Life Goes On- Chapters 1-5
CHAPTER ONE
“Congratulations and good luck to the graduating class of Grossmont High School. 1999!” Every single person who was sitting in their caps and gowns jumped up and gave the person next to them a big hug, even if they didn’t know who they were or if they were totally disgusting. No one really cared. We were all so happy to be done with high school finally. We were free and we were adults. Well everyone except me. You see, I was graduating one year early due to good grades. I skipped 11th grade. I was only 17 and now I was out of high school.
Hi. My name is Ashleigh Jones. Like I said before, I am 17 years old. I am having the time of my life right now. Well, everyone who was in the senior class at Grossmont High School was. We just graduated!! My best friend Kaylena who is 18, just finished the senior after party and we are on our way back to my house. My parents called me on my cell phone saying the need to talk to me and it was really important. Kaylena was like their daughter too practically! As we walked in the door, I noticed my mom’s face was stained with tears. I walked over to them and they told me and Kaylena to sit down. So we did and I asked them what was so important.
“Look Ashleigh,” my dad started, “we need to tell you something that is going to…well…I guess your reaction is your own so I don’t know if it will hurt.”
“What is it Dad?” I asked getting more than a little concerned.
“Well, you were, um, well I guess there is no easy way to say this. So I’m just gonna say it. We adopted you at birth. Your real mom already had 3 other children. She gave you up for adoption and we adopted you.” My mom let out a pout and my dad went to comfort her.
“So you mean to tell me I have a whole other family somewhere?”
“Yeah. If you want to look at it that way.”
“Do you know where? Can I meet them? What are their names?” I was talking very fast because well, I was a bit overwhelmed.
“You are getting on a plane tomorrow to go see them.”
“No. Kaylena and I are going to Orlando to get ready for college.”
“I know. That is where they live. They are meeting you guys at the airport.”
“Oh” I said. I looked at Kaylena and her mouth was hanging open. I could help but giggle. “So Kay-Kay. I guess you need to help me pack the rest of my stuff.” And with that we left the room. Just then my cell phone rang. “Hello?” I said.
“Yeah hi. Is Ashleigh there?”
“This his her. Who’s this?”
“Oh hi Ashleigh! Wow. You sound all grown up.” The women on the other line began to cry a little bit. “My name is Karen. I take it you’ve talked to your uh…parents.”
“Yes mam. Do I know you? Sorry I don’t mean to sound rude but I don’t think I know anyone named Karen.”
“Oh. Sorry dear. I guess your parents didn’t tell you my name. I am your biological mother in Orlando.”
“OMG! Hi!! I am fling out there tomorrow.”
“I know! I can’t wait to see how grown up you are.”
“Can you tell me about everyone?” I asked as I got comfy. I was letting Kaylena pack everything. I wanted to take this call and she knew why so she didn’t complain.
“Well, your oldest brother Josh is 23. He is doing wonderful and is a wonderful young man. The next oldest is Heather. She is 20 and going to Harvard Law School. The next one T.J. He is 18 and he is attending Princeton.”
“Wow! Very successful people! Um…can I ask you something?”
“Anything sweetie, anything.”
“Do they know about me yet?”
“Well, they found out today too. Josh is especially excited to meet you.”
“Why?” I asked curiously.
“He said he wants someone else he can talk to because TJ and Heather are gone all the time. He is too but he still is already excited. He is bringing his friends to meet you too. You will be flying on a private jet. You and…uh…Kaylena? I think that’s her name.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s her name. She is excited too. I can’t wait to meet everyone.”
“Everyone can’t wait to meet you either darling. Well Ashleigh, I will let you go so you can pack. When you arrive Josh will be at the airport. Josh is insisting you live with him. He has an extra room with a bed and all.”
“Sound great. So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Alright. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
We hung up the phone. I was so mad at the moment for my ‘mom and dad’ for never telling me till now. I went over and helped Kaylena finish my packing. Her stuff was already done and at my house. We were taking a shuttle to the airport in the early morning to catch the 4:15a.m. flight to Orlando.
“Guess what Kaylena!”
“What?” She could tell it was kinda important.
“We are flying on a private jet!”
“No way! Get out!! Are you serious??”
