A few days later, Ricki was walking around a corner and she suddenly bumped into someone.
"Oh, sorry." She said, picking up the three books she had dropped.
"Sorry." The voice said. Ricki looked up to see a nice looking guy standing in front of her. He bent down to help her pick up a few papers that were strewn across the hall.
"Thanks." She said as he handed them to her.
"I'm Ashton." he said, holding out his hand.
Ricki rearranged her books to her left arm and shook his hand.
"Ricki." She said. "Sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going."
"That's okay, neither was I." He replied, flashing her a smile. She could tell her was from somewhere in the south, for he had a light southern accent. He was tall and medium build, and he had blue eyes and brown hair that was short and fell on either side of his face, where his hair was parted to show his forhead.
"Have I seen you somewhere?" She asked him. He suddenly looked familliar.
"Um, I play football." he said hopefully.
"Oh, well I'm not big into sports, so I wouldnt' have known."
"Really?" He asked.
"Yeah, I never could get into it, and I don't have any brothers."
"Oh, that's a shame. You should come to a game sometime." He said.
"Uh, yeah. Maybe I will. Well, nice meeting you Ashton, but I have to go to a class. I'll see you around?"
"Yeah. You will." He said, flashing her a grin. Ricki felt her stomach do a flip when she saw his straight, white teeth. He nodded and gave her a final look before walking down the hall. Ricki walked in the direction of her class, smiling at her discovery.
"So, what are your plans this evening?" Zac asked, shoving his dirty pile of clothes out of the pathway they had created to the bathroom.
"I'm going to a party." Ricki said.
"Really?" Zac asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Yes. A friend of a friend has a house, and they're throwing a party,and I was invited." She said proudly. It was Friday evening around five, and Ricki was painting her usually bare nails.
"Cool." Zac said. Ricki looked over and smiled.
"What?" He asked.
"Zac, I bought you that basket so you could put your dirty clothes in it, not throw them near it." She said with a laugh. She had gotten a laundry basket at the local walmart and she made a compromise with Zac; If he put his dirty clothes in it instead of leaving them in the pathway to the bathroom, she would give him tips on how to do his laundry and not have his underwear come out pink.
"I know." He said sheepishly, throwing a few shirts into the already overflowing basket.
Ricki just smiled and turned her attention back to her nails. That was the good thing about Susan. With her to entertain Zac, he wasn't in the room as often, therefore he had a lot less time to annoy Ricki. She was starting to resent him less and less and think of him as a brother. A slightly troubled brother.
"What are you doing this evening?" She asked casually, secretly dreading the answer.
"I'm going to a movie with Susan." He said, rummanging through the few clean shirts he had stuffed into his closet.
"Surprise, surprise." Ricki muttered. She hadn't told Zac about her encounter with Susan on Monday.
"Yeah, I know. But she's cool." He said. "And she's hot."
"Oh well she's just perfect then."
"She's nice." Zac said, leaving it at that.
To you, Ricki thought bitterly. "What are you going to see?" She asked.
"Um, She wants to see that new romance one." Zac said.
"Oh." Ricki said. "I'm sure you'll like it." She added sarcastically.
Zac just rolled his eyes.
"Have fun." She said with a grin.
"I will." he said with a smirk, snatching his wallet off his dresser. Ricki just watched him leave the room.