Our Communications

Chapter 4

Ashton’s POV

“Mister Irwin! You are disrupting my class, once again!”

“Mr. Langford, I'm sorry, but it-it isn’t Ash’s fault he laughs so much,” Kiara says, trying to talk over my giggles from the seat to my right. She tries to defend me but I start laughing harder. However, Mr. Langford discovered Kiara’s wit and intelligence earlier in the year, on the first day that we walked into his pre-calculus class. He sighs while pinching his nose and then looks at her exasperatedly.

“Then, Kiara, would you explain to me why he is chortling like he is sitting at home watching Daniel Tosh when he is, in fact, sitting in the middle of my classroom?” Mr. Langford asks her sharply. She doesn’t wince. She just swallows, clears her throat, and then takes a deep breath.

“Well, I think I can. Ashton is laughing because he finds something amusing, right? No one is tickling him. So what is he laughing at? From what I can see, most everyone has been paying fine attention to your lesson, today, except for,” she sat forward, leaning her elbows on her desk, resting her chin on her folded wrists, and sending a sickly sweet smile towards Mason Davis. He glares at her from the right side of the classroom. “Howard.” She says, using his first name. He glares even more. “As I was writing down the formula that you were teaching us earlier, I heard someone with a scratchy toad’s voice snicker about a self-told joke concerning people perishing in third world countries. I ignored it.

However, for the last twenty minutes, I’ve been feeling particularly irritated by more attempts at jokes about sadness and fatal sicknesses being spit out in that same voice. Now, Ashton isn’t laughing about this. He’s a good boy. He doesn’t like making fun of other people’s situations very much.” Kiara pauses here and gives me a pointed look. I stop laughing and glance at my notebook sheepishly. I see she's still angry. “No, thank goodness I heard my name come up in one of these pitiful attempts at humor and I pointed out Howard’s lack of writing in his notebook and asked him what an isosceles triangle was and he answered in all seriousness that it is ‘a square with two equal legs and angles.’ Apparently, this response entertains Mr. Irwin.” Several people start laughing. Mason stands up and points a finger at Kiara.

“Mr. Langford, she’s just trying to get back at me!” he shouts.

Mr. Langford raises an eyebrow at him and cocks his head to the side. “For what, Mr. Davis? What could you possibly have done to Kiara to make her want to spite you?”

Mason sputters. “She-she just hates me!”

“I don’t hate anyone.” Kiara states placidly. “There just happen to be people who have never done anything to earn my respect and most of what they have done concerning me seems to call for my disrespect. It’s not like I'm lying anyway,” several students nod along with Kiara’s speech, but Mason sneers.

“You stupid-“

Mr. Langford clears his throat. “I think this calls for five detentions, Howard.”

“Bruh!” Mason yells.

“Six, Mr. Davis, just a bit higher than your level of maturity! Pack up class. Fifteen seconds until lunch.”

The kids begin to gather their things, talking about “the ultimate slay” that just happened. I glance over at Kiara, who slams her notebook shut and slips it into her bag.

“Thanks,” I say. “That was really nice of you to do that for me.”

She looks up at me as she slings her backpack onto her right shoulder. I almost lean away. She seems violent.

“That wasn’t nice. That was me blowing off steam and you just happened to be there. If you want to think of it as something I did for you, then you're welcome. But just be glad I didn’t tell him how drunk you got at Mason’s last party and how much of a jerk you are when you have alcohol swimming in your bloodstream, and about that big crush you have on that one tall girl with the long dark hair, and how you got so close to hurting her and I stopped you. I don’t even know you that well and all I’ve seen is someone who acts like a charming dork in class and doesn’t know how to handle alcohol safely.” The lunch-bell rings right before Kiara finishes her statement. She turns on her heel, and stalks out of the room after everyone else.

I shrug and follow the sound of her combat boots on their way to the cafeteria. She knows more about me than any other student and could be a chance of having a friend if I play my cards right. Maybe she could set me up with Ally, too…

Author’s Note:

I'm just going to say that Ashton and Kiara are not going to have any sort of romantic relationship. What about Kiara’s friend, Ally, though? Hm? HHMM? ;)