Chapter Thirteen

After the first guest arrived, it was an endless stream of people; the door man gave up trying to close the door, and ended up propping it open to leave his hands free to gather coats and hand them off to another house staff. Eventually even I ended up leaving my hand at my side, no longer offering my hand out, the person in front of me wasn't there long enough, before another person passed through – then another, and another…

This was going to be a long night.

I gave Ashton an already exhausted look, and I wasn't surprised to see that he looked perfectly fine, keeping up a cheerful smile the entire time. He was probably used to this, much more then I was. Though I did attend a lot of charity events, galas, and other lavished parties my parents either threw or were invited too, they never forced me to stand there and greet every guest. I usually stood off to the side with the younger guests, chatting if I knew them, or hanging in the back of the group, keeping to myself and counting the minutes until I could leave.

Marion was the kind of mother that made her family line up at the door, and greet every guest as they passed through, regardless of who they were, or if they even knew them. Even Charles was positioned next to Ashton, a matching fake smile on his face, as he too greeted and spoke with the passing people. Some of them it looked like he knew, others it looked like he was seeing them for the first time, but he kept the same demeanor with all of them.

How do they do it? It was exhausting! I was so glad when I finally saw the end. Charles disappeared outside after the last person entered the decorated ballroom.

"Where is he running off too?" I asked Ashton.

"After all that, probably to smoke a pack of cigarettes, before he has to go back inside and do it all over again, except this time we go to the guests, instead of them coming to us. You ready for this?" he said, and gasped my arm in his, turning us towards the ballroom doors.

"Let's just get this over with," I muttered. I felt Ashton shake against me, as he laughed lightly and pushed open the doors. The sound of soft, classical music floated through the room as soon as we entered, setting a calm and sophisticated atmosphere. I almost felt like this party felt a little too elegant and grown-up, for someone turning 18. Most the guests in the room didn't even look close to that age. There were very few guests who seemed young enough to appear at a teenager's birthday party.

I spotted a beautiful blonde, cruising through the crowd in the far bank, a flute of champagne in her hand. She had a brilliant smile on her flawless face, flashing pearly white, perfectly straight teeth. She had the height of a run way model, but the grace of a ballerina, dressed head-to-toe in classy, designer clothing. Even I could tell how expensive they were, just by looking at them, and I had no sense of fashion. Not even when it came to cheap designers and styles.

Just as quickly as I spotted her, she disappeared and I lost sight. Marion quickly jumped in my vision, trailing behind her was a line of guests she wanted to introduce me too. Ashton and I were soon separated, taken away by different groups. I was constantly passed off from person to person, group to group, Marion leading me by the hand the entire time.

She wanted to introduce me to all of the big names she had invited, not realizing I didn't know any of them. I was really more interested in meeting Ashton's family members, like maybe a grandmother, or even a cousin. But there was never mention of any family member, no matter how many of the hundreds of people she introduced me too for the first few hours of the party.

Eventually, she was dragged off by someone, letting me go free. Before she had a chance to come back, I darted into the crowd the opposite way, not caring where I was going. I made it to the snack table, which wasn't the worst place to land myself. While I looked through the crowd from the side, stuffing my face a little with the delicious finger food that was provided, I tried to keep an eye out for Ashton.

It had been a few hours since I last saw him, since he too was probably dragged around through the crowd of people, getting stuck in never ending conversations that made no sense. I spotted Charles in the crowd, and despite thinking he hated me, he was the only familiar face I could see. I walked over to stand next to him, causing him to give me a confusing look.

"I don't know where Ashton is, and I don't think I can manage to find him in this crowd," I said. He nodded his head and resumed looking out over everyone. The room had really started to get packed, with some people even moving to the patio outdoor. As I was surveying everything, I spotted the blonde-haired girl again.

"Who is that?" I asked Charles, and pointed her out. He frowned and gave me a cautious look.

