Just for This Year

Chapter Thirty-Three

Hi everyone, please remember to comment! It's really encouraging when people do. I miss interacting with readers! It was my favorite part of Wattpad.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Friday
November 15th

15 Days After

Lila was having a good week.

The only downside was that she had to tell Coach Graham that she wouldn't be able to attend much of football. In truth, it was the last thing on her mind. With everything that had gone on with Sam and Halloween, she couldn't have another thing on her plate. He assured her that it was all right despite it being playoffs, and that if she wanted to come back in the next few weeks, she would be welcome to. However, she felt terrible for leaving them without a kicker.

But it was still a good week. She and Ashton were... closer. It felt as of something had shifted between them. She wasn't sure what it was, but things were different. She liked it, if she was being honest.

They developed a bit of a weird habit.

Lila laid awake in her bed, the clock next to her blinking a bright color as it showed the ungodly hour she was still awake at. She huffed out, feeling her eyes sting in frustration at her inability to sleep. Her mind wouldn't stop. Every time she felt herself begin to fall asleep, something new would start to plague her mind. And if she ever managed to actually sleep, she was woken shortly after with some sort of nightmare.

In a weird way, she wanted to talk to Ashton. She felt safe when she slept next to him. She wanted that security again. Before  she even realized what she was doing, she found her fingers tapping the screen of her phone. She slowly lifted it to her ear as she began to question the entire thing.

He answered on the second ring.

"Can't sleep?" Ashton's groggy voice asked. Lila jolted slightly in her bed, surprised he had even answered. She fully expected him to be fast asleep or just not want to answer. But he did.

"No, I can't," she admitted feebly, eyes darting around unsurely. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

He sighed out and Lila could hear him moving to adjust his position in his bed. "I was already up, Poppy accidentally drank an energy drink and has been bouncing off the walls all night."

"If you're going to bed... we can talk some other time," Lila backtracked, regretting calling him. She just felt embarrassed.

"No, no, what's up? You okay?" Ashton asked, clearing his throat.

She turned the phone on it's speaker, letting it fall next to her in the bed. "I can't sleep. You helped last time."

"I'm not gonna sing you a lullaby, Alvarez," he teased lightly, and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

Lila scoffed, rolling her eyes with a smile."I wouldn't ever wanna be subjected to that."

"Well, if not that, then what can I do?" Ashton asked in a gentle voice, and she wasn't sure if she ever heard his voice so soft. It already made her feel better.

"Could you just... talk? Maybe?" Lila requested in a hesitant voice.

She prepared herself for Ashton to shut down her request— it was absurdly late. But to her surprise, he started talking. "Poppy got some star of the week award in her class. She had to do some presentation on something from her life that made her special. She decided to do it on..."