Chapter 1
Ella smiled softly to herself as she stared out of the passenger side window of the truck her best friend owned. She watched as the tiny speckles of rain fell gracefully to the light reflected ground of the night. A small breath escaped past her soft lips in a yawn, causing the window to steam up due to the contrast of hot and cold, she watched it for a moment before blinking her eyes slowly as she brought her hand up to the window and began drawing patterns on the window mist.
“You going to come inside or just sit here all night?” A voice off to the side suddenly sounded and she retracted her hand quickly away from the window and into her lap, her face heated up a little in embarrassment from being too caught up in her thoughts to notice that the vehicle had actually come to a stop.
“Y-yes,” she chuckled out as she brought her hand up to the back of her neck and rubbed it.
“Sorry, I didn’t even realize we had stopped,” she sheepishly let out as a grin took over her face. “But, of course I am, Ash. Coffee is a definite must right now,” she spoke with a nod of the head as she shifted and reached for the door handle.
The blonde chuckled softly as she nodded her head. “Good, thought I lost you there for a second when you wouldn’t answer me to begin with.”
Ella chuckled again as she rolled her eyes and opened the door. An instant shiver took over her body as the bitter night air hit her. “Damn, it’s cold,” she mumbled to herself as she wrapped her arms around herself to try and shield away from the chilliness.
“Don’t be a baby,” Ashlyn laughed as she only just heard the mumble coming from the other girl.
Rolling her eyes again, Ella shook her head slowly. “Shut up! It’s freezing out here!”
Ashlyn laughed again and nodded her head slowly in return as they began to walk towards the café in which they spent most of their nights in. “Then we better get inside. Don’t need you turning into an ice sculpture,” she teased out.
Ella was quick to raise her right arm and push the blonde away in retaliation to her teasing. “Don’t be rude!” She sighed as they entered the building to see the place slightly crowded like usual. This was one of the popular coffee shops in the city, so they weren’t surprised by it at all, especially since most nights they have an open mic. But like always there was a spot in the far back corner reserved for them.
Making their way through the crowd, Ashlyn’s step faltered only a little, but it didn’t go unnoticed by Ella and the girl quickly raised her gaze to see Ali, the cute Barista girl that Ashlyn has had a crush on for quite some time, but has always been too nervous to actually ask her out on a proper date. A smirk found its way onto her face as she looked from Ali to Ashlyn and then back before she raised her hand in the air. “Hey Ali!” She called out quickly and saw the girl quickly turn towards them.
Ashlyn’s eyes widened completely as she heard her best friend call out and she quickly turned to Ella and gave her an unimpressed look in which the other girl just busted out in laughter. “Not cool,” she whispered out in annoyance as she saw the brunette make her way over.
“Hey girls!” Ali let out happily as she grinned that nose crinkled smile and Ashlyn felt her heart stop in her chest for a moment before it began to race at the speed of light.
“Hey, Alex,” she let out as calmly as she possibly could before she grinned brightly to hide the fact that she couldn’t control her beating heart. “How’s work treating you?”
“Not bad, a little busy, but nothing me and the crew can’t handle,” she said with a nod before looking to Ella and smiling softly before turning her attention back to the blonde. “You girls are just in time for the start of the open mic session,” she let out before she chuckled lightly at Ella groaning.
“Oh great….” Ella whispered to herself before rolling her eyes.
“Now, come on, Ella… not everyone is that bad…” Ali chuckled and the other brunette just stared at her with a blank expression before she shook her head.
“Yeah right…” she rolled her eyes but smiled.
“Anyway, I should get back to work. The usual for the both of you?” “Yeah, thank you,” Ashlyn smiled with a nod.
“Alright, great. Shouldn’t be too long then,” Ali smiled back and lingered her look a little longer than either of them both had expected, but Ella caught on and smirked knowingly before Ali quickly shook her head and turned around to head back to behind the counter to prepare their drinks.
“Come on, Casanova,” Ella laughed as she gently pushed Ashlyn in the direction of their table.
Stumbling forward only a little, due to being caught off guard by the little push, Ashlyn turned back to look at Ella and gave her a pointed look before she rolled her eyes and turned back to in front of her as she reached the table and sat down. “That was uncalled for.” “So was your drooling,” Ella quickly teased back not missing a beat.
