lockdown ☣ lashton au

ii. seven days before

There is gonna be a school shooting that causes the lockdown so each chapter will say "___ days before" "the day of" or "__ days after", kind of like in Looking For Alaska by John Green, and I'll add Roman numerals so it isn't confusing as to which chapter number it is.

seven days before

The rest of the day was a blur for Ashton, just the same routine he had on every Day 2. Sadly.

The bus ride home was as horrible as it usually is, kids teasing him and making sure to point out the smallest little things about him. His insecurities. A girl who sat a seat or two behind him, he thought her name was Jaclyn, made sure to bring the small pimple on his forehead to everyone's attention. He frowned, because he had purposely ruffled his curls in a way that would, or should have, covered it. But no. He couldn't catch a break.

And to top that off, Luke was on his bus. Luke lived a house or two down from Ashton, and they never knew about each other until their freshman year of high school because Ashton had always attended a boarding school. His family had the money and he had the brains, so they found no reason to not give him a better education. But his mom decided it would be best for Ashton to keep his last few years of schooling near home so she could see him more before he was shipped off to University. Well, she made that decision before everything changed.

Ashton fumbled with the string of his hoodie, twirling it around his fingers aimlessly. It was a nervous habit, one he developed out of anxiety. He pressed the side of his face to the glass of the window beside him, sighing at the cold feeling.

He could hear people laughing around him, sometimes even mentioning his name, but he just tried his best to ignore it. Over the years, he'd gotten pretty good at ignoring people. That could sometimes present itself as a problem, but he found it within himself to be able to focus during school. Maybe because what the teachers taught could spark an interest for him, but everything Luke said made him want to bash his head into a wall.

Repeatedly.

He could hear Luke talking towards the back of the bus, but ignored that too. Like his dad always told him to, "Never give the bully the attention or satisfaction of knowing they've hurt you. They feed off of other's suffering." Even though he's long gone Ashton still remembered his words.

And sure, his dad may have been a bit dramatic but that was a good thing. Dramatic equals effective, and his dad's words were effective enough to stick by Ashton whenever he found himself in a situation that would need the advice.

All of the sudden, Luke had moved a few seats forward on the bus, so he was in the seat directly behind Ashton, that ever-so-conveniently happened to be empty.

Luke prodded the back of Ashton's head repeatedly and snickered when Ashton took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

But when Luke did it again, Ashton snapped and turned in his seat, only for Luke to accidentally poke him in the eye. Ashton's eye twitched and watered slightly but he just blinked a few times to ease away the pain and sent Luke a vicious glare with his undamaged eye.

So at this point, Ashton was practically fuming with anger, Luke wasn't laughing anymore, and they'd caught the attention of a few kids on the bus. Their fellow students loved a good Luke and Ashton moment.

"Oh my god, leave me the fuck alone! All you do is taunt me, you're like a primary schooler taunting their crush!" Ashton exclaimed, whining slightly but not caring and, by now, gaining the attention from everyone on the bus. There were a few 'oooohs' heard, some laughs, and Ashton even thought heard a few people cheering him on.

Then a thought struck Ashton when seeing Luke's red cheeks, but he didn't put a voice to it. What if Luke did like Ashton?

But then Ashton reminded himself that Luke is straight and that they hate each other, and he wasn't sure why he felt a pang in his heart at the thought. He pushed the thoughts aside when Luke sneered,