Ashton Enchanted » [cashton] √

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Ashton and Crystal were stood in the hallway, midway through devising their master plan to get out of handing in a research paper in their next class. She paused for a moment, twirling the end of her soft purple braid around her finger before an 'Ah-Ha!' expression took over her face.

"Okay so, I beat you up, and we pretend someone else did it, and you get to just go home," she shrugged simply, putting her textbooks back in her locker and pulling out a thermos.

"That only gets me out of it, and I have to get beaten up, I think that one's a dud," Ashton said with an eye roll, before rummaging through his own locker for a snack-size bag of Cheetos.

Crystal seemed ready to argue, but her mouth quickly closed at the sound of footsteps approached from behind him.

The voice of his English teacher, Mr Philips spoke, "Ashton, this essay is garbage, you've got the weakest references I've ever seen, and overall it seems like you just haven't bothered to try," he shoved a formal note to Ashton's mother. He opened his mouth to argue the comment, but Philips interrupted him, "I would hold my tongue if I were you," he said, before turning on his heel and disappearing amongst everyone else in the hall.

Ashton's stomach sunk as soon as the words left his lips. His hand darted up to his mouth and held his tongue between his thumb and pointer finger. He sighed with his tongue in hand and waited until the sensation went and he was able to remove it. He wiped his fingers on his school shirt and looked up to see Crystal staring at him curiously.

Not only was he compelled to do whatever it was he was told it seemed he's also been given the gift of unluckiness, as it seemed no one ever managed to miss the peculiar things he did. Even in moments where he should have been able to get away with little things, the sort of moments normal people used to pick their noses, he got caught. 

Ashton shrugged, offering a closed mouth smile, "That was more for his benefit than yours, but apparently, he didn't even see it." He sighed, closing his locker and avoiding her eyes. He was a pretty good liar if he were honest, years of having to have excuses up his sleeve for moments just like these had made him good at it. It made him feel ingenuine and unconnected to other people, but he imagined his weird behaviour often attributed to that as well.

"I didn't realise you were such a smart arse," she said with an eye roll, turning back to her locker.

Ashton fought back the urge to sigh and closed his own locker as well. Almost everyone was gone from the hallway now, he could tell without looking because the volume had decreased significantly, he could think without having to wade through noise now. This was when he able to relax; fewer people around meant his chances of doing something weird or being caught doing something weird decreased. It was the closest he came to letting his guard down at school.

Which was why the clang of something colliding with the locker next to him caused him to jump back several feet. He'd thought that everyone with a taste for bullying him would be long gone by now, nestled safely amongst their fellow bullies eating their lunch. He turned slowly, thinking he was prepared for any eventuality. Instead, his shoulders softened immediately.

It was Crystal's boyfriend Michael; he had her pressed up against the locker, essentially mauling her. He sighed, averting his eyes before he could see what the response to the hand snaking its way up under her plaid school skirt was.

This was a semi-frequent occurrence, Ashton hadn't really known Crystal all that long, nor did he know her all that well. She'd taken a shine to him early in the year, and slowly he'd been piecing together things about her and her friends.

The direction Ashton had averted his eyes in was toward where one of these friends stood. Calum, he had light brown skin, and warm eyes, and the softest looking hair. Ashton had, had a little to do with him recently, but he'd always admired him. He rolled his eyes at Calum in a friendly matter, blushing lightly at Michael and Crystal's brashness.