An Angel's Fix Pt. 06

"What y'all didn't realize," interjected Jasmine, "was that blood was covering your hands and splattered everywhere else on you."

"Yeah, we didn't know. Anyway, once you pointed that out, Ashley made us race home for showers and a quick change so we could catch some of the game."

* * *

Ashley didn't say anything in the car on the way home, and Joe let it go. Once inside their town home, Ashley grabbed his wrist and all but dragged him to their room. She closed the door a little harder than she intended, which Joe thought was odd, but even odder still was that she locked it. Their bedroom was always open to any of the girls, if nothing else but to chat. If Joe and Ashley or Ashley and Jasmine were in the middle of fun, it didn't matter. Whoever came in would either turn around and come back later, or would sit on the side of the bed and start talking anyway. For all of them, it was normal, and just something that happens. But tonight, Ashley wanted Joe, and not for comfort or safety.

Unbuttoning her sweater and blouse, she turned to him. "Take off your clothes, Joe," she commanded. "I wanna fuck!"

He stripped down, already getting hard at the sight of her panties and tits as she undid her jeans. He waited for her to climb into bed once they were undressed, but she shook her head and grunted, "uh uh." He laid down and she was quickly on top of him, mounting his cock in one graceful motion. Ashley snuggled herself down on him and breathed, "you better fucking stay hard for this." He was about to respond that it wouldn't be an issue, since he hadn't seen her in over a week, but she had already started her sex. She bounced her way to two quick climaxes, then went at it for all she was worth to reach a third. Grinding very hard on his dick, Ashley didn't care at this point whether he was enjoying it. She was desperate for a release that eluded her from screaming hard at the game, to talking the incident out at the party. "Come on, damnit, come on!" she grunted over and over to herself as she ground against his pubic bone, rubbing her clit against his hair and making his rod slip deliciously around inside her. Finally after several mini climaxes and many minutes later, the Big One she worked her hips feverishly for happened.

"OH....FUCK...YEAH!" It was a half grunt, half guttural yell as the sparks went off in her head and her tummy convulsed. She continued to push into her orgasm and another one stacked onto her current pleasure, sending her into shakes.

"Oh God, I needed that," she sighed as she rolled off Joe and on to the bed once the waves of pleasure subsided. Her personality had changed instantly, and she was in loving kitten mode. The utter release made her giddy and she started giggling. "Sowwy," she pouted to Joe.

"For what?" he asked as he snuggled in beside her.

"I didn't wait for you," she answered. "You can do it now, if you want."

He studied the side of her face while absently playing with her breast on the opposite side, a habit Ashley absolutely loved. "Don't worry, I did when you did."

She squirmed her legs once and giggled. "Oh, I guess so! Well, you're welcome to seconds, thirds, or fourths later on, even if I'm asleep."

"I know. I just might." He heard Ashley sigh "good." "So how was your week?" he asked. She sort of glared at him out of the corner of her eye. "I mean aside from today," Joe quickly elaborated.

Ashley gave a weary chuckle, and the day suddenly wore her down. "Can I tell you in the morning?" she yawned. "I think I'm heading for a sex coma. Good night. I love you." The slumber struck her so quickly, she missed him kissing her forehead and returning the sentiment.

* * *

Jasmine felt a bit like the proverbial "third wheel" at the airport when Ashley went straight into Joe's arms, and then rushed them out to the car lot to get going. Ashley had ridden with Joe home, while Jasmine felt she was "stuck" with Kim, driving her in Ashley's truck. The ride home and to the stadium was quiet, since Kim didn't say a word. But then, that was nothing new between them lately. Now, Jasmine felt even more left out when she found the bedroom door closed.

"Jazz, you can sleep with me tonight," Kim said when she saw her sigh heavily.

Jasmine hadn't heard that pet name from Kim in a long time, and was a touch bewildered. None of her bedtime choices were comfortable at that point. There was the couch, sleeping next to Kim, who was not friendly at all to her lately, or Jill's room. But there was no telling when Jill might get home, and it was possible she'd be bringing Ken with her. So with a sigh to steel up her nerves, Jasmine nodded. They took turns using the bathroom, stripped down to their panties, and got into bed. Kim faced Jasmine, while Jasmine laid on her back, staring at the ceiling and thinking about all the what-if's. What if the crash was worse? What if Ashley hadn't survived? What if Ashley was tired of her? What if they kicked her out? What if Kim was taking her place? She winced at that one. Oh God...

