The Bucket List ➡️ Ashton Irwin

Chapter 2

"Where are you going?" I questioned the nameless stranger that was currently leading the way. I didn't know why I was following him, or why I was concerned about him. I guess I didn't want him doing anything stupid, knowing that I'd feel guilty if he did. "I told you, we're going to get drunk." He replied flatly. I would prefer not to, as I don't necessarily like the taste of alcohol. "I don't think that's the brightest idea." I argue, "especially after that." I yelled back, gesturing my hands towards the direction we had just came from.

"Oh come on! It's new years, which means it is officially 2014." He smiled down at me. I didn't return the smile, but instead started walking in the direction of the small café I recognised that was a little further down the street. He realised my absence a few seconds later and decided to catch up. "Or we could get coffee and waffles. Your choice."
We entered the empty café and took our seats across from each other at a four-seater booth. I picked up the menu, quickly scanning over it not really in the mood for food, while the guy seated in front of me watched me carefully and averted his gaze when my eyes met his. He finally picked up the discarded menu and barely had a chance to look through it before a middle-aged waitress came to take our orders.

"Waffles with extra syrup and a chocolate shake, thanks." He smiled at the lady before she had a chance to speak. She quickly wrote down his order before asking for mine. "And for the lady?" She sighed and continued to chew her gum obnoxiously. "Just a coffee." I tried to smile at her, but her yellow teeth made me cringe and I was now glad that I didn't order any food. I had to look away to avoid my nose crinkling up in an obvious fashion. She then took our menus and left.
"So......." The guy in front of me pressed. I looked away from the window and stared at him, telling him to continue.

"I'm Ash."
"Ash? as in Ashley or?" I asked, not if it was short for Ashley or something.
"No, no. Ashton. Ashton Irwin." He grinned and held his hand out for my to shake. I leaned forward and shook his hand, and when returning my back against the seat I then realised the impact and pain from him landing on me. I hid the wincing sound with a reply of my name. "Charlie."
"Just Charlie?" He laughed.

"Just Charlie." I nodded. It's not that I didn't want to tell him my name, it wasn't that big of a deal to me. It's just the fact that it was beyond ridiculous. It was long, hard to spell and ever worse when people tried to say it or read it.
"I'll take what I can get." He laughed again and looked down at his hands. He did that a lot. Laughed I mean. I didn't know what to make of his character. He seemed happy on the outside, but happy people don't just decide to jump off buildings, he was...... interesting.
"I'm 20, from Sydney, Australia. I like bands, pretty girls and waffles." He nods his heads and smiles at his statement of facts.

"Well I'm 20, born and raised in Brooklyn. And I like bands also. I hate heights and don't mind waffles." I reply.
"That's ironic." He laughed. I looked at him, not knowing what he meant. He took my facial expression as an indication to elaborate. "The heights thing. You chose to jump off a building."
"Like you said before, I wanted to end the year with a 'bang.'"
"Touché." He smiled.

We then went back to staring around the diner and out the windows for the next couple of minutes passing time before the waitress came with our orders.
"So....." I said this time, breaking the silence.
"Up for the story telling?" He asked with an eyebrow raised. The strange feelings of trust and courage were bubbling up inside me. I felt comfortable with sharing things with him, even though I knew nothing about him. If he was willing to share, so was I.
"You go first." I know that seemed like a coward move, but I wanted to see if he was serious about sharing his thoughts and shit before I go and blurt mine out.

"Well, where do I start?" He laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Wait. Before we start saying crazy shit, we need to promise to never, and I mean ever repeat these words." He would've seemed a lot more intimidating if he hadn't smiled at the end of that sentence.
"Promise?" He questioned with his right pinky finger raised and ready to be held by mine.
"Fine." I huffed and grabbed his pinky in mine. I could guess where he was coming from.
His eyebrows raised and his head shook a little at me.