That's Life

Chapter Two:

Then next day at school I stand waiting for Ashton perusal on the stairs to Rocky High. She enjoys pushing my buttons and making me wait. I spot a green velvet dress and a pair of Hellraiser's, there she is! "My, Ashton you've truly out done yourself. You've officially made me wait 20 minutes for you." I applaud her.

"You think perfection doesn't take time?" She teases fixing her knee-high fishnets. "Where were you yesterday? I tried calling you like three times."

I search for a believable lie, "I was helping a customer with a part and it took a while."

She bites her cheek and looks down at my bandaged finger, "What happened to your finger?!" She grabs my hand in a flash and pulls at the bandage.

"Woah! Ashton." It seems like I have to pull away from everyone these days. "I cut it while fixing something."

"You went into the shop?" She asks in disbelief. "You swore you'd never go into the shop. Not since the accident of 2015."

"Okay. That was hardly an accident."

She rubs my hair. "You caught your hair on fire and had to shave it all off. It was so beautiful too, just like Thor, I could shed a tear."

"And now I've been rocking a full Presley. So, save the waterworks." I give her a toothy smile and she sticks her tongue out at me.

"Hey, Michael."

My heart rate spikes to a million and one. Daniel is standing next to me on the other side of the railing. "Hi, Daniel."

We stare at each other with no words and finally Ashton clears her throat. "Hello, Daniel."

He takes a double take at Ashton, "Oh! Sorry. Hey, Ashton."

She looks between us and raises an eyebrow at me, "Glad to know we all know each other's names..."

Daniel laughs to lessen the tension. It doesn't work. "Um... I ah..." He tries to come up with something to say, then his face lights up, "I realized I never thank you for yesterday! So, thank you!"

"Oh! Okay... You're Welcome." My eyes shoot wide and I duck into my side bag, I pull out his sunglasses and hand them over. "You left these in the office."

"Shit, I totally forgot about those. Thanks again."

"I'm sorry...Yesterday? What happened yesterday?" Ashton asks either of us.

"Michael helped me with my car." Daniel explains seeming much calmer talking to Ashton than me.

Her eyebrows spike up, "I'm sure he did." She says with a gusty laugh.

Silence comes back like the plague. He's standing there staring at me, then the ground, then back at me. Make up your mind. Me or the ground? I would bet on me since I have a little more to offer than a slab of concrete. He settles for me. Good choice. The way his brown eyes soften when he realizes I'm looking back makes me feel a way I don't want to feel for him. He looks down again and I've lost my mind.

He starts to pull a piece of white paper out of his pocket, "I have something for you." He goes to hand it to me, but he's startled when the rest of his friend group shows up. With haste he stuffs it back into his pocket.

"Dani!" The group greets him in unison. They surround us, and we step back to form a perfect circle.

"Hey, guys." He greets back flustered. "You know Michael and Ashton, right?"

The four guys and two girls turn and nod at us. One of them who I remember as Brain answers for them, "Yeah! Hey, Michael."

I nod at him, "Hi."