how you get the girl ; afi

0.2

HOW YOU GET THE GIRL 0.2

age: 10

⠀"Ashton n' Cassie sitting in a tree! k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" giggled the group of girls sat at the same table as us in class. they were all whispering and gossiping to each other, excluding Ashton and I/

Ashton stared at the ground silently, as I looked at him helplessly to do or say something.

⠀"no we're not!" i shouted, resolutely. "we're just friends."

⠀"first comes love, then comes marriage," sang Emma Jones, a petite blond girl who sat opposite me, a lisp from her braces lacing her speech.

⠀"then comes baby in a baby carriage!" finished her best friend Margaret McCall.

⠀"shut up!" Ashton shouted, standing up from his seat because he'd finally had enough. "shut up, shut up, shut up!"

⠀"Ashton-" I pleaded, my voice coming out as only a whisper, but he had already left the table, leaving the girls to snicker to themselves. ignoring Miss Quinn's pleas for me to sit down, I stood up and rushed after him and out of the class.

⠀"Ashton," I said, knocking on the door of the boys toilet. "Ashton, please."

no response. I fiddled with the bracelet hanging off my wrist nervously. it had 4 charms on it, one for every birthday I'd had since Ashton had given it to me. aside from the daisy it had a horse shoe, a heart and the letter C. I found a lot of comfort in the bracelet, in holding it in my hands and rubbing my fingers along each charm.

⠀suddenly the door opened and I fell into the bathroom, as I had been carelessly leaning against the door. I rubbed my now sore head and groaned. "ow,"

⠀"Cas, are you okay?" Ashton suddenly said, concerned, as he lent down beside me.

⠀"we should get out of the boys toilets." I dismissed, wincing at the pain in my head.

⠀"are you okay?" he repeated, ignoring what i'd said.

⠀"I think I need the nurse." I sniffed and Ashton nodded, helping me up. he walked me to the nurses office, holding my hand the whole time, making the pain seem to hurt less.

⠀"I'm sorry, Ashton - that everyone thinks we're dating. it's dumb." I mumbled.

⠀"no, why are you sorry? it's no ones fault. anyone would be lucky to date you, anyway." he said, before realizing what had just come out of his mouth and blushing beetroot red.

I suppressed a smile.

⠀"you're still my best friend." I reminded him.

⠀"and you're mine!" he laughed as if it was obvious. "hey, you wanna come round after school and watch some cartoons?"

⠀"heck yeah!" I said, ignoring the pain in my head.

the nurse said it was only a bump and I'd probably have a bruise. we told her it happened when I tripped in the corridor, because she didn't need to know what really happened.

when it came to home time, i got my mum to talk to Ashton's mum, and almost instantly she agreed. it was a normal, almost daily routine for me and Ashton hang out after school. what Ashton and I didn't hear was our parents usual gossip.

⠀"they're so cute together; inseparable! I'm so worried about what will happen when they go to high school." Anne Marie, Ashton's mom whispered to mine.

⠀"I've never really thought of them drifting apart," Pauline said.

⠀"me neither," she sighed, "it's almost unimaginable! they're practically... oh, I don't know, soul mates."

⠀"mommy, me and Cassie are going to go ahead," Ashton said, tugging at his mums sleeve.

⠀"okay sweetie, take care of each other."

Ashton smiled at me and I at him, before I chased after him down the road.

♡

I hope this makes sense ughh it's meant to be short it's going to be a short story yes okay

also I'm kinda freakin out bc one of my favourite authors read the first bit and now it has more reads and I jusT ??.!?