Ashlee

ASHLEE

My name is Marcus Veovin. Normally, the tales I tell to describe my life's past are somewhat reserved considering their more adult themed nature, but this story is anything but that. There was a time when I knew a girl who just shy of twenty years of age by the name of Ashlee Belle, and she was quite possibly the most free-spirited woman the world has ever known. Well, maybe not in the entire world, but certainly in my lifetime, so for me, she was definitely the most free-spirited woman in my world.

I met Ashlee during my third year of schooling when she was in her second year. She was nearly as tall as I was, standing about five and a half feet tall, and she was a slim girl with a wheat-colored complexion and jet-black hair. She had an average size bust that fit her body type perfectly, and when they were visible, she had a killer pair of legs. She had dark brown eyes and thin, pink lips, and when I first met her, she was typically pretty shy. As the years passed, she opened up quite a bit and eventually fell in with the "gothic" crowd...and started to dress in mostly black latex and fishnets. I can't say that she didn't pull off the look because she looked absolutely hot in such fiendish attire.

I hung out with Ashlee a few times throughout my time in school. We usually ended up at her house because her parents gave her the full run of their basement. She treated the living room as a "game room," and she had a bunch of different video game consoles hooked up to a fifty-four inch TV that was huge for the time. Unlike most girls, Ashlee enjoyed a good video game...and she tended to like the same genres I did: RPGs and strategy games.

It was a lot of fun hanging out with her because not only did we game, but we would also sit around watching movies and shooting the shit. We could talk about nonsense for hours on end, and we would sometimes play card games while doing so. Until my final year of school when I was nineteen, my parents enforced a somewhat strict curfew on me, but Ashlee's parents didn't seem to mind how long she stayed out or how long her friends stayed over. It didn't occur to me at the time, but I think the goth girl wanted to keep me to herself sometimes because when she usually invited me over, she tended to not invite other people.

Ashlee also really enjoyed watching professional fights on TV, and she would never miss the bigger events when world titles were on the line. She would tell me to come watch them with her, and there was one time when she got so into the contests on the television sitting in front of us that she started wrestling me to the floor! I wasn't about to fight back and accidentally hurt her...and besides, any guy knows that if a girl initiates such an action, it only makes sense to let her dominate the moment. I shouldn't have to explain any reasoning behind such a theory...

Anyway, Ashlee became more and more invested in her gothic phase as her education progressed. I didn't see as much of her throughout my final year of school as I would've liked to since I had a lot of things going on, but I still chatted with her in the hallways and hung out with her on a couple different occasions. I have to admit that I regret not spending more time with her not just because she was one of the most titillating - no pun intended - girls I've ever known, but also for the fact that I feel like she may have thought I didn't want to be around her since I wasn't seeing as much of her.

A lot happened to me after I graduated, and I planned on taking a year off from school before attempting college. I stayed in the city I had grown up in and lived with my parents while working a couple different jobs. One of them was at a video game store, and while many people may think that such an occupation would be fun, it was actually quite frustrating. My other job was at a bookstore, and while that was by no means a blast either, I preferred that job to the former. However, if it wasn't for that dead-end profession I was using to earn a little extra money, what transpired during the summer right after I graduated would've never occurred.

My summer had thus far been interesting to say the least, but things became infinitely more intriguing when I had a visitor to the store in the form of Ashlee. She showed up one scorching afternoon during the middle of the season dressed in a tight, black tank top that revealed a good portion of her trim tummy. She wore a long-sleeved fishnet shirt over it, and she had on a short black skirt that looked to be made of a material similar to latex. She had on black stockings that stretched all the way up to her thighs, and she also wore combat boots. She had black eyeliner and lipstick on, and while she garnered quite a few perturbed looks from other adults, I thought she looked sinfully delightful.

I greeted the gothic girl and asked what she was up to. She responded by telling me she needed a new game to play, and she wanted something that would take a while so she'd get her money's worth. I pointed out a few different choices and gave my opinions on them.

