I'm with the Band

Chapter 10: What Ashleigh Did

We had made our way out of the clearing and towards the main campus building. The plan was to go about my day as normal, just with the small addition of Leighton's presence. On Monday morning I usually met Sierra and Sasha at the dining hall to grab some brunch. 

Having Leighton beside me brought forth an entire other emotional state that I did not fully understand. After cooly leading me away from the open area and, diffusing the situation with the two girls, he never stopped being a gentlemen. He opened doors for me and allowed me to tug him along in different directions towards the dining hall, matching my slower pace by watching my feet. It felt like I had a personal body guard. An extremely hot one, that everyone else was jealous of. The feeling was surreal. I especially liked his arm around my shoulder, holding me securely in his warm embrace. The same warmth that I had felt the night I met him.

He was surprisingly easy to talk to as well, making sly comments and witty jokes as we passed through different groups of people and encountered different scenarios. I found myself being unable to stop laughing and smiling when I was with him, calming my nerves even more as he continuously appeared layback and comfortable. 

I started to notice the small things about Leighton when he talked. The way his eyes cutely squinted when he smiled too wide. The way the corner of his lips curled up when he got excited. He was a work of art that had so many layers and meanings as you looked closer at each stroke of the brush. I couldn't help but to stare. 

"Autumn? Um, Autumn."  

Oh shit I was too busy staring, I wasn't paying attention to what he had just said. 

"Sorry, what was that?" 

"You just kept staring at me, zoned right out. Are you feeling okay? Were you thinking of abolishing the PDA rule soon? You do have an affinity of staring at my mouth." 

God damn composed Leighton. I pulled away flustered and raised my hands in defence. "No, absolutely not. I'm perfectly fine with how things are coming along, thanks." 

"Unfortunate." Leighton said, flashing me a pout. I couldn't help but to laugh in response as we entered into the main dining hall area. 

The dining hall was decently busy today. On Monday's they offered waffles and fresh baked muffins so usually students that didn't have morning classes would flock to the hall to grab fresh carbs. The expected happened when Leighton and I walked in. Everyone turned to face us, shocked gasps blah, blah, blah, I was honestly used to it by now. I was still nervous, but Leighton's easygoing nature and confidence had allowed me to relax and enjoy his presence. 

"Autumn!" Sierra waved at me from a table off to my right. She was sitting with a stack of waffles on her plate, Sasha was also there eating a muffin. Her expression was a bit strange though. I tried to wave back but she diverted her eyes down to her plate. 

I excitedly tugged on Leighton's hand in the direction of Sierra, and he happily followed me towards their table. 

"You are not going to believe what happened  in my psychology class today," Sierra started. "That kid Tyler that sits in the front row took a freaking -" her voice trailed off as she watched Leighton delicately pull out a chair for me to sit on. I sat down on it and he tucked it in place, putting my backpack straps over the back of the chair and taking a seat beside me. 

"Thank you." I smiled at him. And in response, he moved his chair closer and patted me on the head. 

"You're welcome." 

Sierra looked at me, and then Leighton, and then back at me and then back to Leighton, a smile slowly appearing on her face. 

"Right. What's this now?"