365 // irwin

Chapter One

- A YEAR EARLIER -

DAY ONE

There is nothing more euphoric than being on a swing set. As incredibly immature and trivial as it sounds, there could be nothing greater, or at least I could think of nothing greater. Admittedly it was stupid, I wasn't going to lie to myself and say that it wasn't, but I refused to deny myself the simple pleasure of saying and doing stupid things, hence why it was 6:00PM on a Saturday and I'd decided to take it upon myself to twirl round on an old swing set.

There was a large assortment of other things I could be participating in. I could always go with the more productive route and perhaps get a head start on some of my homework, help out around the house. Maybe I'd even get round to finally doing the dishes like I'd promised, or studying for that Chem test on Monday. But me being my usually productive self had chosen to neglect those responsibilities, trading them in for a swing set.

Then there was the alternative, participating in some social activity. I knew that there was a party round the corner, but that would take far too much effort for a couple of reasons. The necessity to dress up in some odd boob tube was a demand I refused to meet, and frankly the walk there would be far too much effort as well so there I was, on a swing set.

"You might break it you know?"

His voice cut through the air, causing me to jolt slightly. I twirled round, rolling my eyes at the figure, who'd situated himself on the bottom of the slide. Twirling back round to the front, I began kicking at the barkchips slightly before looking over my shoulder saying,

"What makes you say that?"

I heard a breath of laughter fall from his lips as he stood up from his position, extracting a toothpick that once lay in between his teeth, instead playing with it in between his fingers, looking down to the ground momentarily before looking up again, his eyes meeting mine,

"Where do I begin," he responded, walking over to the swing, tugging on it slightly only to result in a creaking noise to form in the air, a smug grin on his face as he looked down at me, chuckling again slightly, "There's that." He walked round to the other side of me, tugging on the other rope keeping me suspended to the metal frame, keeping his position when it squeaked again, "And that." He followed these actions by squatting down in front of me, his arms outstretching so that they were either side of my body, his eyes locked with mine as he gently tugged on the ropes, grinning foolishly when they squeaked once more, "Oh and who could forget about that?"

"I think if anything you're going to break it, obnoxious swing expert," I retorted, looking down at the stranger.

"Is that my name now?" he laughed, moving from his position, the air feeling slightly colder around me as he leaned against the metal frame, placing the toothpick in between his teeth, "Obnoxious swing expert?"

"Unless you feel like giving me something better to tell you," I jibed, cocking my eyebrows slightly, my tone almost challenging.

"Try Ashton for size," he said, swinging round the metal frame, causing it to move and me to grab onto the rope of my swing before quickly letting go, narrowing my eyes at him as he continued to laugh.

"I think I'll stick with obnoxious swing expert,"

"Could you cut out the obnoxious?"

"It would surely be a sin if I did."

Admittedly, we kept eye contact for longer than we should've and the worst bit about it would have to be our expressions. His was somewhat pleading, his bottom lip jutted out, his eyebrows raised, his eyes wide and his index finger pulling at one of his cheeks, probably meant to imply a tear running down his face. I on the other hand had my eyebrows furrowed together, my eyes narrowed and my lips puckered as I continued to stare him down. In fear of my face being permanently frozen in the awful position I broke my face and his victory dance afterwards, comprising of him twirling around in a circle, his somewhat curled blonde hair bouncing around on his head, his hands in the air, excited "Woo's!" passing from his lips, almost compensated for my loss as he sat himself on the ground, tugging his plaid shirt tight around his waist, fixing his tank top and pulling up his jeans slightly.