Ashton’s POV:
I jerked out of sleep early on a Monday morning to the sound of my phone alarm going off on the floor beside my bed. I fumbled my hands along the floor looking for my phone for a few seconds and finally clicked it off when I found it. I groaned as I sat up and ran both my hands through my hair and down my face.
After sitting there for a few minutes trying to let my eyes adjust to the little bit of light coming through my window, I finally yawned and swung my feet over the edge of my bed. I got up and walked out of my room and down the hall, stretching my back as I went. I came to the first bedroom door down from mine and lightly knocked before sticking my head inside.
“Lauren? Time to get up kiddo.” I heard a mumbled reply coming from my sisters covers which I took to mean she was up. I then continued to my little brother’s room and did the same to him. Harry was a little harder to get up in the mornings than Lauren was, but he finally sat up and rubbed his eyes.
When I was sure they were both up and getting ready for school I returned to my own room and starting getting ready as well. After quick showers, a breakfast consisting of cereal and juice, and making sure everyone had their school uniforms on right, we were out the door.
I didn’t mind my morning duties of sorting out my little brother and sister before school. Mum always worked late shifts on the weekdays, so I got the kids up and ready for school so she could have a lie in before heading back to work. Ever since dad left us she has been working twice as hard to keep things running smoothly, and as soon as I was able, I began to help her as much as I could.
Besides taking Harry and Lauren to school in the mornings, I also took Harry to football practice, Lauren to her piano lessons, and went to the grocery store when we needed food and supplies for the kitchen. I would say I helped out in the kitchen as well, but that would be stretching the truth a little too far.
I could cook if I needed to, but the range of my cooking skills extended to cereal, PB&J sandwiches, and McDonalds. Thankfully mum learned to cook meals that could be made in large portions, and she would separate them into small containers and freeze them so they would last for a few weeks. All I had to do for dinner was pop a few in the microwave for me and the kiddos, and we had an instant meal.
After dropping Harry and Lauren off at their school I started driving back to Norwest. As I drove I tried not to think about how boring today was going to be. Again. I finally parked my car and made my way to my first class, still caught up in my thoughts.
I tried not to be a resentful person. We did all right for what we had, and I was very grateful. But sometimes I really hated the fact that we were just stuck where we were at, all because my dear old dad decided to turn tail and leave us behind.
I had no trouble stepping up and being the man of the house, but sometimes I just wanted to be a kid. There was no room for me to be a screw up. I had responsibilities at home even though I was only 17 years old.
Sometimes I would wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night thinking about everything I had going on. I don’t think anyone knows about my home life except Cal. For the most part I just try to make other people believe I’m a cocky bastard and they just left me alone. As long as I look tough, nobody will pick up on how lost I feel all the time.
I sat down in my chair after the bell rang, and started pulling my textbook and notes out of my bad. As people started filing in, I looked up when I saw a familiar pair of awkward feet walk past my desk. A.J. sat down in her familiar seat right in front of mine in English class. She probably looked the same as she did every other day, seeing as we had to were uniforms here, but that didn’t stop me from taking note of the different ways in which she would fix her hair from day to day.
Today she had her brown hair down around her shoulders. She had pulled her long bangs back from her face with a few pins, and the ends of her hair had enough curl in it that it flipped out at the ends. God she was beautiful, I thought starting at the back of her head.
As Mr. Dervin called our class to order I was snapped out of my creepy staring and was made to focus on boring and much less beautiful things. As the class dragged on, I started to write song lyrics in my notebook. I wasn’t a terrific song writer, but Calum and I had few originals we would play at the pub sometimes. I think we could be good if we had more people in our band.
Not to hate on myself or Cal for that matter, but neither of us were the best singers. We just needed a little extra help and I think we could sound awesome. As I scribbled a few more random lines in my notebook, I heard Mr. Dervin get the class’s attention for a special announcement.
