The Boy Who Loved Flowers

fourteen | t a s t e

in honor of 1k reads i worked really hard on this one. (:

(not edited bc i'm trash)

----------------------------------------------

THREE DAYS LATER from that crazed night, and no word from Ashton yet in my thoughts his voice seemed to whisper. That and his touch somehow remained hot on my skin. Still, I kept my wits about me - he could break me easily, but I set on being able to do just the same.

Ashton didn't even show up at school.

However, that didn't stop my heart tightening when I thought about him, or how I felt my breath become a little more slowed. No, in fact, as time passed - and slowly it did - I felt more and more symptoms relish in my stomach.

And what was driving me mad - or livid, as so Dylan earlier supplied - was that Ashton hadn't even bother text me. When I thought about it, the evening ended on an odd foot:

After I swallowed down my fears about Ashton, I tried to prop up an even brighter smile as I looked between Piper and Jasper. They both appeared to have already let the guilt shed off them, immersing themselves in teasing Ashton from afar. I could see why they turned their interest, Ashton looked slightly crestfallen, sulking in the coat of shadows. His eyes flashed to mine for half a second, before flicking them away as he flushed.

And maybe I was just a little tired, or too imaginative, but I swore that he mouthed my name into his phone.

The thought slipped away as he spoke his departings - loudly, as to alert us - into the phone. As he strode toward us, the jokes halted on the tips of the tongues of Jasper and Piper (mostly about his mom, I believe.)

"Boys," Ashton looked to them with an uncertain smile, eyebrow perked in question until he turned to me with a more genuine smile - though, the uncertainty opted to his pupils. "Vivian."

"Are you okay?" I only asked due to his rolled shoulders, but perhaps I was a little too bold. For half a second, his face felt flat until he gave a half-hearted smirk.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He murmured, advancing a foot towards me. His hands found their way to my waist, almost hovering but not quite. I could see that in his eyes, something wasn't quite clicking. I didn't know what it was, and frankly, I felt sympathy. So, in order to set it right, I feigned that I was more tired than I really was.

"Ash," I yawned, stretching out my arms as I stepped away from him. His hands fell slack and his eyes dropped to the floor, only rising again when I cleared my throat. "I'm absolutely drained, d'ya think you could take me home?"

"Don't you mean to bed?" Piper shot in, grin and all. I always wondered why a human being would kill another human, until now, that is.

Jasper supported this with two loud hoots, and finger guns. "We're all adults here, Vivian, let's just keep it real here."

Ashton, clearly, ignored them with an eye roll meant for my enjoyment. "Yeah, of course. Um, before we go, are you doing anything in this week. Just, any time, that is?"

"Oh, no." I answered with a smile, and he returned one. After that, it got real simple. He walked me down the abandon, brick building and to a taxi. We got in. He saw me to my house. I snuck back in. That's about it. The rest of the night was spent thinking about . . . everything.

Why on earth would he ask about my week's plan but not reach out to me once? God, I feel like a fool. Maybe it's starting now; the infamous Ashton volcano, tame at first then startling painful.