Labels [lashton/malum]

Chapter 15: pallete cleanse

Edited May 2021

"I have to tell you something!" Michael whispered as he sat beside Ashton. Ashton startled a bit but her eyes widened a second later.

"I have to tell you something too!" She said, turning her body to face him. Michael took his seat and moved his chair closer to Ashton so he could talk quieter.

"Calum kissed me Friday night," he said.

"You lucky bastard! I've been trying to get Luke to kiss me all weekend. Wait, Calum kissed you? That's major! Why didn't you text me?"

"I don't have a phone," Michael shrugged.

"But you were texting me last week?" Ashton questioned.

"That was a burner, I haven't gotten a chance to get a new one yet," he waved it off. "Back to the topic? Why hasn't Luke kissed you? Better yet, why haven't you just kissed him?" Ashton wanted to question the whole phone thing but she thought better of it.

"I've tried! The first time I tried he stopped because we were drunk, and I get that, okay? I do. But I tried to kiss him a few days after that and he completely blew it off. I was so embarrassed I almost left," Ashton rolled her eyes, "Wait so what happened after Calum kissed you."

"Literally nothing! He kissed me, said 'I'm sorry' and ran off."

"Really? That's so weird."

"You're telling me," Michael shook his head, biting the inside of his cheek.

"Did you like it?" Ashton asked, bumping Michael's arm.

"Are you kidding me? It was incredible! Despite my status, I've had a few kisses and none of them, absolutely none of them were as amazing as that one," Michael sighed, crossing his arms self consciously over his chest. "I just don't know why he ran away. I'm not sure if he initiated it and immediately regretted it, or maybe I'm a terrible kisser, or-"

"Stop," Ashton turned into her seat, grabbing Michael's hand and covering it with both of hers. "You're incredible Mikey. Okay? Don't forget that just because Calum kissed you. If he walked away it wasn't because of anything you did. Okay? Just let it play out and see what he says."

"I just wish he didn't walk away," Michael frowned.

"I'm sure he'll explain it," Ashton smiled softly.

-

"I totally should have gotten at least a B," Ashton rolled her eyes, dropping her English test.

"No, you should have been paying attention when we were going over the study guide," Michael laughed.

"Don't victim blame, please Michael," Ashton sighed.

"'Sup," Calum came walking up to the table, dropping down beside Luke.

"Hey man, what are you doing tonight? Ash, Mikey and I were thinking about going out to see a movie or something," Luke asked.

"Well it's Tuesday so... it's Mia's night," Calum sent Luke a wink.

"I thought you were just with Kelsey last night," Luke chuckled obliviously. Ashton's head whipped over to Michael. The boy was frozen in his seat, his eyes slightly widened and his lips parted, fingers curling tightly over the edge of his seat.

"Yeah well, last night was an off night altogether. Gotta cleanse the palate and whatnot," Calum shrugged, staring down at his lunch tray. This broke Michael out of his frozen state. The boy dropped his apple, the fruit clattering down on his tray as he stood up and walked away. Calum didn't look up from his lunch tray as the cafeteria door swung open and slammed shut. Ashton looked away from the doors and towards Calum, her forehead creased and her eyes narrowed hard.

"You are such an asshole!" Ashton shoved Calum's tray towards him before standing up. She grabbed both hers and Michael's backpacks before chasing after Michael.

"What the hell did I miss?" Luke asked, wide eyed and oblivious.

"I'm just an asshole," Calum carelessly tossed his tray back onto the table and walked away, leaving Luke clueless and alone at the table.