Ashes, Oh Ashes

chapter 5

James pestered her all the next Monday. I hadn’t asked a single question. For some reason, it just felt wrong for me to do so. Besides, I could learn a lot more by standing by and watching her react than I could by what she answered to James.

She just felt like getting home, she had said, several times to him.

Henry, having missed the whole thing, went off towards another conversation.

She got so annoyed at one point that she stamped her pale blue, pointy-heeled pump into Jame’s foot.

He yelled and drew back immediately. I busted out laughing. He deserved it.

He swore and I noticed a hidden smirk upon Ashley’s lips.

But for once, touchy James wasn’t mad. He was stunned more than anything else. He stared at her for a moment, ignoring his smarting foot, wondering how to properly react. It was rather funny, that James could drive the calm, placid Ashley into annoyance.

He smirked after a moment, and stopped asking questions.

I was a bit surprised by his actions- but I don’t think even he’d take out his anger on the docile Ashley.

“Cations are positively charged. Anions are negative, while the nucleus remains neutral unless it has more protons than neutrons- making an ion.”

“Excellent.” Our chemistry teacher was always pleased with Ashley’s understanding. Her voice had awoken me from my nap in chemistry.

I looked over to where she sat across from me, noticing how her hair and eyes were bright today.

“Explain the movement of electrons.”

“When the electron is excited, such as given extra energy, it jumps up an energy level in the atom for a split-second, then returns to its original state- giving off light.”

“Yes! Now for wavelengths measured by the light . . . .”

I closed my eyes, trying to regain my sleepy stature. The only thing that penetrated my ears’ walls was Ashley’s breathing, which by now I had become accustomed to.

I had begun to lose myself in a dream-like state during class, until Ashley’s foot prompted me awake.

“What?” I grumbled, clearly unhappy about being awoken.

She giggled. “Ok, gramps. Get up. We have to leave.”

I nodded and torpidly stood, stretching and gathering my bag at my feet. But as I followed her out the door, I noticed her turning in the opposite direction of where we were supposed to be.

“Ash?”

She looked over her shoulder and winked at me, turning into the stairwell on our left and without a word. I followed, already liking her mischievous misbehavior. I didn’t argue with our destination- which I still didn’t know, but I admired her stability on her pumps as we made our way quickly down the concrete stairs. Most girls wobbled when standing still in the pumps Ashley was wearing.

I smirked and she took my wrist.

This caught me off guard.

“We’ll take my car,” she whispered as we quickly exited out of the side door at the bottom. “We’ll be by later to pick yours up.”

I nodded, not really knowing how to respond. It was obvious we were ditching. I was surprised with Ashley- she was never one to skip.

She sped off before I hardly had the door shut. My immediate craving for a cigarette had to be snubbed- I still refused to smoke around her. Only because I knew she didn’t like it.