Ashlyn pursed her lips and stared at the girl unimpressed before she let out a soft laugh and shook her head while rolling her eyes once more. “Whatever.”
----
About twenty minutes had gone by when Ali finally approached with their coffees just as another performer had stepped up on the stage.
“Sorry about the wait, up front just got crazy and didn’t have a spare minute for a while,” the Barista apologized sincerely and Ashlyn couldn’t help but smile at how adorable she was.
“No, it’s absolutely fine. We’re not in any rush, so you could have taken as long as you needed,” Ashlyn said smoothly and Ella couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped her, earning herself a glare in return.
“Yeah, it’s cool, Al, no worries,” Ella quickly spoke as she turned her attention to Ali, not even paying attention to the burning gaze Ashlyn was giving her.
Ali smiled softly looking at both of them and chuckled softly to herself at the look the blonde was giving Ella before shaking her head and grinning bigger. “Well, I should probably get back to work, I’ll drop by again soon,” she nodded before giving a wink to the blonde and all Ashlyn could do was smirk in return as she watched the girl walk back towards the counter, she stared a
little longer until Ella coughed.
“What?” She asked innocently as she quickly turned her head away from the counter and towards her friend.
Ella grinned brightly as she laughed loudly over the chatter and singing that she had purposely tuned out for the time being. “You seriously need to just ask her out already.”
Ashlyn’s left eyebrow quickly quirked upwards as she looked at the girl in confusion. “I have no idea what you are talking about,” she mused out.
“Yeah, I’m sure you don’t…” Ella smirked before she tuned back into the performance just as they were ending and groaned again. “I wish they would at least have some talent at these things. I mean I am no professional singer, but mostly everyone who sings is tone deaf.”
Ashlyn laughed and nodded slowly. “I hate to agree, but I do. But what can you do? An open mic is an open mic and anyone is allowed to sing.”
Ella huffed softly and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know,” she sighed as she heard the person in charge of it announce there was a new comer in town and they had asked to perform. “Joy…” she whispered softly as she turned her attention to her coffee as everyone clapped their hands in a welcoming and supportive manner as they were instructed.
“Uh, thanks for the wonderful support you guys,” the woman on stage let out and her Canadian accent filled Ella’s hearing senses almost immediately as she shot her gaze up to the stage, her breath getting caught in her throat at the sight of the gorgeous brunette standing there. Thankfully Ashlyn wasn’t paying much attention to her, so she was safe from being teased at for almost giving herself whiplash. “I’ll be singing a little song by Adele,” she continued as she adjusted her guitar around her shoulder and grinned to the crowd.
As soon as the girl began to sing, Ella’s attention was caught almost immediately and she never once took her eyes off of the girl as she performed. Finally someone with a gorgeous voice. Ella thought to herself as she absently leaned slightly forward. This action however had caught Ashlyn’s attention and the blonde stared at her in confusion, before she followed the girl’s gaze which was fixated on the woman up the front singing.
This time it was Ashlyn who wore a knowing smirk on her face as she looked back and forth before raising her eyebrows and taking a sip of her coffee.
The woman finally finished up her song and everyone in the place gave her a standing ovation as they all cheered happily in appreciation of how good she was. “Thanks so much guys, you are all lovely,” she quickly said into the mic as a shy smile took over her face while she scanned the room, finally her gaze met Ella’s and she lingered for a moment before smiling softly and turning away.
Ella’s face instantly heated up and she knew for sure that she was blushing and that made her quickly turn her gaze to the table. Looking up after a moment of controlling her behaviour, she was met with a bemused looking Ashlyn. “What?” she asked while rolling her eyes.
“Oh, nothing….” Ashlyn smirked.
Shaking her head, she sighed softly and took a sip of her coffee. “Yeah, sure,” Ella mumbled out.
The rest of the night consisted of both; Ashlyn stealing glances at Ali and Ella stealing glances at the mysterious girl with the gorgeous voice until the woman stood up and began packing her things away as she began to give the group of girls she was hanging around a massive hug goodbye before she headed out of the café with one of them on her heels. A small frown found it’s way onto her face and she sighed silently.
“Ready to go whenever you are, Ash.” She let out softly to the blonde and the girl just nodded.
