Together | A.F.I

⁂ 1 :: xblocked by math ⁂

"C'mon babe" Joelle grinned, holding out her hand and leading her to the little coffee shop that had popped up in town, "Let me treat you to something horrifically sugary?" She asked, the cold slightly chilling her ears. God, she hated winter.

"If you wish, Joey" Anabella laughed, opening the door and gently tugging Joelle in, spotting a table just waiting for them "Hot chocolate, please. I'll go sit down"

The dark haired girl nodded, a lovestruck smile on her face as she made her way to the counter, faced by who else but that quiet boy from her Math class, Ashton Irwin. "Ashton, hi! Didn't know you had a job."

"Yeah, it's just a little thing. For buying drum kits and all, you know. What can I get you and Ana?" He asked, flustered slightly, wiping his hands on the towel hanging from his apron.

"Just a flat white and a hot chocolate" She told him, getting out her card from her back pocket "How much, barista?"

"Three forty, thanks. You wouldn't mind not telling anyone, right? About my job. It's just... I don't need people thinking I'm poor or anything" He almost begged her from the coffee machine - he had too much going on to have backlash for this.

"No, mate, no. Bit shit of me for making fun of you for earning a steady wage when I'm here using Daddy's money, isn't it? Me and my posh ass have your secret sealed" Joelle winked, holding her card out to pay.

"Your dad rich then?" Ashton hummed, pouring the coffee and frowning at the failed leaf "You weren't going to put a picture of this coffee anywhere, right? The leaf thing may have gone wrong. It looks a bit... phallic"

"Ironic for a date with my girlfriend" Joelle snorted, smiling "No, dude, it's perfectly fine. Everyone loves dick coffee every now and then, right?"

"Oh, definitely. You ready to pay?" Ashton asked, handing her the drinks on a tray "Also, do you mind if we revise sometime? Your scores are always so much better than mine"

"Sure, no problem." She nodded, paying "See you at school, Ashton"

-

Ashton and Joelle had swapped numbers and were now sitting in her dining room, surrounded by textbooks and notebooks, Jo's pastel highlighters scattered around the table. Conversation was actually surprisingly intellectual, talking more about math than she had ever done in her life. Ashton's phone rung and Joelle burst out laughing, leaning back in her chair.

"Really, Ashton? Smash mouth? You're a good dude, but my god... here I was thinking that you were cool" Joelle shook her head, running a hand through her short hair "God, man. You gonna answer that? Someone really wants to talk to you"

"Yeah, it's just Michael, though. Probably asking if I want to play xbox later" Ashton hummed, answering the phone with a smile, stepping out into the hallway to talk to him.

"No dude I'm revising at the minute... yeah, with Jo... dude we should be finished in a bit, when am I ever late? Alright, I'll see you later"

Joelle heard everything, surprised at the use of her nickname to someone she didn't know but didn't mind it. She could see Ashton becoming a good friend to her, and at the moment she could do with a few more. Ana was taking up so much of her time, and she was so in love, but something just wasn't sitting right.

Ana seemed interested in her three digit code and not her heart sometimes, though Jo supposed she did spend a lot of money on her anyway.

"Jo? You alright? You spaced out for ages" Ashton asked her, sitting back down and cracking his fingers "Uh, I hate to ask, but instead of dropping me off at my house, would you mind dropping me off at mikey's? I'll give you directions and fuel money"

"No, no, sweetheart, it's fine. You don't have to pay me fuel money. So, if you don't mind me asking, who is this 'Mikey'? Does he also have horrific taste in music?"

"I have great taste! I just also like smash mouth" Ashton pouted, then turned on his phone to show her a photo of four boys "He's the one with the bright hair"

"Nice. The other two your friends as well? I'd say brothers, but you look nothing alike, and they would be in younger years, right? The blonde one looks young" She hummed, holding the phone, laughing as a notification popped up 'mikey: have i been xblocked by math :( fucker'

"Yeah, they're pretty cool. Luke's the blonde, Calum's the other one. We're actually in a band together, but we haven't figured out a name yet. I'm the drummer" Ashton beamed proudly, receiving his phone and replying to Michael quickly.

"Well, you know what they say about drummers." She teased, flicking through the textbook and making a note of something "Hey, do you need any help with this? It's my specialty subject, and I'd be glad to help"

Ashton laughed at the comment but dodged replying, leaning over to see the title, shaking his head "No, no, I'm good at that."

"Alright then, but if you ask me the answer on it when we're in exams..." She trailed off, ignoring the singular buzz of her phone. It was probably one of her group chats or instagram.

"...You'll tell me?" He asked cheekily, grinning at her, dimples on full show.

"Yeah, most likely. We're friends now, arsehole. If you ever need someone to liven up a lame party, you've got my number" Jo hummed, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, one day I'm going to be a famous rockstar, and I'll host better parties than you could dream of" Ashton crossed his arms jovially, pouting.

"And when that happens, I will still bring my own vodka." Joelle told him, looking over at the clock "Do you want me to drop you off at Mikey's now?"

"Trying to get rid of me? I knew I'd affect your reputation" He joked, standing up and collecting his books into his backpack "Sure, thank you. Next thursday okay?"

"Definitely, yeah. Friday night is date night, so Thursday is great" Joelle nodded, picking up her keys and phone "I really hope you like Queen, because they're the only discs I've got."

"You're so old, what the fuck? Discs? Ever heard of bluetooth, Joelle?" Ashton asked, walking out the door with her and hopping into the passenger side of the pickup.

"Listen, I just like having my discs and my Freddie bobblehead. I am a simple woman with simple tastes that include multiple galileos" She told him, starting up the vehicle and buckling in "Oi, do your buckle, I'm not getting arrested for poxy shit like that"