University Roommates (Restart)

Emily:
I immediately felt my face heat up. "What? Tasha, I never said that!" I said, looking at her with wide eyes. All I had said was that he was being a jerk. I never wanted her to kick him out. And now he knew I was talking about him! What happened to girl code? I looked at Ash for a moment and then down at my plate. I was suddenly not hungry at all and stood up, my chair scraping the floor. I didn't bother to put my dish in the sink, I just went to my room and slammed my door for the second time that day.

Tasha:

I sighed, not meaning to have upset her. “I don't mean you have to leave, I just mean get a job or something. It's pretty clear you're bothering her.” I explained after she had left. He moved his food around on his plate.

“Yeah alright.” He shrugged as he picked up his dish and put it in the sink only a couple minutes after he had sat down in the first place. I was left alone at the kitchen table. They were both upset now but I didn't know what to do to improve anything.


Ashton:

I listened to my sister's advice about the job. I could only borrow her spar bedroom for so long without contributing. The next day I went out to apply for as many places I could, but it was a long discouraging day as there was not a whole lot I was qualified for and since I didn't have I car, I had to borrow my sister's bike for the day.

In a moment of weakness I picked up an old vice on my haw home. Tasha wasn't home so I went out to the back porch. I sat at the edge of the concrete slab in slacks and a white button up shirt smoking the cigarette.

((Woops, totally forgot that Emily writes childrens books))
Emily:
These past few weeks I hadn't really been getting any work done. I had a few ideas for new books, but unless I had the motivation to write them, it was useless. I started pacing around my room, hoping to get the ideas flowing but it wasn't working so I ventured out into the living room to continue my pacing. From there, out the back window I could see a puff of smoke. My first thought was that the house had somehow caught fire...without any alarms going off. But when I went over to look, I saw Ash, smoking. He had never smelled like smoke before so I guessed it was new. Without thinking, I walked out the door and walked up to him. "Hey can I see that?" I asked, not giving him a chance to answer before I took the cigarette out of his hands and snuffed it on the concrete. "Smoking will kill you," I told him, turning to go back inside.

Ashton:

I picked up the butt and rolled it slowly between my fingers. “That's never been a determinant for me. For anything,” I said with a shrug then, “don't tell Tasha.” Its not that I cared if she yelled at me, but it would hurt her more than it should to see this side of me.

Emily:
I turned around with an angry sigh. "How about we just make it so there's nothing to tell her," I said, my tone unforgiving. "Stop smoking. You're not allowed to have a death wish if I'm standing here," I said, spreading my arms in front of me to show that I was indeed standing here.

Ashton:

Ash coated my fingers. “I don't see how your presence removes my death wish,” I said dryly. I flicked my lighter in my other hand debating whether I should light another one. It would only make her angry, but then wasn't that what I wanted?

I pulled another one out of the box and lit it between my fingers.

Emily:
I could feel myself getting more and more angry. I reached out and snatched the new cigarette, which he had to have known I was gonna do. I threw that one on the floor and stepped on it. "I can stand here all day, ripping cigarettes out of your hand or you can just give me the pack now and save us both the time," I said, quietly. My voice sounded slightly shaky.

Ashton:

I stared at the bright grass in the yard. It was a sunny day but it didn't touch me on the porch. “Fuck off Emily,” I said with no inflection. I ran my ashy hand through my sweat dampened hair leaving gray streaks behind.

Emily:
I stared at him for long moment and then shook my head. I swallowed hard so the tears that filled my eyes wouldn't spill down my cheeks. "No," I said, shaking my head. "Because even if you wanna pretend we're not friends, I still think we are. At least we are sometimes." I said. I licked my lips and stared at the smushed cigarette on the ground. "And fine, you wanna sit there and keep whatever secret you have thats making you act like a jerk, fine," I said. "But I'm not gonna fuck off," I told him.

Ashton:

“There is no secret to it. I had a bad day and that's all,” I said quickly. I turned to look up at her, a small crease between my brows. “Sometimes people are simply assholes with no more reason than that.” Her eyes were glossy with unspilled tears. I reached for the cigarette butt close to her shoe to crush between my fingers.

Emily:
"You weren't an asshole when you watched Harry Potter with me on the couch. Or when we stayed up late talking..." I took a step closer so I could catch his eyes. "Believe it or not, you actually smiled once or twice when we were hanging out," I said, bitterly. "So, no, I don't think you're an asshole just for the sake of being an asshole." I shrugged and my bottom lip quivered slightly with the effort it took to keep it together. "I can deal with you being an asshole. What I can't deal with is the stupid reckless shit, like smoking," I said, gesturing to the ground.

