As you say

Chapter 14

"Ashton! Stop it! It's not that bad!" I scold the shy guy. He was barely shorter than I was even with his knees bent.

"Zaili! You're making a scene!" he hushed me.

"No, you are, because normal people keep a respectable distance between their teeth and over people's hair! Now please just walk next to me!"

"But people will be staring at me all the time!" the red-faced Ashton steps around me, stopping me in my track.

"Ashton, we have to keep walking," I mutter. I hate Murphy's Law.

"Why?"

"Because we are in front of locker 235. We need to move," I try to pull on his arm. My body freezes over when Blake calls out to me.

"Zaili!" I hear his voice from down the hall.

"Ashton, could you please hug me?" I wince.

Ashton must've heard something in my voice, because he pulled me in faster than Leah can talk.

"Thanks," I mutter and bury my head in his neck. He smelled good.

"What's wrong?" he asks me cautiously. I didn't have time to reply before Blake got to us.

"Zaili?" Blake said, his voice sounded hoarse. I mentally winced as I turned to him.

'You need to make him understand you will always be just friends, no more,' I told myself.

"Oh, hey. How was your weekend Blake?" I half-smile at him.

"Fine. Who's this?" Blake eyes Ashton with his arm around my waist.

"Oh, yeah! Blake, this is Ashton. Ashton, this is Blake, he's one of my friends. And Ashton is... uhm..." I stare at Ashton, puzzled. What do you call the guy your grandfather chose for you to be with?

"Consort," Ashton pipes up for me, using his free hand to quietly shake Blake's hand.

"No, just no. That is a vampire thing," I shake my head at Ashton. "It's complicated, and that was cliché," I say, turning to Blake.

"Oh..." Blake said. I could feel tension rolling off of him, see his fists clenched. Complication; Blake's tension would set off Ashton's need to protect.

Boys.

"C'mon, Ashton. Mr Sir doesn't hold up an English lesson for his own mother, let alone us," I start pulling him down the hall.

"Zaili, you'll be at choir tonight, right?" Blake calls behind me.

"Sure," I answer.

Before turning the corner, I see Blake with his head in his hands, his back against his locker, sitting in the steadily clearing hallway.

School sucks.