Two weeks passed and school was finally over for six weeks. That meant no more homework and no more after school maths study classes. Finally.
Ashton insisted that I spent the first few days at his house. I'd already told him that my parents were going away for a few days and he didn't want me staying home by myself. Apparently I'd get 'bored' and I'd 'end up studying for the fun of it', which wasn't true. I'd probably spent more days without my parents than with my parents since the day I was born. Well at least that's what it felt like. I never got bored. Okay, maybe sometimes, but then I'd just call Cara and she'd find us something to do.
"Can I have a go on your bike?" I jokingly asked Ashton as I climbed onto his bed. I crawled over to the centre and sat cross-legged as I watched Ashton mentally scan the room. I think he was looking for something.
"How about no," Ashton grinned as he started rummaging through his draws.
"Why not?" I asked like a small child would ask their parents when they were refused an ice cream at the beach. I was half expecting Ashton to reply with 'because I said so'. That's what most parents would say.
"Have you ever been on a motorbike before?"
"No," I shook my head. "I've been quad biking on the beach, does that count?"
"Hm, no," Ashton chuckled. "If we get bored enough, I promise I'll take you out on my bike. You'll have to wear my old leathers though, from when I was younger, the ones I have now will be too big for you," Ashton stopped looking for whatever he'd lost and walked towards the bed.
"Thank you," I said, dragging out the 'you'. I looked up at Ashton as he approached the bed and gave him a big smile.
"But only if we get bored enough," Ashton repeated. He actually sounded like a parent talking to their child.
"Fine," I agreed, even though I knew I'd be able to persuade Ashton to let me go on his bike even if we weren't bored.
I was good at persuading. Whether it was Ashton, my parents or just some random person in the street. I once persuaded a guy in a shop to give me discount on a t-shirt I liked. It had a small stain on it that I knew would come out in the wash but I still manged to get it cheaper than what they wanted for it. I'd also persuaded Ashton to go to this milkshake bar in town that I love. He said he wasn't a milkshake kind of guy but after a small chat with him, it wasn't long before we were both sat on the bar stools in the milkshake bar, drinking chocolate and coffee milkshakes. Ashton's was the chocolate, he wasn't feeling adventurous.
Ashton climbed onto the bed and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me next to him. His hair was all over the place and his eyes looked serious. If we were going to have a serious conversation, now might be a good time for me to bring up our 'relationship status'. I was still none the wiser to where I stood with Ashton, and I still hadn't found the right time to ask.
"Can I ask you something?" Ashton said quietly. Those were the exact words I was going to use. I was going to have to think of another way to start my 'so Ashton are we a thing or?' conversation.
"Sure," I said softly back. "Is there something wrong?" Ashton didn't look his normal self, I could tell by his eyes. There was something he wanted to say but he wasn't going to just spit it out.
"No, there's nothing wrong," he shook his head but he didn't look convincing. His hand was resting on my hip and he was using his other arm to prop himself up so he wasn't lying completely flat on the pillow. "So, you know that thing you did for me?"
"Yeah," I nodded slowly. "What about it?"
"Well it's a long story but I kind of owe someone money," Ashton swallowed hard. All the spark from his eyes disappeared. It was as if Ashton was telling me this with regret. Like he didn't want anyone else to know his problems. It looked as if he'd been hiding this from everyone, maybe even from himself. If he didn't talk and think about it, maybe his problem would just disappear.
