six
"Ashton," I mumbled softly. I shook his arm in an attempt to wake him up. His lips were slightly parted, his shaggy hair laid across his face. His eyes fluttered open in a realization that he had just fallen asleep in the middle of English.
We had been up all night working on that stupid project. Personally, I just wanted it to be over. Ashton seemed to have no interest in being friends at all and for some reason, he seemed to despise me. I just wanted to move on and forget any of this every happened.
"Sorry," he mumbled. My thoughts had been interrupted by his incredibly attractive voice. I snapped back into reality and looked over to meet his eyes. They were a soft shade of hazel. A golden ring aligned the iris. They were amazing. I couldn't help but stare for a moment. He seemed to be staring back because our eyes never left each other. I quickly blinked and looked away in an attempt to break the awkwardness.
"It's fine," I mumbled back. I tried hard to whisper.
"I really needed to sleep-" Ashton's words were cut off by Mr. Collins booming voice.
"Shannon, Ashton, you'll be staying after class. Be quiet," he snapped. My eyes widened. I then looked back to see Ashton smirking at my reaction. I just glared at him for a moment, then looked back to my paper.
After a few more minutes of class, the bell had rung. Ashton and I awkwardly approached Mr. Collin's desk. He just stared at us with disappointment in his eyes.
"The two of you need to focus more, especially you Ashton, your grade is dropping. I don't know if your distracted or what, but you need to raise your grade in my class," he mumbled. Ashton nodded his head. His eyes filled with embarrassment.
"As for you Shannon, I'm shocked. You have excellent grades in this class but yet you feel the need to distract your classmates," he scolded. I gulped.
"She wasn't distracting me, she was waking me up," my jaw dropped.
"Is that true Ms. Montgomery?" I nodded my head slightly. "Well in that case, how about you two spend a little more time together," I began to grow even more nervous than I already was. "Shannon, you and Ashton will be in my office Friday afternoon," Mr. Collins smirked. We were getting a detention. The first detention I had ever had in my entire 17 years of existence. It was like he wanted to kill me. Ashton rolled his eyes and I did the same. "You are excused," he directed us away with a wave of his hand. The two of us walked out of the class in silence.
"See you tonight," he said quickly.
"What?" I mumbled.
"We have a project to work on Shan," he said quietly. I blushed at the little nickname he had given me. When Ashton said it, it flowed out so perfectly. My mind wandered back to Mr.Collin's comment about his grades. I didn't know why he was distracted in class.
"Yeah, that'll work," I mumbled. He nodded his head and walked away. "Ashton!" I called after him. He turned around slowly. "Thanks, f-for covering for me," he just turned back around and headed off to his next class. I was left standing in the hallway confused as ever.
-
"Shannon, we've been working for hours can we just stop for a second," Ashton groaned.
"No, we have to finish this project by next month, it's worth like 80% of our grade." He rolled his eyes. "Why don't you come and help me?" I chuckled.
"Why don't you stop being such a bitch all the time!" He quietly groaned. My heart stopped.
"I'm the bitch?" I said quickly. "What have I ever done! All I do is sit here and wait for your little mood swings to pass. We've been working together for a whole week and yet you still manage to get pissed at me all the time for no reason!" I sighed sharply. He remained silent. I stood there for a few seconds waiting for him to respond. "Just ask Mrs.Rain for a new partner if you hate working with me so much."
"But I don't want a new partner," he mumbled to himself.
"Why not? You clearly hate working with me." My eyes filled with anger.
"Because you are the only person in the class that would actually work on this project," he scuffed. I stared at him for a moment. His shaggy hair was tied back by a plain black bandana. He seemed to be thinking about something or someone but I couldn't manage to figure it out. I slowly took a seat next to him. Small spots of paint covered both of our bodies.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "For whatever I did, I'm sorry,"
"You didn't do anything," he huffed. My eyes widened slightly at his anger.
"Ashton, if you really hate me that much I'll finish the project on my own," I said lightly.
"I-I don't hate you," he mumbled. His eyes met mine. I looked at him with confusion covering my face. We continued to look into each other's eyes. For some reason, we always met like this. His eyes would meet mine and from there I would be completely mesmerized by the familiar shade of hazel that I had grown to love over these past few days.
My thoughts were interrupted when he rose to his feet and checked the time. "I should go, it's getting late," he said quietly. I nodded my head and looked at the time. 11:24.
"I'll see you tomorrow," I whispered as he gave me a reassuring look then turned around and walked out of the small room.