the boy next door /a.i/

chapter six: alana

I stood by my locker in anticipation, patiently waiting for Calum to arrive. I looked towards the door opposite where I was standing, and my eyes caught sight of Ashton. He stood staring at me, his hazel eyes piercing into my own, and for a moment, a foolish, thoughtless moment, I though he was going to approach me. Instead, he turned on his heel and trampled of towards a girl at the end of the corridor. That must be his girlfriend, I thought to myself in dismay, of course someone like him would have a girlfriend. My heart started to ache, and for some irrational reason, I felt like crying. Why should you care? He’s a dick anyway, I reminded myself as I turned my focus back on the door to the classroom.

Calum emerged and when his eyes met mine, his whole face transformed into a look of giddy happiness. He practically skipped up to me, smiling a big and wonderful smile.

“Lani, hey!” he laughed, taking my books off of me.

“Hi” I grinned, silently thanking him for relieving me of the duty of carrying the books; I’m pretty sure my arm was half dead.

“Do you want to eat lunch with me today? With my friends?” he asked as my heart swelled, glad to not have to eat lunch alone.

“I would love that!” I giggled, following him towards the cafeteria.

Calum insisted on getting my food for me, so I stood, silently, waiting for him at the side of the hall. I honestly couldn’t believe how kind he had been to me! He’d gone out of his way to ensure that I’d had the best day possible, and I couldn’t thank him enough. I’m pretty sure the amount of times he’s made me smile today could win a world record.

“Okay, here we are,” Calum said passing me my tray. We made our way over to the table and I smiled absentmindedly, staring at the ground. I looked up and my heart physically stopped.

“Guys, this is Lani. Lani, this is Michael, Luke, Taylor and Ashton”

If looks could kill, I’d most certainly be dead. His hazel eyes looked at me with so much disgust that I almost wanted to apologise for even breathing near him. Noticing my distress, Calum gave me a questioning look, pulling out a chair next to him.

“I…uh…I need to go…to the toilet?” I said, presenting it more as a question than a statement.

“Hey, are you okay?” Calum said his eyes full of concern. I brushed him off with a small smile as I threw my tray down and searched for the nearest exit.

I didn’t realise I’d been holding my breath until I reached outside and let out the biggest gasp of air. My heart was pumping incredibly fast, and I could feel tears welling in my eyes. The way he’d looked at me, the way his eyes held so much revulsion, made me want to run away and never come back, at least that would satisfy him. I felt someone grab my arm and I knew who it was before I even saw him.

“What the hell did I tell you this morning?” Ashton shouted, making me feel smaller than before. “What part of ‘stay away from my friends’ do you not understand?”

Before I could even register what I was doing, my hand had already left a mark on his face.

“Fuck you Ashton!” I screamed and a few people looked our way “Fuck you, you arrogant, dick faced bastard! I’ve known you for all of 10 minutes and I already wish I’d never met you! I never want to see your stupid face again!” I could tell by the look on his face that my words had had the desired effect. His face held a pained look but it was gone before I could understand it, replaced with a malicious smirk.

“Good luck getting home tonight” he leered, thinking he had won.

“I would rather go through hell than spend another minute with you” I yelled, pushing my bag higher up my shoulder and storming off.

I couldn’t have been more wrong when I though I could get through this year; with him living just next door, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it though a month.