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Ashlyn hates a lot of things. Noise and parties being two of them. She didn’t expect to be at this party, but here she was. Taylor had convinced the group they were going to a late movie. So, she had decided to go. But nope. She was tricked. By movie, Taylor meant a loud party with a movie you could faintly hear playing in the background. The rest of the group had come along as well. But they’re doing their own things. Logan and Ben are hanging out outside, talking. Taylor is introducing Aiden to some of her popular friends. They seem to be hitting off well. And Tyler… Well, Tyler is nowhere to be seen.
“ He’s probably off with some of his baseball friends.” Ashlyn thought.
Ashlyn cupped her hands over her ears, furrowing her brow. Although she had her earplugs in, with the amount of people, they didn’t really do much to keep her protected from noise.
“I have such a bad headache..” She mumbled. “I gotta get out of here.”
Ashlyn found herself walking around the house. Looking for a place where no one else was. A quiet, secluded place. Which was hard due to people being in every corner. Ashlyn rubbed her forehead in annoyance.
Ashlyn walked up the stairs of the third floor and turned to go down a hallway. Where she found Tyler, leaning against the wall. His eyes closed, his brow furrowed, and a coke can in his hand. Ashlyn inched forward. Leading Tyler to dart his head to the sound of the noise.
“Oh.” He said.
“Oh. Uhm. Hi.” Ashlyn said, raising her hand slightly.
“What are you doing here?” Tyler asked, bluntly.
“Just wanted to get away from all the noise. Got a headache.” She replied. “You?”
“Oh. Jay was being an ass so I needed some space and time to myself.” He said.
Ashlyn nodded, and Tyler gestured to his side, allowing her to come over. As Ashlyn walked over, the floorboards creaked awkwardly. Ashlyn leaned against the wall, alongside Tyler. Looking down at her shoes in silence. Silence… After a few minutes. Tyler broke the ice.
“Want a sip?” He asks, holding up his can. Ashlyn looks at the coke can, then back up at Tyler.
“Sure.” She says, grabbing the soda from him and taking a sip. Coke was one of her favorite types of soda.
“Thanks.” Ashlyn says, wiping her mouth and giving Tyler back his can. Tyler nods, and immediately takes a sip. Which makes Ashlyn perk up. “ Oh?”
Tyler taps his can awkwardly. They don’t really get along well. Ashlyn is surprised they’ve made it this far without arguing. “ I wonder why he hates me..?” She thought. Ashlyn glanced at Tyler. To her surprise, he was also looking, which forced them to make eye contact. Both of them look away quickly. Ashlyn stared at the floorboards for a few seconds.
“ Y’know what? We need to get along if we're gonna work together. Maybe we can work it out? God I hate confrontation.” Ashlyn thought. She took a deep breath, “Why do you hate me?”
Tyler blinked in confusion, “What?”
“You’re always so angry, and you argue with me all the time. So you obviously hate me.” Ashlyn said.
Tyler stared at her, completely dumbfounded. “I don’t hate you Ashlyn.”
Ashlyn jolted up, and stared back at Tyler.
“What? But you-“
“Ashlyn, just because we argue doesn’t mean I hate you. I’m just stressed due to our situation, which makes it hard to be rational.” He said “Then why-“
“And I’m always angry around you because I'm upset that our situation is how we got to know each other.”
Ashlyn didn’t have anything to say. She was speechless from what she had heard.
“What do you mean by that?” She asked
Tyler’s face turned red. Making Ashlyn even more confused.
“Uhm, when we were younger..” He mumbled.
Ashlyn looked at him, waiting patiently, “Go on.”
Tyler took a deep breath.
“I used to observe you from afar growing up. I had always wanted to be friends with you, but you never seemed interested. So I never did anything I guess.” Tyler looked away and covered his face. His cheeks still flushed.
Ashlyn slowly smiled, then began to laugh. A laugh that sounded like wind chimes that rang sweetly in Tyler’s ears.
“I would’ve never guessed that the Tyler Hernandez was watching me all along!” She laughed.
Tyler buried his face in his hands, “You’re making it sound weird.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not,” Ashlyn smiled. “Truthfully, I watched you growing up too. I never really desired friends but I found you interesting for a popular person..” She hesitated. “You always seemed like you never wanted to be where you were, like around your friends.” She said
Tyler fiddled with his thumbs, “I mean you’re right. I thought I was good at hiding it.”
“No, you are. I’m just good at observing. The perks of being a wallflower I guess.”
“Hey isn’t that a book?”
“Maybe.”
Ashlyn and Tyler laughed, both drowning out everyone else around them.
Only focusing on each other.
They may have been alone at a party they didn’t want to attend.
And they may have been getting weird looks from people around them.
But they were happy.