Perfectly Unseen

11: cheap bland chair

C h e a p
bland chair
~+~+~+~

"HEY."

My eyebrows pinched together as I prepared for some more verbal abuse. I turned around warily, taking in Ashton's muscular figure that could have easily crushed me with the flick of his wrist.

He frowned, a mixture of confusion and irritation written in his expression. "Are you okay?"

I stared at him unresponsively as he returned my blank stare. Was he serious? Was he seriously voicing concern for me?

"This is a joke, right?" I snapped out uncharacteristically, my face twisting into anger. "You-" I couldn't finish my sentence as I started laughing from how ridiculous he was being. "You expect me to actually believe you want me to be okay?" I shook my head as he watched frustratedly.

His scowl deepened, "No. Forget it." He shot out, "You're not worth my time anyways. You're just a spoiled little princess who probably whines about her little problems to her mommy and daddy."

I flinched back from his words, stumbling back. My heart began to ache almost instantly. It still hurt when I would think of her. When she was still here we were all a perfect family. Her and dad were so happy and Aurora and I were so close. I felt like I was suffocating.

Just as I was about to collapse from the sheer weight of losing my perfect family, Jessica bumped into me purposely as she created distance between Ashton and I. I swallowed, once more coming back down to reality.

"The creep looks like she's going to cry." A classmate snickered somewhere in the back just as I caught Ashton's black eyes watching me irritatedly.

"I'm fine." I answered him quietly, taking a seat. My eyes were glued to the front, waiting for Mr Sullivan to start the lesson.

"I heard that Ailie girl is stalking Ashton. How creepy is that?" Somebody whispered behind me with a laugh as she gossiped with her friend.

"That's why she's called 'creep'. Ashton caught her and has been embarrassing her for days now." The friend replied with a giggle, "He's so hot -as if Ailie could ever land that. She should just stop already. It's cringe worthy to even think about."

My insides twisted at once while my face heated up. I knew this was going to happen. I knew Ashton had ruined me the moment he called me a creep in front of them. He didn't even realize how much he influenced this school...or maybe he did. And he had the gull to ask if I was alright. It was all his fault! He didn't make sense.

~+~+~

"Little creep." My head begrudgingly turned to the familiar voice as I leaned against my locker.

Biology was brutal. Everyone gossiped about me like I wasn't there to hear it. I barely made it out alive. Ten minutes before the class ended I left to go to the washroom and just didn't come back. I was humiliated and infuriated. Nothing they said was the truth! I was certainly not obsessed with Ryder! How did everything get so out of hand? Why were my classmates so gullible? Didn't they know me better than that? I may have been a loser but I had probably helped everyone out at least once with a question or two. Why were they so quick to cast me aside like that? Ashton was right. I was mere decor nobody cared to even look at. Like a cheap bland chair that was only in the room because there was a space needing to be filled.

Ashton clenched his jaw as he watched my depressing thoughts come to an end finally as I snapped out of it. I looked down at my feet as I shuffled them awkwardly. What did he want now?

"We're going outside for gym." He informed me, "There was a note on the locker doors."

I nodded, keeping my eyes casted down. God only knows the rumours that would be spread due to this encounter. Besides, why was he telling me? It's not like I wouldn't see it when I went to go change.

He huffed frustratedly, his head shaking as I glanced up at him curiously yet timidly. His dark eyebrows were pinched together as he looked past me. "Whatever. I saw someone take the sign down."

And I should trust him because? He was probably setting me up for a prank or something childish like that. My hands clenched and unclenched as I stood there trying to decide whether to trust him or not.

He rolled his eyes with another angry head shake, "Believe me or don't. I don't really care." He was about to leave when he got a determined spark in his eye, "Just try not to go off alone, Ailie."

Widening my eyes from the mere use of my name, he stalked off, leaving me to contemplate his words as the halls grew noisily from all of the students. He was definitely warning me about Lucas and his minions. I guess even Ashton had a line he wouldn't cross: hurting girls or even allowing others to hurt girls. Personally I felt like nobody should hurt anybody --why did girls only get that advantage? But it was still a side to Ashton that wasn't pure evil and I guess that counted for something.

I quickly pulled out my gym clothes, figuring I would find out the truth as soon as I checked out the gym. It's not like I was totally helpless and had to have someone walk me to my class. It seemed kind of pointless to tell me in the long run of things. So why did he?