Ignition

Chapter 8

Recommended songs: Are we still friends? by Tyler The Creator, Little boy by Ashnikko

*Azaria's perspective*

Nearly two months have passed since the first day of school. It’s the last week of September and it’s homecoming week. It’s a time where students are in the most school spirit and are excited for the homecoming game and dance.

Usually I don’t care about homecoming because I don’t really care about this school. Besides the girls, I really don’t like to be around the students at Northridge.

Speaking of other students, me and Ash have mainly been texting back and forth since the second day of school. We mainly talk about how things have been going in our lives and our interests.

We talked about everything from what is currently going on in the world to what music we like to what it is that we want to do when we get out of high school.

Surprisingly, he is able to hold a mature conversation and is a good conversationalist. He told me that after high school, he is going to get a business degree and help run Knight Enterprise with his older brother. I told him I plan on being a therapist when I get my masters in psychology.

I was glad that we both had ambitions outside of school. He has more depth of character than I thought he did. His demeanor changed from being flirty to friendly. He kept his promise about trying to get to know me but last week he has been completely ignoring me.

I thought we were becoming friends and then out of nowhere, he just ghosts me. He used to speak to me at school but now he only talks to his friends. He acts like he doesn’t see me or even notice my presence.

I’m not going to lie, it kind of hurts that he doesn’t even try to talk to me anymore. Maybe he gave up because he realized that I’m not a girl he can just charm his way into my pants.

I like building emotional connections and I’m not interested in hookup culture. Which I have conveyed to him before and which he said it was an admirable trait to have. Especially in our day and age, where people don't take romantic relationships seriously.

But maybe that’s what he wanted, another hook up to satisfy his sexual needs. Maybe he doesn’t want a serious relationship. Maybe I’m getting a little too ahead of myself.

Do I even want a serious relationship with him in the first place? I shouldn’t even care this much. Just because we almost kissed a couple of months ago, doesn’t mean a thing to someone like Ash.

I try to distract myself by thinking about going to the homecoming dance with the girls. Mia said it was mandatory that we all attend this year. Last year Nadia and I didn’t go because we weren't interested in going.

This year, we all agreed to go to all the school dances because it is our senior year. Mia hasn’t stopped talking about the dance and she is really excited. Her enthusiasm is rubbing off on me and I’m excited too.

I’m excited to spend time with the girls while having fun dressing up in pretty dresses. It’s distracted me from thinking about Ash and I’m content with going to homecoming with the girls.

Soon, Friday crept up on me, which is the day before the dance. We all decided that we are going to the homecoming game. We were against our rivals Southampton, who are our biggest competitor for state championships in the area.

I usually don’t know this much about football but Mia is overly excited about it because Nick is playing in the game. So far her plan to win him over hasn’t succeeded and I told her that she needs to try talking to him instead of trying to cue subtle hints.