Opposites Attract

Chapter Twenty-Two

Julian's POV

I wake up with sweat rolling from my head onto the pillow beneath me. Why is it so hot? I notice the covers on the floor, I must've kicked them off in the middle of the night last. I wipe my sweat with my arm and stand to my feet. I walk to the drawers and pull out some shorts and my best cut off shirt I own, not wanting to wear anything else.

After getting into the shower, I decide it would be for the best if I enjoyed a cold one while I still can. I can tell today is going to be a very hot one. After getting out and putting on my clothes, I walk into the kitchen where I see Ashley's mother.

"Sit down Julian, eat something." Her mom spoke with kindness, but something in her voice was different. Maybe it's just the heat, but something about her voice makes me not want to act out in anyway today.

"It's so... Humid." I speak, it wasn't as hot as I've felt before, but it was enough to be miserable.

"Yeah, welcome to our home. The annual heat wave is here. This is the only time of the year that the students as your school is allowed to break dress code, if of course it is appropriate to wear in public settings." She speaks and I nod my head, feeling relieved I don't have to wear sleeves today.

Ashley walks in with shorts and a thin strap shirt, I've seen her wear things like that before, but something about the way she looks this morning... She's beau-

What am I doing thinking about Ashley like this? Even though my eyes can't help but look when she reaches up to grab a cup from the cupboard, I try to look away.

"Like what you see, weirdo?" She giggles. I can't believe she just said that in front of her mom! I feel my cheeks get hot and let a deep breath go, trying to solve the problem.

"You're blushing!" Ashley smiles, pointing. Ashley's mom's eyes move to me and she notices my pink cheeks and I push a nervous cough out of my system.

"It's just the heat." I speak, trying to make a decent excuse.

"Right..." Her mom speaks, looking at me with a skeptical look, then moving her eyes back to the book she was reading. I'm going to kill Ashley.

We walk out to the truck to leave to school and I could tell by the way Ashley became quiet she was worried about going to school. I mentioned that she should tell her dad about the situation but she refused, I guess she doesn't want to make it any worse, but her father could go to the school and possibly change something. I guess Ashley is just a bit too stubborn to have someone else help her; she wants to do and fix everything herself. Which would be a good quality if it wasn't used the way that Ashley uses it.

"Hey, don't worry Ashley, it'll all be okay." I speak, looking over to see her reaction.

"I'm just really worried about my truck, I don't want something worse to happen." She speaks, her hands grip the steering wheel and then relax.

"You know, you are the only person I know that is more worried about her truck than her own well being." I speak, crossing my arms, watching the road in front of us.

"Look, you paid a ton of money for that truck, it is not okay for anyone to destroy someone's property. It was easier when they were just mean to me. Getting physical never helps, even though I would love to smash Rachel's face in." She speaks and my eyes widen with a bit of surprise. I know that Ashley has a bit of an anger problem, but I have never heard her speak this way.

"Nothing is going to happen to the truck and even if it did. You'll never have to fix it alone." I speak, she gives me a small smile but I can tell that her mind is racing with things that may go wrong today, One thing I know is I am going to have to be alert, if anything were to happen to Ashley I would never forgive myself. Mostly because I feel like I may be part of the problem now. Rachel is crazy and if she thought that Ashley had anything to do with why we broke up, she wouldn't stop until Ashley is the least liked person in high school. Which I don't think the thought ever bothered her, or at least she never acted like it did.