melody

He grabbed my phone and started padding against the screen. After a minute he handed it to me.

"There, I put in my number. I'll text you later tonight after you leave," he told me.

I nodded.

"Okay, let's continue with the game," he smiled.

"Your turn," I eyed him. "Tell me something about yourself."

He thought for a moment. "I'm kind of noncommittal."

Well that got serious quickly.

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

He sighed. "I really suck at being decisive. Like I can't keep a job for more than a few months. I don't date really."

I couldn't help but frown.

He shook his shoulders as if to shiver. "Nevermind me, you go." His adorable grin reappeared.

"I'm a cat person more than a dog person," I admitted.

Ashton inhales sharply. "Really?"

I nodded guiltily.

He giggled. "Are you gonna be a crazy cat lady when you're older?"

I cracked a smile. "Maybe. I don't have any cats to start my collection, though. You go."

~~~

After hours of talking, I got really tired. Samantha dragged me out of the house and we jumped in my car. She drives rather than me and my sleepy self.

Shortly after I got home I received a text. I smiled like an idiot. He had made his own contact.

I chuckled a bit before putting my phone away and yawning. I was worn out. Not only was I tired, but my brain was wearing out. Maybe having a social life was too much brain power.

I trudged to my room and flopped onto the bed for a second before getting back up. I changed into a tank top and shorts and flicked the lights off. I dozed off within minutes, I was so tired.

The next morning Samantha still hadn't left my house. She was here so often it felt like she lived here. This day, she cooked breakfast. She had whipped up some french toast, much to my delight.

I had multiple texts from Ashton in the morning.

Samantha peered over my shoulder. "He's obsessive, huh?"

I shrugged. "That's one way to put it."

Suddenly my phone started vibrating the second I put it down. Ashton was calling me. I obviously answered.

"Hello?" I tried not to sound nervous as Samantha was trying really hard to not burst into fits of laughter. I silently hushed her.

"Hey, it's Ashton," the voice on the other end replied happily.

I laughed a bit. "I can see your contact name, dummy."

He giggled on the other end, killing me internally. "My bad. I was wondering if you wanted to do something today? Like the two of us?"

My eyes widened and my heart swarmed.

"Like not a date but like hangout?" He finished.

My heart sunk to my toes. I tried to still sound happy for him though. "Sure! I was thinking of putting the pictures up today if you're up for it?"

"Sounds good! Send me your address, I'll come around three, okay?"

I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "Okay!"

He hung up the phone and I sighed in defeat.

Samantha still had a cheesy grin plaster on her faces "So?"

I shrugged. "We're hang out a bit today," I told her.

Her grin grew wider. "Like a date?"

I shook my head and frowned. "Note the hang out and not date."

I went back in my room to get at least the boxes with the pictures out for when he came. It was only eleven, but knowing me I would forget before he came. He also did not need to see my hoarding quirk through my closet.

The bin was filled with a variety of photos. Pictures I had printed in black and white at my house on normal paper, colored ones from the library, polaroids, ones I had printed at Walgreens, the lot. I was obsessed with just collecting different photos. I decided to wait until I was with Ashton to look through them so it would stay organized until he arrived.

On the lid of the box was a label I had made when I was in fifth grade, the year the obsession began. There were pink squiggly lines as a border with stars and hearts. The whole thing was pretty much stereotypical ten year old, which was frustrating to think I was ever like that. The center had "Melody's Pictures" written in 'fancy' lettering. Well, what I thought would pass as fancy when I was ten. I had plastered it on the box with zebra print duct tape, another trade mark of a fifth grade girl. I laughed at the memories and closed the box.

On my dresser was my Polaroid camera. My new one. I still had my old one, but it didn't work anymore. My old one was a hot pink, but the new one was a crème color. The only photo I had taken with it was one with Samantha when we really became friends last week.

I hoped that Ashton would be okay with taking a ton of pictures, because I knew for sure I wanted his face on my wall somewhere. I looked around the room. I couldn't tell if I just wanted to do one feature wall, or something else like the door. I sighed. I guessed I would decide when Ashton came.

okay this is a really freaking anticlimactic chapter of just melody getting rejected and frenzoned like ten times but the next chapter will be fun

like it will be melody and ashton hanging out and she'll go over memories and stuff so we'll see more of melodys childhood and past.

love you all! tpwk, blm, happy pride month. THANK YOU FOR READING!! <3