“Totally! Everyone from my family is gonna be there. We are going to live with my brother Josh. He is 23. He is excited to meet me she said. He is even bringing some of his friends!! This is so cool! I can’t forget to get Tucker ready either.” Tucker is my dog. He is a 2 year old Chocolate Lab and man is he ever HUGE!! He protects me from everything. I mean, if a fly lands on my arm he will eat it! No kidding!
“This is going to be so cool!” We were both ecstatic. We laid down and tried to go to sleep. I couldn’t wait to meet my other family. Yeah, of course I was gonna miss my family in San Diego too but I was still kinda mad at them right now.
I woke up the next morning to the sound of Backstreet Boys. Man, I hit the alarm so hard the little window thingy broke off. I hate the BSB! Anyway, I looked at what was left of the alarm clock. 2:00. I hurried to wake up Kaylena. We had to be at the airport bye 3:15 and it took 30 minutes to get there with all the morning commute and stuff. We had to leave by like 2:45.
“Kaylena, get up. We need to get ready and go.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m up. I’m up.” She said as she sat up. I started bustin out laughing. Her hair was like a big frizz ball just sitting on top of her head. It was so funny!
“What are you laughing about?” She cracked a smile because I was turning beet red!
“Look in the mirror!” I finally managed to choke out. She looked and she stared laughing too.
“Well you don’t look like a princess either!”
“What are you talking about? I am a princess!” I joked. We laughed for about 5 minutes straight and then we decided we were wasting time. We got in the shower, not together however…eww! As soon as we were dressed and our hair and make up was done, we double-check our bags. Everything else, like our beds and cars and stuff, were being shipped later that week. I went in the kitchen and got Tucker leash. He had his own suite case and everything! I packed dog food, bowls, toys, and other doggie stuff for him. Kaylena thought I went over board, but he is like my baby. He was my best friend next to her. Just as soon as I got him on his leash and wrote my ‘parents’ a note, the shuttled pulled up. “Lets go Kaylena!” I yelled. She came out with the last of our luggage. All together we had 8 suite cases not including our backpacks that we were taking on the plane with us. We got in the shuttle and headed to the airport.
“Everybody off!” the driver hollered even though it was only Kaylena, my dog and me. We got off and 2 bag guys came to help us check in our bags.
“Were are you two lovely ladies off to?” The first one asked.
“Well,” I said a bit annoyed that they were hitting on us, “I found out I was adopted yesterday and now were are flying to Orlando to meet my new family and go to college in about a year.” I said that all in one breath.
“OK. Cool.”
“Thanks. We got it.” Kaylena snapped at him and the other.
“Bye ladies” We didn’t reply. We eventually got on the private jet at around 4:00. We took off at 4:10 so we were early. The captain came over the intercom about 3 hours later saying we were about to land. Just then, my cell phone rang.
CHAPTER2
“Hello?”
“Hi Ashleigh?” a male voice asked.
“Yeah.”
“It is Josh. We can see you plane coming in right now.”
“OMG! Hi Josh! Really? Are you in the terminal?”
“No, if you look out the window you will see people. That’s us.”
“Ok. Hold on.” I leaned over to look out the window.
“OH MY GOD!!!! KAYLENA! COME LOOK AT THIS!!!” Kaylena ran over to me to look out the window. There must have been at least 400 people out there. Most of them looked like news people and stuff. I picked the phone back up. “Why are there news reporters and stuff???”
“Well, this is kind of a big thing. Do you mind?”
“No not at all. It’s actually pretty cool!”
“Good. Ok. I will see you in about 5 minutes.”
“OK. Bye Josh!!”
“Bye Ashleigh.”
“KAYLENA!! Those are like reporter people!” I said still looking out the window. So was she.
“I know. Oh look!! That little one right there is jumping up and down waving!! Hi little-man-I-don’t-know!!” She waved as if he could see her in the window. I started laughing.
“Well lets get our backpacks and I need to find Tucker.” I got up and put on my backpack and found Tucker in the bathroom looking in the toilet. When he looked up at me I could read what he was thinking. ‘No water in the toilet??’ I couldn’t help but smile. I kissed him on the nose and grabbed his leash. “Let’s go Tuck. Time to go.”