“We have a very fun opportunity to do some creative writing. A few weeks from now there is going to be a district wide competition for all different forms of literature. For our writing assignment this term, I’ve decided I want you all to participate instead of doing the normal research paper” he beamed around the room and everyone else groaned. Everyone except A.J. She was sitting up a little straighter in her seat and looking at Mr. Dervin intently. That was another assumption I had made about her. She seemed to love English.
“Alright, alright! I know it may not sound like fun to all of you, but at least this gives you the choice of what type of literature you are going to write. You are allowed argumentative papers, research papers, short stories, or poetry. Also, to make things more interesting, I am going allow you to pair up into partners for this assignment. You can pick who you want to work with, but I expect you all to have partners by Wednesday’s mornings lesson, so be on the lookout.” He waved us out as the bell rang and everyone started talking. Gee, I wonder who I’d like to ask to be my partner, I thought as I glanced up to look at the back of A.J.’s head.
The moment I looked up, my heart dropped. This dude named Collin was sitting on the edge of her desk and I could hear him stutter as he asked “So do you know what you want to write? Could we be partner’s maybe?” He was messing with his hair and biting his lip at the same time. It was so obvious he was flirting with her I wanted to punch him in the face.
“O-oh, I don’t know. He just assigned it to us you know. I’ve never had to do a writing assignment with a p-partner before” I could see her ears turning red through her hair. Without noticing I was grinding my pencil into my desk as I watched.
“Well think about it. I bet we could write something cool. I wouldn’t be a bad partner.” He winked at her. He actually winked at her! I wonder if he could still wink with a black eye. I scowled at him as he left the room and A.J. started gathering her books into her bag.
As she got up, I decided the hell with it. I don’t care what my friends are going to think. I don’t care about all the shit I have to do at home. I don’t even care that she thinks I’m an asshole. I’m giving up. I want to get to know her.
“Hey Oklahoma, wait up!” I called after her as she left the classroom. She ignored me, but I knew she heard me. “So, I was just thinking” I said catching up to her and walking with her down the hall. She peeked up at me and gave me a confused look.
“You can think? And it doesn’t cause you pain? Wow, congratulations.” She nodded at me with wide eyes.
“Yeah! It baffles the teachers all the time” I smirked at her and she rolled her eyes. “So I was thinking” I continued. “We need to be partners for this writing thing.” I looked over to her and she stopped walking and looked at me.
“Wh-what? W-w-why?” she was muttering and she started fumbling with her hands again.
“Because you like English. And I hate it. So I figure we could be the perfect team. Opposites attract you know” She snapped her head up as I said this.
“You mean opposites butt heads. Why do you want me to be your partner Irwin? I’m not going to do all the work, so you can go find yourself another puppet.” She turned to leave but I stopped her.
“No, no, I really want to work with you. I think it’s time we got to know each other properly. And what better way to get to know someone than doing some good old creative writing with them!” I said giving her another smirk and sticking my hands in my pockets.
“Why do you want to get to know me all of the sudden? You don’t ever talk to me other than to smart off” She looked at me suspiciously and I shrugged my shoulders.
“Well, I figure it’s about time we bonded. I’m really not a huge asshole all the time believe it or not.” She gave me a doubtful look and I kept going.
“Come on, every girl I’ve studied with says I’m the best partner they’ve ever had. I promise we’ll have lots of fun study breaks” I wiggled my eyebrows at her, and she gave me the glare. After that she stomped off down the hall and I stood there with my stomach doing backflips.
AN: Okay, so I know this chapter was mainly fillerish again, but before I could continue with this story I needed a chapter to explain the character of Ashton. Both he and A.J. have things about their past that they are ashamed of and they try to hide, and all of that is coming soon I promise. Hang with me a little longer; the next chapter will be much more fun I swear.
Also, I’m don’t with finals for now and I’m on Christmas holiday so I have time to write more, Yay yay yay!!
-Gracie
