Romeo and Juliet: Modified , Lashton

Act 17: School

Ashton fidgeted nervously in his seat, jittery with anticipation as he watched the clock tick down the minutes till next period. He couldn't concentrate on what the teacher was saying at all. All he could do was mess with the sleeves of his sweater as his eyes darted back and forth between the door and the clock.

Three minutes.

Ashton couldn't breathe. He was so nervous. Even with Calum's constant reassurance, he still couldn't calm his nerves.

Two minutes.

He felt close to throwing up. Michael didn't even know. He probably wouldn't be happy when he did.

One minute.

"Fuck," Ashton whispered.

He closed his eyes tightly, wishing to disappear. He hoped that maybe this was all a dream and he'd wake up the morning after Halloween and he could stop Luke. Or, even better, he'd wake up back in fifth grade when he first met Luke at the lunch table and he could befriend him and change his mind. Convince him to not believe in all the bullshit lies his father would feed him. Show him that being gay is okay. Make him realise that life is good no matter what you are.

The bell rang and everyone else jumped out of their seats while Ashton decided to take his time packing up and leaving. He crept down the hallways eerily slow. Ashton met up with Calum at his locker, who was smiling brightly. Calum came up an enveloped him in a hug.

"You ready?" He asked as he held him.

"I don't know," Ashton admitted, "You think it'll work?"

Calum pulled back. "Course I do. No one knows Luke better than me right?"

Ashton shrugged, "Guess so."

Ashton put up his binders in his locker with Calum chatting behind him. He tuned most of it, too busy with his own thoughts, but then he felt Calum snake his hand around his waist. Ashton looked at him with confusion because he wasn't supposed to do that anymore. Calum noticed Ashton staring and motioned his head behind them. Ashton carefully turned around and saw that Luke was standing by the lockers, looking them over.

"Oh, okay. I see." Ashton mumbled now understanding.

He leaned into Calum's touch and put on a fake smile. They walked down the hallway like that, making sure to pass Luke up on the way. But as soon as they were out of his like of vision, Ashton pulled himself out of Calum's grip. The brunette frowned but said nothing of it. He still wasn't used to Ashton not wanting him anymore. Not that he really had to begin with.

Ashton sighed. He felt bad for doing this to Luke but he knew that this was the only way-according to Calum- to get him. And Ashton was up for anything if it meant getting Luke.

Ashton wasn't a weak person by any means. He was actually quite strong even if he didn't seem so. He knew that liking Luke was completely wrong in every way imaginable because, not only had he let people hurt Ashton, but he had hurt Ashton himself. Anyone with half a mind would hate Luke. Granted, Ashton totally wanted to kill him for it, but he also knew that Luke did it for reasons that he thought were right-although they were wrong- but that didn't mean he should be easily forgiven for his mistakes either. Just because he couldn't accept his own self does not give him the right to inflict his anger upon other people.

This was another reason Ashton was doing this. It wasn't all because he wanted Luke to like him, that was a major part but it was also because he wanted Luke to accept himself. That was his first priority. If he could get Luke to accept himself then he could move on to trying to be with him.

Ashton and Calum walked into Mrs. Hardedge's classroom together and took seats by each other. They took out their scripts and made small talk as they waited for the class to begin. A minute later they were joined by Michael who, surprisingly, jumped straight into conversation with Calum. Ashton was glad, though, because he wasn't up for talking too much today.