The plane landed and the stuartist lead us to the open hatch. We were getting off on the turf, no into the actual airport. I stood in the door way and look at all the people. I was kinda scared. People immediately started taking pictures and stuff. I just stood there dumb founded.
“MOVE!!!” Kaylena was trying to get out. I started walking. Tucker was excited about all the commotion and was wagging his tail. I look down to the bottom of the stairs and see a group of people. ‘That’s my brother!’ I thought to myself. I started to hurry down the steps.
“ASHWEE!!” I heard a little boy yell my name and run up to me. I scooped him up in a hug and everyone was laughing.
“Well now, what’s your name little man?”
“Johnafin.” He said in a little kid voice.
“Well Jonathan, how old are you?”
“This many!” He held up 5 fingers.
“Wow! You are a big boy huh??” He nodded his head and smiled. He gave me another hug. I just smiled. I felt tears start to come into my eyes.
“Hey now boy! Back up off her!” I heard a guy yell. Someone took Jonathan away from me. The guy who took him set him on the ground and looked up at me then at the little one. “I mean she is my sister!! Oh my! You are so beautiful,” he said as he looked at me. I saw tears in his eyes.
“Josh…”
“Yup! Come here you! Give me a hug!” He pulled me close and gave me a long hug. I was crying in to his chest. He was crying too. He pulled away and whiped tears from my face. “God. You more pretty in person than in the pictures my mom…our mom…has of you.” He looked behind me and saw Kaylena. “Now this must be the lovely Kaylena. My my my! Look how beautiful you are!!” He gave her a hug. I looked at her face. It was filled with shock. Like she had just seen a ghost.
“So, where my mama!!” I said jokingly. Josh turned to me.
“Her and Dad had to leave for Europe for 2 monthes. She said shes really sorry”
“OK…lets…” I stopped midsentence and looked at Josh. He looked so familiar. “OMG.” I whispered to my self.
“What?” He looked at me confused at first then his expression changed. “Oh….ok. I know.”
“But…but…but…you…you. You’re you!!”
“Uh, yeah.”
“But you! You’re JC!!”
CHAPTER 3
“No wonder all the reporters are here! Why didn’t you tell me!” I playfully hit him on the chest.
“I didn’t want to freak you out.”
“HA!! I don’t think that worked!!” He laughed at me.
“Hold on, if your you, then your friends are…OH MY GOD!! NO WAY!! Wow.” I almost fainted but someone caught me from behind. I looked up and recognized Justin. Well, that was it for me. I passed out. They carried me and all of our stuff to the 3 S.U.V’s they brought. When I woke up, I was in a car and on the road. I look in the front seat and saw Justin and JC.
“Where is Tucker? Where is Kay?” I asked. I was so confused.
“They are in the other car with Lance and Johnathan. Joey and Chris have most of y’alls stuff.” Justin aswered.
“Oh.” I layed back down trying to sort things out.
“Are we home yet?”
“Nope. About another hour.” JC replied as he crawled in to the back. I had to sit up. “Here.” He said. “You can lay down now.” I turned the other way and laid on my back as I put my head in his lap. “So. What do you want to do after you get settled in?”
“I have no idea.” He reached over and grabbed my hand.
“I can’t believe your finally here. It sucks though. Mom and Dad left for Europe for 2 monthes about an hour ago. They really wanted to stay but the have been planning this trip for 2 years now.”
“Oh its cool. Just, don’t kill me or anything before they get back.”
“What?” he looked at me with a hurt and confused look on his face.
“Well trust me, after 3 days of living with me, you’ll understand.” He laughed at me and I just smiled. ‘Wow’ I thought looking up at him. ‘Hes my brother. How cool.’
“So,” Justin said. “Where are they gonna sleep?” He asked JC with a silly grin looking back at us.
“Well, if they want to stay together, in the living room. If they don’t mind, I think Ashleigh will go in your room and Kaylena in mine.”
“Oh JC!! Do you have a little crush on Kay-Kay??” I said teasing. He blushed and I sat up too look at him.
“Oh you do!!”
“Well, she is a hottie” he said to me. “But don’t tell her I told you! I want to tell her later.” He leaned down to whiper in my ear. “Justin has the hits for you too.” I just smiled to myself.
“OK.” I agreed.
