conversations about nothing in particular

first flash back

~third grade~

"ouch!" ashton river exclaimed. "you hurted me noah."

noah o'connor shrugged. "that's okay," and then pinched ashton again.

"stop it!"

pinch.

"ouch!"

pinch.

"teacher!"

"what is it now, ashton?" the teacher sighed.

"noah keeps pinching me," she told him.

"noah, did you pinch ashton?" the teacher asked noah.

he shook his head. "no, mister. she's just lying again."

pinch.

the teacher nodded. "yeah she does that a lot, doesn't she, noah?"

pinch.

"yeah, mister. can't believe anything she says with how much she lies."

pinch

~later at home~

"mum, look at all the wilts noah gave me," ashton told her mom, lifting up her shirt. a whole patch of red dots roamed her stomach and arms. "he kept pinching me and the teacher didn't believe me when i told him."

her mother laughed at her. "honey, those are mosquito bites. and besides, noah is a very nice boy. he would never pinch you. he's just too nice for that."

***

~fifth grade~

"can anyone tell me what two times two equals?" the teacher asked.

ashton raised her hand. the teacher called on her. "miss, what do you mean two times two?"

noah, who sat beside her in math, laughed, muttering under his breath, "stupid."

the teacher sighed. "ashton, we have been covering this material for the past month. how do you not know what two times two means?"

she shrugged. "i don't know."

"well maybe noah can help you."

noah scouted his chair closer to ashton. "what do you not know, dimwit?"

ashton gasped and raised her hand. "miss, noah called me a bad word."

noah put his 'innocent' face on. "no i didn't."

the teacher sighed again. "ashton, please stop telling fibs, i won't allow it."

"but-"

"no buts."

ashton turned back to noah. "can you help me with my times tables?"

"sure, dummy. i'd love to help the stupidest person on earth," noah sneered.

ashton gasped and called out, "miss he called me stupid!"

the teacher didn't look up from her computer. "that's enough lie telling for you, ashton."

noah smiled his toothless grin at ashton. "see, the teachers love me. they will never believe you."

"oh, yeah?" ashton asked.

"yeah," noah agreed then began to draw a picture of her. he added cow spots, a fat stomach, and her looking cluelessly at a card that read one plus one. he then put in bold letters above her head, STUPID COW (OR MORE KNOWN AS ASHTON RIVER)

ashton began crying and brought the picture to the teacher. "see? he is a bully."

the teacher looked at the picture and slammed her hand down on the desk. "that is you're writing, ashton, not noah's. i'm tired of your lying and trying to get noah in trouble. go to the office right now. i'll be phoning you mother about this."

***

~sixth grade~

"noah stop pulling my hair," ashton hissed, turning around to glare at noah behind her.

"but the hideous braids are in the way of me seeing the hot new teacher. i just had to pull them so i can see her," noah said back.

"noah, you're gross. she's like twenty years older than you."

he shrugged. "a guy can dream can't he?"

ashton turned around and the pulling kept going. after awhile it became a dull ache in the back of her skull. she just let him do it. she knew noah would just lie to get her in trouble. he always did.

suddenly, she felt a rip and then terrible pain where her braid was. ashton looked back to see that noah had some her hair in his hand.

ashton brought her hand up to her braid. almost a third of it was gone, now in noah's hands.

pure shock and regret flashed in noah's eyes. he just stared, open mouthed at ashton.

"i-i'm sorry, ashy."

it was the first time noah had ever said sorry to anyone before. that's why she ran out of the classroom, all the way to her house on the other side of town.