Seize the Day (closed)

It didn't take Ashley long to respond. "I didn't hate you and I didn't hate your music. To be honest I- well... it's hard to explain. I just thought..." now Ashley was having a hard time finding the right words. It seemed like anything she was going to say would be wrong. With sincerity in her eyes she continued, "I thought you should know I'm sorry for what I did in High School. I know it was a long time ago and it seems really dumb that I came all the way here just in case I could talk to you to tell you that but it just seemed like the right thing to do. I never should've acted like that but the truth is... I never stopped wanting to know you," she said, glancing away as she ran her fingers through her honey-blond hair.

Ashley's eyes lit up, clearly relieved by his response. "Really?" she asked, a little surprised by the suggestion of dinner. "That would be great," she said with a smile. "I brought my own car here so I can save you the trouble and drive myself."

Ashley looked at her phone again just in case, but it was still dead. "Um, maybe I can just meet you there?" she asked, feeling stupid that she hadn't thought to charge her phone before she came. "My phone is dead. Oh! Maybe I can write it down on something else for you," she said looking past Matt to see if there was a paper and pen in sight.

Ashley smiled and took Matt's phone, wondering if acted this nice to everyone now. "Thanks," she said adding her number as a cotact in his phone. "Seven will be fine for me," she said, feeling much more confident about the situation now. Now that Ashley had grown up, she wasn't near as snobby and treated most people about the same as she was treating Matt. But she could still be sassy if need be, which it hardly ever did. "I'll see you later then," she said with another smile before she turned away.

The sudden hug surprised her but she quickly relaxed, for some reason trusting that he wouldn't do anything else, and hugged him back. Then he pulled out his wallet and she started to protest, "Matt, I don't-" but he was already turning away, leaving the money in her hand. "Thank you!" she called after him. Then she folded the money and stuck it in her own wallet, feeling obligated to somehow repay Matt for the kind gift. When she got to her car and sat down, a small smile formed on her face. She sighed, wondering what to think of all this. She tried to remember any guy who had ever treated her like that in any relationship she'd had but she couldn't come up with one. Matt had been nicer to her in a few short minutes than anyone else had been for years. But she couldn't help but wonder why. Ashley had been so mean before, she still could be if she wanted to but it was something she decided was best to hold back. Had he really forgiven her? Should she trust him? Ashley didn't know but as she pulled out and drove off, she knew she was going to find out that night. She drove home, put her phone on the charger. Not waiting for it to turn on, she rushed out of the house to go shopping with the money Matt had given her. She was definitely going to look good. Her shopping trip was a quick one because she'd still have to do something with her hair but Ashley was way excited to wear the new outfit with Matt. She almost felt like a teenager again.

Ashley heard the knock from her room, took one last look in the mirror to make sure everything looked perfect, sprayed on her favorite perfume then walked to the door. She was wearing a slim black dress,almost long enough to reach her knees, that had one lace sleeve. Her hair was twisted in the back so it all stayed to one side, leaving her bare shoulder revealed. Ashley's red smile shined with lipgloss as she opened the door. "Hey," she said simply.

"Thanks," she answered, taking his hand. "You don't look too bad yourself," she said, not sure if she wanted him to know she thought he was a lot more handsome than she remembered and he was acting like such a gentleman, something she never would've expected from her old impression of him.

Ashley smiled when she got in his car. When he mentioned how she used to be, her eyes narrowed. "Well you're not really how I made myself think you were either, but neither of us really knew anything about eachother, did we?"

Ashley dropped the topic since he said sorry and paid attention to what he said next. She couldn't tell what kind of question he was going to ask but she couldn't not let him ask it so in a lightened tone she said, "Ask away!" and watched him, curiously waiting for the question.

A smile spread across her face, everything he said was so sweet. Then she got more serious, wondering if he would've said that if he had known she had a kid. Despite how she would've normally reaponded, which would've been an automatic yes, she decided to be a little more careful. Ashley had been told things like that before and every time she fell for it, it ended badly for her. No, she definitely needed to be more careful this time. "Well," she said, looking at the road nervously, not wanting to make him mad. "Maybe we should get to know each other a little better before we make any commitments. There's a lot I don't know about you and I'm not saying you're a bad guy," she said, her eyes shooting back to him, "I just don't want to make anymore stupid mistakes."