Pensive

Chapter One

It was a Friday morning when I first met him.

He was wearing a plain grey hoodie, skinny jeans that were tight and a bit too long on him so it was a bit crumpled at the end, and sneakers. His lips didn't hold a smile, but his eyes, his beautiful hazel eyes that had specks of light green in them that I have yet to notice seemed to dance with amusement as he stared at all of us in class as the teacher introduced this new student.

"Everyone, this is Ashton Irwin. He's a new student here so please, give him a warm welcome." Our Homeroom teacher, Mr. Phelps, said. I rolled my eyes as I heard that same speech given by the same teacher who welcomed me when I transferred here 2 years ago.

The only difference was, this was junior year. And he, Ashton, was very very attractive, I admit. Almost all the girls in class sat straighter and had eyed him with more interest as soon as they heard his name.

"Ms. Martin, bags off the chair. Mr. Irwin will be sitting on that." Mr. Phelps forcefully requested. I rolled my eyes but followed instructions. I grabbed my backpack by the straps and dropped it in front of me. Mr. Phelps sighed and shook his head like a parent would do to a stubborn child.

Ashton walked to the very back of the classroom, where the now empty chair was. I had a stare-down with Mr. Phelps as Ashton placed his bag on the floor.

Calum, my best friend, leaned in from my left and whispered, "Why the hell is that new kid staring at you." It was more of a statement than a question, I noticed. I almost smiled at Calum's possessiveness even though we were just friends, but his statement got me curious. I looked at the now seated Ashton and found him staring at me with a blank look on his face. The hell is that kid staring at? I kept staring at him.

"Leigh, stop staring at him." Calum murmured beside me. I grinned at Calum but followed. As you can see, I'm quite obedient. Which is kind of a contrast to my rebel image here at Colonel High.

No kidding, that the name if this crappy school for rich kids like us. It's public but a bit more expensive. My parents sent me here, just like they did to my three older siblings.

I twirled the pen in my hand as I tried to focus on the lesson. God, why are they teaching us these things if we won't even need them? I sighed in frustration and dropped my pen when I twirled it too hard.

Ashton bent down and retrieved it for me. He handed it over, his hand purposely brushing against mine. We maintained eye contact the whole time, his emotionless face breaking as he formed his lips into an unmistakable smirk.

This simple action had a more powerful effect on me than I thought, even though I didn't know why. I gripped the pen he handed over harder as I tried to stop the blood from rushing to my cheeks. "Thanks." I said, sounding curt. I didn't try to correct myself anymore and focused on the lesson, which suddenly became extremely hard to do as I felt a pair of hazel eyes watch me the whole time.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Calum and I walked to the cafeteria to get lunch together, but not before passing by our lockers. "I don't like that new kid," Calum said as he entered the combination of his lock. "Relax. You don't even know him yet," I replied, entering 0-0-0-0 and opening my locker, which was right beside his. Yeah, go lecture me on how easy my passcode is.

I slammed the door and waited for Calum to finished throwing his books in. "You done having a bitch fit?" I asked teasingly. He rolled his eyes at me but smiled. "Maybe," he answered as we walked through the cafeteria doors. He put his arm around me, which was something that completely had no malice. It was a best friend thing.

I looked around and saw our other friends seated at out table. Calum's grip on my shoulder tightened the same time that I let out a groan. Ashton was seated on our table and talking to our friends. "What are you doing here?" Calum asked in a cool voice. Ashton looked back at him, unfazed by his tone. "I was invited to sit here." He answered, still looking at Calum as he sipped from his milk carton.

Jo, the resident school slut and my friend, cleared her throat. "I asked him to sit here," she told Calum. She smiled as she wrapped an arm around Ashton's, which Ashton gave no notice to. I didn't even bother subtly calling Jo a slut because she knew she was one. I sat down on a chair beside Calum, which turned out to be right in front of Ashton.

He looked at me, and I looked at him, and we kind of just looked at each other until I broke eye contact and I saw him smiling through my peripheral vision. I gripped my tray tighter without knowing, and Calum rubbed my knuckles softly. "You okay?" He whispered, his breath hot on my ear. I smiled and let go of the tray. "Yeah, I'm fine." I answered. Ashton leaned back on his chair as everyone talked.

"So I read your file," Sean, our friend and the school's baseball captain said. "Yeah. So?" Ashton asked. "Heard you play baseball." Sean answered, smiling. "I gave it up." Ashton answered blankly. Sean lost his smile. "What? Why?" He asked. Ashton shrugged and threw his milk carton to a trash can five feet away. Perfect shot. "Just wasn't my thing." He told Sean.

I narrowed my eyes, now curious about this guy Ashton. He was definitely hiding something.