"Jazz?" Kim interrupted her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sober enough to understand me?"

Jasmine sighed in irritation. "I drove us home, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but..."

Jasmine felt a fight coming on, despite the sudden pet name use. She turned to face Kim angrily. "I only had a couple, and I'm not even buzzed! You dissing the way I drive now? God!"

"That's not what I..."

"What?! You weren't going to complain about my driving? Well, I suppose you'll start in on how I tried to steal Joe again? Right? Well, I'll have you know that while you got to enjoy Ashley last week, I had to double-click my own mouse for relief. Joe and I didn't see each other in anything less than t-shirts and jeans!" Kim slapped her cheek. It wasn't hard enough to sting, but Jasmine's jaw went wide in total shock. For the bitterness that was harbored between them, never had either of them resorted to the physical expression of it.

"Jasmine, shut up and listen! I'm trying to talk to you!" Kim let out a grunt in frustration. "What you did hurt Ashley very much..."

Jasmine interrupted. "I know! I'm sorry! A thousand times, I'm sorry!" She was on the verge of tears. "All I wanted to do was see what I missed. All of you had Joe at some point, and had him for months or years each. I just wanted to experience him for one night. All of him. His friendship, his love, his trust, and yes, his sexual play. But Joe is totally in love with Ashley, more than he was ever in love with any of you. Anyone can see that. Ashley gave me permission to enjoy him, but I knew it would take everything I had in me and what I knew about him to seduce him...no matter what Ashley had told him to do. It took all night for me to finally get him to let Ashley go for a bit and see me as a willing partner. Yes, he'll enjoy us teasing him by walking around the house in our undies, or sometimes get to second base with me, and that's a lot of fun. But don't you understand? He's only got feelings for her. Did you know that he won't even let me jack him off while Ashley goes down on me? Joe always makes sure it's her hand that's touching him. I wish you'd get it through your head that even though Ashley would let him have fun with any of us, he just won't." She sighed, not realizing until now how much she needed to get off her chest. Then her worries returned. "But now, I don't know what you've said to her all week, but I think she doesn't want me any more. She went straight to Joe when they bussed you from the plane to the terminal. Okay, so she loves him, and she needed his arms embracing her after all that. But, barely two words to me all afternoon and tonight?! They closed the door, for God sakes!"

"Can I talk now?" asked Kim.

"Sure."

"And you won't interrupt?"

Jasmine sighed. "I promise not to interrupt."

Kim took a deep breath in preparation. "As I was saying, you hurt Ashley very much..." Jasmine opened her mouth, but Kim put her hand up and stopped her. "You did, and in doing so, you hurt me and I think Jill to a certain extent. But that said, after what Ashley said to me on this trip, and what you just said, I understand now. I wanted to say I'm sorry for being a bitch to you lately. I just hope I haven't lost you as a friend."

"You haven't," Jasmine said quietly.

"Good. And about you and Ashley...don't worry. You're still very much her girlfriend."

Jasmine scrunched her face in confusion. "What...do...you...mean?" she asked slowly.

"Oh please, you know damn well what I mean. I asked her straight up, and she confirmed it. The girl is head over heels for you...well, only after Joe." Then Kim got up and did something Jasmine completely unexpected. She came around, knelt on the floor before Jasmine, and took her hand. "Could you please forgive me? I just didn't understand what was going on."

Jasmine hopped out of bed and knelt next to Kim. Her voice tight in her throat, she said, "Kim, if roles were reversed, I'd probably do worse than you have." She threw her arms around Kim's neck. "Let's just start from...well, from before we were mad."

They both giggled and held each other for a while before anything more was said.

* * *

While they all were having brunch after Mass the next morning, Ashley laid out what had happened during their trip. Jasmine joked that she knew Kim was smart, but why was she so stupid at school lately. Kim rewarded that with a playful punch to Jasmine's arm and responded that until last week, she just didn't have any focus about the future. Her mediocre grades were going to be remedied in short order, she assured them all. Then Ashley went into a rant about flying, making it very clear to all that she was not setting foot in a plane again. Ever.

