never be » lrh book one

Chapter 6

" E A S Y    T H E R E  ,  T I G E R "

Sam's POV

The next morning I wake up the same way I woke up the morning before... miserably. Literally the sound of my alarm is starting to make me sick to my stomach. I stretch out in bed and run my hands through my hair to fluff it out. Hopefully today will be better.

Because of Ashton, I have high hopes for today. For the first time since before the accident, I have a positive feeling about the day ahead of me. This morning, I take mt time getting ready. I eat a good breakfast and try to be more respectable with my makeup today. I do it the way I saw most of the other girls do theirs.

Once I'm all ready for this fresh start for real, I walk outside to my car. It smells like freshly cut grass and summer outside. Back where I'm from, days like today would usually smell like pollution and exhaust. But not here. I love it.

The drive to school this morning is quicker than yesterday, but not by much. I'm glad parents ans students are getting adjusted to how the parking lot and traffic works, making it easier on me. We all learn together.

Today, I find a parking spot much closer. That's a good thing about the day already. It takes me half the time it did yesterday to walk through the crappy parking lot. When I walk inside I immediately see Luke standing with a couple other guys and I don't have the nerves to walk up to him then, so I just head to my locker. As I walk away I feel his eyes on me, which makes me more self concious.

I'm really liking today a lot better than yesterday. It seems Luke was wrong when he said that everyone would try and make my time at this school miserable. Apparently I already pretty much blended in.

* * *

My day goes by pretty smoothly up until the walk to math. As I'm walking, the stares and whispers start up again and a part of me starts thinking they're worse than yesterday's. I hear someone say something that leaves me absolutely dumbfounded.

I heard she was sleeping with an older guy. In his twenties. He's paying for her enrollment.

A lump forms in my throat and I push past them, purposely making myself known to them. I walk into the math room and Luke is sitting where he was yesterday of course. I walk over and sit down next to him, my face red. I keep my head down and away from him. He makes me nervous.

"Hey," He turns in his seat and faces me. I mentally groan and lift my head to face him, putting on a fake smile.

"Hi," I respond sweetly, looking into his blue eyes. I hadn't realized how blue they were till I actually got a good look at them.

"How's your day been?" Luke asks, tapping the eraser tip of the pencil on the desk. The class starts but everyone continues talking. Our teacher is late.

"Um, it was alright." My voice is much quieter than I wanr it to be. "On my way here I heard people talking about me. But that was the only bad part." I already feel like I'm telling him too much so I look away.

"Who was it? Do you know their names?" He asked, completely overlooking how awkward and timid I was, which I appreciated.

"No, but there were a pair of twins with them. The one who said it had a mole on her bottom eyelid. It was kinda nasty." For the first time at school, I laughed. Surprisingly, Luke and his friend laughed with me.

"Those girls are the Ken twins. Mackenna and Mackenzie. They're gross." Luke's friend told me, his laugh more like a cackle.

"That's Calum," Luke said, looking over at the brown haired boy, who gave me a cheeky smile.

"Hi, I'm Sam," We both exchanged a little nod and smile just as the teacher stormed into the room. Let's just say that class flew by with my two new friends there.

Once the bell rang and we all stood up, Luke touched my shoulder and spun me around. I must've looked surprised because he laughed at me. "Easy there, tiger."

"Sorry, you just scared me." I explained, my cheeks turning red in embarassment.

"It's fine. I was just wondering if you want to hang with Cal and I at lunch?" He asked, leading the way out of the classroom and into the hallway. Calum was standing there leaning against the wall, talking to a boy who had the same hairstyle as Luke's but longer.

Luke and I walked up to them and we all stood in a circle. This was very new to me so I stayed pretty quiet until Luke introduced me to the new boy.

"Michael, this is Sam. Sam, Michael." Luke pointed back and forth. I gave Michael a genuine smile and he smiled back.

"Alright, I'm hungry, let's eat." Calum said right after, slinging his arm over my shoulder and forcing me to walk with him towards the cafeteria. Yesterday I didn't get this far in my day.

When we walked in it was so crowded that all the tables were filled up already. The large amount of people all cramed together gave me anxiety. I stood close to Luke and Calum in line for lunch. Michael had gone off to talk to his other friends while we got our lunches.

After we all have our lunches, Michael rejoins us and leads the way out of the lunchroom. I get kind of confused until he brings us into the music room. 

"Why're we in here?" I asked, taking a seat by Calum.

"Because Mr. Day said it was okay for us to eat in here and mess with all the instruments since we're in a band." Michael answered with a light laugh, picking up a guitar and sitting down across from me.

"Oh," Is all I can think of to say as I start eating.

"Do you know how to play instruments or sing?" Luke asked, taking a bite of his sandwich, also speaking with his mouth full, which was a pet peeve of mine.

"Nope." I respond, taking a sip from the tiny carton of milk I recieved. I had never bought a school lunch in my life until now.

The small talk continued for awhile until the bell rang and we all went our separate ways. This school day was much better than the one before. I was so grateful for Ashton talking to Luke.

* * *

That night, while Ashton and I were on break at the cinema, we sat in the back room and I told him all about my day. It was wonderful. We were sitting on a little bench, eating popcorn that Ash had stolen from the machine. We were sitting close but it was a comfortable kind of close.

"So all in all it was good?" He asked, throwing up a piece of popcorn and catching it in his mouth.

"Yes, it was fantastic. All thanks to you," I say quietly, my cheeks heating up. I don't know why saying those kinds of things made me nervous but they did. I reached up and kissed his cheek. When I noticed he also got red, my heart leaped in my chest.

Wait, woah woah woah. My heart leaped in my chest? After knowing Ashton for awhile, or at least, longer than anyone else here, was I starting to have a crush on him? I mean, he was pretty cute. And he is so caring towards me... I don't know.

Before we can say anything to each other, someone dings the little bell, signalling we have to trade posts and rotate, meaning Ashton and I are off break.

I only stay for another hour, but Ash stays for two. I feel pretty bad leaving him, but now I'm scared to be around him. Does he like me back? Do I even like him in the first place. I don't fucking know.