The Sketchbook

Chapter Four

Ashley's POV

Chapter Four:

"You're kidding right? What about Josh's party? Why can't you just skip?" Harry asked.

"Harry I can't skip detention. Just go with some of your friends," I closed my locker door and picked my backpack up from the ground.

"Fine," He sighed before walking away.

So he was mad now. Oh well. He would get over it eventually. I walked towards the office to visit with the principal. It was Friday, which was the day I was scheduled to serve detention for skipping some of my classes last week. For once I wasn't bummed about having detention. I would much rather be sitting in a quiet classroom for a few hours then be around Harry than and a bunch of his drunk friends at a party.

"He's in his office," the lady behind the front desk at the office told me before returning back to her work on the computer.

I nodded my head and walked towards the principal's office. I knew this place too well. I was always here.

"Well Mrs.Ashley, I see someone hasn't been staying out of trouble," the principal tapped his chin and watched me carefully while I sat down in the chair in front of his desk.

"You should know me better than that Mr.Stewart," I gave him a small smile.

"You can't possibly expect to graduate if you keep getting yourself into trouble like this. No college is going to want a trouble maker like you on their campus," he folded his hands and waited for me to respond.

"I will try to stay out of trouble," I told him.

He sighed and shook his head. "You tell me that all the time yet you do nothing about it. I know you can do better. Your grades are good but your attitude and image you give yourself isn't. Maybe you should reconsider who your true friends are. They always say you are who you hang out with."

I wasn't interested in anything he had to say about who I hung out with. It was my choice, not his. "Right, well I will think about that while I sit in detention," I stood up so I could hurry up and leave.

"Actually, there is other plans for you today. Instead of your regular detention session, you will be doing something different that will hopefully teach you a lesson. Since Mrs.Marie had to leave early today, you will be cleaning her classroom this afternoon. I will check up on you later to see how you are doing," he said.

"Mrs.Marie? What classroom is that?" I asked him.

"Room 202. You'll know when you get there," he gave me a smile before motioning me to leave his office.

I grabbed my backpack and headed down the hallways searching for room 202. I had never heard of, or been to, that classroom before. Either way I got an easy punishment for today, or so I thought.

When I finally reached the classroom I realized I was completely wrong. It was the art room, or at least what was left of it. There was paint and papers scattered everywhere. It was a total wreck. Now I could see why he chose this instead of regular detention. I sighed and got to work.

I was almost finished cleaning when I noticed it. A small, brown sketchbook was sitting on a desk in a corner. All that was left to clean was the paintbrushes, and since that wasn't a very hard thing to do, I decided to take a break. I sat on the desk and flipped through the sketchbook.

I stared at the first page, mesmerized by what I saw. It was only a pencil sketch, but it was still beautiful. The shading and details were perfect. Who ever drew that was obviously pretty talented. Sketched out onto the white page was a forest with a small river cutting across it. On the left side of the river, there was animals and flowers; everything looked happy and peaceful. One the right side though, there was a few trees. There were no animals or flowers, just the trees and a few shadows hiding behind the trees.

"Is Mrs.Marie here?" I heard someone ask. I jumped and closed the book. When I looked up I saw a tall boy with dark hair staring at me. His eyes were hazel, hidden behind long lashes and glasses.

"She left earlier," I told him.

He nodded and looked around the room. "So what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I had to clean in here since I skipped school last week," I told him.

He nodded. "Can I see that?" he asked while pointing towards the sketchbook I was holding.

"Sure. I don't know whose it is, but it's really good," I said before handing him the brown book.

"Thanks," He smiled before placing the book inside of his backpack.

"Is that yours?" I asked him.

He nodded his head yes.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Zayn," He said before looking down at his shoes.

"I'm Ashley," I told Zayn.

"I know. I have you in a few classes," Zayn said.

"Oh," I replied while trying to remember which classes I had him in. Honestly, I had never seen this kid before. "Are you new here?" I asked.

"No, I've lived her my entire life," He answered.

"Sorry I've just never noticed you here before," I apologized.

"It's fine," he looked up at me, "No one ever does. I like it that way though," He said.

"Well what classes do we have together?" I asked.

"Reading. And physics," Zayn answered.

"Oh I hate physics. It's too confusing for me," I said.

"It is difficult, but I manage to keep up," He gave me a small smile.

"Really? Well maybe you should help me sometime," I smiled back.

 I know what you are thinking, and the answer is no. No I was not trying to flirt with Zayn or anything. I was only expecting to be friends with him. What was so wrong with that? I just wanted to have one friend who wasn't stupid and self obsessed. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing.

"I would but I don't think that's a good idea," Zayn said.

"What do you mean?" I gave him a puzzled look. 

"Well your boyfriend is Harry Styles. If he knew I was helping you he would tear me to shreds," He said.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Don't worry about Harry. If it will make you feel any better, we just won't tell him."

He still gave me an unsure look. "I'll pay you. College is expensive, so every dollar counts," I gave him a hopeful smile.

"Okay but-" He started to say before I interrupted him.

"Great. Let me finish cleaning and then we can go," I told him.

That was the beginning. The start of our friendship.