“Then let’s head out.” She smiled as she got up from the table and began to make her way over to the counter to pay for their drinks. Ella right behind her let out a breath and rolled her eyes.
“You’re paying again?” She sighed.
“Yeah, no arguments.”
“You know I have enough money to pay for us at least once or maybe ten times.”
“I know, but whatever, I have the money already out.”
“You’re such a persistent ass when it comes to paying for things.”
“Oi, shut up! You are getting free coffee.”
“Please, I never asked for it.”
“Just shut up and go out to the truck, I will be right behind you.”
“Mhm, give Ali my love!” Ella grinned as she made a kissy face and scampered out of the place before Ashlyn could retaliate.
Ashlyn sighed before turning her attention to the counter again and paying for their coffees, she smiled and said goodbye to Ali before turning and heading out after her best friend.
----
Ella was rudely awakened from her slumber by her alarm blaring through the room. Opening one eye, she groaned to herself before she brought her arms up to wrap around her head as she sighed. Staying in that position for another moment, she finally had enough of the noise and quickly rolled over and slammed her hand against the snooze button. Letting out a soft breath of content at the silence that took over. She rolled back and stayed laying in her bed for just a moment longer before she rolled out of it this time to get ready for the day at work.
“Morning, Sunshine!” Ashlyn happily greeted her as she walked into the kitchen of their apartment after getting ready.
“Good morning,” Ella simply replied before making her way over and grabbing a bowl for her breakfast.
“Excited for the day?”
“Aren’t I always?”
“Of course,” Ashlyn grinned and Ella rolled her eyes with a smile.
“Where’s Whit?”
“Was up earlier than both of us and went out for breakfast, she’s going to meet us at work.” “Fair enough,” Ella smiled as she turned her attention to her food.
After breakfast, the pair of them made their way outside and towards the music store in which they worked at, it wasn’t a fair distance from where they lived, so walking there was no problem - In fact they enjoyed it more than driving and today was a better day to walk as there was no rain pelting down around them.
“Ahh! Good to see you two are on time!” Their boss, Christie let out as they entered the shop.
“What are you talking about? We are always on time!” Ashlyn let out with a chuckle.
“Except for maybe that one or… five times,” Ella continued through a laugh.
“You’re lucky the pair of you are hard workers and I like you,” Christie shook her head as she rolled her eyes. “Whitney is already in the back, there are CDs that need to be stacked on the shelves and instruments that need to be put on display.”
“Aye, Aye, Captain!” Ella let out playfully as she saluted her and this made their boss shake her head again in amusement as she just walked away.
“Come on, Dork. We have a job to do,” Ashlyn laughed as she pulled the girl towards the back room.
“Hey, Whit!” Ashlyn greeted her as they entered the room.
“Hey, you two. Sorry I didn’t wake you up to see if you wanted to join me for breakfast, figured you needed the sleep, since you weren’t home by the time I went to sleep.” “It’s cool, but I am still mad at you for not coming out last night!” Ashlyn pouted.
“Hey, I said I was tired!” Whitney defended herself once again.
Ashlyn chuckled and shook her head. “It’s okay, but you missed out on Ella drooling over this new girl that sung on stage. Pretty sure she was Canadian.”
Ella’s eyes widened slightly as she quickly reached over and slapped the blonde’s arm as her face heated up again. "I was not!"
“Damn… now I wish I was there to see that.”
“Stop!” Ella whined. “We have a job to do!” She quickly said to change the subject.
Both of the girls nodded in agreement as they turned back towards the stack of cds but not before sharing a knowing look.
----
Half an hour had gone by and people started to arrive in the store. The chime of the bell went off to announce new customers had entered the place, but Ella was too busy restacking CDs onto the shelves as well as humming and dancing to the song playing through the store to even bother to look up to see who had entered.
“I heard this was one of the best music stores in town,” one of the woman who had entered the store spoke out to her friend.
“Alright perfect, let’s have a look around shall we,” the other woman said.
Ashlyn looked up from the front desk and an instant smirk found its way onto her face as she quickly turned her gaze to Ella, noticing that the girl was too caught up in what she was doing. Leaning back a little she nudged Whitney who was staring at a piece of paper that had the deliveries for the day on it and was marking the things off.
