Lego

Bad Medicine

{Calum}

I sat down on the grass waiting for Ashton to show up. I figured it would be better to meet in a neutral place, I haven't seen him in about two weeks, since the pub, and I really had no idea how this was going to go. He'd changed so much since he and Evie stopped talking. I really hope that whatever holiday, break thing that he went on, has calmed him down a bit because I don't know what will happen if he hasn't.

I saw him coming towards me, and suddenly became nervous. I shouldn't be nervous, we've been friends for years but this whole situation has got us all on edge, and before I could even get myself to relax, Ashton was sitting next to me. The air was tense, and so were we, like this was the first time we were meeting, I also had the feeling he knew why I'd called him here.

We just sat in silence for a while. Watching people, families having a day out, children running around. It was peaceful in a way, just soaking up the sun, and observing as the world goes by. It reminded me of how it used to be, of how we used to be.

We would sit in this park for hours some days, just laughing, and talking, waiting for the younger kids to go home so we could go on the playground, and swings. We got some weird looks sometimes but this was our place. Whenever we would meet, it would be here, whenever we were feeling down, a day here would always make everything okay.

We met Ashton here. Evie had come into school this one Wednesday, talking about this boy she'd met at the swimming pool. She was fascinated by him. She rambled on about him all day, saying that he was really good at swimming but that he worked himself too hard. She was worried that he seemed so sad doing it, that she thought he was lonely, and angry about something.

So everyday after school, she would make us come here. We didn't mind because we were outside having fun but she would watch for him, always in anticipation for him to show up. He didn't for a few days, and that just made Evie worry more but that Sunday, he finally showed, and Evie was so happy, hugging him tightly. Then she introduced us all, and that was it.

Ashton quit swimming a few months later, we all became inseparable, and Ashton was a lot happier. He and Evie would do everything together, she even took to going to get him from school, since it finished after ours did, saying she didn't want him to feel like he was alone. Even if he was coming to meet up with us anyway.

We all thought she was crazy going all the way to the next district, only to have to come back but when she showed up one day, nursing bruised knuckles on her right hand, and with her left arm around Ashton's waist as he held a small bag of frozen peas to his eye with an ugly looking cut to his lip, we were just glad she had been there when he told us about how he was bullied everyday.

Apparently, that was the first time it ever got physical because he had actually tried to stand up for himself, feeling more confident in general, after spending a few weeks in Evie's, and our, company. Like I said, he was just happier but after that day, we all decided that we would all go to get him from school. The looks we got when his bullies saw that together we outnumbered them two to one was priceless.

"So how was your break?" I said quietly, making him look at me, "I went over to your mum's last week to see you, she told me you'd gone somewhere but didn't know where, just that you were coming back yesterday," he nodded, "are you not going to say anything?" I chuckle.

"It's pretty obvious we're not just here to catch up. Just get on with it, yeah?" He said, voice nonchalant as he picked at the grass between his feet.

"What the hell is your problem?" I scoff.

"Is this supposed to be some intervention, or something? Because it's pretty pathetic."