Book smart, street dumb

School, the neighborhood, and a bowtie

Y/n Ashford was just a simple girl living in a simple town, AKA Medford, Texas. She was 15 years old, and had just recently moved here to Medford. She was now known as the new girl in school, which wasn't necessarily a flattering title, but it was also okay since she wasn't getting bothered or bullied very much yet. Everybody was still trying to decide who their friends were and where their new classes were, since she had made it just in time for the beginning of the new school year.

She arrived home to more boxes piled onto her bed, presumably by her mother, who hadn't yet found a new job since her old one would have been too far away from their new home to keep. She always was home, only leaving the house to sit on the porch with a cup of coffee and bid her husband farewell in the mornings or to go to the grocery store when it was absolutely necessary. Her dad, on the other hand, was hardly ever home. He was always out working or at the bar or out putt-putting, and would always go right to bed after having a quiet meal at home.

She silently and slowly unboxed her belongings, which currently weren't many. Alot of her things had been thrown away in a cleaning frenzy by her older brother, Dylan Ashford. She hadn't asked for it, or even allowed him to go through and destroy her room, but it was too late now. She knew she shouldn't have let him be home alone for so long.

She decided going through three boxes was enough for the moment. She wandered through the house, searching for her mother, who she eventually found sitting in her chair by the television, crocheting yet another blanket. She already had a collection of many blankets, made of different colors and patterns and designs.

"Hey, mom? I'm going to go for a walk."

"Don't get lost."

She was too lost in the many loops and stitches she was flying through, eyes never leaving the weaving hook. Recently, she had been getting more and more invested in her work, to the point where she would be at it for hours on end, ignoring the cramps in her hands. Y/n sighed and turned away, allowing her to it.

After slipping her shoes on, she headed on out the front door. It was a nice spring day, being too warm for a sweater and just the right amount of breeze for a slight chill. A shiver ran down her spine as she skipped the last step on the way down the rickety porch steps. She began to walk down the sidewalk, passing the Sparks' house and coming across the Coopers'.

She heard a commotion coming from inside, and she couldn't help but stop and listen in for a second or two. Eventually, an angry looking teen boy stomped out of the house. The first thing she happened to notice about him was the cute little bowtie perched on the collar of his button up. It stood out to her for a specific reason she didn't quite know. The next thing she noticed was the button up in question that subtly matched with the tie.

The teen came thumping down the steps, face extremely red, eyebrows furrowed. He didn't even see her, for he came charging headlong at her, staring fixedly down at his feet, muttering nonsense. Y/n didn't even have time to sidestep out of his way, for he had already rammed into her quite hard. She toppled over from the shock of the impact, landing flat on her butt. He finally snapped out of his enraged trancelike state. He looked up from his loafers, just to look back down to where she sat, looking up at him with something like fear and major confusion mingled on her face.

"Oh. I didn't see you there."

"...Uhm, that's.. okay?"

"I haven't yet said I'm sorry. I would have gotten to that eventually."

"Oh. I'm.. sorry?"

"Apology accepted. Now, it is my turn to apologize."

"That's alright. ..are you gonna help me up?"

"I don't touch people's hands without my mittens, which I left on my seat at the dinner table."

"Mittens-? What..? Nevermind."

She pushed herself off of the pavement slowly, and once she was up, she brushed her hands off, which were dusted with bits of pebble. Her hands were a bit scratched up and raw on the heels. When she looked back at the boy, she found that he was only a few inches taller than her. He stood with a proud and neat posture. He gazed back at her with his brilliant blue eyes, an innocently concerned expression on his face.

"Are you okay? That looks like it hurts."

"Naw, I'm fine. It's just a little scrape."

"A simple scrape for now. If any sort of harmful bacteria even touched your wound, it could infest deep into your tissue, and cause all kinds of infections, the most likely being Cellulitus."

"...and what's your name?"

"Sheldon. And yours?"

"Y/n. Great to meet you."

She had gathered enough about him already to know not to go for a handshake, so instead she politely nodded. Instead of returning the nod, he began to powerwalk around her and towards the house across the street.

"Oh.. Uh, nice talk!"

"Not really."

"Okay then."

Her smile fell immediately. She hadn't been expecting him to be so brutally honest, but she was okay with that. She wasn't going to take any attitude from a boy she had just met. Soon after the first boy's departure, another one came stomping out of the house. This one made her do a double take.

His hair seemed silky smooth, curls shining beautifully in the sunshine. His bright blue eyes seemed to pierce right through me. 

"Hey, you seen a little angry guy, bout yay high, stompin around somewhere nearby?"

She snapped out of her daze. She hadn't even realized he had walked right up to her and was now speaking right to her. 

"Uhh, oh, uh, yeah, he went over-"

"Ne'ermind, I already know. Thanks for yer help!"

His sickly sweet southern accent reached her deep to her core. He had heard no trace of this accent in Sheldon's voice, which caused her to question their status with each other. Before she could voice any thought in her head, he had already swerved around her and was headed for the same house Sheldon had entered. She just shook her head and carried on with her walk, trying to forget the two very attractive (in their own very different ways) boys she had just come across.