AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I thought I'd add a nice picture of Benji at the top this chapter since he has a little cameo today ;)

I'm thinking about writing a collection of Taylor/Benji drabbles once my editing of Apple is out the way, I am missing them too much! :)

Also THANK YOU for 14k reads....!!!! :D Hope you all like this chappy!

Love Becky xx

***

Chapter 10

Boy Rules

It is coming up to 1am. We are on the last train back home and for the past seven stops, I haven't been able to keep the massive smile from my face.

And I haven't been able to stop talking about Jaxon. Or the kiss. I've relived every tiny detail, over and over again, until Annabelle and Sarah are absolutely sick of hearing about it. But I can't help myself. The excitement is tumbling out of me and there's literally no way to stop it.

"It's crazy to think we wouldn't have even been outside if I hadn't almost fainted," I babble. "I wonder what would have happened if we'd stayed in the mosh pit. Do you think he still would have kissed me? Do you think he planned it all along or was it spontaneous?"

Annabelle is banging her head against the train window. "Ash, enough. I can't take it anymore."

"Aw, don't be mean," Sarah laughs. "She's just excited because it's her first kiss."

"Yes and we've heard about it for the past half an hour," Annabelle answers. She stops hitting the window and turns to me, crossing her arms in irritation. "Don't get me wrong, I'm super happy for you. But I know what you're like. You'll be going on about this until Kingdom come if we don't put a stop to it now."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," I protest. "I thought you wanted to know exactly what happened."

"Yeah, we did. Once. Not a hundred times."

I'm so deliriously happy right now that I can't even be mad at Annabelle's lack of enthusiasm. I smile widely at her. "I can't help it! I never dreamed in a million years that this would happen to me tonight. I just wish I could relive it over and over and over..."

"Nooooo," Annabelle cries. "What have we done to deserve this?!"

Sarah reaches over from the seat opposite and shakes my shoulders. "Get a grip Apple! You have to try and play it cool. Don't get too carried away like you did with Kieran."

"I notice you've forgotten all about the so-called love of your life already," Annabelle cuts in with a despairing shake of her head. "What about all your tears and heartache from earlier?"

My face gets hot and I glance to the floor. "I guess you were right about everything. It wasn't real after all, it was just a silly crush."

I hate admitting out loud that my friends were right, but I'm slowly realising how stupid I've been acting. I was never in love with Kieran. He's barely even crossed my mind since I met Jaxon, so I can't have been. My heart still twinges a little when I think of the Sue-Ella Youtube video, but the pain feels manageable now. Like it's hardly even there at all.

"See, we told you that you'd get over it," Sarah says with a wink. "But it's easy to get swept up in a crush like that, especially with a rock star. I think I'd have been crying over it too if I was in your position."

"Thanks," I say gratefully. Sarah is always so diplomatic when it comes to people's problems. Somehow she makes me feel a little less foolish than I probably should be feeling right now.

Annabelle is slightly less diplomatic, as always. "This is exactly why you need to learn your lesson! You can't go acting so dramatic and crazy with Jaxon like you did with Kieran. Just take things slowly and see what happens."

"I know, I know." My words come out a tiny mumble. It kind of feels like Annabelle has just taken a big pin and popped my balloon. "It's not like I'm expecting anything..."

"You're always expecting something," Sarah giggles. "You're a hopeless romantic, it's just the way you're wired. But try not to jump in full-force. Wait for him to get in contact with you first."

"Err, says you," Annabelle exclaims. "I totally saw you text Raj before we got on the train."

I gasp in delighted surprise. "Oh my God, for real? I soooo knew something was going on with you and Raj."

Sarah starts fiddling self-consciously with the strap of her handbag. "He messaged me first actually, as soon as we left the club. It would have been rude not to reply."

"You like him!" I squeal. "Did you guys kiss too?"

No answer.

"YOU KISSED, DIDN'T YOU? YOU SO KISSED!"

"If you want to accuse anyone else of kissing, then look at Annabelle," Sarah says with a blush. "She couldn't keep her mouth off Dev when they were out in the mosh pit."

I've been so caught up in my own kissing story that I had no idea both my friends received lip-locks of their own tonight. I gape at Annabelle, my eyes as wide as saucers. "You like Dev?! I thought you didn't want a local boyfriend."

