I stared up at the ceiling blankly as my thoughts race. I felt utterly pathetic at how I couldn't even perform well. I became so lost in the abyss of my day dreams but was brought back into consciousness when the doorbell rang. I sighed before opening my eyes and getting up and answering it.
"Hi Scarlett!" It was Calum, Luke, and Viviana. They all had smiles on their faces
I remained silent.
"How are you?" Oh you know, I'm totally fine. I just had the worst day of my life but I'm totally fine, I thought sarcastically. I still remained silent until I figured I should just give them an answer.
"I'm good. I'm surprised you came here after what happened at school." I said bluntly.
"What are you talking about?"
"I was total shit." I looked down at my shoes, biting my lip nervously.
"No you weren't." Luke piped in
"Yeah, the teacher thinks you and Ashton should do a duet in front of the whole school."
I nearly choked.
"What?"
"Are you going to let us in?" Calum smirked. I quickly nodded my head and closed the door behind them
"But he wants it of a song you two write together." Viviana continued as she walked inside.
"What is he thinking?"
"He's thinking what we are all thinking, the two of you are amazing singers."
I shook my head, "Then why did everyone look like they were...were..." I searched for the right word. "Disgusted?"
Calum shook his head. "It wasn't looks of disgust, it was looks of shock. You performed incredibly well."
I didn't know whether to take that as a compliment of an insult.
"You're joking right? You must be joking."
"Scarlett, just believe us okay?" Viviana whined, shooting me an annoyed look. I rolled my eyes.y
"When you left we were speechless, including Ashton."
"Especially Ashton." Luke said with a smirk. Butterflies seemed to rupture inside of me.
"What?" My voice came out small.
"Yeah, he was really impressed."
Ashton? Impressed?
"Listen...I know you are trying your best to make me feel better but it's not working." I started fiddling with my hands. Scarlett groaned and looked over and Calum for help. He nodded his head at her and turned towards me.
"We're not lying. Look, I know you don't really know us and I know it's hard to trust someone you only just met, but you have to believe us. We aren't lying. We won't lie, especially to you. Okay?"
I stared at the three of them for a few seconds. I'm only in this town for a few days and so many things happened already. I groaned closing my eyes.
"I should um...go talk to...him then..." I quietly trailed off before looking over towards them as they all nodded their heads and left. I took a deep breath before walking over to Ashton's house.
I hesitated at the door, my hand hovering over the doorbell. I mustered up enough courage before pressing the button and waiting. No answer. I brought my hand up to the door and knocked. Still no answer. I frowned and turned to leave before I heard coughing from the other side of the door. The coughing sounded from the chest, deep and ragged.
"Ashton..?"
"What?" I whirled around and came face to face with Ashton, yet he looked different. A line of bruises rested on his jaw. His right eye was swollen shut and black. He had a cut lip and bruised knuckles. On top of that, small and minor cuts and bruises lined his arm coming out of his shirt so I knew more were bound to be underneath the tight black material.
"What happened?" My voice was above a whisper.
He didn't answer. His demeanor was blank, but his lips became pursed tight; he was close to breaking.
"Are you alright?"
He still didn't answer. I saw him clench his haw, his hands turning into fists. He held them tight causing his knuckles to go white. His eyes turned into narrow slits, well the eye that could narrow.
"Who did this to you? We...we need to tell someone about this! This isn't okay! You're hurt and-" Ashton brought his hand up and it came into contact with my cheek.
"Do you ever shut up?" His voice came out in a growl. He gritted his teeth together and groaned.
"You're so fucking annoying, has anyone ever told you that?"
H-he just...hit...me.
I turned towards him with my mouth agape. He gripped my arm roughly, surely bruising it.
"You really need to know your place."
He moves closer to me, his grip tightening on my arms causing my to wince.
"Take your nose and get out of other people's business. You're not welcome in this town you fucking outsider." He poked my hard in the chest glaring at me before moving back and releasing his grip on my arm.
A look of regret cast a glow in his eyes briefly before he roughly pushed me into the side of his house and continued to move past me before slamming his front door shut.
***
I'm back! Thank you all for the lovely comments, love you all and I am so so sorry for the long wait i'll make sure to update more often :)