"I'm not sure why she is here, I'm shocked to see her," he muttered, mainly to himself. "That is Olivia, Lucas's older sister." I was a little taken back by that, but the closer I looked at her, the more resemblance I could see, but there was very few. Her eyes and hair were a dead giveaway, but she had much more striking features then Lucas did, and seemed to have much more of a poise and attitude to the way she walked and stood. Maybe that was just my jealousy seeping through.

"She is also Ashton's most recent ex-girlfriend." Well that bit of news was also shocking. "I'm assuming she is only here, because her mother and mine are business partner's, they have a conjoined fashion line together. Olivia models for her mother, and sometimes does the same for Marion," Charles explained, making me feel even worst about myself. I knew I was decent looking, but never model worthy.

Of course, Ashton's last girlfriend was a model as gorgeous as Olivia. She stood out from the room, and the couple times I had seen her so far, she was always being looked at from every corner of the room.

"I wonder if my brother knows she is here," Charles thought to himself quietly. I wondered the same, and that only made my jealousy worst. What if he saw her, and realized how messed up our relationship is, and how much better theirs was?

Stop it, Ava!

I had never been in a serious relationship, or really had a boyfriend I had strong feelings for, so jealousy wasn't something I dealt with often. Also, none of the guys I had dated before had ex-girlfriends that looked like Olivia.

With her walking around the room, I tried to spot out Ashton, to make sure he was far enough away from her. But I couldn't see anything through the thickness of the crowd.

"I can help you find Ashton." Charles suddenly whispered in my ear. I nodded at him and he helped me push my way through everyone, his tall stature helping barricade through. We went all around the room, until we finally found Ashton off to the far corner, looking like he was trying to catch a breather. His face lit up when he saw me, and he seemed a bit more relaxed.

"I was wondering where you had been dragged off too," he said and smiled gently at me, taking me into his arms the second I was within arms-length.

"I had tried looking for you, but I didn't begin to know where. Charles helped me," I said, and went to point to him, but he was already gone. Ashton shrugged, and grasped my chin lightly to turn my face towards him. He dipped his head down and met my lips in a slow, deep kiss. As much as it did calm my nerves, knowing Olivia was here still bothered me enough to say something.

"Why didn't you tell me your mother was still close to your ex-girlfriend? Enough to invite her to my supposed birthday party?" I asked quietly. I was thankful we were already in a slightly secluded corner of the room. Ashton pulled back and gave me a mixed look of shock and confusion.

"What are you talking about?" His eyes started darting around the room frantically.

"I'm talking about your ex-girlfriend, Olivia. I saw her, and Charles explained to me who she was, and how close her family was with yours."

"We aren't close, at all. My mother and hers are, but I haven't spoken to anyone in that family besides Lucas in years. The fact that my mother would actually invite her here tonight, it shocks even me. I thought she would be respectful enough not to invite anyone from that family here, let alone Olivia." Ashton all but literally spit the words out, venom lacing his tone. I could tell there was no love less on his end, but what about Olivia's?

Ashton grabbed my hand, causing me to look up at him, and meet his soft smile. He bent down and gave me a kiss on the cheek, whispering in my ear. "I only have eyes for you now, nothing can make me stray."

My heart started beating frantically in my chest, and I felt my face get hot. I gave him a quick peck on the lips, needing a bit more reassurance, before my nerves calmed completely. He squeezed my hand one more time before he pulled back, and looked out towards something. I followed his line of vision, and saw his mother.

"Wait right here, I need to speak with my mother."

"I'll be right back too, I need to use the washroom," I said. He directed me to where the closest one was, and told me to meet him by the food table in the opposite corner of the room, closer to where his mother was standing, but she was slowly making her way through the crowd.

I took my time, knowing that the conversation with his mother was probably going to be a little while, if she had the guts to argue with her son in front of a lot of personal guests. When I slipped back through the doors, I instantly forgot where everything was. I realized I had entered the room through a different door then before, and was in a different area of the room. It didn't seem that big with everyone inside, but in reality, it was huge.

