ʙᴀᴅ ʜᴀʙɪᴛꜱ| ᴍ. ᴘᴇʀᴇᴢ

five

By the time Monday rolled around, Ash didn't want to get out of bed. After sitting in the shower for over an hour the day before, he realised school was pointless and he should probably just quit and move to Hollywood to become one of the rich and famous or some other bullshit like that.

Needless to say, he didn't want to go to school. From across the hall, he could hear his mum shouting his name, over and over, yet he continued to close his eyes and simply ignore the possessive voice of his mother. In a swift second, the door knob shook from side to side, then three loud bangs on the wooden door. "Get up Aslan or I'll break this door down, I swear to God!"

"Blasphemy." He croaked out, wrapping his face in the warmth of his duvet. A moment later, the door swung open and his warmth was harshly torn away from him. Ash sat up, fighting back the force of his mother. "This is obscene, Linda!"

"It's mother to you." She retaliated, a grimace on her face as she put all her energy into pulling her son's lifeline. Ash let go suddenly, waiting for his mother to struggle yet she didn't budge, pulling away the remainder of his duvet and throwing it on the floor. "Woman!" He stood up, his voice squeaking like a little girl who just dropped her ice cream on the sidewalk. "Get dressed. Now." His out of breath mother demanded. "I'll literally pay you to not go." He begged, an all new low for Ash. "You made a promise." His mother spoke, and his whole demeanour changed. "Plus, I don't need your pity money." She smiled.

"I've got an interview later." She did a spin in her office attire, and Ash put on a small smile for her. "Okay so I can stay in bed for free?" He raised his eyebrow, and her face dropped before she slammed the door behind her.

"Fuck me." Ash groaned, hand rubbing across his face, his whole body stressed just thinking about attending school. He picked up the same jeans he threw on the floor a week ago, quickly putting them on and throwing on a clean white T-shirt.

Ash threw cold water on his face, waiting a moment as the tap continued to leak water. Again, and again he splashed the water on his pale face, waiting for it to do its job and wake him up. When he finally came to terms with it not working, he dried his face with a towel and stared at himself in the mirror for a moment. Hands gripped the sides of the basin as he glared at his reflection, gulping and mentally preparing himself for the unnecessarily long day ahead.

"Oh, can you take Ana to school for me?" His mother popped her head in the doorway, an exaggerated smile on her face, a way of convincing her son to do as she said. "Well, I'm kinda busy-" Ash spoke, mid teeth brushing.

"Thank you, Aslan!" She shouted. "God." He rolled his eyes, spitting the toothpaste out of his mouth and into the basin before washing his toothbrush with some water and dropping it on the side.

"Anastasia, let's go!" Ash shouted, grabbing his half-empty backpack and tossing it over his shoulder. "How many times do I have to tell you it's Ana." The young girl raised her eyebrow at her brother. "Why, Anastasia's a nice name, no?" Ash laughed, tearing a pop tart in half and stuffing it in his mouth. "Ana's better." She shrugged.

"More American?" Ash raised an eyebrow. "Babushka would be disappointed." He tutted in a comedic manner. "Okay, Ash." She rolled her eyes, pushing herself off the dining table chair and heading for the front door.

————

School was packed as per usual, students pushing and shoving past each other in order to get to class and among them, Maddy pushed even harder. Getting to the toilets before class was a must for her, reapplying makeup was almost as important that any of her actual subjects.

She made her way into the busy toilets, Kat by her side as they both instinctively headed for the mirrors first. "Are you making fun of me or did you think I was actually auditioning for Oklahoma?" Maddy heard Cassie's panicked voice. "Why the fuck would you audition for Oklahoma?" She asked in response, playing with the low ponytail that rested on her bare shoulder.