"How have you been doing this summer?" She then asked after coming to a decision on which game she wanted. "Been keeping busy?"

"Sure have," I told her while retrieving the copy of the game she'd be purchasing. "Between two jobs, I don't have a whole lot of time to myself!"

"That's no fun," the carefree spirit responded. She gave me a somewhat quizzical look as she suddenly asked, "Didn't you just have a birthday, also?"

I was a little shocked that she knew. "Yeah, actually I did. I turned twenty about a week ago. How did you know?"

Ashlee simply smiled and then informed me, "I was going to call you to tell you happy b-day and invite you out for lunch, but with as many friends as you have, I knew you'd be busy."

"Are you kidding me?" I jokingly spoke up after hearing the dark-haired girl's statement. "I actually worked in the morning and then just sat around that night! I would've loved hanging out with you!"

Ashlee actually smiled...which was something I hadn't seen her do much of over the last year. It was a welcome return as she mentioned, "Well, maybe if you have some spare time coming up in the next few days, I could make it up to you with a belated birthday lunch or dinner. What would you say?"

"I'm off in a few hours if you're available tonight," I informed her. "And if that doesn't work, I could certainly make time!"

Ashlee nodded as she pulled out the money she needed to pay for the game. She was still smiling, and I think I even noticed her cheeks growing a little rosy.

Deciding to change the subject, I asked, "Are you looking forward to your final year of school?"

"Nah," she quickly responded. "Just another year of the same banal bullshit." Upon dropping the curse word, Ashlee immediately glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have cared about swearing in front of others, but I was absolutely certain that she was trying to watch her language so she didn't get me in trouble.

"That final year of school is by far the best!" I tried to cheer her up a bit. I then slightly corrected myself as I mentioned, "I can't say the school part is very exciting, but something about everything that goes on after classes are finished for the day..."

"You certainly kept busy last year," Ashlee pointed out. "I hardly saw you. Kind of sucked since I always enjoyed gaming with you."

I sensed a bit of hurt in the raven-tressed beauty's voice, and I wanted to make that up to her. "Well, I'm not rushing off to college in the next couple of months, so if you can fit me in between hanging out with your friends..."

The gothic girl sarcastically laughed. "It's not like I have that many, Marcus! It shouldn't be hard to squeeze you in to my 'busy schedule!'"

I felt bad. I never realized that Ashlee considered me such a close friend, so the fact that I had pretty much pushed her aside throughout the last year...

I think the goth girl could see what I was thinking, and she decided to diffuse the tension by stammering, "If I didn't already tell you, me and a few other girls are thinking about starting up a band."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, interested in what the young woman had to say. "What kind of music?"

"Mostly punk. Maybe a little metal and industrial."

"Awesome!" I told her since I enjoyed pretty much everything with the exception of rap and country. "Do you ladies have a band name?"

Ashlee shook her head. "Not yet. We've only jammed together a few times, so nothing big has been set up yet. Hell, for all I know, we won't even last to the school year!"

"Well, I'd love to come watch you all play!" I tried to uplift the young woman's spirits. "Do you plan on wearing outfits similar to the clothes you're currently wearing?"

Ashlee glanced down at herself before looking back at me. "I planned on it," she answered. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Not at all!" I responded with a big smile on my face. "If you don't mind my saying so, you pull off the gothic look far better than anyone I've ever seen before! To me, it's kind of like your trademark!"

I could plainly see that Ashlee approved of my statement. As I rang up her game and she handed me the money, I bagged up her purchase and handed it to her as she said, "I actually had a few tattoos done earlier this summer."

"Oh yeah?" I asked with genuine intrigue in my voice. I didn't know many people with body ink at that time...especially girls. "What'd you get? And where?"

Ashlee cocked her head off to the side and showed me a little tattoo on the right side of her neck. It was a cursive "L" with a heart. I was a little surprised that such a tough girl would get a heart, and I wanted to ask what the "L" stood for, but she was already turning the other way and showing me a cat and a nature scene on her left arm. I could somewhat see them through the fishnet, and she aided my view by rolling it up.