“So it looks like I am stuck with you!” Justin joked.
“Hey now!” I was smiling and joking too. “I may just have to kick your butt for sayin that little Mr.!!”
“Oh really??”
“Yeah!” I said. I playfully smacked him on the top of his head. He pulled in to the gas station.
“Alright! You’re gonna get it!” he said as he jumped out of the car and reach for my door handle. I screamed and jumped on JC’s lap, opened his door and jumped out. I turned to see JC cracking up and Justin running around his car to catch me. I screamed again and took off running. I looked to my right and saw the 2 other cares pull up and they all were laughing too. I ran to the bathroom and got inside. I was tring to lock it but I wasn’t fast enough. Justin came barreling though the door.
“HA HA!! I found you!” He ran over to me but I moved. As I moved my shoes slipped and I fell on my butt. Justin jumped up laughing and ran to catch me while I was down but his feet slipped too. He landed right on top of my with a THUD!
“AH!!” I yellped. We started laughing on the floor for like 5 minutes. We finally stoped laughing. He was still on top of me. I smiled at him and he smiled back. He stood up and helped me up.
“We will finish this later.” He said “Now we have to get back.” We brushed eachother off and he picked my up. “I CAUGHT HER!!” He announced.
“Oh you did NOT!! I let you catch me!!” I smiled at him.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“For sugar and a big huge icey soda!” I joked. As he carried me into the minimart I noticed JC talking to Kaylena. “Wow. That’s weird.”
“What is?” Justin asked as he set me down inside the store.
“My brother and my best bud are gonna hook up. How cute!” I said smiling. Justin just laughed at me. We got our stuff and headed home.
CHAPTER4
“Wow!” I said as we approched a large, two story house. “Is this where I’m gonna live??” I asked in shock. I was now in the front seat with Justin and JC went in the other car with Kaylena. Tucker was now in the back seat.
“Yup.” Justin replied with a smile. After we got out and got all of our stuff we went in. I took Tucker to the back yard to let him run and play. Then I followed Justin who had 2 of my suite cases and I took my other two, up to our room.
“A house this big only has two rooms?” I asked.
“Well no. But if you want your own room, I mean JC thought that….”
“No!! I like this.” I smiled. He just smiled back at me.
“Here this is for all your stuff.” He opened up a big closet. It also had a dresser in side of it and the walls inside were mirrors. I set 3 of my suite cases inside. “Here is our bathroom” Just beyond the closet was a door that lead to a huge carpeted bathroom. It had a very large, hot tub looking bath tub. The shower was on the other side of the bathroom.
“Now THIS is a bathroom!” I said. Justin laughed picked my up again. He set my fourth suite case down in there. He carried me to the bed and tossed me on it. We were both giggling our butt’s off as we play fought.
“Knock Knock!” Someone said.
“Come in!” we said between laughs. It was JC.
“Just makin sure everything is cool.”
“Yup. JC I love this!” I jumped up to give my brother hug.
“Good.” He smiled. “I’m glad. Look Kaylena and I are going out tonight. Do y’all want to join us.”
“Naw. I am tired. You can go Justin.” I said looking back at the bed. He was sitting up.
“Naw. I’ll stay here with you.” He smiled.
“Alright. There is food in the fridge and…”
“GOD! You sound like a parent!!” I laughed. He just smiled and pushed my on the bed. I landed on Justin and he tickled me. I was in a fit of laughter when JC jumped on the bed and helped him. I could breathe!
“Oh JCeeeeee!” Kaylena was standing in the door calling JC. They stopped tickling me and he jumped off the bed.
“Oh! Before you go! Where is Chris, Joey and Lance?”
“They have their own place. We are all going to Disney World tommorrow toether ok?”
“Cool!” I squeeled.
“Bye sis!”
“See ya bro! Later kay!”
“Bye Ash! Bye Justin”
“Bye JC. Bye Kaylena.”
“Later Justin.” They all finally finished their good byes and JC and Kaylena left Justin and Ashleigh on the bed.
“So Ashleigh,” Justin said as he got off the bed. “You hungry?”
“Kinda”
“Well then lets go see what we got!”
“Okie-dokie-pokie!” I said
“Pokie?” He asked with a grin.