Ashton:

I looked down at the cigarette and flicked it. “This is nothing,” I said. I turned to face her with cool eyes. “You're that type, huh? You're drawn to assholes because you think there's more to it, just 'cause they smile at you. I bet all your boyfriends were dicks.” I was trying to get her angry.

Emily:
I took a physical step back, as if he had pushed me. And then all at once, the anger that I had been holding just at the surface exploded. "You have some nerve!" I yelled. I ran a frustrated hand through my hair. "For the past few weeks you've been the most aggravating person I've ever met. Until right now. NOW, you're the most aggravating person i've ever met." I made up for the step I took backwards and moved forward three so I could grab the pack of cigarettes from him. This put me right in his face. "You wanna keep pretending that to be this person, then here," I said. I took a cigarette out the pack and held it out, right in front of his eyes. "Take it and fuck off," I said, slightly breathless at the end.

Ashton:

I snatched it out of her hands. “When Will you fucking get it. This is who I am. You're a silly fool if you think otherwise,” I said. I leaned back so she wasn't so close and directly in front of me.

Emily:
As soon as he took the cigarette, I spun around and practically ran into the house. I was pretty much seeing red and I shoved my feet into my sneakers and grabbed my car keys. I knew I probably shouldn't be driving, but I didn't really care.

Ashton:

I lit another and put it in my mouth but got nothing out of it. There was a bitter taste left in my mouth by the interaction. I felt like shit for upsetting her like that. It was clear that she cared, and I had just thrown it in her face. I put my elbow on my knee and my head in my hand.

Emily:
I got in my car and it took me three times to start it because my hands were shaking so badly. When I started driving, I didn't really know where I was going. But when I ended up at a bar about twenty minutes from home, it seemed like as good a place as any to end up. I drank a lot throughout the night but if anyone had asked how much, I wouldn't have been able to tell them. I was swaying so badly when I got up to go home that I figured driving was not going to happen. I was dumb but I wasn't stupid. I fumbled around my pockets, searching for a cell phone and when I found it, I dialed the house phone, not able to see well enough to find Tashas cell number. I put the phone to my ear and swayed until I was leaning against the side of the building.

Ashton:

I was sulking on the couch when the house phone started ringing. In the past Tasha had called the house phone to when neither Emily nor I had answered our cell's, so I answered expecting it to be her.

“Hey, I've had my phone on me the whole time, haven't gotten anything,” I started right away to hold off the yelling.

Emily:
Ah. I had known there was a reason I should have kept looking for Tasha's cell number. "Put your sister on the phone," I said, slowly, slurring my words. I leaned my head against the cool brick wall and closed my eyes. I think maybe I had too much to drink...

Ashton:

I leaned against the wall. “Tasha isn't home yet,” I told her. I could hear music playing in the back ground. “Where are you? Why did you call home?” I asked, there was something off about her tone.

Emily:
I groaned and it sort of turned into a whimper at the end when my head started swimming. "I...I just needed her to pick me up," I told him, still slurring. "Uh..." I mumbled, trying to get my thoughts together. "T-tell her that I probably wont be home tonight..." I said, deciding stupidly that I could sleep it off in my car or something.

Ashton:

I was concerned then. “Hey Em? Tell me where you are,” I said trying to soften my tone to be more friendly. It was getting late and it wasn't exactly safe for a girl to be out alone and wasted.

Emily:
I started giggling even though it wasn't really funny. I stumbled a little away from the doors of the bar. "I am at the most funnest bar," I told him. "You would looooove it, people are smoking all kinds of things," I giggled again like I was hilarious.

Ashton:

“What bar are you at?” I pressed as I pulled on shoes. I would have to get there on bike since I didn't a car, but I knew that the bars weren't too far away since I had passed them this morning why job searching.

Emily:
"I don't know...I wasn't too concerned about the name of it." I told him. I started picking at flyer that was stuck to the wall. "There's a lost cat, Ash," I told him sadly, reading the flyer. "His name is Charlie and he's black and white," I continued. "You keep an eye out for Charlie, alright?" I said. "Oh thats so funny, there's a big ol' cat on the sign over the bar...what a small world is it..." I said, gazing is absolute wonderment.