"I plan on getting a sleeve when all's said and done," she told me after rolling the fishnet back down. "I have a lot of plans, but for now, this is all I've had done."

"They look great!" I told her. In all honesty, I had never been the biggest fan of tattoos, but they truly looked good on Ashlee. "I especially like the half cat face!"

The goth girl smiled. I could tell that she wanted to stay and chat, but as fate would have it, another costumer walked up behind her ready to pay for his item. When she noticed him, she waved at me and told me she better let me get back to work. As she backed away, she told me, "I'll give you a call, okay?"

"You better!" I told her in such a way that had her smiling again. "Hanging out with you will be the best belated birthday gift ever!"

I don't think I overdid the charm since Ashlee was practically skipping toward the exit of the store.

* * *

In between work and different friends, I started hanging out with Ashlee on a regular basis throughout the rest of the summer. When the school year started, she would randomly call me on certain weeknights, and we would get together on the weekends to play video games and sometimes watch movies. There was no doubt in my mind that Ashlee relished getting together with me as much as I enjoyed seeing her. We were having a blast.

By the end of her first month of school, we were hanging out on a regular basis. By regular basis, I mean that we usually hung out three to four times throughout the week. More often than not, we ended up at her house since her parents never bothered us when they were around, and on weekends, we would stay up into the wee hours of the night watching horror movies since that seemed to be Ashlee's favorite genre. She had asked me on more than one occasion if I wanted to switch things up, but deep down, I didn't mind what we were watching as long as I was hanging out with her.

As autumn rolled into its second month, I decided to become a little bolder when we watched movies and opted to place an arm around the young woman seated next to me on her couch one night. I told myself I should've asked first, but she didn't seem to mind since she snuggled up closer to me and allowed me to hold her. When I left for the night, I took things one step further and gave her a peck on the cheek. That probably doesn't sound like much, but I tended to take things a step at a time...and for as open of a person as Ashlee usually was, I think she was caught off guard because her face became a deep shade of red as I walked out of her front door that night.

The next time we hung out, I didn't try anything, but the following time, I departed the dark-haired beauty by once again giving her a peck on the cheek. I was more than a little surprised when the time directly after, she beat me to it and gave me a kiss on the cheek! I didn't want to wash my face ever again...perhaps that sounds a little ludicrous, but I'm sure everyone out there understands what I'm saying.

It was on my next visit to Ashlee's house when things went one step further. We had spent most of the night playing one of the RPGs we so ardently loved, and on that particular night when I went to leave her house, I leaned forward to give her a peck on the cheek like I had been doing...but she purposely turned at just the right moment so my lips would meet hers. I was caught off guard by this turn of events, but I couldn't say that I was disappointed. I indulged in the show of affection as I suddenly felt her arms wrap around my neck and pull me closer. It was a good thing it was late and her parents were in bed since the scene was unfolding on the foyer. We would've easily been spotted if they had been awake and in their living room.

I placed my hands on Ashlee's exposed sides since she was wearing one of her tight, black tops that left part of her midriff revealed. We stood by her front door, taking each other in as the kiss went beyond simple lip wrestling and became more passionate. I felt her tongue press its way into my mouth, and I have to admit that one of my hands went down and gripped one of her butt cheeks.

Ashlee then pulled away and innocently asked, "Are you sure you have to go now?" She paused briefly before smiling and jesting, "It's still early!"

It was not an easy decision to make, but I told her I needed to leave since the sun would be coming up in a few hours. It was one of the most difficult decisions I had ever made, and I knew she was just as disappointed in my choice as I had been. I hoped it wouldn't upset her in the long run, but she knew as well as I did that it was the only thing we could've done at the time.

I wondered where things would go next. I was actually kind of nervous about the next time we'd hang out not because I didn't want things to progress further since I enjoyed Ashlee's company and she was a hot, gothic babe, but because I was anxious about whether or not she'd be upset with me for leaving when I had the last time I had been over to her house. I needn't have worried.

