Chapter Eight
The car ride was surprisingly not really all that awkward. Those of us not currently in the midst of what Kevin dubbed and “almost-lover’s spat” kept up light conversation, to which Ashley and Joe would occasionally participate. They actually made eye contact and almost smiled at each other, bringing hope and relief to the rest of us. Joe was actually cracking jokes by the time we pulled onto the lot.
But then, who should we run into first on set? Not Ren, not Mr. Thomson. Not even Scott.
The delivery man shifted the huge bouquet of flowers in his arms. “Is one of you named Ashley?” he asked, gruff voice slightly bored.
“That would be me…” Ashley said unsurely, raising an eyebrow at the array in his arms that was about twice the size of his head. To her surprise, he held out the bouquet.
“These are for you,” he said disinterestedly, passing her the flowers and then leaving. We stared after him silently, a bit taken aback by the abruptness.
“Ashley, why is a strange man giving you flowers?” Joe said, but his tone was almost joking.
She pulled out the note that was tucked among the petals, flipping it open, her eyes scanning the small paper. Turning slightly pink, she refused to read it aloud, even when we harassed her. She quickly stuffed it deep into the bouquet and wouldn’t meet our eyes. We all realized simultaneously what that must have meant.
The flowers were from Scott.
Joe’s face fell from the teasing smile back into the emotionless mask that had been his expression since lunch yesterday. Kevin and Nick sighed, following him to hair and makeup with dejected looks, and the tense atmosphere we just loved returned full-force.
Ashley set the flowers down on a random table and didn’t look at them again, a frown on her face as we settled in the lounge to watch and wait.
The guys were finishing up a part today, and then moving onto the parts that involved them playing and singing. The commercial wasn’t filmed in order, so we were really curious as to how the finished product was going to end up. Mr. Thomson was a visionary, so we knew it was going to be good, especially from what we’ve seen.
We didn’t see Scott at all that morning, but about an hour and a half into the filming, Ren walked over, with a strange look on her face. She looked like she had something to say, but didn’t know how to say it. Finally, she plopped down on the couch with us and exhaled. “My dad was wondering if you guys know why Joe looks like he wants to murder someone. Not the best idea for an album promo…”
Ashley mumbled something and stood, walking purposefully out of the lounge and towards the exit.
Ren blinked. “Did I say something offensive?”
Bre and I both shook our heads, but we were too worn out to go into the whole story. It would probably become pretty clear very soon. “It’s a very long story,” Bre murmured, smiling weakly.
Ren didn’t press, which we were immensely grateful for.
The rest of the morning was rather uneventful, which was a blessing in itself. Only when the guys stopped for a break did things get interesting. Or should I say: even worse than they had been before.
Unfortunately, Joe just happened to see Ashley walk inside with Scott chatting her up. And even though Ashley didn’t look exactly thrilled to have this guy clinging to her, we could just see the gears turning in Joe’s head. So he decided on the typical type of revenge: playing the game too.
Ashley turned to face our group just as Joe sidled up next to Ren, laughing with us at something she had just said. He draped his arm around her shoulders nonchalantly, beaming down at her with a winning smile. “That’s hilarious, Ren,” he said smoothly, winking at her.
We saw what he was doing immediately, and so did Ashley. A glare flashed on her face for the briefest instant, and then it was replaced with a cheerful grin at the story Scott was telling. Joe kicked it up a notch, seeing that he would have to do more to get any sort of rise out of her.
“Ren, could you show me around the set? It’s so huge, and we didn’t get to see the half of it,”
She blinked up at him, so stunned by the sudden proximity. Nodding, they walked off together, Joe’s arm around her waist.
To be perfectly honest, this plan probably made sense in Joe’s jealousy-fogged brain, but I didn’t like it at all. It was only going to make things worse. Ren had turned a bright shade of pink and we instantly saw that Joe was leading her on in a bad way. The poor girl who hadn’t done anything wrong was going to get hurt by this, but none of us had any idea what we could possibly do to stop this. No one could resist Joe’s charms when he turned it on full force, and he wasn’t going to stop until he proved his point.
