rain ⋙ ashton irwin

vi

it had been two days after ashton and arabella's day together. arabella wasn't too keen on going to school that monday morning, but of course she had to. on her way to school she found her mind wandering. she thought about how long it would take her dad to leave again. she thought about how her jeans were a little too tight. mostly, though, she thought about how she probably considered ashton as her friend now. which of course is a great thing, with vanessa leaving and all. maybe i won't have no one after all, she thought happily.

ara was walking to the back of the library to her favorite staircase when she spotted ashton himself. he was sat in the same back table with his head buried in a novel. arabella glanced around, noticing that there weren't really any students here yet. she turned around and hopped down the two steps she had begun to climb. she approached ashton's table quietly. he hadn't noticed her presence at all, even when she carefully sat down across from him. removing her backpack from her shoulder, she threw it onto the table. the sudden loud noise made ashton jump a foot into the air. his head snapped up and his eyes widened at arabella. the corner of her mouth twitched upwards as a reaction, but ashton didn't smile.

"you scared the hell out of me," he breathed, looking around the room. his glances were nervous, like he was waiting for something else to happen. arabella didn't pay much attention to his weary movements. she figured it was because she just scared him, anyways.

if only she knew then.

"what are you doing here?" she asked him, resting her elbows on the table with her chin in her hands. she shook her head slightly, her dark hair falling around the sleeves of her beloved white sweater. he finally met her dull eyes and leaned back into his chair.

"reading," he responded, holding up his book.

"no," she said, "i mean, what are you doing at school? i though you said you were nineteen," she said quietly. ashton set his book down before replying.

"well," he sighed, "i sort of got held back freshman year. that was my first year in america and it just didn't go well," he chuckled. "but please don't tell anyone that, okay? you know how the people at our school are. if you're just a tad less smart than everyone else, you're an outcast."

arabella nodded as she began playing with the ends of her hair, "i won't. i don't have anyone to tell, anyways," she laughed dryly.

"what about your friend..." he trailed off, searching his mind for her name.

"vanessa."

"vanessa. what about her?"

"she'll be moving soon, anyways. i won't mention it to her though," arabella told him. ashton nodded. he began glancing around the library again, as if he were waiting for something to happen again. "you're okay with school now, right?" arabella asked suddenly, drawing his attention back to her.

"um..." he sighed. he looked around again and leaned forwards so he wouldn't have to speak above a whisper. "not really," he admitted. "i'm having problems in calculus. actually, i've sort of been visiting a tutor a couple times a week, but they barely help anything." arabella tilted her head as she listened to him explain his situation.

"i have a 93 in calculus right now," she said. ashton's eyebrows raised at her statement. he knew he shouldn't be surprised though, because this school was practically crawling with the smartest people in the entire state. "do you... do you want me to help you? i can try, at least," she suggested shyly. ashton smiled at her offer.

"that'd be great, actually. we can walk to my house after school and start today, if that's okay?" ashton raised an eyebrow.

"sounds like a plan," she replied with a faint smile on her face.