The Chase ▹ Ashton Irwin

CHAPTER EIGHTY SEVEN

My eyes shot open to the odd sound of my alarm clock buzzing over and over again next to me.

"What the fuck-?" I groaned, lifting my arm up to hit the device numerous times. I burried my face into my pillow, sighing. I flipped over and looked out the window, to see it was surprisingly kind of cloudy outside. Even in the middle of downtown, I still had a pretty good view of the sky. I sat up, and grabbed my glasses. I tiredly slumped my back a little, looking around the room.

It's monday, and I have school. Break is over, and I have to go back to Hell.

The last time I saw anyone from that place was when Brooke and I crashed Nick's party... which wasn't really the best night for me. I'm not stupid; I know people are gonna look and point fingers at me. Well, maybe they won't physically point their fingers at me..
maybe they'll do it metaphorically. Somehow.

I grabbed my phone off the ground, and flipped it open to see there was a text from Brooke.

"Good morning Ash!" It said. Instantly I started reading it in her voice. "I know the last time we saw each other was only a couple days ago... but I forgot to tell you what I probably should have told you before. Look, school starts up today... and I know you know exactly what I'm thinking about, and what I'm about to say. Don't let any one give you any shit about anything, okay? Keep your head up, work hard and move on. I'll see you soon :) x"

My lips instantly curled into an idiotic smile, the cold and tiredness instantly fading from my heart and my mind. I sat there, re-reading the simple message over and over again. It was weird, to just wake up to a text message with so much thought by somebody else. That's never happened to me before.

"God," I breathed happily. Brooke has this ability to literally make my day in an instant; its insanely reassuring sometimes.

I stood up, and thought of what to say back to her message as I walked around my room to find something to wear. I decided on a flannel and a pair of skinny jeans that were on the floor, and I was too lazy to put my contacts in this morning. Oh well, my glasses give me better vision anyway. I grabbed my backpack and headed for the door, too anxious to eat anything. I took my phone into my hands and replied to Brooke's text message.

"And I say the same to you, right? Remember, you're beautiful and all they'll ever be are ugly souls." I sent.

...

I walked up to the enterance of Palo Verde, an unusual beating in my chest. I stood there, gazing at the brick walls and opening that leads to the courtyard. Knowing Brooke, she won't be here for about 20 more minutes or so. I peered in to see the open area only had a few students in it, none of which were any of my small group of friends. I sighed, and stuffed my hands in my pockets.

I walked in, and I kept my eyes on the tree that sat at the other side of the courtyard. It looked so far away, or maybe that's just what my eyes made me think. I dropped my gaze to my shuffling feet, and kept my head down as I walked, alone. I thought I heard a voice come from a group of people that stood about 10 feet from me, but that's obviously my mind again.

Right?

I couldn't help but glance to the side of me, and my stomach dropped when I saw maybe about 10 guys (football players, obviously) staring at me. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared back at them, my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. They all stared at me, I stared back. I was about to just shake my head and keep walking, but I stopped when one of them spoke up.

"I would keep walking if I were you," the guy said. "Wouldn't want Nick to show up and make you go on a rampage again."

"Excuse me?" I asked, my fists tightening into tight balls at my side. The group of annoyingly douchey guys just laughed.