{(("Happily Ever After" Is SO Overrated))}i{((Teaser))}

[Well, this is just a just a teaser since I'm not sure if I'll continue this story. If I don't this will just stay as a one-shot, I guess. And if I do decide to continue it, it will become the prologue. Hopefully, no matter what I choose to do you'll like it!]

[Rated: TEEN]

{Music: Surprise Surprise-- The Starting Line}

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Shouldn’t parents tell you about this when they give you “the talk”, because if they told me what to do now I wouldn’t be stressing out right now. This is the shit that ruins people’s lives. Love is the shit that ruins people’s lives. Lust is the shit that ruins people’s lives. And what exactly is “this”? To tell you the truth, I’m not quite sure. But it’s worse than love-sick lust.

[Flashback]

The phone rang piercingly throughout my small apartment. But I happily skipped to it, humming “Bonnie Taylor Shakedown” by Hellogoodbye to myself. With a grin, I picked up the phone in my bedroom. One hand was holding the phone to my left ear as the other attempted to apply mascara.

“Ashlee?” the caller asked nervously.

It was Ian Stail, my boyfriend of three years. I knew it would be him! We were going to see one of his favorite bands’ local shows. Blind Sided, I wasn’t too familiar with them. But what little I did know was from Ian’s praises.

“Yep, what’s up Ian?” I questioned happily.

“Um… I don’t think we should go to the show-“

I interrupted him, my eyebrows raid. Though, he couldn’t see that.

“What are you talking about?! You’ve been anticipating this show for months!” I said shocked.

“Ash, that’s not what I meant to sa-“

Again, I interrupted him. Anger and confusion had begun to flow through me.

“Then what did you mean to say?! Stop dodging bullets for once and just tell me!” I knew where this was going, but I was too deep in my pool of denial to believe it.

“I don’t think I can do this anymore…” he trailed off into mumbling.

“Do what? If you don’t want to go out tonight, you can just come over and we’ll stay in!” Yet again, the denial kicked in. He was getting closer to saying it… I wasn’t going to cry, I promised myself.

“Ashie, please… don’t make this harder than it already is…” he paused.

“You’re still doing it, Ian! Don’t throw some fucking cliché lines at me! You want to break up with me! Even after my three fucking years of complete loyalty through all your cheating shit! You’re in love with Chelsea, right? No, I don’t want to know! I don’t care! Fuck you, Ian, and good riddance!”

Crap, so much for not crying. The phone collided with the wall on the opposite side of my bedroom. I assumed that it had hung up. Black tears, from my eyeliner and mascara, ran down my cheeks. I cried and cried until I tried to cry, but I didn’t have any tears.

Peering over at the clock on the table, I knew the band must have already begun their set. Well, I might as well go instead of wasting two tickets.

I snatched the small ticket off my bedside table. Walking into my bathroom, I outlined my red, puffy eyes with a thick layer of black eyeliner. The ticket was shoved into the pocket of my ripped jeans. Hurrying, I locked the door and ran down the flights of stairs.

The chilly autumn night air pried at my bare arms. Damn, I probably shouldn’t have only worn a t-shirt, jeans, and chucks. Luckily, the club Blind Sided was playing at was only a block away. I handed the ticket to the slightly creepy man at the doorway.

Running into the club, I released my arms. On the run over to the club, I had wrapped them around myself, attempting to warm up. But the club was warm from all the sweaty bodies that were moshing to Blind Sided as they played the last song of their set.

Immediately, I presented my ID and handed over a few dollar bills to the man at the bar and began to gulp down a beer. The alcohol burned and stung as it flowed down my throat. I didn’t usually drink, except for when I got depressed. But one beer followed another, which was followed by a longer chain of beers.

Somehow, what I was doing rushed to my extremely drunk brain. I had to stop before I killed myself by drinking way too much. Standing up, I walked out of the club. Actually, it was more like wobbling. Suddenly as I stood facing the street that was illuminated by the street’s neon lights, everything Ian had said to me and I had said to him came back. Apparently, I still had some tears left.

Shivering by the road, I spilled out my tears. Suddenly, I felt a pair of hands wrap a warm red Clandestine hoodie around me. My sight was clouded by my tears, so I couldn’t identify this person.

“Are you okay? What am I saying? Of course you’re not okay… you must be freezing. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s wrong?”

I looked at my kind savior from the cold. The tears had begun to leave as I came face-to-face with a pair of warm hazel eyes belonging to a boy who appeared about twenty-one, my age. He swept his black hair which was streaked with dark purple out of his eyes, but it moved back a few moments later.

“He broke up with me…” I cried drunk. “I’m sorry about this, I’m Ashlee Sterning.”

“Well, Ashlee Sterning, I don’t know who this jerk is to break up with you. But I do know pretty girls, like you, shouldn’t cry,” he wiped my stray tears away with his thumb. “I hope you don’t think of me as some random creepy guy that’s trying to hit on you, but since you seem to be quite drunk… would you mind if I drove you home?”

“I walked,” I replied with a slight laugh.

“Well then, may I walk you home?”

“Sure,” I agreed. He was nice and it was just walking.

Well somehow, walking led to kissing. And kissing led to roaming hands. Roaming hands led to me being pressed against my bedroom door. And I’m pretty sure you know what came next….

His hand gently caressed my cheek as I caught my breath beside him. He brushed a stray strand of my light blonde hair out of my sea green eyes. Before I knew it, I had closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

[/Flashback]

When I woke up that morning, he had disappeared and I was left with a HUGE hangover. As I turned over to face my bedside table, I noticed a cup of orange juice and two aspirin resting on the table. I sat up, swallowed the aspirin, and drank the cup of orange juice. Under the cup and pills, there was a note. Heh, even when leaving a one-night stand he finds a way to be sweet.

Dear Ashlee,
Why drink water when you take aspirin when you can get a few extra vitamins by drinking orange juice? >.< Anyway, I’m sorry about just leaving like this… you just look so beautiful when you’re sleeping, I can’t wake you. Hopefully, you feel a bit better than you did last night. So, don’t cry! Or else, I’ll have to come and attack you with corny lines! And you know I have a lot of them! ^-^ Well, I don’t think I got a chance to introduce myself last night so… I’m Matt, Matt Pell. I won’t bother you with my life’s story, don’t worry. I guess I’d better actually go now…. So, maybe I’ll see you around again.
- Matt xo

He even drew me some smiley faces. I got this tingling feeling in my stomach as I smiled at the note and I don’t think it is the hangover. This isn’t happening… he was just a one-night stand. Shit.

Matt, I think I’m in love with you.