The Game We Play

Chapter Seventeen

Upon waking, Ash was presented with the options of staying home or going to school. She had already missed the day before but she didn't want to have to face her peers. Who knew what sort of rumors they'd spread?

"Come on Ash!" Maia said for the third time. "Make up your mind or I'll be late."

She sighed. "I'll come then."

Maia walked out so she could get ready and Ash rummaged through her drawers. She owned a few pairs of jeans but mostly just leggings in various colors and patterns. She mentally cursed herself for not having any loose pants she'd be comfortable going outside the house in. Sighing, she slipped on a pink t-shirt with a cat on it and a pair of black leggings. pulling them on over her wounded leg made her wince, but she bit down on her lip to ignore the pain.

"Come on Ash!" Maia yelled.

"Good god girl, give me a minute!" Ash yelled back, quickly applying a little mascara before hurrying down the stairs.

Walking was excruciatingly painful but she wasn't about to let her friend know that.

"You alright Ash?" she asked her for the trillionth time.

She rolled her eyes. "If you think a little bullet's gonna stop me then I don't think you know me as well as you think you do."

Maia smiled at her before opening her car door and settling into the driver's seat. Ash quickly got in as well, noticing how close they were getting to the time school started.

As soon as she got out of the car, she noticed many students whispering and mumbling around her. Maia put an arm around her to comfort her.

They walked into AP Chemistry, their first block of the day.

"Ash!" Charlie screeched, launching himself at her.

Ash caught him in a hug, laughing at his energy. Of course this is where Trina got it from.

"Hey! Be careful with her!" Maia scolded. "You could've hurt her!"

"It's alright." Ash replied with a gentle smile.

"Girl you had me worried sick!" Charlie stressed. "I wanted to come over and make sure you were okay, but Audrey got sick and I had to take care of her..." he looked down apologetically.

"Don't sweat it..." she looked at him mischievously, "...Char-Char."

He groaned loudly. "I'm going to murder my sister." he mumbled.

Students started to filter in quickly as the bell rang. As she had expected, the room was filled with murmurs.

"Alright class." Mr. Harris boomed. "Now we all know about unfortunate recent events, but there's no reason to gossip about them." he stated, glaring around at the class. "All I'll say on the matter is we're glad to have all our students here, safe and sound."

This was gonna be a long day.

~~~~~~

Ash yawned, slipping into her seat at the lunch table. The only two there at the moment were Laurence and Conner since they had brought their lunch from home rather than buying school lunch.

"I feel like shit." Laurence admitted quietly. "I shouldn't have let you go off on your own alone."

"Yeah." Conner cut in roughly. "You shouldn't have."

"Hey, I can hold my own." Ash said to ease the tension.

"Yes but you shouldn't have had to." Conner said, glaring at Laurence.

"Look, I already feel like garbage about this. What do you want me to do- go back in time?" he spoke, attempting to remain calm.

"Look- both of you shut up." Ash cut in, annoyed. "Clearly I can handle myself. Laurence, it's not your job to babysit me, and Conner, you don't need to defend me. Thank you both for caring though."

Charlie slid his tray onto the table, taking a seat between the two boys.

"Man! I'm starved." he commented, biting into a chicken sandwich.

Ash laughed. Charlie could diffuse anything without even trying.

"Hey- look at that!" Ash spoke with a sheepish smile. She saw Maia talking to an attractive boy with bright red hair.

"Ooh!" Charlie gushed. "Is our girl finally gonna settle for someone?"

The four watched as she laughed at something he said before turning and heading to the table with her tray.

As Maia noticed them all staring at her, she flushed. "Um... that was Danny..."

"Details!" Charlie all but screamed.

"Okay okay! He's in my English class and he's pretty nice." she explained.

"Nice on the eyes, that's for sure." Charlie teased.

"Shut up." Maia shoved a spoonful of mac and cheese in her mouth to avoid further questions.

"Well here's a day I never thought I'd see." Laurence joked.

"Leave her alone." Ash said with a laugh. "Even though she's too good for anyone, there was bound to be a day that she settled."

Maia buried her face in her hands, causing the table to erupt in laughter.

"Oh hey- it's the girl who got shot." a girl spoke, slithering over to their table.

"What do you want Savanna." Ash asked without even glancing up.

"I want people to shut up about you." she replied with an annoyed tone. "It's all Ash this and Ash that- you're not special."

"Okay." Ash said simply, not caring enough to bother with the girl.

"You think you're too good to even look at me huh?" Savanna spoke angrily, pulling Ash's chair back so the two were facing each other.

"Yeah, I do." Ash replied with a smirk. "People who tear others down are trash."

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME TRASH?!" the girl screeched.

"Depends- are you gonna keep harassing me for living through a gang encounter?" Ash inquired, not losing her smile.

"You're an ugly bitch!" Savanna yelled, slapping her in the face.

Before the girl could pull her hand back, Ash grabbed her arm and yank it down, causing her to lose balance and fall forward.

"The pride comes before the fall." Charlie joking quoted, laughing at what had just occurred. Everyone at the table visibly relaxed.

"Did you all see that! She knocked me down!" Savanna yelled loudly.

People around the other tables just rolled their eyes and continued to enjoy their lunches. Savanna liked to think she was all that because she was pretty and popular, but the other students knew of her drama.

"Excuse me, what's going on here?" a female teacher asked, walking up to their table.

"She made me fall!" Savanna cried with fake emotion.

"This girl slapped my friend and fell down when Ash tried to stop her." Maia explained politely.

"Ms. Evans, I'm going to need you to come with me." the teacher said, sighing. "The rest of you can continue on, though expect to be called for a statement Ms. Robins."

"Thank you." Ash responded, grateful that the teacher had taken her side. Boy was Savanna going to throw a tantrum about this.

"That settles it- she can definitely fend for herself." Conner said with a smile.

~~~~~~

I think I'm going to start making all chapters this long because the previous ones seem to short looking back on them. Sorry for not updating regularly! Stay safe everyone <3