Begin Again - A.I

fifteen.

I look up from the wall in which I'm staring blankly at and look over at the boys who are all crouched on the floor masked in a haze of smoke. I screw up my nostrils. I had tried to sit as far away from them as possible without sitting outside. I'm a little shocked they've spoken to me, to be honest. They hadn't for about half an hour.

Luke's looking at me, eyes red. Beside him, Ashton sits with his legs raised and his arms resting on his knees. He's smoking, looking right at me. Cheeks drawing in and out. I start to feel a little queasy.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine."

"You can join us if you want," he continues. "We're just talking."

"She won't understand what we're talking about," Michael says snarkily.

"It's not like we're talking politics, Michael. I barely understand what we're talking about." Luke pats the space beside him. "Come on."

I go to shake my head when I see Ashton smirk, blowing smoke out of his lips. He looks so damn hot, yet so damn fucking annoying. He's looking at me like he has a reason to, like he knows me so well. "Ella doesn't smoke."

I don't know why, but I grow angry at this. Ashton does not know me at all, and I hate how he thinks he does. God, he pisses me off so much. I stand up and, much to Ashton's surprise, I walk over to the boys and sit down.

"Hand me the thing," I demand, looking at Ashton.

He raises his eyebrow, lips still fixed in a smirk. "You sure you can handle it, love?"

Love. Jesus Christ, stay calm, Ella. "Of course I can." I rip the rolled up paper from his hands.

It's the first time I've ever held a joint let alone had one. I was completely anti-smoking, but I was also anti-Ashton. So I took a deep breath and stuck the damn thing between my lips and inhaled. And coughed. And died.

The boys just laugh, Ashton's being the loudest. I cough and cough, slapping my chest as I cough up my liver. Luke's trying not to laugh, but I see his lips quivering. My eyes water, my throat burns. People actually liked this?

"It's easier if you don't hold it in so much." Calum leans into me, putting his fingers over mine as he holds the joint. I didn't even realise he was sitting right beside me. "You put it between your lips, yeah, like that. Now inhale slightly, but not so much that you feel it burning."

I follow what he says, looking down at the smoke that leaves my lips. He's looking at me with intense eyes. "Now let go." I do, and I manage to swallow it all a bit better.

"Told you," Ashton says.

I just throw the thing back at him.

This whole situation wasn't ideal, because now I was stuck here. Stuck sitting here in hazy smoke listening to rock music as the boys all continued to get high. It was quite amusing to watch, I guess. Michael acted so bubbly for once, his frown replaced for a cheeky smile. He was lying down, playing air guitar. Ashton was laughing, like, a lot.