"I don't," she laughs. "It was just a snog. But yeah Dev is pretty fit." She leans back into her seat smugly. "I thought at first that Jaxon was the best-looking guy of the group, but when I saw Dev up close I realised how yummy he is. No wonder he's going into modelling."

She is blatantly only saying that because Jaxon was interested in me and not her, but I figure it's not worth mentioning that little fact.

"Do you think you'll see him again?" I ask instead.

"Maybe," Annabelle shrugs. "I'll wait and see if he texts me. No way am I going to message him first." She looks at me with a serious expression. "I suggest you go the same approach with Jaxon. You've got to make boys run after you a bit, test how interested they are."

A sudden thought bowls me over. "I can't text him, I didn't get his number."

"What?" Sarah screeches. "Why not? Didn't you give him yours?"

"No," I reply in a panic, suppressing the urge to start hyperventilating. "I forgot."

Annabelle is laughing now. "How did you leave things with him then? Don't you want to see him again?"

"Of course I do! I just didn't think about the logistics of it."

In all honesty, that kiss left my head in such a spin that I wasn't thinking straight about anything. And afterwards, we just danced and kissed some more until it was time to catch the last train. That was when Jaxon disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving just as quickly as he'd arrived into my little world. I barely had a chance to catch him.

"Maybe I can ask Raj for the number?" Sarah suggests. She starts to compose a message on her phone, but is immediately halted by Annabelle snatching it out of her hands.

"NO. Stop texting Raj. And do not under any circumstances ask any of Jaxon's mates for his details. It looks way too desperate."

Since when were there so many rules about talking to boys? Don't message them when you want to message them. Don't act like you like them when you really do like them. Am I supposed to always do the opposite of what I want? I can't keep up.

"How am I supposed to see him again then?" I whine. Then I get a new idea. "Maybe I could try and find him on Facebook?"

"NO WAY," Annabelle shouts. "That's like the ultimate cardinal sin. No texting, no pestering his friends and no internet stalking. Just let things happen naturally. Wait and see if he comes to you."

This sounds like the worst advice ever. I might be waiting for all eternity if I put the ball in his court. What if he never tries to contact me? What if he just forgets all about me?

I don't argue, though. Annabelle is the one who gets all the boyfriends after all.

---

The worst part about going out on a Friday night is waking up to a bar-shift the next morning. There's nothing more painful than a hangover when you have to smile at customers and pretend you're absolutely fine. But even though I have a bit of a headache, smiling feels incredibly easy today. In fact, I can't seem to wipe the beam from my face.

Benjamin presses his hand against my forehead as he walks past. "Mum, I think Ash is dangerously ill. There's something wrong with her face. It's twitching up all the time and her eyes aren't leaking anymore."

I swipe his hand away, but my smile doesn't break. Not even a little bit. Next to us, Mum is tutting as she replaces dirty glasses beneath the bar with clean ones. "Leave your sister alone. She's having a tough enough week as it is."

"Doesn't look so tough to me," Benjamin mutters. "She looks like she's won the bloody lottery." He narrows his eyes at me suspiciously. "What's happened to Kieran Whatshisface? Have you finally seen the light and forgotten all about him?"

"I guess so," I shrug, my face a picture of innocence. "I've finally realised there are plenty more people out there in the world who are worth meeting. Not just one guy."

Benjamin's eyes get even narrower. "What's that supposed to mean? Who have you been talking to?"

I bat my eyes, still grinning like a mad fool. "Noooo-onnnnne...."

"MUM. ASHLEIGH IS TALKING TO OTHER BOYS OR SOMETHING. AND I DON'T LIKE IT."

"Your sister is perfectly free to talk to whoever she wants," Mum replies candidly. Then she pauses, letting the information fully sink in. "Wait, who are these boys? Are they older than you? Because I've seen some of those older boys around and about Northcastle, they look like they could be trouble. Don't go getting mixed up with one of those ruffian types, you're better than that."

I suddenly imagine Mum meeting Jaxon and being horrified at all his tattoos and piercings. The thought makes me burst out laughing before I can stop myself.

"MUM. ASHLEIGH IS LAUGHING ABOUT SOMETHING I DON'T UNDERSTAND. AND I THINK IT'S A BOY OR SOMETHING. AND I DON'T LIKE IT."

