Against The Tides

Chapter 11

Ash's POV

I rushed into the washroom with a thumping heart, red cheeks and shaking hands. I threw my bag on the floor and almost tripped over it while trying to reach the sink.

I leaned against the sink and washed my face. A mix of emotions kept on spiralling in my mind. Confusion, fear....... anticipation?

Xander just cornered me in an empty classroom and held me dangerously close. And he knew I wanted to talk to him.

Why was he even bothered about me? Is he still angry at me for getting him suspended? But I apologized right?

I let out a groan. True, I apologized but I didn't even wait for him to say something. Instead, I ran away from him like a coward.

An image of Xander pinning that guy to the wall in the cafeteria crossed my mind. And how Xander so easily lost his cool with the three bullies.

Oh no. No. Oh no no no.

Was he mad at for running away when he was asking me something? Why did I have to run? How did he even know I had to talk to him in the first place?

I took a deep breath and released it. I will find him today and apologize again for walking out on him like that. I will try, I mean.

I don't think I would be able to talk to Xander without stammering or fidgeting. He had this intimidating aura around him that I wanted to stay away from. But a small part of me was subconsciously being pulled towards him.

I took a deep breath again. The last thing I wanted was somebody to find me sprawled on the bathroom floor because of a panic attack.

I tried to clear my head and calm my breathing. I washed my face again and picked up my bag from the floor. I would think about Xander and my apology later, right now I had to go to class.

I was headed to my bio class when I realised that I would walk in thirty minutes late. That meant I had to give an explanation to Mrs. June as to why I was late.......when the entire class was watching.

No, there is no way I can handle that. I was already so close to having an attack, that was about all the social stress my mind and body could handle for a day.

I decided to check out the art club because I had to wait after college hours for Aiden to finish his football practice. Since I wasn't that much of a sports person, I found his practice sessions extremely boring. So, I needed something nice to spend my time.

The Sports Club was definitely out of consideration, The Music Club was also out of question as I cannot sing, like at all and I had no experience in playing any instrument. A big no to Cooking Club because of my clumsiness and an even bigger no to the Swimming Club because of my asthma.

So that left the Art club. Coming to think of it, I was a fairly good artist. I could sketch very well with pencils and colour pencils. But I was hopeless with oils and paints. Maybe I could learn something from the club.

I checked the college map and started making my way toward the Art Club. All the Clubs were situated in the fourth and fifth floor, the Art club was right in the middle of the fifth floor, next to the Music Club. Which meant I had to climb three flights of stairs, I groaned and started climbing the stairs.

I finally reached the fifth floor after taking a hundred breaks on the way for catching my breath. My asthma was slightly better than before, but I was still far from being able to walk around the campus without panting for air.

The floor was entirely empty as everyone were sitting in their own classes. I looked around for sometime and........

And a pleasant sound engulfed my senses and I subconsciously started following the music. It was coming from the Music Club. Like I  said, I didn't know anything about music so I couldn't even figure out which instrument was being played.

The music made me forget about my lack of breath as I walked into the big room. The song was beautiful....... it was slow and soft. But I had a feeling it was a sad song, I could feel it.

The music room was extremely huge. All the instruments were neatly arranged in the corners of the room and the center space was filled with chairs. The room was mostly dark with no lights switched on.

I followed the music further and allowed my eyes to wander to the left most corner of the room. A tall guy with blonde hair was sitting on a piano stool, his fingers expertly moving on the keys of the piano. I moved a bit closer and realised he was humming along.

He had a beautiful voice, it was slightly husky, but it felt so tender. I closed my eyes and let the music flow through my mind. I don't for how I long I stood there with my eyes closed and mouth slightly open.

All of a sudden, the humming stopped and then the music. It was replaced by a loud, confident voice.

"Hello pipsqueak"

I opened my eyes to find the one and only Xander smirking at me.

"You know it's creepy to follow people around right?"  he said, the smirk growing bigger.

"I....I was..... just....I wasn't..." I tried to say something..... anything, but my words just died out.

"Hey, relax..... just don't tell anyone 'bout it though" Xander said, his voice almost stern.

I just nodded my head again. But I didn't understand, he played the piano so well! Why didn't he want people to know that? I mean, I would be very happy and proud I were so good at something.

Then I remembered my due apology. I took a deep breath and looked at Xander. He was looking at me, his eyebrows slightly raised and lips slightly parted. His blue eyes bore into mine. He had this surprised/confused expression on his face. It felt like he was studying me...... judging me.

I lost the little courage I had mustered. He would just laugh at my stuttering self and make fun of me. I mean, why wouldn't he? I couldn't even talk like a normal person!

"Ash....." Xander said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You will not tell anyone about this" he continued, this time his voice held a warning.

"I wo-won't" I managed.

There was a long pause.

"Then what are you waiting for? Leave" he said.

For some reason, I couldn't move. My feet were rooted to the ground. I just couldn't bring myself to speak either. I just stood there- staring at Xander, slightly hurt by his sudden rudeness.

After a long uncomfortable silence, Xander spoke:

"If you keep staring at me like that, I'll kiss you until you drop".

I felt my face heat up instantly and looked at him confused.

" B-but-"

I wanted to say something, but no words came out, all I could do was stutter and stumble over my words, looking at him shocked.

Before neither of us could say anything more, I turned around and started running away. As far away from him as possible.

A/N: The last scene was inspired by the show "2gether".