Perfectly Unseen

12: masculinity and vanilla

M a s c u l i n i t y
                            and vanilla
                       ~+~+~+~

IT didn't take me long to find out whether or not Ashton was trying to trick me or not. After changing quickly while the bell chimed, I peaked into the glass window, finding my class not to be there. So, maybe Ashton was telling the truth? I hoped so.

Turns out, he was.

His eyes caught mine as I rushed to the baseball field, my feet stumbling dangerously over the dirt path. It was a miracle I didn't fall flat on my face.

"Ms Dawn, how nice of you to join us." Mr Carter eyed me, his expression not at all impressed.

My face grew hot as my classmates snickered at me, "S-sorry." I stuttered out, much like how I was just stumbling over the dirt.

He sighed tiredly, "Just take a seat, Dawn." He ordered before continuing going through the list of students as he took our attendance.

I immediately searched for Emma, my teeth gnawing the inside of my cheek when I couldn't find her. Was she sick? It felt like all eyes were on me as I stepped closer to the bleachers. Everyone was sitting with their friends and I suddenly felt very alone. It was different when people noticed you. Before I would have been fine going unnoticed as I sat on an empty space of the first row of the bleacher. But now, it was as if they were laughing at me, judging me for sitting alone. I could practically hear their thoughts in my head as they smugly watched me, waiting for me to take my spot as the social outcast.

My stomach clenched as my fists balled into tight fists. I wanted to move, but it was like my feet were rooted into the ground as my body grew stiff. It was beginning to get harder to breathe. My palms sweated and my heart raced all the while I kept my eyes casted down to my black gym shoes. What was happening? Why did all of this matter to me? Was I sick? Did I catch some sort of stomach bug?

"Ms Dawn..." The teachers light grey eyes looked at me with confusion and some concern.

"I-I..." I violently stuttered, the words not even forming in my mind. It was like all sense of socialism eluded me. "I'm n-not." I tried again with no avail while my classmates began to whisper and chuckle. I wasn't even sure what I was trying to say. I'm not working? It seems I'm shutting down? "M-my-"

"She wasn't feeling good earlier in biology." A familiar voice interrupted me, shutting up the students before I could make a bigger fool out of myself. "She's clearly still sick. Just order her to damn infirmary already before the rest of us catch her fûcking illness." Ashton swore as I peaked up and looked at him.

His obsidian eyes were as cold as ever as they flickered to mine for a single second. Yet, he knew I wasn't sick. Was he covering for me? But why?

"Oh, if that's true, Ailie, you don't have to force yourself if you don't feel up to it." He nodded at me dismissively before yelling at the class to choose two captains to choose the teams.

I swallowed my anxiety as the attention was finally off of me. "If it's okay with you, I don't want to miss a class." I spoke quietly, careful to avoid the attention of my classmates.

Mr Carter smiled, "That a girl. Get in there and rough your classmates up." He joked, "Ryder could always use a good kick in the pants." He chuckled, clearly thinking about his use of swear words -Mr Carter hated when we swore. "You teenagers never learn, do you?" He sighed again. "Think if I give him a couple dozen laps he'll think twice next time?"

My lips turned up into a tiny smile, "I very much doubt it. But I think he said that for my benefit... so I hope you don't give him too much trouble for it." I admitted, even if it wasn't true, he still saved my panicking äss and I didn't really want to see him get in trouble for it.