"God, you guys are so protective," I chuckle. "It's really nothing. I just met a nice guy when I went out clubbing last night, that's all. No big deal."

With that, Benjamin runs over to the door leading to our pub's kitchen. A few seconds later, he comes back out dragging Taylor along behind him by the hand.

"Benj, what are you doing? I'm trying to cook breakfast here."

"Number one," Benjamin barks. "You should wait for me to come and help you because you will never best the Benjamin Apple Fry-Up Of Dreams. Number two. Look what you've done. This is all your fault."

He pushes Taylor toward the bar so that he is facing me. The moment our eyes meet, I burst into another fit of giggles. This is all so ridiculous. My family are so nosey and it's really none of their business, but I kind of love the fact they are all trying to find out the gossip.

Taylor cocks an eyebrow at me. "I take it you had a fun night out then?"

"Yeah, a little too much fun," Benjamin answers on my behalf. "She's all giggly and loved-up after meeting some boy."

"What boy?" Taylor questions. "That greengrocer lad?"

"No, not Chunk!" I exclaim. "It's one of his friends."

Taylor folds his arms in a rather stern fashion. "What friend? I've never seen him with any friends. I thought you were going out with Annabelle and Sarah last night?"

Oh, this is priceless. They can't bear not knowing who I've been out with. As much as I'd love to blurt out all the details of my amazing first kiss, I think I'll just keep them all guessing instead.

"Yeah, I did. It was a girl's night. We just happened to meet one or two boys along the way."

"TWO BOYS?" Benjamin explodes. "I thought it was just one boy!"

"Actually, there were four boys altogether..."

Benjamin clutches hold of his heart. "F-f-four boys?! Are you being serious?" He's breathing rather deeply now. "You are just a little girl, you're like twelve years old. So you are NOT going out ever again and talking to four boys. I forbid it!"

"I thought you wanted me to go out and have fun," I giggle. "It's not like anything much happened anyway."

"Anything MUCH?!" Benjamin repeats at an overpowering volume. "What is that much supposed to mean?"

Now I can feel my face burning bright red. I don't say anything, but I'm fairly sure my non-ending smile matched with the colour of my cheeks says it all.

"MUM. ASHLEIGH IS DOING 'ANYTHING MUCH' WITH BOYS. AND I DON'T LIKE IT."

"I'm not sure I like it much either," Taylor adds uneasily. "You should be careful about the guys you get involved with Ash. There are a lot of jerks out there. Don't go getting caught up with another Kieran type."

"Honestly boys," Mum interrupts, walking a little closer to us all. "Leave the poor girl alone. She's nineteen years old, she's entitled to go out and have some fun if she wants to. Now get back in that kitchen, Table Four is waiting on their fry-up."

She starts ushering Benji and Taylor away from the bar and back into the kitchen. They reluctantly trundle out of sight and I distinctly hear Benji hiss in Taylor's ear that this is all his fault. I should probably feel annoyed at them barging into my business, but it's far too hilarious to get mad about.

"Thanks, Mum," I say. "I'm glad you have my back."

She smirks at me. "Yes, well I wasn't always a boring old Mum. I used to be young once too. Just make sure you're being sensible. Don't allow some older boy to start pressuring you or anything."

Oh God, is she talking about sex? I think she's talking about sex. This is so embarrassing.

"MUM. We were mainly just talking to them, that's all. I don't know why everyone's making such a big thing about it."

"I know, I know," Mum answers, seeming slightly flustered. "You're responsible, I know I don't have to go worrying about you."

I feel a little swelling of pride at this. Everyone always thinks I'm so ditzy and careless, but when it comes down to it, my family know they can trust me to always do the right thing.

"Just don't say anything to your father," Mum adds. "He'll only start stressing about you."

Humph. Maybe not.

---

Even though we've been picking up business in the pub lately, there are still moments of total boredom where there's nothing to do. Saturday mornings generally tend to fall into that category. It never really picks up until midday when people start coming in for lunch. That's just what it's like when you're based right on the outskirts of a tiny village. There's never much passing trade.

I'm in charge of manning the bar all morning, but we only have two people in and they've already got drinks. Usually, I just play games on my phone to pass the time, but right now I'm tempted to load up something other than Candy Smash or Flutter Bird.

My finger hovers over the Facebook icon on my screen. Annabelle said not to do it. And I know she's right, I need to resist the urge to go on a stalking spree. It's not cool. It's not ladylike. It's not the way I should be getting Jaxon's attention.

