Colored Bracelets (Lashton)

12. Yellow: Gentle and Soothing

Ashton couldn't wait to get through this school week because he knew it would lead him right to Luke, who was going to be helping him out with getting started out with collecting. Luke was much more confident in this game than Ashton was, at least that what he believed from the time spent with him so far. He wanted to be just like Luke, collecting a lot of bracelets and being able to play the game without getting too shy or nervous. 

He liked to think that he was warming up to the new group. Besides Luke and Michael, Ashton was able to comfortably be around Anissa. She found him to be adorable and promised she'd fight off anyone who bothered Ashton, Luke reminding Ashton that she was the tough girl of the group and she didn't like when boys treated her like she was fragile. The other girl, Kailey, was pretty much Anissa's complete opposite. The other boys in the small group, Brendan and Chris, acted like most boys who were strong, cocky, and looking for bracelets to trade with other girls. Those were people he wouldn't ever trade with. 

Being around them more meant being around Calum less. Ashton knew that it was unfair to pick his new group over his best friend but he found something excited whenever the other group would invite him over to hang around with them. He was starting to feel accepted by the people he always hoped would accept him. That also led to Calum and Ashton's friendship start to strain because Calum did not like being Ashton's second choice whenever the other bracelet-wearing members didn't acknowledge his existence. Hearing that hurt Ashton just like Calum was hurting whenever Ashton left him behind.

He tried his best to balance the two lives out, still sharing lunch will Calum some days and then spending time with him outside of school too. Ashton would often want to bring the bracelets up to Calum but he knew once he did that Calum wouldn't want to be around him anymore. It was tough trying to stay true to who he was before all of this and then wanting to change into the person he wanted to be.

Whenever Ashton was around Luke he just kept waiting for the time to come where they would start trading bracelets, which wouldn't be happening on school grounds anyway. He wondered which one they would start with and what he would have to do. Since he already knew the colors based off the article he found online, actually having to perform them and initiating a tradeoff was what Ashton really needed help with. He also didn't memorize all of the colors yet but that would only come from time and using those colored bracelets. It all excited him, all the new experiences he had yet to learn. 

His excitement about seeing Luke after school could only last so long before Calum approached him at his locker. It wasn't directly Calum's fault that made Ashton's mood wash away. It was just having to decline whatever invitation Calum might give to him because they often spent time after school on Fridays doing things that had nothing to do with school. They felt like it was their only day to really relax before having to schedule the time to get their homework done over the weekend, which they wished that their teachers would never give them homework during. 

"You wanna come around to mine after school? We can watch that new film we both liked when we saw it in the cinema?" Calum offered as he waited with Ashton as he collected what he needed to bring home for the weekend.

Ashton bit his lip while his face was still being hidden by his locker. It was Friday now and Luke wanted to meet up with Ashton to get started on learning the bracelet codes. 

"Um," Ashton mumbled to himself as he tried his best to think of something to say to Calum without telling him what he was really doing. He wasn't supposed to talk freely about the bracelets as if they were nothing and Calum would have been annoyed with him if he mentioned them anyway. Calum should be happy about that rule. 

Unfortunately, he couldn't use the excuse of having too much homework because Calum would suggest they could just work on it together. They shared answers with each other in the mornings at school anyway.