“Uh-huh!” He picked me up again and carried me downstairs. I could see Tucker in the backyard chaseing birds. He was all wet so I guessed he jumped in the pool.
“OK.” Justin said sitting me on the counter. “What time is it?”
“Uh…it’s 10:48.”
“Wow! We have all day! JC and Kaylena will be gone till around 1:00am. I guarantee it. He is a party animal!” Justin joked. “But you know. That could be good.” He looked up at me from the fridge and winked. I blushed. He fixed us both some fetuchinne and topped it off with 5 Brothers Creamy Alfredo Sause and parmissan cheese.
“Ummm. This is good Justin.”
“Thanks Ash.” He said as he took a drink of his soda.
“So tell me about your self”
“Well, like what?”
“Like what you like to do and stuff.”
“Well I like going to the mall, shopping, I love to eat, I also love to cook, I play basketball, wrestling, and La Cross. I play b-ball, wreslting, and La Cross on my own time. I swam for compition at my school though.”
“Wow, you are an active person.”
“No compared to you!” I said. As we finished I leaned back and put my hand on my stomach. “Yum. That was delish!!”
“Aw thanks” Justin smiled. “Do you wanna watch a movie or go swimming?”
“Umm…how about we swim then watch a movie?”
“Sounds good. Lets go change. He followed me as I bounced up the stairs. ‘Wow nice ass’ he thought. ‘I cant wait to see that in a two-piece’ He smiled to himself. I fished my suite out of one of her bags and went in to the bath room to change. When I came out Justin was standing in the doorway. I let out a little scream as he picked me up and ran for the pool. He took my towel and his and dropped it on a chair and jumped in while holding me. Tucker sat up to see what was going on but layed back down when he recognied me and Justin.
“I am gonna get you Timberlake!!” I joked. He swam away but I caught him in the shallow end. I jumped on his back and was laughing my head off! ‘Wow. He has such a nice body’ I thought. ‘I really like him. He’s a lot of fun’
“Aw I let you get me.” He joked. “I wanted you to catch me.”
“Why is that?” I asked. He pulled my around so I was facing him. My legs were wrapped around his torso. He lowered his hands so they were on my butt. I smiled and he just laughed at me.
“Hey, whats so funny?” I asked
“You look so cute when I did that! Your face just…I dunno…it was just cute” I laughed too. “What do you say we get out and watch a movie together.”
“Sure!” Justin pulled me in for a hug. I closed my eyes and hugged him back. God it felt so good to have him hug me. His arms were so strong and his stomach was hard. His body was perfect! He pulled back and looked me in the eyes.
“Ashleigh…” he started. “do you think JC would get mad if I did this.” He leaned over and kissed me softly on lips.
“No” I said seriously. “I know he wont be mad at you if I do this, and I’m just too darn cute for him to be mad at.” Justin started to laugh but I pulled him and kissed him. This time there was tounge. Only a little bit though.
“Well, better for him to be mad at you than me!” Justin said jokingly.
“Well he can’t be mad cause he and Kaylena, if I know Kay at all, have been doing this since they walked out the door. Did you hear the way she called him and looked at him in the door way!?? They totally had already done something.” Justin just held me as we got out. He had to set me down though cause we were both slippery. We wrapped up together in one towel and went in to the house together.
CHAPTER5
As we came in to the living room, I walked over to the couch and sat down. Justin walked over to the T.V. and was looking through the movies.
“How does Titanic sound?”
“Why Titanic?”
“Well it is a three and a half hour movie.”
“Oh,” I smiled knowingly, “Cool. Titanic it is.” Justin put the movie in.
“I’ll be right back Ash. I’m gonna go get us a blanket. I am a bit nippish now!!”
“Ok. Hurry back. I am too!” Justin ran up the stairs and came back down with a big comforter. “That looks warm!! Hurry! Get that thing over here! I am freezing!” Justin jogged a bit and hopped down next to me on the couch. The movie hadn’t started yet, the commercials were still on. “That sucks that I wont be able to meet my real mom now for 2 monthes.”
“Well, you’ve been 17 years without her,” Justin said looking at me. “I don’t think that 2 monthes will kill you.”
“You’re right.”
“Of course I am!”
