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Chapter II

It had been almost a week since the first day of school. Now it's Sunday afternoon and I am in my basement with Luke and Calum playing FIFA or something on my Xbox. The week had gone by pretty fast. Ashton and I were getting closer and we started texting a few days ago. It was the same with Calum but we still haven't started texting yet. Although, Calum and I hang out almost every day after school with Luke at either one of our houses. I still need to hang out with Ashton at some point.

I was currently wedged between Luke and Calum on the large couch in the basement. My mom and I still haven't fully moved into the house so the basement is filled with partly opened boxes surrounding our makeshift den. The den consisted of a small flat screen and two couches on an island of hardwood flooring as the basement was only somewhat finished.

I felt a little left out at the moment. The boys were too busy having fun on the Xbox to hold a conversation or at least have fun outside of the game. I was afraid this would happen. Luke would have so much fun with his new buddies that he would almost forget I was even there. I was interrupted from my thoughts when my phone vibrated, telling me I had a new text message. It was Ashton.

"Can I come over? I have good news for you." I read the text in my head.

"Who texted you?" Luke asked, his eyes still glued to the screen.

"Ashton." I muttered, typing my reply to him.

"What did he want?" Calum questioned. Unlike Luke, he quickly glanced at me.

"He wants to come over and tell me something." I said, sending the text. Luke paused the game, earning a groan from Calum as they both turned to look at me. I subtly rolled my eyes, I should have known this was coming.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea? Do you even actually know him?" Luke interrogated. He laughed towards the end of his last question, like he thought this was funny.

"Yes, Luke. I do actually know him. He sits next to me in science and we talk a lot." I said bitterly.

"That's true, he's very helpful with the chemistry homework." Calum said excitedly. Even though he was trying to help the situation, he really wasn't. Luke shot him a look and directed his attention back to me.

"Name three things about him." He challenged.

"His middle name is Fletcher, he's president of the yearbook committee, and he wants to work at Starbucks." I shrugged. Luke scoffed and went back his game.

A few minutes later, Ashton had joined us in the basement, a grin plastered on his face as he bounded down the stairs.

"Your mum is so nice." He giggled. I laughed and moved to sit on the floor in front of Luke while Ashton sat across from me. "Hey Luke, hey Calum." He greeted them.

"Hey Ash!" Calum almost screamed.

"How's the drumming going?" Luke asked.

"Good, good. I'm picking it up easily." Ashton replied. I gawked at all three of them.

"You guys all know each other?" I asked, the surprise evident in my voice.

"Yeah, we had jam sessions together a lot last year but Ashton picked up yearbook in the last few months of the school year so we hung out a lot less." Calum explained, never taking his eyes off the screen.

"So why did you act all protective when I told you he was coming over?" I asked Luke.

"You shouldn't affiliate yourself with punks like Ashton." Luke said seriously.

"You're more punk than me! Look at your lip ring!" Ashton chuckled causing everyone else to laugh. I rolled my eyes and turned to Ashton.

"Well, what's the good news?" I asked, chewing on my lip from the excitement.