Caffeine | PUBLISHED

14. French Press

"Isaac!" Sebastian cheered, clapping him on the back.

Isaac's focus remained on me, his expression keeping neutral. A muscle in his jaw twitched. "What are you guys doing together?"

"We had art," I replied with a deadpan. "Which you'd know, if you weren't off skipping class."

His expression fell slightly, his brow furrowing. Sebastian grinned, nudging him roughly on the shoulder.

"Isaac was probably off with some girl," he teased. Isaac's eyes didn't move from mine and my heart panged. "I've seen Lacey eyeing you lately. I don't know how you do it, man. She hated you two weeks ago."

A blush rose to my cheeks under his gaze and I sucked in a shaky breath at the sound of Lacey's name. "Well, I'd better go."

"Wait! You should stay!" Sebastian grinned, bouncing on his toes. His curls bounced with him. "Play some soccer with us!"

My heart began to race. I was notoriously bad at saying no. I stepped back. "Oh, I can't. I'm really terrible."

"Oh, come on, Aspen! Have some fun!"

"Sorry, I don't think I should," I smiled awkwardly, taking another step back.

Isaac blinked, glancing between us, before his brows raised slightly in realisation. "Yeah, Seb. She's honestly terrible. She can't even catch a ball."

My face warmed at the memory of Isaac throwing a soccer ball at me only for it to smack me in the face, yet I was grateful. I met his eyes and he gave me a look that said he clearly knew I didn't want to play. I sent him a small smile in silent thanks.

Sebastian shook his head, nudging me. "Oh, come on. You don't have to be amazing or anything."

Isaac's head whipped back to his friend and his expression hardened. "Really, Sebastian, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on," Sebastian smirked at me. He paused, his smirk growing, before raising his voice and quirking a brow at me. "As-pen! As-pen! As-pen!"

He began to chant and the pressure in my chest began to rise. Around us, students turned to look at the commotion he was causing.

Sebastian began to step back, clapping his hands together with a wide smile as he chanted.

"As-pen! As-pen! As-pen!"

My eyes grew wide, my breath beginning to speed up. What was he doing? I opened my mouth to say no, to stop him, but my mouth felt abruptly dry and the words refused to come out.

"As-pen! As-pen! As-pen!"

"Seb," Isaac muttered, stepping forward. "Drop it."

Sebastian ignored him, his grin only growing wider and his voice growing louder. My heart leapt, lodging firmly in my throat and taking any chance of me speaking with it.

I felt the gaze of students around me, watching me, staring at me, analysing me. My palms began to sweat. I sunk my fingernails into my skin, willing myself to calm down, but my eyes flickered around the oval.

I turned, moving from student to student, each and every one of them staring at me. A few even joined in with the chanting, their voices sounding malicious and teasing to my anxious ears. I couldn't bear it. 

I spun to see Sebastian, grinning, waving his arms in encouragement. Beside him, Isaac's eyes were trained on me, his expression hardened, his jaw clenching. He took another step towards Sebastian, grabbing his shoulder tightly.

"Sebastian, knock it off."

"As-pen! As-pen! As-pen!"

"Sebastian, seriously."