Behind the Glasses || a.i.

Chapter 31

 “Ashton, why aren’t you in collage?” I ask him while we wait for the bus.

 He shrugs. “Collage just isn’t for me.”

 “What do you mean?”

 “I don’t know. I just feel like I have better aspirations than the things I could go to school for.”

 “What about the boys?”

 “Well, Luke was accepted to a school, but he decided against it because he was leaving anyway. Cal, like I said before, dropped out first chance he got, and Michael hated school, but he didn’t have the guts to do something to screw up his life with his family in mind – well that was then, at least.”

 “What aspirations did you have?”

 His cheeks turn pink, and he looks down. “This may sound crazy, but when I was a kid, I imagined what it would be like to play to crowds.”

 “Play?”

 “I play the drums for a hobby,” he tells me, looking back up.

 “Really?” The news astonishes me, and I smile at the thought of Ashton Irwin, a giggling ray of sunshine out of all people, banging drums. “I never would have suspected it.”

 He laughs. “What to hear something crazy?”

 “Sure,” I say, shrugging. I grin at the thought of what he might say next while on this topic.

 “Well, back in school, Michael started this band with Luke, and Calum and I joined. We called ourselves 5 Seconds of Summer. Why? I’m not sure, Mikey came up with it, but we played at a bar a few weeks in a row, and it was the best thing ever. We were trying for years to get noticed, but nothing happened.”

 “What do they play?”

 “Michael and Luke can play guitar, and Calum can play the bass guitar, and he thinks he can play drums, but don’t tell him how bad he really is,” he says with a distant chuckle at the memories.

 “5 Seconds of Summer,” I murmur to myself. “What happened again?”

 “We couldn’t get noticed, so we couldn’t play shows.”

 “Did you ever try the internet?”

 He pauses for a moment, mulling over my query. “We considered it once or twice, but we didn’t post anything, no.” He pushes the frames of his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

 “You should try that, then.”

 He laughs. “I think it’s too late for that.”

 “It’s never too late.”

 The bus pulls up, and we get on, paying the driver the fee. We find a seat, and squeeze in with our bags pushing us together. I lay my head on his shoulder, and he tells me that his dad is expecting us there in a few hours. He mentions the fact that his sister and brother will be there too, and it is a fifteen minute walk from the bus to his house. I end up dozing off, and I wake up to Ashton shaking my shoulder. “Next stop,” he whispers. I sit up, preparing myself for the walk.

 We step off the bus, and Ashton babbles on about random stuff, but I am too tired to focus on anything but where I am going. I freeze, however, when he informs me his father doesn’t know I am coming with him. “What do you mean he doesn’t know? You didn’t tell him?” I shout. I begin to panic, plenty of unwanted what-ifs dancing in circles around my brain.

 “Well, know, I-”

 “Ashton!” I yell, hitting him in the arm. “You’re supposed to mention me to the person who is willing to welcome you!”