Ashley watched them go with a slight gape, then clenched her fist and hurried off without a word. I didn’t have to look to Bre to see that she was feeling just as awful about this as I was. We didn’t blame Ashley one bit; she must have been feeling so confused and rejected. Joe could have stopped the lunch date from happening but didn’t, and know he was flirting with someone else? We never could have saw this coming. Of all of us, Ashley and Joe seemed like the ones who would be together the fastest, and stick together through everything.
And now, without knowing it, Joe hadn’t just hurt Ashley with seeming disloyalty, but he had created an enemy in Ren through Ash’s eyes. Ren was now a rival, and didn’t even realize it. That left all the rest of us torn. Obviously, in a different situation, there would be no doubt that we would side unconditionally with Ashley. She was our long-time, very close friend. But Ren, who had no idea of the background history of our relationships, had no idea she was doing anything even remotely close to intruding. How could we blame her for that, especially when Joe was doing the flirting? None of us were capable of hating her, and at the same time, none of us could bear to break it to her that Joe’s attentions were out of spite.
“Well…” Nick sighed. “This sucks.”
“Just a little,” Kevin groaned, obviously lamenting their middle brother’s thick-headedness.
The two of them walked back over several minutes later, Joe now chatting animatedly, his arm linked with Ren’s. She was positively glowing, laughing along at his story and looking happier than we had ever seen her.
As Joe headed off with Kevin and Nick to film the part of the commercial that involved them playing their instruments, Ren turned to us with a bright look on her face. “What was that all about?” she breathed with wide eyes.
We smiled somewhat forcedly. “We have no idea…really.”
“Where’d Ashley go? Didn’t she just come back?”
“Oh, um, she forgot her cell phone somewhere,” Bre said quickly.
“Should we help her look for it?” Ren asked, glancing around.
“No, she pretty much knows where it is,” I amended.
Joe was obviously very intent on being blatant, because when Ashley returned, looking somewhat mollified, he thought it necessary to blow Ren a very exaggerated air-kiss. I rolled my eyes. Things were getting a bit childish.
Whenever Joe sang into the microphone, he kept his attention very pointedly focused on Ren, to her intense embarrassment and Ashley’s chagrin. She knew what he was doing, and she wasn’t going to just take it. “I wonder where Scott is. He’s so funny, I love his stories,” she said in a voice slightly louder than necessary. Joe wouldn’t meet her eyes on set, and she whirled around to find the assistant director.
Bre was clearly not enjoying this any more than I was. She was actually looking a bit homicidal. Getting a little scared, I hurried towards the exit to get some air and try to think.
I leaned up against the side of the building, shutting my eyes and breathing in the salty air. We were still quite close to the beach, and that always had a calming effect for me. My mind was whirling. Ashley (along with Bre) went though a ton to get me and Kevin together, so even if we weren’t friends I’d be pushing for her and Joe. But the fact of the matter is that Ashley was my friend, so I was desperate for any sort of idea on how to fix this. However, Ashley was the master schemer, and I was coming up pathetically blank. How was it that it was so hard to think up a way to get their relationship back on track? Blowing a piece of hair out of my face in frustration, I was about to head back inside when I suddenly got a weird feeling that I was being watched. My eyes snapped open and I glanced around quickly.
There was no one to be found, but I couldn’t shake the strange feeling. Getting extremely weirded out, I was borderline panic when I turned and was met with a pair of concerned hazel eyes.
“Mel? Are you okay?”
“Kevin,” I breathed, relief washing over me. “I’m fine. I was just heading back in…Joe and Ashley still being stubborn?”
Kevin rolled his eyes. “Of course. You know, for two people who quite clearly belong together, they sure are fighting this a lot.”
I sighed. “I’ll say,”
We headed back inside together, not noticing the figure slip out from behind the parked car a few feet down the road.
