never be » lrh book one

Chapter 5

A R G U M E N T

Ashton's POV

The second I hung up on Sam I got out of bed. My room was dark all except the dim light that came from my lamp and illuminated my blue and gray walls. I turned off my lamp and then walked over to the light switch, turning the main light in my room on. Since I had been just chilling in bed, I didn't have a shirt on. Due to what I was about to do, I needed a shirt. After digging around my room for awhile, I found one suitable enough to go out.

"Mummm!" I yelled out my door, looking on my desk for my car keys. Once I found them, I started walking down the stairs.

"Yeah, honey?" She called back, her voice booming through the house. It always impressed me how loud Mum's voice was.

"I'm heading to Luke's. Dunno when I'll be back, but I'll be back." I called, having no clue where she was.

"Okay," She yelled back as I slipped on my vans. My little brother was sitting on the couch watchinng TV and I waved goodbye to him before opening the front door and walking out into the hot evening air.

My little black car, also known as Jet Black, kind of like Jack Black but.. jet, was parked at the bottom of the driveway. I walked down the fucked up cement and got in, the whole car moving once I sat down. The ignition was hard to find in this car every time, but I found it and turned the car on. Then, I closed the door and buckled up. I was on my way.

Not long after, I arrived at Luke's house. I assumed Sam went back to sleep because the lights in her house were off but her car was in her driveway. I got out of Jet Black and walked up to Luke's front door. When I knocked, his mum answered almost right away.

"Ashton? Is everything okay?" She asked, stepping aside so I could come in. Immediately, I walked in and brushed myself off. In Luke's house, the only way you could get farther than the mudroom was taking your shoes off right then and there, so I did.

"I need to talk to Luke." I tell her, biting my lip after. "Please." I add, not wanting to sound rude.

"Yes yes, of course." She leaned over and looked into the living room and then peaked into the kitchen. "I believe he's upstairs, my dear." Liz patted my shoulder and then disappeared into the kitchen. I made my way up to Luke's room without a second thought. Before I walked in, I knocked on his door so I didn't interrupt his masturbating. He does it all the time.

"Yeah?" He called, his voice sounding tired.

"It's me." I called back, twisting the faded doorknob and opening the door. Luke's room smelled like that gross Axe cologne and frebreeze, along with 10 month old pizza. Trust me, it wasn't the best smell in the world.

"Did I say you could come in?" He sassed me, folding his arms over his chest. He was sat on the bed with all his school books spread around him, along with notebooks and writing utensils.

"No, but I need to talk to you." I pushed some of his books over so I could sit down.

"Okay, well... spill, then." He nodded slightly and pushed his light blonde hair from his eyes. Luke looked particularly boyish as he sat in his older brother's clothes.

"There's this new girl going to school with you, Sam. She told me today that you were mean to her on her first fucking day. I couldn't help but come over here to ask why the hell you would reject someone who looked to you for help in a very bad situation?" My voice is even but I'm obviously pissed. Luke's face turns red.

"I didn't say shit to her." He lies straight through his teeth and that pisses me off more, but I don't interrupt him. "She's annoying, Ash. Obviously no one is going to like her. You probably only like her because she lets you into her pants." He rolled his eyes and looked down at his books.

"Take that back right now." I muttered, my jaw clenching. If I clenched it any harder, my teeth would break.

"No, I'm not blind." He says in a tone that only gets me going even more. I stand up and grab him by the collar of his shirt.

"You better be nice to her, Luke. If you don't, you and I are going to have huge fucking problems." I mumble, my breath clearly hitting his face.

"Look, I'm sorry I don't like your snazzy American girlfriend bu-" I punch him square in the face and let go of him. He flinches and immediately I let go of him.

When my mind clears and the anger flows out of me, I look down at Luke, who's nose is bleeding. As soon as I realize what I've done I grab a nearby towel and hand it to him.

"Oh my God, Luke, I'm so sorry." The words flow out of my mouth quicker than I can control.

"It's okay," he nods, tilting his head back to fix his bleeding nose. "It's not broken, I'm okay."

"I should go. I'm really sorry." A part of me wants to cry. I never thought I was capable of doing that.

"Okay. Look, Ash, I deserved it. Don't feel bad. I'll apologize to Sam and let her hang with Cal and I at lunch." He flashes a smile and holds his nose shut. I'm so thankful he's my friend.

I flee Luke's house and literally run over to Sam's. Partially because my hand is throbbing and I need ice, but also because I want to tell her the good news. She doesn't answer when I ring the doorbell once, so I keep ringing it over and over till she does.

Sam reveals herself in the dark Australian evening. Her hair is tied up in a messy bun, which I admit looks cute. She's dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Yes, Ashton?" Judging by her voice and appearance, she just woke up from having been asleep again. It's been almost an hour since we facetimed.

"I have good news. And I need ice. Please let me in." I begged, my eyes pleading with her beautiful blue ones. She gives a slight not and lets me in, then shuts the door behind me.

"Why do you need ice? What's the good news?" He voice is scratchy from slumber and she moves slowly. I find it adorable.

"The ice is for my hand because I punched Luke in the face. The news is that I got him to agree to be nice to you." I smile at her and open her fridge. She doesn't have any icepacks so I grab frozen carrots and put them over my knuckles.

"Oh my God, you didn't have to do that!" She springs to life and hops into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck and hanging on me. I hug her with my free arm and chuckle into her ear.

"I wanted to! You need help getting through this, and so I helped." I smiled at her, feeling genuinely happy that I could make her day better like this.

"I love you so much." She kisses my cheek. Inside of me, my heart jumps, as it were trying to escape from my body. My cheeks begin to heat up as I try to play it off.

"I love you too, loser." I respond, then look over at her stove to check the time. It's getting late. Reluctantly, I put the frozen carrots back into the freezer and give Sam a hug goodbye.

"I hope tomorrow is better at school! Tell me all about it at work!" I call out as I walk out of her house and back over to Luke's driveway to get into Jet Black.

"Will do!" She calls back.

And with that, the door closes and I'm left to think about how my heart jumped when she kissed my cheek.