“Mmm?” She hummed out as she turned her attention to girl with a curious look.
“See that brunette over there? The one next to the girl with the curly hair,” she began.
“Yeah?”
“That’s the girl that Ella was drooling over last night,” she finished with a smirk still plastered on her face.
“Oh, the Canadian?”
“Yep.”
Whitney laughed as she turned her attention to Ella. “And she has no idea that the girl is even here.”
“Nope,” Ashlyn laughed as she moved away from Whit and made her way over to the two girls. “Hey, welcome to Electrical Beats, if you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask any of our lovely staff,” she let out to them with a dimpled smile.
“Will do and thanks,” the curly haired girl responded.
“Anyway, I’m Ashlyn,” she greeted politely after a moments silence.
“Carm and this is Erin,” she pointed to the girl next to her as she held out her hand for Ashlyn to shake in which she happily did and then she shook Erin’s hand.
“Well, I am going to go on a hunch here and say that you’re new to the town.”
Erin chuckled lightly and nodded her head. “How’d you guess?”
“Your accents kind of gave it away,” Ash nodded slowly and they all laughed. Ella’s attention was finally caught at the laughter and she quickly looked up from what she was doing and over into the direction the sound had come from. Oh fuck…
“Well, anyway… I better go check on the other costumers, as I said before, if you need any help don’t hesitate to ask me or Whit,” she pointed to the girl behind the counter and Whitney gave them a small wave with a smile. “Or Ella,” she said slowly with a smirk on her face as she pointed to the girl in the aisle they were standing in front of.
Ella’s eyes widened as she saw Ashlyn begin to turn to her and she quickly turned to walk away to avoid eye contact with the woman from last night, but she forgot how close she was to the shelf and she ran straight into it before falling to the floor as CDs followed.
Ashlyn and Whitney couldn’t help the laugh that escaped them, which echoed throughout the store.
Ella however groaned to herself as she stayed face first, flat on the ground, not daring to move at
all.
“Are you alright?” A familiar voice surrounded her with concern but also had a hint of amusement lacing her tone.
Ella closed her eyes as she let out a small silent breath, her face heating up completely and she knew she was blushing in complete embarrassment, lifting her head up only a little she responded. “Yeah, just checking out the floor…” she let out before she could stop herself and she squeezed her eyes shut as she mentally face palmed herself for making that stupid remark. Seriously?
“Oh?” The woman let out in amusement. “And how is it?”
“Super comfy…” she let out again and this time she cursed silently to herself. Shut up, Ella!
Fucking hell… can you be any more ridiculous?
Erin laughed this time and that laugh filled Ella’s senses completely and she felt her heart begin to race. Ugh, what is happening!? She thought to herself because truth be told she was never really attracted to females - or at least that's what she thought, but for some reason this mysterious girl had caught her attention out of the blue and so quickly that she isn't unsure what is really happening. “Right-e-oh,” Erin let out with even more amusement as she walked back over to Carm to not further embarrass the poor girl that was still on the floor.
Ella stayed in her position for a little longer until Ashlyn came over towards her.
“It’s cool, she isn’t in sight anymore.”
Groaning once more, she sat up and turned to a completely amused Ash. “Shut up!”
“What!” The blonde said as she raised her hands in defense. “I didn’t say anything.”
“No, but you were about to.”
Ash smirked as she folded her arms across her chest and laughed lightly. “Have a nice trip?” She said after a moment, not being able to keep her mouth shut, it was too priceless to not bring up.
“Ugh, don’t go there!” Ella quickly said as she face palmed and shook her head before actually laughing as she couldn’t help herself. “God, that was embarrassing,” she chuckled out amused at herself as she got up from the floor and began picking up the CDs which had fallen.
“And it was pure entertaining for us!” Ashlyn teased.
“Go away, you ass!” Ella retaliated as she pushed her away playfully.
Chuckling, the blonde began to walk back towards the counter where Whitney was standing - still amused by all of it as well - but stopped suddenly and turned back to Ella. “Oh, by the way... her name is Erin.”
“What?” Ella let out confused.
“The girl you are fixated on.”
“I am not!” Ella glared at her.
“Sure, sure,” Ashlyn laughed as she continued her way over to Whit.
Erin…