Project Fuckboy || a.i

Chapter 14// Advice

CALUM GREW A BEARD, I REPEAT, HE GREW A BEARD (well a stubble but whatevr AHAHA MY BABY)

kk, so mentions for this chapter (cuz I should really start doing this) uhh_okay carvedechos theperksofkiwii seaoffools mukelovelis

I cannot appreciate yer support enuf <3 Lava you!

Also, unedited cuz I was lazy

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[Two months later]

Azalea's POV:

The snow starts falling late December, turning the town into a chilly wonder land. Michael and I have gotten closer. He's held my hand in public, kissed me a few times, and by this time, everyone is used to it. I made new friends. I went to Calum's gigs.

But there's just one thing.

Michael has been disappearing, and not just for concerts or band practices. He's considerate enough to tell me when he's going to those. But this is different. He disappears for days at a time now, sometimes an entire week.

Aside from some of the obvious issues I see around me, Michael's grades have started dropping like hell. I collect the worksheets that he misses in school and bring them to him when he comes back to school, but he buries them in his locker and I don't see any of them getting done.

Also, he drinks a lot.

Even when Michael's performing, he's got those tired eyes, bloodshot from the shit he's been drinking. Luke constantly asks me what's going on with him, but I never have an answer to give him.

...They even found an empty bottle in his locker last Tuesday, and he was suspended for the rest of the week.

But that's not all.

With Michael's absence, I slowly begin to question everything. I find myself drawn back to the party on September 21st, zoning out in class, refusing to step out of my bedroom, and soon I remember a little more, bit by bit, like puzzle pieces coming together.

I remember kissing someone, or rather, someone kissing me that night. An image was slowly appearing in the darkest part of my mind, like a developing photo. But seeing Michael, holding his hand, letting him kiss me, I'd kept it pushed down for so long. And I chose not to see the picture right in front of me.

And it pokes and prods in the back of my mind, all the time.

Ashton's POV:

If Azalea had believed me, I wouldn't be sitting alone right now, being pelted with empty bottles and rolled up pieces of food.

I'm now completely used to being alone. I find a way to skip the lunch line every morning to sit in the very back of the cafeteria, next to the trash. Occasionally, someone 'accidentally' misses the trash and hits me instead.

Today, it's all intentional.

Someone throws a coke can at me, hitting the back of my neck. To my horror, the sticky liquid erupts from the can and drips down my hair. The cafeteria goes silent.

Everyone's eyes in the cafeteria are suddenly on me...including Azalea's. After that particular night of playing 'House', we hadn't dared to meet eyes nor talk to each other. Calum and Michael, who she usually sits with, are nowhere to be seen. I've gotten used to Michael's recent absences, but Calum's is a little strange.