Xx, Ashton || a.i.

Chapter 3: English 103

English 103

10 a.m. comes very early when you're up all night.

Was he trying to confuse me? Because his methods were extremely effective.

-

By the time I made it to English in room 103, the class was already full. I looked around, hoping to see a familiar face somewhere so I didn't look like a complete loner on my first day of class.

"LYDDIE!" A familar voice called from the back of class.

I looked to the back corner to see Michael, sitting on top of a desk, across from Calum. I had to admit, I was pretty happy to see him. Although he's a lot more bubbly than I am, I feel like we have a lot of potential in having a friendship. He waved me over and gestured to the seat next to him.

"Good morning, guys" I smiled as I sat down.

"Is it?" Michael groaned as he slid into his chair. He must have a terrible hangover.

"How's the hangover?" I giggle. As I look closer at him, I see a dark purple bruise forming on the bridge of his nose where it connected with the kitchen floor last night.

"Thrilling. I don't remember a thing, I guess I blacked out. I don't know how many drinks I had, I didn't even mean to get drunk." he rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his bright red hair before laying his head on the desk. "Ashton said you took care of me and tucked me in last night. That was sweet of you."

"Ashton said that?" I asked. All I really did was cover him with a blanket and let him lay on me, I wouldn't consider myself a hero for that.

"Yeah. He said he walked you back to your dorm too, and that you couldn't take your eyes off him."

"What?!" I blushed a deep red and buried my face in my hands. Even if I had been looking at him, I think I was pretty subtle. I can't deny it, he's a good looking kid. Besides, he was the one who "just wanted to look at me" when he walked me back last night.

Calum started cracking up and Michael let out a weak laugh that probably would have been louder if he wasn't feeling so sick. "Relax, Lyddie, I was just kidding!" He seemed distracted as he looked past me and waved to someone, motioning for them to come sit with us. "Speak of the devil."

"Wha-"

"And the devil shall appear." A different voice said behind me, a little closer to my ear than I had expected. I turned around to see Ashton, looking a bit different from when I'd seen him yesterday. He wore a black Ramones t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, along with a pair of black ripped skinny jeans and hightop converse. It looked like he's shaved this morning, the stubble I observed last night was gone. He has more of a baby face under all of the stubble.

Today, he looked exhausted. Dark circles had formed under his eyes, prominently contrasted against his light complexion. That could be blamed on the jetlag, but there was something else different about him that I just couldnt put my finger on.

He took a seat on the other side of Michael and turned to us. "Who was talking about me?" he smirked.

"Well you see, Ashton, Lyddie here was just telling me about your little excursion back to her dorm last night" Michael shot me a sly smile.

"Was she?" Ashton smiled as he looked at me with his piercing hazel eyes. "Remind me how it went again?"

I have a lump in my throat. Why is there a lump in my throat? I shouldn't be nervous at all, all he did was walk me home and that was it. Why is he making me nervous? And why is he looking at me like I have some juicy story to tell? I havn't even known him for a full 24 hours yet.