eight
Friday had come quickly. Ashton had been ignoring me week. The only time he ever talked to me was when he came over to work on our art project.
Now, the two of us had been stuck in this small, cramped room together in an attempt to punish us for Monday's excursion.
Ashton didn't bother saying anything to me the whole time. Mr. Collins sat at his desk reading a book while I continued to work on my calculus homework.
Ashton's eyes would meet mine every few minutes. I tried my best to ignore his stares but I could tell Mr. Collins was pissed. He would huff every few seconds when he noticed Ashton looking at me with a smirk planted on his grim face.
"Ashton, you can stare at Ms. Montgomery on your own time," he snapped. My cheeks reddened at his words. Ashton didn't say anything. He just turned back to his English textbook and continued to read. I tapped my pencil nervously as I watched Ashton write answers down on his loose leaf paper.
After about 2 hours. We were finally able to leave. Ashton rushed out of the office in a hurry. I grabbed my things and began walking out of the room.
"I'll see you Monday! Make sure your essay is completed!" Mr. Collins yelled after me. I waved my hand in reassurance and wandered down the large halls.
Once I found the entrance of the school, I stepped outside into the misty, cold Seattle air. My feet pattered against the wet pavement. The weather here was always sticky and damp. It was certainly not pleasant.
Once I reached mine and Luke's car, I felt a presence behind me. I turned around to see a shadow at my feet. My eyes traveled up the dark muscular figure's body. Ashton. He wore a pair of skin-tight, black skinnies with a guns and roses tee-shirt. I felt slightly nervous being around him after what Luke has told me. I gulped before he spoke up.
"I need your help with something," he said clearly. I nodded my head slowly. My hands began to tremble slightly.
He's dangerous. Stay away from him.
Luke's words kept ringing in my head over and over again.
"W-What do y-you need help w-with," I choked out. The smirk on his lips fell.
"I need you to keep watch for me, I-I'm going to a few places tonight to do some business. I need someone to look out for me and do some other stuff we can talk about later," he says quietly. I felt slightly pressured to do it. I mean how bad can it be?
Before I knew it I was nodding my head with a reassuring look. Whatever it was he needed help with, I'm sure it was important. "So you'll come?" He asked.
"Um yeah sure," I mumbled. I clung onto my books tighter in fear that Ashton would burst any minute. His eyes met mine for a brief moment. I quickly looked away.
"What has gotten into you?" he asked softly. He took a step closer to me. My head faced the other direction, I flinched. His eyes filled with anger before he spoke up.
"See you at six."
-
I carefully stepped around the stacks of books that lined my walk-in closet.
My fingers traced the clothing until I pulled out a pair of black leggings and a simple tee. I really didn't care at this point. Why would I get dressed up for something like this? I quickly checked my curled hair that was left over from the school day prior to this one. The curls were still a little wavy but it this point it didn't matter. I was wondering what Ashton could possibly need me for. I kept my mind filled with thoughts as my phone buzzed against the small wooden desk.
Meet me outside.
The words read in bold lettering with Ashton's name in the banner above the message. I rushed down the steps. Just as I was about to reach the door knob, I was stopped.
"Where are you going?" I hear Luke's voice boom through the living room. I rolled my eyes and turned around to face him.
"Out." I snapped. He just rolled his eyes and turned back to the TV. I then reached for the silver knob and pulled the door open.
There, standing on the porch, I saw Ashton's gray pick-up truck parked in the driveway. I didn't know how long this 'business' was going to take but I already knew my parents were swamped with surgeries all night. I had checked their operating schedules earlier this afternoon, the last thing I needed was them finding out about mine and Ashton's little adventure tonight.
I snapped out of my thoughts as I ran through the sprinkling rain until I reached the dirt covered truck.
"Hey," I breathed out as soon I sat down in the cool leather seat. Ashton didn't say anything. "Where are we going?" I asked softly.
"A party downtown," He snapped. I could tell he was upset for some strange reason, but knowing him, in a few minutes he would be back to being a great person.
I was officially convinced he was bipolar. I swallowed my pride and tried to ignore his sudden anger as I always did. Ashton and I had spent most of our time together these past two weeks and I learned that he has problems with anger and he wasn't the best at controlling it.
After a good 10 minutes, we pulled up to the driveway of a large house, it didn't look that much bigger than mine but I just ignored it's elaborate features and followed Ashton into the home that smelt of beer and sweat. The home was filled with older men and the women were defiantly in their twenties while the men seemed quite a bit older. Every direction you turned people were drinking themselves into next week, snorting cocaine or shooting up. I rolled my eyes in disgust. I stumbled just a little away from Ashton when I felt his hand jerk me back in his direction.
"What?" I hissed in pain.
"The people here are dangerous, stay with me," He whispered into my ear, his words were barely audible. I nodded my head. He held me tightly to his side. His arm draped over me in an attempt to protect me from the incredibly scary older men we passed by. A few of them stared at the two of us.
I decided to ignore it and follow Ashton's lead as I clung to his side.
Fear had taken over my whole body and there was nothing I could do at this point, but wait for it to be over.