30 Days

IV.

The school cat was stuck up on a tree.

Ashe had been on his way to the infirmary to sleep when he heard it mewling loudly. He stopped to look at it for a while then went on his way. With a yawn, he hastened his steps so he wouldn't be caught cutting classes. The sooner he was there, the better for him.

"Chairman, what are you doing there?" he heard a familiar voice speak.

He glanced over his shoulder. Then his eyes widened. Because it was Blanche who spoke and it was Blanche climbing the tree to get the fat cat down.

She didn't see him. If she had she wouldn't have climbed the tree since it was against school rules and she wouldn't have removed her blazer, her socks and her shoes.

"Come here, Chairman," she gently said to the cat as she sat on the branch it was lying on. "Come here."

The cat just looked at her then licked its paw. Ashe worriedly stared at them. It irritated him that she loved cats so much she'd get up a tree to save them and he wondered how many times she'd already risked herself. And the fact that it irritated him irritated him even more. He didn't like feeling unnecessary emotions.

The branch split just as Blanche grabbed the cat.

And Ashe, with the legs of a champion tennis player, darted toward her and caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.

This is such a pain, Ashe thought as he groaned in real pain.

The pull of gravity and the force of her fall had made Ashe unable to keep himself standing. They were now both lying on the ground with her body was on top of his. Her elbow was digging into his gut and she was still holding the damn cat.

She was trembling and instinctively, his arms tightened around her. He found her surprisingly cute with the way she was right now, curled up over him and scared, even though she was literally taking his breath away. She wasn't exactly petite and her body, he noticed while he held her, was soft and curvy in all the right places.

Ashe almost punched himself when he realized where his thoughts were leading him. It wasn't right, thinking about her this way right now.

But dang, if she didn't smell good.

*********

Blanche opened her eyes.

She had thought she was going to die when she fell from the tree but she was alive and feeling no pain. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked at the cat in her arms and smiled.

Her smile disappeared when she saw another arm that was not hers wrapped around her and the cat.

Then she realized that she was lying on something that definitely wasn't the grassy earth.

Alarmed, she quickly sat up and that something grunted. Rolling until she was on the grass, her eyes went to the person who'd saved her life. Her mouth dropped and her eyes grew wide. It was Ashe.

"I-I-I thought this only happens in the movies," she blurted out.

Ashe glanced at her with an unreadable expression on his face before he rose to his feet. Dusting off his clothes, he muttered, "Apparently not."

"Well, thank you," she muttered into Chairman's fur. She couldn't look at him anymore. She was too embarrassed.

"It was nothing."

He turned to leave and Blanche panicked. She let go of the cat, jumped to her feet and was about to run after him when he suddenly stopped. She bumped into his back, her nose bearing the brunt of the pain and she leaped back, rubbing her nose vigorously.

Ashe turned around and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Her face was probably as red as a tomato right then. "But, um. I was wondering if you like sweets?"

The question confused Ashe and he tilted his head to the side, regarding her silently.

Then he answered, "I do. Why."

"There's this new café and well, I was thinking, if you want, I can buy you cake as gratitude for saving me," she hurriedly spoke before she could lose her newly-founded courage.

He didn't even think about it when he said, "Sure."

Her face lit up. "Cool. We can go after school if you like."

"Okay."

They said their goodbyes and Blanche returned to class with a skip in her step. It was just her luck that he was there. It was just her luck that he saved her. Luck was truly on her side and soon, maybe she can finish this punishment game of hers.

Blanche touched her throbbing nose and smiled to herself.

And dang, if he didn't smell good.