for the art of war (lashton)

4. the stars must've been aligned perfectly

The first months of school flew by rapidly and soon it was early December. Everyone had just gotten off Thanksgiving break (which Luke had spent with Calum and Michael since all three of them had never actually celebrated Thanksgiving before) and Christmas was coming up. Students had begun fixing up the campus with Christmas lights and banners and there was even an exquisitely decorated tree put up in the main hall. Unfortunately, along with the fast-approaching holidays was the fast-approaching Finals week. Luke spent his weekends at Calum's apartment intending on studying and perfecting their English presentation, but rather ending up seated in front of the television playing videogames and swearing at the TV. Luke had become really good friends with Calum and Michael as the year progressed and he was so incredibly grateful to have them by his side.

Of course, by this point, Luke had already paid Ashton the money for the accident and they hadn't spoken a word to each other since. Luke was so focused on his grades and work that he had no time to sulk over a stupid mistake he'd made months ago. The job Luke had working at the music store was going pretty well considering it was his first job. The salary wasn't very high but it was enough to keep a college student going. Most of the customers were younger children looking for instruments to play in their school's orchestra and Luke loved talking with them. 

Luke obviously couldn't fit a Christmas tree in his apartment so he'd went out to the store and bought a miniature artificial tree that he set on the coffee table in front of the television. It wasn't much, but Luke figured he wouldn't need much since he wouldn't be spending the break here in Seattle anyway. He'd already arranged plans with his family back in Australia to spend the holidays with them, making him more than excited for school to get out. 

However, the professors enjoyed slamming the students with big projects right before the break. It seemed the only class he didn't have to worry about so far was Physics, but that all changed quickly. 

Luke grabbed one of the packets the Physics professor was handing out and stared at it blankly. There were so many words on the page and just the thought of another project made Luke want to slip into a coma. The professor stood in front of the class and began going over the project with the students. The objective of the project was to build a car powered only by a mousetrap and to get it to go either as far as possible or as fast as possible. As soon as Luke's eyes scanned the line "You will work with an assigned partner," Luke's mind froze. He hated that word, assigned. Why did things have to be assigned? Luke had only one other friend in the class and he probably wouldn't get to work with him. Luke hated working with people he didn't already know, because on top of working on the actual graded assignment, you had to get to know them or even work together outside of class. While the professor continued explaining the packet, Luke drowned out every word he said with his mind going into overdrive. He tried his best to sneak little glances around the room to see who could possibly be his partner and, to his surprise, Luke was the only one that seemed to be panicking. 

Finally the professor tapped the Smart Board behind him and the slide changed to a listing of everyone's partners. "I want you guys to get with your partner and start sketching down ideas for your car." 

Luke's eyes frantically scanned the slide for his name. His eyes slid to the name directly horizontal of his and he felt his heart stop. Luke let out an exasperated groan while Michael, seated next to him, had a smug grin on his face because his partner was the hot senior. Some people got luckily partnered with one of their friends and Luke suddenly felt extremely jealous of them.

"Hey Luke who's your..." Michael's eyes landed on the name typed next to Luke's. "Oh." 

Luke rubbed his hands on his face and swore silently to himself. 

"If it makes you feel any better, all the girls would kill to have your partner," Michael said. Luke wanted to smack him, but then the pretty girl Michael was partnered with walked up to his desk and Luke let out an even louder groan. 

Luke had completely forgotten that Physics was the only class he shared with Ashton because Ashton sat at literally the exact opposite side of the room and, of course, the stars must've been aligned perfectly because Ashton would be Luke's partner for the next two months. Out of all the 21 other people Luke could've been partners with he had somehow managed to get Ashton. 

"I want you guys to go find your partners," the professor reiterated, despite the fact that most of the students had already begun brainstorming. "I have to go make some copies of this assignment. Remember, a sketched diagram of your car is due at the end of class."

Luke sluggishly shuffled over to Ashton and took a seat in the empty desk next to him. 

"Hi Luke."

"Hey." Only three words had been spoken but it was off to a better start than Luke was expecting. 

Ashton pulled a pencil and a sheet of lined paper out of his binder. "So I was thinking..." Ashton began sketching a drawing while explaining to Luke what he had in mind for the car. Luke's mind was so wrapped around itself that the words went in one ear and out the other; Ashton said something about the wheels and something about discs but Luke didn't register it. All of the memories from late August came flooding back and he had a sudden overwhelming desire to switch classes. 

Ashton stopped in the middle of one of his sentences when he realized Luke wasn't listening and glanced up at him; Luke was staring vacantly down at the paper. It took Luke a good ten seconds before he realized Ashton had stopped talking. "What?"

"Wow." Ashton threw his pencil down. "Could you be less helpful?" 

"What? I like your idea. Yeah, we should do that." 

"You don't even know what my idea is," Ashton snapped. He stared coldly at Luke while Luke quickly tried to defend himself.

"Yes I do," Luke protested. He pointed at the lines and circles Ashton had on the paper. "You're going to use—" Luke pointed at a circle, "—that for the wheels because it'll go faster." 

Ashton stared at Luke for a couple seconds before shaking his head. "No, Luke," said Ashton. "We're going for distance, not speed. I said that— twice." 

"Whatever," Luke mumbled. "That's what I meant."

"No it's not!" Ashton exclaimed. Luke gripped the edges of his desk hard enough that his knuckles turned white. "You're not paying attention, but why did I think you would? And would it even make sense to use discs for wheels to make the car go faster? They have less friction so they would go a longer distance. Less friction wouldn't increase their speed." Luke bit his lip in frustration as Ashton continued rambling on. "I guess cars just aren't your thing. Everytime you have to do something with cars you somehow find a way to fuck it up—"

"Will you just shut up?" Luke hissed. Both Ashton and Luke himself were shocked to hear him speak up. "I made a simple mistake, why do you have to be such an ass?" Luke finally took his eyes off the paper and met Ashton's. Ashton was staring at Luke in surprise and wanted to say a witty remark but the words were caught in his throat. A few other groups had stopped talking and watched the two boys in amazement. Finally a voice broke the silence between them and it was the girl Michael was partners with shouting at Ashton from across the room: "Ash, you're cute when you're angry!" They only barely heard her over all the chatter in the room but it was enough to send Luke completely over the edge. "Excuse me," Luke sneered. Fuming, he got out of his seat and left the classroom.