Another thing that her friends agreed was very clear over the next few days, something was rather different about Ashley. Nothing bad, but on several occasions, each had caught her making comments in languages other than English; in perfect diction. When asked about it, she just shrugged, saying that the software at the sorority must be working for her. Joe at some point asked a doctor about her becoming fluent in four languages all at once. The doctor researched it and said it was possible that the plane crash was traumatic enough for her that the scare forced certain connections in her head to be made.

Aside from this, Ashley became the definition of determination. Every late afternoon after her classes, she would grab her guitar and practice. She wouldn't practice at home, but rather at a rundown amphitheater on the west side of campus. Several days into this, there would be a growing number of students stopping to sit and listen on their way back to the dorms. Early in each session, it seemed Ashley was oblivious to the dozens of people perched on the cracked concrete semi-circles before her. She methodically went through assigned voice pieces, and then moved on to what she called "trying my hand at writing." The students and a few random professors just sat there to enjoy this part, some quietly talking as it didn't seem to faze the performer. But after a while, Ashley would thank her listeners for their patience, smile up at them and ask if anyone wanted to hear something. Then the real show the regulars came to expect would start. A request would be offered, and she would play and sing the piece without hesitation. A nickname for Ashley was born from these nights: The Human Jukebox. She gained a reputation for knowing and performing any published song asked without any perceptible mistakes. More than a few even thought her version was better than the originals.

School and the activities at the sorority made the weekdays fly by. Two of the weekends were taken up with trips home on Saturday to help Joe put together the Christmas youth Mass. Those Sundays were back in Tallahassee to do the same thing with the other half of the participants. The other weekend was the conference football championship game in Jacksonville. Other than their team suffering a let-down from the disappointment of their rival game and losing close this game, it was a vacation in comparison to the rigorous schedule they had been keeping. The school Christmas break came up fast and so Ashley and Kim drove up to Atlanta while the rest went home.

Ashley kept saying as she drove that she couldn't wait to meet the band she was being set up with. Kim grew weary of it, and changed the subject. "So, Jill seems to really like Ken, huh?" she asked.

"Mmm hmm," came the halfhearted reply.

"They've been going out for three weeks now. That's gotta be a record for AJ."

"I guess," said Ashley, disinterested. Then the last bit sank in. "Wait, who's AJ?"

Kim rolled her eyes. "Would you listen for once on this trip?! I'm talking about Jill."

Ashley knotted her eyebrows, now paying attention but not liking getting called out for the earlier lack of it. "Okay, I hear you now. Who's AJ? I thought Jill was seeing Ken."

If there was a brick wall, Kim felt like her head would meet it. Repeatedly. "She is," she said with a huff. "By AJ I meant "After Joe.""

"Really?"

"Yeah. Since Joe split with us, I haven't seen anyone, and I think Jill's had a couple boyfriends... for all of like 20 seconds each."

Ashley understood. It would be hard for any guy to match up against Joe's ability to endear, comfort, and befriend females. "Ken seems nice enough. Besides, if you had to sit your hoohoo on any one guy's hand over and over for every game and practice, you'd feel a certain attachment, I guess."

Kim chuckled. "I wish I did have a guy to hold me up like that." Then she chuckled again. "Hoohoo!" Ashley's phone chirped in the cup holder and Kim picked it up and made a couple of swipes. "Huh."

"What?"

"Well, it's a text. It reads: 'Gratz on your Walmart commercial! – Haley.' You know, it is a cool commercial." She saw the retort in Ashley's eyes and cut it off. "And NOT just because it's you! Who's Haley?"

"Haley Williams," Ashley stated as a matter of fact.

"Like Paramore's Haley Williams?! No way!" Kim was in awe, not that Ashley's face was now public, but that a music star had Ashley's phone number and used it unsolicited. She had forgotten the two had met at the airport previously.

Matt greeted them at the door. Or rather, greeted HER. He ignored Kim. "Ashley!" he exclaimed with a used car salesman's smile. "Glad you're here! I've got your group already setting up in the studio."

Ashley practically bounced as he led the way, then let her feet fall flat when she saw her new group through the booth window. "Oh crap," she breathed.

It was a three piece group of what she called boys, although they were a couple of years older than she. Their faces were pleasant to behold, no doubt why they got this job, but their attire was a different story. The clothes they wore were like a furball mix of thrift store meets redneck slamming into prep, on each person. One guy had flip flops, denim board shorts, and a polo buttoned all the way up. Another had a wife beater, saggy jeans, and boat deck shoes, sans socks. She couldn't accurately describe what the third had on. To top everything off, their hair styles did not exactly win her heart either. Ashley ended up calling each by the name of their style.

