The Blind Boy

6.

Louis catches up with her in the hallway, matching Ash's lazed, unmotivated stride with ease. "So," he begins with certain inflection, pausing briefly to catch his breath. 

"So," Ash repeats, her lips tugging upward against their will.  

She still doesn't understand how he warmed up to her so quickly. He doesn't know her, not really, and on the second day he's already practically adopted her into his friend group, all of them so welcoming and generous. 

It's a nice change, but one that Ash still can't accept to be real. If only she had been in this school district longer. The last ones had, to put it plainly, sucked. 

Louis clears his throat, returning her smile with a bright one of his one. Smiles are something that comes easy to him, unlike hers, which are mostly forced or faint or fake. "Do you want to go to the movies this weekend?" 

Is he asking me on a date?  Ash's brain shortcircuits as she ponders this, mulling the scenario over. Her first instinct is to shy away from the possibility, but then she considers it. Dating someone as innocent and kind as Louis would probably be the best thing to ever happen to her. 

He's attractive, although not exactly in the traditional masculine sense, his features soft and almost feminine looking. His wide, bright eyes paired with his fair features make him appear almost angelic. 

Most importantly, she feels comfortable around him, something that rarely happens with boys.

As if realizing the implication of his question, Louis flusters, the tips of his ears tinging red, although she's beginning to realize that the boy's red ears are perpetual with how flustered he gets. "Not just with me," Louis corrects quickly, following Ash towards her locker. "With all of us. We're going to be seeing that new horror movie 'Silence.'" 

That sounds like fun, but fun is... something not reserved for her. She puts in her combination (and then has to dig around in her bag to check for where she had written it, the four numbers having already slipped from her mind) as Louis hovers next to her, rolling on the heels of his sneakers.

He's also wearing a new bow tie today, a simple one that matches the shade of his eyes. 

"If you don't like horror movies, we're all okay to see a different one," he blabbers on, taking Ash's stumped silence as a dismissal of sorts. 

They're accommodating to me, she thinks. Again. What the hell is this? 

"Why?" she finally asks, turning to face him. She doesn't mean for her voice to come out so brusque, but it does. 

Louis notes the harsh change in her tone, faltering over his words, confidence diminishing. She wants to kick herself for taking away his easygoing demeanor, replacing it with a look that almost makes him appear frightened. Like he's prepping for her to hit him or something. "Why what?" 

"Why are you being so nice to me, all of you?" 

"We're nice people...?" Louis supplies weakly, gaze dropping down as he fiddles with his collar. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you're asking me." 

Ash makes frustrated gestures with her hands, stammering over her words, trying to make him understand how strange this is to her, how bizarre. "I mean, you all barely know me. I could be an asshole." 

He laughs a little at her bluntness. "Are you an asshole?" She casts him a disparaging, impatient look, and his laughter dies. "Look... if you don't want to be friends with us, I get it." He eyes the sea of students around them, gazing lingering on a select few jocks in their English class that pass. "We're not everyone's cup of tea, clearly."