“I think it’s sexy…”
“Oh really? Well you know what? I think you’re sexy.” I smiled at Justin and he faced me, layed me down, and layed on top of me. He softly began to kiss me on my neck then slowly moved up to my lips. He kissed me soft at first. But then his raw, animal instincts kicked in as did mine. He kissed me rough while feeling the curves of my body. After about 30 minutes of rough kissing and making out. Justin slowed down. He took his hands off my sides and moved them to my cheek. He stopped kissing me and pulled his head up to look at me. “Ashleigh…”
“Yeah Justin,” I reached my had up and rn my fingers through his curly hair.
“I know we just met like 4 hours ago but…”
“What is it Justin?”
“Well, I don’t like to share things I like a lot. And I really like you. I was wondering if we could date. You know…exclusively.”
“Of course Justy.” I smiled and pulled him down for a soft, passionate kiss that lasted at least 35 minutes. He picked his head up and layed it on my chest and we watched what was left of the movie. I fell asleep with him on top of me. He soon fell asleep too. We were on the couched wrapping in eachothers arms. I woke up about 2 hours later and looked at the clock. It was only 2pm. I look down and notice Justin was still asleep. I laughed to my self because everytime I would breath his whole body would move up and fall back down again with my chest. I softly kissed him on his forhead. I started to think about what Kaylena and JC were doing but I didn’t really care. All I could think about was about how much I already like Justin and that he liked me alot too. He looked so peaceful asleep, I didn’t want to wake him. I kissed him on his forhead once more and layed my head back down and closed my eyes. I felt him pick up his head and turn towards me. I opened my eyes. He shifted his body to the side so I could move. He didn’t say anything. Neither did I. I just pulled me on top of him and he kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his chest and layed my head down. “Ashleigh…”
“Yeah.” I didn’t move I just answered.
“Umm…your earings are kinda jabbing my chest.”
“Oh!” I pulled my head up quickly. “Sorry. I’ll take them out.” I reached up to take them out.
“Dang!! How many do you have?” He asked looking at my ears.
“7 all together. 4 in my left ear and 3 in my right.”
“Whoa. That looks cool.”
“Thanks.” I smiled. I set all my earings on the coffee table that was next to the couch. I lated my head down on his chest again. He was playing with my hair. He took his hand and took it down my jawline to my chin and lifted my head. He pulled my chin up towards him and gave me a sweet, long kiss.
“You hungry? What time is it?” he asked.
“A little bit but you kisses are good enough for me and it is around 2:15”
“Aw. That’s sweet. Come here you cause you know I am hungry for you kisses. Grrrrrr.” He said as I pulled myself up to I could kiss his lips.
“Oh. Fiesty little boy aren’t we!!”
“Little boy??”
“Yeah.”
“What do you mean little boy?” he asked me looking confused. I just smiled.
“Well, I need to teach the little boy to be a big boy don’t I?”
“Oh yeah…” He grabbed my arms and flipped me over. He then stratled me and began to kiss me rough again. About 5 minutes later he sat up and pulled me next to him.
“What wrong Justin?” I put my hand on his back and began to rub it.
“Well I guess I am just wondering about what a girl like you is doing with a guy like me.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I pulled my hand away and was hurt by his comment. I didn’t know what he meant by that.
“No, not like that baby.” He took my hand in his.
“What I mean is, you seem too good to be true. Sure, lots of people like me, but not people like you. I have mever met anyone like you. I am going to be honest…”
“Well I hope so.”
“It kinda scares me that I already care about you as much as I do. I have never felt this way about any one before. And it is a little scary.”
“I know. I scared a little too. But it feels right. And when I am around you I get this incredible feeling Justin. And I am afraid to let it go because if I do, I don’t think I can feel this way with any one else. I know that we already have something special. I like that. I like that a lot.” I just smiled at Justin.
“I know exacly what you mean.” He leand over to give me a kiss. “Come with me,” he said grabbing my hand.
“I’m a hungry little boy.” He winked at me and I just giggled. “You know you are so irresistable when you giggle. It’s so…well lets just say it is a major turnon.”
“Good. That is definetly a good thing cause I giggle a lot!” He pulled me close and kissed me. Then he let go and kissed me softly on the lips and hugged me again.
“Come on Justy. I’m a hungry little girl!!”