She looked at Matt. "This is what you came up with as the best match for...ME?!" She punctuated the last word with a pointing swipe of her hand past her perfectly coordinated outfit.

He held up a hand in a calm down gesture. "I know, but think of it as a nice contrast to you." He could tell she wasn't sold. "Anyway, you should hear them play before you pass judgment."

Ashley raised her eyebrows, but Kim spoke for her. "Judgment? I think she's already on to sentencing, quickly heading toward execution!"

Jerry, the sound technician who had been talking to Kim off and on through phone calls and texts, snickered, which was quickly cut short with a glare from his boss.

"Ashley," Matt said sternly, "give this a chance. Hear them out."

If it wasn't so awful, the scene through the glass behind Matt might have made Ashley laugh. It was as if Animal House had come to life, the guys were acting so immature. She rolled her eyes, but nodded a go-ahead. Jerry hit the microphone button and told them they were up. Ashley closed her eyes to give a fair listen without the bias of their appearance. As they played, Kim watched with her mouth open, unable to comprehend the jumble of what she was seeing. Ashley finally opened her eyes about two-thirds of the way through the song. When it was over, Matt asked for her assessment.

"Say something nice," Kim grumbled.

"Something nice," Ashley quipped with an edge to her voice.

"No, what do you think?" asked Matt again. "Not bad, eh?"

Ashley sighed. "I was hoping for much better than 'not bad.' I mean, seriously?! This is what you pictured when you think of me?"

"Well, yeah! You're gonna be kick-ass at hard rock. They're perfect."

"Not perfect. Sooo not perfect. They look like a damn garage band!" Ashley frowned.

For Matt's part, this was happening, regardless of what Ashley thought. "The looks can be fixed. What about the sound?"

Ashley shook her head. "Well, like you said, they're not bad, music-wise. I wouldn't say great, but not bad. Just...I don't know how I can perform with them. They're all over the place. This one's flailing around the room with his guitar like an ape in a cage. That one needs his head examined for a concussion, he was throwing it forward so much. And not even in rhythm! The drummer might as well be jerking off, because it looks as if 'Animal' from the Muppets were lecherous and playing the drums."

Matt made one last closing pitch. "But you're a strong-willed girl. You can teach them some refinement. Why don't you go in and meet them."

Ashley folded her arms across her chest. "Pass."

Matt's friendly sales facade disappeared. "This isn't a game of Go Fish, Ashley!" he bellowed, startling Ashley and Kim. "This is my company, and my employees do as I tell them! They are my employees, as are you. So get in there, say hi, and at least act like they're going to be your friends!"

Ashley tossed him an eat shit look before entering the studio.

The guitarist was just finishing up a crude joke about sex when he noticed her in the room. "Oh, you must be the girl Matt hired!" he said too cheerily while extending a hand.

Ashley jutted her jaw, but took the hand nevertheless. "Nooo, I'm Ashley. Ash Lee." She over-enunciated the second time as a jab.

"Ah. Okay. Well, we're The Pinheads."

Ashley let out a sarcastic chuckle. "So you must be Marty, then."

They could see Kim nearly wetting herself with laughter in the booth.

"Marty?" he asked with a confused look.

"Yeah...from the movie? Marty McFly?" Ashley sarcastically asked.

"Uh, no. I'm Steve."

"Whatever, Slick-back."

He let it pass. "This is Paul," he introduced as he pointed to the bassist.

"Mohawk," Ashley greeted.

"And this is Reggie," he continued as he nodded toward the drummer.

"Sup, Bed Head!" she said with a head bob.

While the band and Ashley haltingly made small talk and resume swapping, Kim turned to Matt. "Pinheads? Really? Shall we jump back to the future of 1985?!"

Matt looked defiantly back. "Maybe not original, but it will work." He nodded toward the studio. "She better be on board with it, too." With that, he left.

Jerry started laughing. "I am SO glad you two caught that. I thought I was the only one. When I brought up Back To The Future, I just got blank looks around here."

Kim cocked a wry smile before turning back to face the awkward scene through the window. "You know you're probably gonna have to Photoshop Ashley into the album cover pictures, right? There is no way she'll pose with those clowns." She shook her head. "Ashley and The Pinheads...oh boy."