The next time we were able to get together was on a weeknight when I had worked a morning shift. I went over to Ashlee's house as usual, and we ended up deciding that on that particular evening, we'd watch a scary movie. She put one of her favorites in and we situated ourselves comfortably on the couch. No more than five minutes into the film, my overzealous friend decided she wanted to get more comfortable...and took a seat on my lap.

I had absolutely no problem with Ashlee's decision, but it didn't take long for something down below to get worked up. Within a minute, it was standing at attention...and the young woman on my lap could feel it.

With a sly look on her face, Ashlee turned to me with a devious grin spread from ear to ear as she asked, "I didn't notice before seating myself, but am I sitting on a joystick or something?"

I'm sure my cheeks reddened, but the free spirit on my lap pushed my doubts and embarrassment aside as she wrapped her arms around me and started making out with me. To this day, I still have no clue as to what that movie was about since I didn't see a single minute of it beyond those first five.

I obviously loved my time with Ashlee, but I didn't want to take her away from her regular life, either. I was beginning to wonder if she ever spent time practicing with her friends she had the band with, and as the end of the month inevitably crept up, I thought for sure she'd want to go to at least one or two parties since she was trying to enjoy her final year of school. As always, though, we spent plenty of nights alone in her basement watching horror themed films. I had no complaints; I just didn't want to be that guy who took her away from everything else.

During the final month of autumn, things took yet another giant leap forward. It was the final day of the school week and I had worked both jobs earlier in the day. After getting home and showering, I didn't show up to Ashlee's until after ten...but again, her parents never seemed to mind as we quickly retreated to her basement. I could see that she had a bowl of hot, buttered popcorn along with two cans of my favorite soda sitting on the small coffee table in front of her black, leather sofa. She had things all prepared for us to watch some older films.

I had been greeted at the front door with a small peck on the lips before following the wondrous woman down to our normal hangout. As I went down the stairs behind her, I couldn't help but study her sumptuous form and admired the way she rocked her formfitting, black tank top and skintight leggings of the same dark color. It was in that moment when I noticed she had a new tattoo right at the base of her back and above her tookus: Most would refer to such a marking in that location as a "tramp stamp," but I refused to acknowledge that name on someone I cared for and respected such as Ashlee. To me, it was a "lower back" tattoo.

"I like your new ink," I told the gothic chick who had her jet-black hair in pigtails. "When did you get that done?"

As we made our way toward the couch, Ashlee tried to turn a bit so she could see the body art I was referring to. "Oh, the heart and heart monitor lines? I had that slapped on last week when you were at work! I thought you might have been talking about this one!" She then held out her left arm and showed me a new addition to her sleeve. It was a moon surrounded by its many different phases.

"Oh, wow!" I exclaimed. "You've been busy! Why didn't you show me these sooner?"

The cunning young woman smiled in response and threw herself down on the couch. She then slapped the cushion next to her in order to summon me to her side.

I had a seat next to Ashlee and we talked for a few minutes before she hit "play" to start the movie. Once it was going, we just sat next to each other like two unsure teenagers. It was almost like one of us was waiting for the other to make the first move.

About ten minutes into the movie, I was debating on whether or not to place my arm around the smokin' hot female next to me. She was seated in such a way that she had her legs tucked up and angled in front of her, so it would be easy for her to lean against me if I pulled her close. Every time I was about to lift my arm, though, something stopped me. I don't know why, but I kept telling myself that if she had wanted me to make a move, she would've said something. It seemed like she had been the aggressor on our last few outings.

It dawned on me that that could have been the problem. Maybe she was waiting for me to make a move again. Maybe she was under the impression that she had been coming on too strong, and if I wanted things to naturally progress, I had to be the one to advance them. I never seemed to have problems making the first move with her before, so I wasn't sure why it was so difficult this time. I decided to man-up and do what I needed to do...and finally draped my right arm over her shoulders.