The Back Stairwell

Chapter 1

The next day, I was standing at my locker when Easton came up beside me. I noticed his eyes were avoiding my face, but I wasn't sure if it was becuase he was shy or because he was looking...somewhere else.

“Hey Ainsley! What’s going on?” he said cheerfully, bringing his eyes back to my face. My friends were standing behind him, snickering. My friends don’t like boys like Easton. They think that the only boys worth dating-or even talking to- are 5’10 and on the football team. I bit my lip and said a polite hello. My friends made kissy faces behind his head. I grabbed my books and brushed past him, my nose upturned slightly. That boy had to realize that I was out of his league. My friends rejoined me on both sides. Melina giggled,

“Who was that dweeb?”

“Some kid who thinks we’re friends.” I replied. “I always get the weird ones, while you guys get the hot guys falling at your feet. It’s not fair.” I glanced once over my shoulder to see Easton looking at me strangly. He looked like a scolded puppy dog; pitiful and sad. I supposed that he heard what I said. I felt slightly guilty, but not guilty enough to go after him as he turned and walked away.

“You do realize,” Scarlett said, “that the hot guys aren’t throwing themselves at you because you have a boyfriend? It’s only the dweebs that throw themselves at you because they’re too clueless to know that you’re already dating someone. Besides, do you not see how the football players look at your ass? Like, seriously. If you would just dump the supposedly smart guy from two schools over, you could have any dude you wanted. They all want you bad, Ains. Even Andrew said that he would bang you into the next century and he’s my boyfriend. At least for this week.” She winked at me and I forced a smile.

Just as I opened my mouth to protest, a group of boys walked by and wolf-whistled at me. I sighed deeply. 

"That's only those guys." I rolled my eyes as Melina and Scarlett gave me self-satisfied smirks. 

“Like, really Ains? Are you that clueless? Every single guy in this school wants to “tap that”. I heard some dweeby boys discussing whether or not your boobs are real the other day. If I were you, I’d dump Alex and get with a hot guy that actually CARES about you.” Melina sighed.

“Listen, guys. Alex cares about me. Really. He’s just always busy and can’t drive over and visit.”

“Sure.” Scarlett scoffed. “Because that rumor about him sending pictures of his private parts to 3 girls isn’t true.” She rolled her eyes. “I even got the picture, Ainsley. I showed you. There’s no denying that he’s a douche. You keep telling us that he’s “so intelligent”, but how smart can a dude that sent a picture of his dick to 3 girls be?”

“That wasn’t him! Someone pinned that on him.” I replied angrily.

“It was him, Ains.” Melina said gently. “Didn’t you hear? He got suspended this morning. Reg texted me and said so. Apparently it was a huge deal. I texted you this morning.”

I pulled my phone out of my Coach purse and, sure enough, I had 5 unread texts. I checked the settings and I remembered that I had turned it on silent before I went to sleep. They read as follows:

From: Melina [7:29 AM]

OMFG AINS. ALEX GOT SUSPENDED

From: Scarlett [7.25 AM]

Turn on the news NOW. It’s about Alex.

From: Reg [7:02 AM]

Just showed up at school and Alex got suspended for sending pics of his dick to underage girls. Just FYI

From: Mom [6:29 AM]

Leaving for work early today. Didn’t want to wake you.

From: Alex [11:17 PM]

*Picture enclosed*

I downloaded the picture as Melina and Scarlett looked over my shoulder. It was a different picture than the one I had seen on Scarlett’s phone, but it was the same thing in the picture. I cringed and flipped it shut.

“Told you!” Melina sang in a sing-songy voice. “You’ve told him half a million times not to send you pictures. Dump his sorry ass right now. Right. Now.”

“Let me text him really fast and see what he says.” I type out a message to him.

To: Alex

I told you not to send me more pics. Wat’s up w/ the suspension?!

We turned into the English classroom and settles down for a boring period of literature. I usually liked literature, but our teacher was horrible. Her name was Mrs. Peltzer and she hated high schoolers with a passion. In the middle of yet another lecture, I got a text. I checked my phone and it was from Alex.

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