Ashley was, not surprisingly, nervous as she sat in the Hummer on her way over to Paul's. She wondered who all was going to be there, and if they were going to take to her as well as Billy and Paul. Her dad stopped the car in front of the house, and gave it a dirty look out the window.
"Honey, are you positive this is the right house? It doesn't look like anyone has lived here in awhile…" he said, unsure about letting his daughter even get out of the car on such a dark street.
"Um, yeah, this is the place," she replied, checking the house number on the envelope again. So, this is how normal people live, she thought to herself.
"Well, be careful, I want you home no later than, let's say, two-ish?" her dad asked. Ashley nodded and got out of the car.
"Love you," she said, then slammed the door.
"Love you too darling!" he replied. Ashley straightened out her sweater and picked a piece of lint off of her khaki's before timidly walking up the weed filled path to the front door. She knocked on it, expecting it to fall off the hinges. She could hear several people inside laughing and talking. Suddenly, the door opened, and Ashley was face to face with the punkiest guy she had seen since she had moved to Waldorf.
"Are you selling Bible's or something? No, wait, let me guess, the Avon lady right?" he asked her, leaning in the doorway and checking her out. Ashley was taken back by his attitude, and decided she needed to turn on her inner bitch.
"Yeah, Avon. I'm here to deliver that foundation and blush you ordered, and to remove that giant stick from your ass," she said, giving the cheesiest smile she could. Paul yanked the guy away from the door, tossing him to the ground.
"Ashley…hey! Come on in…" he said nervously. She gladly walked inside and removed herself from the brisk, fall air. She looked around the half empty house. No television, no pictures on the wall, just a coffee table and an old, grungy looking sofa on which Billy and a girl she had never seen before was sitting on. The light was on in the equally as empty kitchen. The only thing that occupied it was a 1950's style refrigerator, covered in scratches and extremely dented. It was safe to assume that Paul and Billy's family didn't have too much. Two other people that she didn't recognize were sitting Indian style on the floor, eating chips. She then realized that she had entered a room full of tattooed, pierced, dressed-in-all-black people, all sending questionable stares in her direction. She only recognized Billy, so she strolled over and took a seat next to him. Paul closed the door and made his way over to the group, all still looking at Ashley like she had three heads.
"Guys, this is my friend Ashley. She kicked Bret Michels ass in the hallway today and I invited her over," he said, trying to answer everyone's obvious question of 'Who the hell is this and why the fuck is she here?' He sat down next to Ashley, trying to make her comfortable by surrounding her with people she knew. "Ashley, this is Joel, Josh, Nisa, and Benji." She smiled and clasped her hands together.
"Hey," she squeaked out.
"Hi," they all replied, almost in unison.
"Well, I like her already. Nice comeback. I'm Benji," said the guy who answered the door as he stood up.
"Thanks," she replied. "This is my twin Joel, my older brother Josh, and our friend Nisa." Everyone smiled at her, but was still a little leery about letting such an outsider into the house. And it didn't help that she was preppy. Ashley knew that everyone was judging her based on appearance, and she wished she had taken some style advice from Gwen Stefani.
"So, you kicked Bret's ass, huh? What did you do to piss him off?" asked Nisa, leaning forward and smiling, waiting for a good story.
"He was fucking around with Billy so I had to dislocate his shoulder."
Everyone's eyes widened. "Are you serious?!" exclaimed Joel.
"Yep, and he cried dude! He like broke down in tears!" screamed Billy, replaying the days events in his mind. Everyone laughed. Paul could tell that Ashley was loosening up, and he was happy that everyone was accepting her for how she acted rather than how she looked, which was really rich and really snotty. The party went on into the wee hours of the morning. Ashley looked at her watch and realized that it was already 1:45. She had just enough time to get home before her curfew. "Um, guys…I gotta get outa here soon. I have to be home by 2," she said, standing up.
"And what if you don't?" Joel asked, wanting her to stay and hang out longer.
"I turn into a pumpkin," she replied. Everyone laughed. Paul jumped on the opportunity to give her a ride home.
"Well Cinderella, you gonna let this coachman give you a ride home?" asked Paul. She giggled. "I think my prince charming will be okay with that," she replied. He grabbed his keys and grinned. Ashley said her goodbye's and got Nisa's phone number. They made plans the next day for her to come over Ashley's for lunch. She followed Paul out the door and for the second time that day got a ride home from him. Parked outside of her house, Paul rubbed his hands together. "So, about what you said earlier, do you really have a prince charming?" he asked her. She smiled. "No," she replied. "So no one's gonna come lookin' for me to kick my ass for bringing you home?" She laughed. "Not yet," she replied. "Good," he laughed. She reached over and grabbed his hand, and got a pen out of her purse. He watched her contently, not sure what was going on. She scribbled her phone number down onto the top of his hand. "Just in case you have another party…or whenever you want to talk or something," she hinted, putting the pen away. He turned a million shades of red and watched as she got out of the van. "Great party. I'll talk to you later?" she asked, tilting her head. "Definitely," he replied, almost in a whisper. She smiled and walked up the front yard and into the door, waving as he pulled away.