The Private School

Chapter 21

(ORIGINALLY POSTED 2 JUNE '18)

Knock Knock

Ok, well here goes nothing, that's Ash. I have a quick glance through a mirror, yep I look ok, not terrible. I go and open the door.

"Hey Ashley" I say as we come face to face.

"Hey Addi" He says nervously.

"I'm ready to go wherever" I say as I step out and close the door.

"Awesome, you look great, by the way" He says.

"Thanks, so do you" I say as I notice him wearing a light blue shirt and dark jeans with a black hoodie. I'm only wearing a t-shirt, hoodie and black jeans.

"So I was thinking, there's a bunch of places nearby, cinema, restaurants, bowling and whatever else, are you any good at bowling?" He asks.

"Hell yeah, it's one of my favourites" I say.

"Awesome, wanna check it out?" He asks.

"Only if you're ok with losing, I'm pretty good" I say.

"Ooh, that's a challenge, I'm pretty good too, let's go" He says. We start making our way towards the bowling place.

"I'm looking forward to this" I say as we walk.

"Same! So how are you finding school so far?" He asks.

"The last few months have been alright actually, I've settled in better than I thought I would, considering I've lived life as a loner" I say.

"Well you've made some great friends, maybe I can be a part of your little group" He says. I realise we have left the school grounds, I think this is the first time during the school week that I have left the grounds since I started here.

"Yeah I don't see why not, Jacob, Alice and Elliott are cool, they hang out a lot in Jakes room though, most of the time they play zombies on the ps3" I say.

"I'm really good at the game, my highest level is 36 with my sister, on my own it's 28 which I still think is pretty good" He says.

"The others will love you, especially if you can get them past 32, that is their best score so far I think" I say.

"It is a tough level" He says.

"Like I said, they'll love you if you can help them get past that level" I say. We eventually get to the bowling place, after a 10-15 minute walk. We walk up to the desk and ask for 2 games.

"That'll be £25 please" The lady asks.

"What? The price has gone up, I hope I've got enough now" Ashley says as he goes into his pocket and gets his wallet out.

"I can pay for myself if you want" I offer.

"No it's ok" He says as he looks at his money. "I have the 20, but it doesn't look like I have the 5, dammit" He says to himself.

"I can pay for myself Ash" I offer again.

"I've never been so embarrassed in my life" He says as I go in my pockets for some money.

"No, it's ok, don't be embarrassed, you didn't expect it to go up" I say to try and cheer him up. It reminds me of when Stefan told us his embarrassing moment during a date.

"My mum always tells me to take more with me in case, for whatever I'm doing" He says. "Just make up the difference, I'll cover the 20" He says.

"Are you sure?" I ask as I give the cashier a £10, Ash gives her the £20.