seven
I felt myself fall onto the bed with a thump. After a few minutes, I heard Luke open the door and step inside.
"You okay?" He mumbled. I groaned loudly.
"Why does Ashton have to be so confusing?" I mumbled. I felt the weight on my bed shift. I looked up to see Luke sitting down next to my sprawled out body. His blue eyes wandered across my upset face. He then slumped downward. His head landing in the small of my back. We curled up in the blankets before he spoke up.
"I miss Lindsey," he said quietly. I sat up slowly. My eyes met his. They were glossy, it was as if he was about to cry. I could see the reflection of my own green iris's in his.
"I know," I mumbled quietly. He nodded his head.
It was silent for a few minutes.
"Ashton hasn't had the best life you know," he said lightly.
"How would you know that?"
"I just do, ask him about it," and with that, Luke left me sitting alone in my cozy room. My mind wandered for a while before falling asleep to the sound of the wind blowing in through my open window.
-
"Ms. Montgomery, I expect to see you and Ashton Friday afternoon," Mr. Collins had said as soon as I walked into my English class.
"Y-Yes sir," I said softly. I took a seat in my usual spot. I had shown up early as usual. Once the bell had rung I noticed Ashton stumble in a few seconds later.
"You're late," our teacher mumbled under his breath. Ashton rolled his eyes and walked across the room and took a seat. He wasn't sitting next to me like he had been for the last week. He was sitting next to the same blonde girl I had noticed a few days ago. I had found out her name was Amber, no one really said good things about her so I decided not to think about it much. "Today we'll be talking about the components you need to put into the persuasive essays you'll be writing," My thoughts were interrupted by Mr.Collins voice. My gaze met Ashton's for a brief moment. He didn't seem that happy to see me. I turned my head away from his direction and faced our teacher.
The rest of the hour went by slow. Ashton and Amber had been talking, while distracting me. from being exact. I couldn't focus on the lesson for one minute without hearing Amber's squeaky, irritating voice attempting to flirt. The whole class continued to watch them in annoyance. Once Ashton was finished talking with her. The class was already over.
"Ashton, I'm hoping to see you and Shannon Friday," Mr.Collins reminded him of the loud students. Ashton awkwardly nodded his head and exited the room with Amber following closely behind him. I gave Mr.Collins one last reassuring look before leaving as well.
"Who the hell do you think you are Hemmings," I heard a voice boom through the halls. My head snapped to the side to see a large boy holding Luke up against the wall.
"I said you should really stop saying shit about my dead girlfriend!" Luke spat back. My eyes widened. Luke shoved the boy off of him with great force. He then threw a punch right into his gut. My books fell out from my arms.
"What? I'm not allowed to think she was incredibly hot," the boy mocked. Luke's eyes filled with anger. I rushed over to him and dragged his body back slightly.
"What do you think you're doing?" I whispered.
"Go away Shannon," he snapped. The boy stood up and approached me.
"Coming to protect your little boyfriend now?" My face fell completely still. Nothing, no emotion came from me what's so ever. He was coming closer and closer which make me back up into the wall behind me. He looked me up and down for a moment. "You're quite pretty, you know that?"
"Leave her alone." The voice boomed across the halls. The boy had turned around which made my vision clear enough to see Ashton standing tall behind him. The boy slowly backed away from me and turned to meet Luke.
"What is going on here?!" Our head all faced in the direction of the head principal. "My office. Now." Luke and the mysterious boy trailed off behind her. I turned to see Ashton glaring at the brown haired boy that just pinned be into the chilling corner.
"Thank you," I said softly once the halls cleared of the students that came to watch the extravagant event. He just walked away without a word. I picked up my books and walked the halls slowly into the principal's office. I sat in a chair outside of her room waiting for Luke to come back out.
After a few minutes, Luke walked out of the room with a huge black eye. Purple and blue aligned the corners of his eye socket. The boy must have hit him before I showed up. I pulled Luke to the side and examined the injury.
"Come on," I mumbled. He followed me into a small health room which appeared to be empty. I grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer and brought it to his eye. He winced but soon settled into the cold. "What happened?"
"He was talking about Lindsey," he mumbled.
"So you punched him?"
"Yeah," I rolled my eyes. I noticed he looked a little guilty but I didn't really take the time to read him.
"Keep ice on this for another hour, I have to get to class," I said quickly. I grabbed my books off of the counter and headed out into the halls. I grabbed my things and headed into my biology class where I saw a red haired boy in the corner fiddling with his pencil. Michael. I showed the teacher my pass and took a seat in my usual spot which was a good three seats away from Michael. He didn't look at me once the whole hour. I decided not to pay much attention to him and focused on the notes we'd be taking. Michael and I were friends but we weren't always that close. He was best friends with Ashton and I assumed he wouldn't want me near him. We talked in a few of our classes but it was just civil conversation. I had gym with him and Ashton so I never had anyone to talk to in that class.
I snapped out of my thoughts and faced the chalkboard. I continued to examine the information as I tried to get Ashton out of my head.
-
After gym, I had headed to the lunch room to see Luke sitting at our normal table with a few other friends. He still had ice covering his eye. I guess he decided to listen to me.
"How are you doing?" I asked lightly.
"Fine," he groaned. I took a seat across from him and noticed Ashton sit next to Michael. They joked around for a while before Ashton's eyes met mine. They turned a soft shade of hazel. He then looked away and turned back to his food. Ashton was so mysterious and I don't know why. I didn't understand how one person could be so confusing.
"Are you guys friends?" Luke asked quietly.
"Who? Me and Ashton?"
"Yeah, you guys are always together now," he mumbled.
"No, he doesn't like me, we're just working together for a project," I whispered under my breath. Luke nodded his head and turned to look at Ashton. His blue eyes fell cold.
"He's such a dick,"
"What did he do? Why do you hate him so much?" I snapped defensively.
"I don't want to talk about it," Luke said sternly. "Just stay away from him, he's dangerous," I choked on my food slightly.
"Why don't you want to talk about it?" I gulped.
"Because you don't want to know, now shut up about it," his voice boomed in my ears. He had almost yelled. The whole lunchroom was staring at the two of us. I awkwardly went back to my food and waited for the eyes to wander away from us.Luke was defiantly not being himself lately.
"What if I want to know?" I whispered.
"Trust me, you don't, now shut up," he snapped again. My eyes widened. He glared at me before turning back to his food. I sighed in defeat. My eyes wandered back to Ashton to see that he was still staring at me. I felt my cheeks grow hot at his gaze. A small smirk appeared on his lips. I decided to ignore it and continue talking to Luke but his hazel eyes were burning holes in my sides.
"W-We should go," I mumbled under my breath. Luke looked up and me knowing exactly why we needed to leave. He nodded his head and stood up. This was the first time in my life I actually felt something.
Fear.