five
"This is beautiful, Ashton," I mumbled softly. My eyes scanned over the paper as he looked at me once more.
"Thanks, are you into this kind of stuff?" He asked. I nodded my head judging by the posters on his walls. "Favorite band?"
"The Beatles, my father and I would listen to them when I was little," I said slowly realizing I had just mentioned my dad. He nodded his head.
"Guys like a girl with a good taste in music," he smiled.
"I guarantee if I walked around the school and asked each one of the guys if they knew who the Beatles were, they wouldn't have a clue," I grinned slightly at his words.
"Well by guys I meant me," He then followed my comment. I looked at him and felt the corners of my lips tug upward into a smile.
"We should get back to work," I sighed slightly. I bit my lip, I was very nervous. He was actually being nice to me. I was completely shocked. He nodded his head. He then stretched his hand out in front of my face in an attempt to grasp the sketch booklet. I examined it more closely to see the scars from his burns lining his hand. "You didn't listen," I said under impulse. I was completely shocked at my comment.
"What?"
"Y-You didn't listen, you were supposed to change the gauze but you didn't, now you have scar tissue on your hand," I mumbled. He looked at me for a moment. I took his hand and examined it closely. The scars should heal in time but I then realized that he didn't care.
"Yeah well I've always been stubborn," he chuckled. I nodded my head and smiled. His shaggy hair was tucked away in a bandana like it was almost every day. I took a moment to examine his clothing. He was wearing a Killers tee-shirt. I happened to be wearing one similar. Well, it was Luke's, not mine but I always took his shirts. They were very comfy. "But how do you know all of this stuff anyway?" I brought my mind back to reality.
"What do you mean?"
"You know so much about medicine," he stated softly. I laughed.
"My parents are surgeons remember," I sighed.
"So that means your rich right?" I felt my heart sting. I never really cared about the money. What's the fun in having money when you don't have parents to share it with?
"I guess, but I'd rather have parents that cared about me," I mumbled.
"What? Are you upset that your daddy didn't buy you the new shoes you wanted?" He snapped. I winced at the sound of my father. Ashton must have noticed me flinch because he eyes fell soft. He looked away for a moment with guilt covering his face. He didn't say anything. I slowly took out the sketch book and began examining his work.
"I think this will work, it has all the qualities we need to pass," I said quickly. I noticed him glaring at me slightly. "Is it something I did?" The words slipped out of my mouth and I immediately regretted saying them. I just wanted to know what he had against me. But I was shocked when his face softened.
"N-No you just remind me of something o-or someone actually," he slowly pushed his words out.
"Is it the fire?" I mumbled.
"N-No not that," he stuttered. I decided to drop the topic considering the fact that he clearly didn't want to talk about it.
We sat in silence for about an hour just waiting for another idea to strike so we'd have a second rough draft to show Mrs. Rain tomorrow but nothing came to mind. I slowly stood up from the bed.
"Do you play?" I asked while looking at the drum kit in the corner of the room.
"Not anymore," he mumbled. "I stopped a long time ago," I was debating asking whether or not he could play something but I decided not to when I realized that he clearly never would.
"You should probably get going soon, it's getting late," he said softly. His voice was raspy and soft at the same time. He went to his dresser and pulled out a red flannel. "Take this, you'll get cold without it,"
"It's alright, I'll be fine," I whispered under my breath.
"Just take it, Shannon," he chuckled. I took the soft flannel out of his hands and wrapped it around my body. It smelt like cigarettes and cheap cologne, but I loved it. "I-I'll see you tomorrow," I whispered. He brought me down to the kitchen where I saw women I assumed to be his mother sitting in a shabby chair smoking a cigarette.
"Oh, Ashton who is this?" He chuckled. Smoke escaped her rough lips. I stepped back a little bit.
"She's no one," Ashton mumbled.
"Yeah, I was just on my way out, nice to meet you," I smiled.
"She's a keeper Ashton," I noticed Ashton roll his eyes. "Very, very pretty too," I felt quite awkward when I realized she was looking at me carefully. She seemed to be examining me as if I was a threat to their family somehow.
"Jenna, she's just my partner for a project," he snapped. I was very confused for a moment.
"That's what you say about all of them," she challenged. Ashton looked into my eyes for a moment.
"Will you be okay getting home?" He asked softly. His voice flowed out like butter. "Sorry about her by the way, my aunt can be a very forward person," he scuffed. I nodded my head.
"I'll be fine, and she seems really nice," I smiled. His eyes flickered over to meet the women's.
"Goodbye Mam," I said politely. She really didn't look like the women you'd wanted to mess with even though she was on the smaller side. She looked similar to Ashton in a way. Her deep brown eyes seemed to shoot through me. Though her hair was dyed a shade of black.
"Oh honey, call me Jenna, what am I? Fifty?"
"Of course," I smiled politely. I nodded my head and walked out of the small doorway. Ashton watched me step into my car and stood on the porch until I pulled out of the driveway and into the street. I wasn't sure why but he then went back into his small home. I drove back to my house with my backpack sprawled out next to me. I was wondering why Ashton's emotions towards me were so... Well, bipolar.
-
My mother came home at about 11 that night. She looked incredibly exhausted. Her feet patted against the wooden stairs as she walked up to them. Not a word came from her.
"Luke?" I asked quietly as I walked into the living room. I found him sprawled out on the couch with a box of cereal in his hands. I chuckled and headed back up to my room. I fell onto my bed a prayed that my dad wouldn't show up in the middle of the night drunk or want me to observe one of his surgeries. I had already been accepted to a medical college in Washington so he wanted to make sure I knew more than the rest of my classmates. Luke and I were in our senior year of high school and were both attending the same university. I was somewhat excited but in reality, I didn't sign myself up for medical school. My parents did.
I got out of bed and stripped off my skinny jeans and tee-shirt. I then put on a pair of pajama's and crawled back into my warm bed. I felt my eyes flutter shut. I couldn't help but think about Ashton and the life he lived once more. He was very interesting and unique. He seemed to have a slight problem with his Aunt which I could see due to the fact that she didn't really seem to care, kind of like my parents. My thoughts continued to die down as I felt myself fall into a deep sleep.