The Chase ▹ Ashton Irwin

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I was jolted awake by the sound of my mother's voice.

"Brooke!"

"Whaaa?" I said, opening my eyes slightly. I saw my mother's figure walk over to my window and open the blinds. The sunlight stung like a bee. "Ugh, MOM?!" I said, throwing my quilt over my face. 

"Wake up!" My mom laughed. "Its passed noon!"

I instantly threw the quilt off of my body and sat up. "Really?!" I looked over to my alarm clock. It was 12:15. I sighed, and layed back down. I was still very, very tired.

"Soooo," my mother said as she sat back down on my bed next to me. "How was the party?"

"The party?" I said, my voice raising. I I totally forgot about last night. Oh my God. "It was um," I said. I cleared my throat. "It was really fun."

I finished with a smile, praying that my mom wouldn't ask anything else.

"Yeah?" she said. "What about that boy...oh whats his name? Nick?"

My heart sank, and I wanted to go back to sleep. "Well," I said. "I don't think I'm gonna go out with him anymore."

"Oh no," my mom sighed. "What happened?"

"Nothing!" I fake-assured her. "Its just, I don't know, he's too much for me." I said. I laughed, as if to seem like Nick didn't totally break my heart.

My mother nodded. "Well," she said. "Don't let this get you down about boys. Because even though they do suck, there's always gonna be one that you'll fall for." She laughed. It was a weird laugh, but I joined in. She told me that breakfast was downstairs, and she left my room.

Her words made me think about Ashton. My eyes widened when I thought about Ashton, because I also thought about last night. Last night. Last. Night. The most guilty feeling came over me. I sighed as I went over the night in my head. I broke the law, ran from authority, and smoked for the first time. As I look back on it, I felt terrible. I know it wasn't really my fault, but I didn't care. I felt very, very bad. I sighed, and rolled over to get my phone off my bed side table. I practically screamed when I realized I never texted Jessie back. 

I sursed under my breath as I read through all of Jessie's messages. I quickly scrolled through my contacts and pretty much punched my screen as I came to her contact.

"Brooke?" Jessie said after 10 seconds of waiting for her to pick up.

"Jessie!" I said. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!"

"Where the hell were you last night?!" 

"Things got carried away..." the words slipped my mouth, as I thought about Ashton.

"Oh." She giggled. "With Nick?"

 I laughed an empty laugh.

"That didn't sound too convincing." Jessie said.

"Yeah, well..." my voice trailed off. I didn't want to tell her what happened over the phone. I decided to change the subject. "I'm sorry I didn't call you last night. I just went home."

"Well shit, Brooke! What happened?" She sounded really worried. I decided to just tell her. "Nick is uh...well, he's a dirty player."

I heard a small gasp from the other line.

"Oh my God, no." Jessie said. "He did not."

"He did."

"That little prick!"

"My thoughts exactly." I laughed. "Look, I'll give you more details tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes yes, of course." Jessie replied. "I'm glad you just went home, because I didn't."