But come on, surely one little peek won't hurt? It's not like I have to add him as a friend or anything, right?

I press the icon and the first thing to appear on the screen is Sue-Ella's fan page. It wasn't just my laptop I was looping her video on, over and over. Oh no, I went on my phone to torture myself too. The last thing I looked at was the comments page underneath the dreaded video, where her fans have actually screenshotted her and Kieran together with lovey-dovey messages photoshopped over the top about what a cute couple they make.

When I looked at them yesterday they made me want to be sick. Now I just feel nothing. Well, maybe a little more than nothing. A pang of disappointment perhaps. But really, Kieran feels like little more than a stranger to me now.

It's unbelievable how quickly everything can change, but Jaxon has made me into a whole new woman. He's made me a believer.

I write his name into the search bar, excited to see what will come up. To my surprise, there are no results. There are a few musicians and actors called Jaxon, but no Jaxon Stark from Northcastle. Interesting.

Changing course, I decide to look up my lovely friend Charlie Monk instead. We've been Facebook friends for years, not that he goes on the site much. He's clearly not as addicted to the technological world as I am.

I click onto his photos, looking for any evidence that Jaxon is a real person that exists and not just a figment of my imagination. Sure enough, when I scroll through Chunk's photo albums I manage to find a group shot of him, Jaxon, Dev and Raj. They all appear to be on a lads' night out, their arms slung around each other as they drink out of beer bottles.

Jaxon is right in the centre of the shot, his eyes smouldering into me from the screen. Why had I never noticed him on Chunk's page before? Clearly he is the most interesting thing on the entire internet, but I had been so blindsided by silly Youtube videos that I completely missed him.

Scrolling down, I take a look at the tagged names underneath the photo. Dev has an account. Raj has one too and Sarah is a mutual friend. Guess she didn't care about the boy rules then! Maybe that means it's OK for me to add Jaxon. Only he doesn't exist. His photo is there, but it's not linked to any account. He is officially not on Facebook.

Wow. A man of mystery. This just makes me like him even more, and I didn't even think that was physically possible.

As I keep on stalking to the best of my ability, Dad wanders in from upstairs. He's squinting through his glasses at a piece of paper with Mum's messy writing on it.

"Morning pickle," he addresses. "You can't read your mother's awful chicken scrawl can you? She's forcing me out to get some shopping since we've run out of ketchup. And apparently paint stripper."

"Dad, that says potatoes," I correct.

"Does it? Can't read a bloody thing on here." He adjusts his glasses and he looks so much like Benjamin that it's sort of spooky. "The racing's on too, but oh no, I've got to go and run errands while she does the washing. I don't know what's so urgent that it can't wait until later. I think she just hates me having the TV for more than half an hour."

"I can go!" I suddenly insist. "You can watch the racing on my phone, there's no one around."

I've had an idea. A very naughty idea that Annabelle would not approve of whatsoever, but I think Dad's predicament must be a sign or something. It's like an opportunity falling right into my lap.

"I don't know love," Dad answers reluctantly. "I can't really watch telly when I'm supposed to be watching the bar." He pauses. "...Can I?"

I start loading up my virtual TV player. "Sure you can! I'll turn the sound down and hide it under the counter. No one will ever know."

Formula 1 cars pop up onto my screen and Dad looks longingly at them. He's trying to do the right thing, but I can tell his resistance is wavering.

"You don't want to go out and do all that heavy shopping. No, I'll go. It's my boring errand to run, not yours."

"It's not boring," I counter. "I'd love nothing better than to go and get some fresh air. It will help pass the time. Come on, you'd rather be in here and I'd rather be outside. It's a win-win situation."

"Welllll...." He's breaking... he's breaking... "I guess it would only be for half an hour, wouldn't it? And if you'd rather be outside anyway..."

He's broken. I've done it. I'm a genius.

"Yes definitely!" I prop the phone up under the counter and watch in triumph as Dad's eyes glue to the screen. There is no way he's stopping me leaving now.

I grab the shopping list from him and skip out the door. Because I'm going into town. And do you know what's in town? The greengrocers.

And I know for a fact that Chunk always works on a Saturday. Which is great news for me, because if anyone can put me in touch with Jaxon Stark, then it's him.