn't believe that I was here. Then, glancing around the house, he questioned somewhat anxiously, "Were you down here the whole time?"

"No, I was outside." Holding up the towel and soap, I added, "I was going to clean the deck."

"Oh." His eyes were still wide, but he sounded as if he were regaining composure. I knew he had said some things I wasn't supposed to hear, but why was he acting so paranoid? Was there something more to his words than I had gathered?

I was forced to shrug it off, in order to keep on with the act. Nodding awkwardly at Ash, I turned to the front door and stepped out of the house. He'd done this last time too I'd eavesdropped, I realized as I walked back to the pool. Just like this time, he had acted so nervous. What again had they been talking about then?

Oh, yeah. Me. They had been talking about me.