Skinny Hips // Ashton Irwin

thirteen // she's the psychopath!

//Annie//

I stood at the bus stop shivering only slightly, tapping my foot along to a beat I sang in my head as I waited for the bus to come along. I hadn't spoken to Ashton since the argument, and I wasn't planning on breaking the streak by asking for a ride to school. I slept in Calum's room and he took my spot on Ashton's couch.

I heard the sound of the bus coming before I saw it, and soon in the distance it began to roll up the hill. I took a step forward once it was close enough to signal that I wanted to get on. Once it stopped, I stepped on, payed my fare and took a seat.

I could hear giggles and laughs coming from the girls at the back of the bus. Lowering myself in to my seat, I turned up the music on my ear buds and ignored them, staring out the window instead. The voices I recognized were Kate and Catherine.

Only seconds later I felt someone fall in to the seat beside me. I swiftly turned, coming face to face with Bradley. A smile took over my face as I ripped out my ear buds, the first thing I noticed being the silence instead of the sound of giggling girls.

"You looked lonely," he said, a grin on his face. I smiled back and stared down at my thighs, raising my legs off the chair only slightly so my legs wouldn't look as fat. "I've never seen you on the bus before."

"Ashton usually drives me," I said, smiling. Bradley's smile faltered ever so slightly but enough for me to catch but instantly perked back up.

"Is Ashton your boyfriend?"

"House mate, personal chauffeur. Not a boyfriend."

Personally, I didn't know what to call Ashton if somebody asked. Was he a fuck buddy? No, definitely not. Was he a boyfriend? Not at all. 

"That's kinda cool. Why don't you live with your mum?"

Bradley still had a smile on his face but now it was my turn for mine to falter completely. I turned away from him and stared at my lap instead, fiddling with the zip on my coat as I tried to come up with a quick excuse as to why I don't live at home. Nothing came to mind.

"Just some stuff that happened. No big deal."

I felt the bus begin to stop and looked out the window to see that we were outside the school. I turned to Bradley, waiting for him to stand up first. He did so and made his way out of the bus allowing me to climb out next. I stood from my seat and inched my way towards the isle but before I could reach the exit I was tripped and knocked on to the dirty floor of the vehicle with a bang. Above me was none other than a pair of giggling girls.

"Wow," Kate exclaimed as sarcastically as she could, "Annie, I'm so sorry, I seriously did not even see you there!" She said with a hidden giggle to finish it off. I tried to climb to my knees in the awkward tight space.

"Maybe if she weren't so small you'd see her," Catherine said from behind Kate, a fit of laughter erupting from the two of them. I finally climbed to my feet again and got off the bus, brushing the dirt and dust off my clothes.

I watched Kate and Catherie hop off the bus as I rooted through my bag to find my cigarettes. I opened the box, ignoring Bradley's stares as I popped one in my mouth and pulled my Bic out of my pocket and lit it, my eyes never leaving the girls.

"Are you okay?" Bradley asked, now staring at my cigarette. 

"Just dandy." I ignored the sentence he started to begin saying and instead walked away towards the school, puffing quickly on my cigarette as I rushed to get away from him and the girls and anybody else that wanted to speak to me. That was the last time I take the bus to school.