Being short also didn't help, as I wasn't able to see over half of everyone's head. I tried my best to squirm through the pressed together bodies and spot out any sight of the long food table, but I couldn't remember what corner it was in. I spotted Charles once again, with a cup of something in his hands. He didn't have anything the last time, so I went towards him, hoping he was somewhere near the table. I tried to peer through the legs and shoulders of the people I passed, to see if I could spot Ashton and his mother.

I stopped when I spotted a familiar head of blonde hair, and an equally familiar head of dark brown, bobbing through the crowd together. I came to a halt when a short woman passed in front of me, giving me clear view of Ashton and Olivia, huddled together.

What the hell?!

I tried not to panic, assuming that when Ashton went to see his mother, there was a good chance he was spotted by Olivia, or approached her himself. I kept watching to see their body language, and try and tell what they were talking about. Neither of them seemed to upset, Olivia was actually smiling. I continued to try and keep my anger and assumptions down, but everything came to a dead stop, before it all exploded in front of me.

Olivia leaned in, and kissed Ashton passionately, wrapping her arms around him. I stood there, frozen in shock, until tears blurring my vision. Before I could see anymore, I turned and raced out of the room. I hadn't noticed that Charles spotted me. He started calling my name as I reached for the door, but I ignored him and pushed forward. When I finally felt the handle under my hand, I ripped it open and ran blindly.

I didn't spot until I could no longer hear the music or Charles. I was by the front foyer, opposite side from the back door, where the trail was that Ashton told me to go to. Knowing Charles, he was going straight to Ashton, to tell him what happened. Last place I wanted to go was that trail.

I want to get out of here.

I wanted to be anywhere but there. Ashton betrayed me, my father was threatening to unleash hell upon everyone. It was better to just go home, and get out of the messed-up situation all together. In a few days, I can go back to my regular life, and forget any of this ever happened.

With new found determination, I wiped the tears from my eyes, and rushed towards the door. Just then, I heard voices calling my name again. This time, there was more than one; Ashton.

"Ava, where are you!" He cried, his voice echoing through the halls, not void of the panic his tone held. That made me want to run faster. I crashed through the front doors, and didn't stop running until I reached the edge of the forest. I should have known better from the last time I had attempted to run from Ashton through a forest. This time though, I knew it wasn't a thick forest, and I had an idea of where I was going.

I knew that if I just continued to run straight, I was eventually going to hit the road. Best case, there was a car I could flag down for help. Worst case, I was going to have to keep running down that road, but at least then I knew semi-exactly where I was. For right then, in my mind, I just wanted to get out of there. I kept running as fast as my legs physically could, and I was glad the dress Ashton gave me was knee-length, making it a lot easier to lift my legs to pump them faster.

I could still hear the faint sound of Ashton and Charles behind me, but I just used that as motivation to go faster. Just as I thought my legs were about to give out, I could see a slight opening through the tress a few feet away. A bit of hope bloomed in my chest, and I picked up the speed, hoping to soon see headlights light up the darkened road.

I started slowing down a little, until I heard the shouts of Ashton and the others getting louder and closer. I gave my last little bit of strength, to crash through the opening and onto the street. I was so delirious and lightheaded from running past my physical capability, I wasn't paying attention.

I didn't see the oncoming car, until I felt it collide with my side. Everything went black after.

***

I was awoken by a loud ringing in my ear, and a pounding headache. The back of my head felt wet, but I couldn't feel anything else.

Where am I?

"Ava! Oh, fuck! Fuck, no, no. Ava, please, stay with me! Ava?" Someone was shouting, but they sounded so far away. I could barely hear them over the ringing in my ear.

"Help! Charles, over here, hurry! Ava, please don't leave, stay with me." They were crying. It was a boy, he sounded sad. Who was he crying for?

Who's Ava?