Two Boys Learning

4. Hot-ish

Ash was never noticed.

He sat in the classrooms and got good grades to please his dad, but he'd never had a girl--or boy, for that matter--look twice at him. He had his drawings to occupy him, and that was enough.

But this year, he wanted to have a friend. Not someone he'd take to his house--that was always out when it looked like a pigsty half the time--but someone he could talk to. Make stupid jokes with. Hang out with, whatever that was.

"Friends are one letter away from fiends," his mother used to say when he came home after elementary school, crying about how his best friends had beaten him up because he stood up for a kid he didn't even know. "Be careful about who you chose to spend your time with."

Ash looked sideways at Will.

He seems like a letter away from a fiend.

But then again, there was a weight to the bigger boy's shoulders that Ash was familiar with. He was dealing with more than he let on, and Ash was determined to be there if Will ever wanted to hang out.

"Good morning, class! Welcome to Red Oaks' high school. That's a singular noun, because our town is too small to make another one."

The cheerful voice made Ash look to the front of the classroom, where a woman with short black hair was standing, smiling. Ah. So that's Mrs. Sukiyaki.

There was a chorus of "good morning"s back to her, and Mrs. Sukiyaki smiled and clapped her hands together. 

"Wonderful," she said. "So. We're going to get started with a couple get-to-know-you games. Here's how it goes: I'll say my name, and then my favorite thing in the world because why should we limit it to a color or a food or something like that?"

She's cool, Ash decided, smiling faintly.

"I'll start," Mrs. Sukiyaki said. "My name is Mrs. Sukiyaki, and my favorite thing in the world is my husband, Mr. Sukiyaki."

A girl in the front of the class called, "Hello, Mrs. Sukiyaki!"

Mrs. Sukiyaki smiled. "Would you like to go next?"

The girl nodded and stood up, her blonde ponytail swishing. "Hey," she said, turning and smiling brightly, waving a hand in the air. "I'm Tori. My favorite thing ever is books." She sat down, still smiling.

After Tori, it went around in a loose circle, until it reached Ash. He smiled and stood, clearing his throat. "I'm Asher," he said. "And my favorite thing is..." He paused, thinking, then cleared his throat again. "Ah. My favorite thing was my mom."

He sat down quickly after that, heat burning in his cheeks, but no one noticed his past-tense use of the word, and it moved on to Will, who didn't even stand up.

"I'm Will," he drawled, looking straight at his muddy boots on his desk. "And my favorite thing ever is to be left alone." He shot Ash a look, as if he were supposed to catch a hint.

Ash blinked, then grinned. It felt forced.

Will sighed.

~ ~ ~

"Hey, Will! What d'you have next?"

Will sighed through his nose as Ash--he'd learned his name again in the classroom--jogged up to him. Will ignored the small, black-haired, grinning boy, instead turning up his music.

"Which one is it this time?" Ash asked, poking him in the shoulder. "Leave the City?"

Will glanced at him sharply, then changed the song. "Not anymore," he muttered.

"Bandito? For me, that's always the song that comes on next..."

"I could take the high road, but I know that I'm going low..."

"Stop it," Will snapped aloud to his phone.

Ash grinned, pleased. Will eyed him.

"Leave me alone, Squirt," he growled. "Or did you miss what I said make in Mrs. Asian's class?"

"Mrs. Sukiyaki," Ash corrected with another of his infuriatingly bright smiles. "And i believe that everyone needs a friend, kids like you included." He poked his shoulder again.

Will glanced at him sidelong. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you seem lonelier than everyone else, because you use anger as an excuse for people to stay away from you." Ash's smile, for once, had faded, and he didn't look at Will.

Will blinked. "You...what?"

Ash glanced at him, and in a second his grin was back. "Nothing," he said. "Which class do you have next?" he asked, repeating his question from earlier.

"P.E."

Ash's mouth twisted to the side. "Man, I have Chemistry with Mr. McMillian. I'll see you at lunch, yeah?"

"Nah," Will said. But Ash brightened anyway. 

"Great!" he said. "The food here isn't as bad as people think it is. See you then!"

~ ~ ~

Ash knew that Will didn't want him to be around him. He knew it from the way the bigger boy rolled his eyes and huffed and sighed, but he also knew that he always made his way into someone's heart if he stayed around them long enough.

He'd just stopped trying to make friends since his mother died. he didn't see the point.

In Chemistry, the girl next to him, who had evidently been in Mrs. Sukiyaki's English class, leaned over. "Hey," she whispered while Mr. McMillian droned on about protons and elements and such. "You're that new kid, Will's friend, right?"

"I wouldn't say that we're friends yet," Ash said with a smile.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Anyway, he's hot-ish." She held out a piece of paper with a number scrawled on it. "Will you give this to him, and tell him Becca is waiting for him to call?"

"Um...sure," Ash said, his smile faltering for a moment.

"Smile, and let your demons know that you aren't scared of them."

"Thanks," Becca said with a fake smile, leaning back in her chair.

When the bell rang, Ash was never happier to get out of that class.

- - - - 

Sorry if its short this time!

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Q: Favorite anime/show?

A: My Hero Academia and Mandalorian.