BLAKE
Ashton was waiting for me after school, his back pressed to a wall as he tapped his foot against the floor nervously. He grinned when he saw me, using his foot to push himself away from the wall. "Hey" He murmured, almost shyly, as he fell into pace with me.
"Hey," I smiled back. My heart was racing in my chest and butterflies swarmed my stomach. He was still smiling at me and I swear my knees were shaking. "So, uh where are we going for lunch?" I managed to get out, but my words were all jumbled and fast.
"Sushi," He glanced at me worriedly, "Do you like sushi?"
"I've never had it" I admitted, shrugging. He sighed, though I couldn't tell if it was relief or nerves. I followed him to his car, my hand clinging onto my bag strap tightly. He opened the door for me and I almost fell into the car with relief. I gulped nervously and played with the ends of my hair. The braids had begun to fall out but I made no attempt to fix them.
"You can play music if you want to," Ashton told me as he climbed into the car. He handed me a cord before turning the car on. I smiled and took the cord gratefully, opening up my favourite playlist. Migraine by Twenty One Pilots immediately began playing, loud enough for us to hear but soft enough so we can still hear each other when we speak. "What's this?" Ashton asked, his voice curious.
"Twenty One Pilots," I replied, turning so my back was against the door. He nodded, though he showed no recognition. He listened to the song intently, no one speaking a word until the song ended.
Ashton had just turned into the street near the mall and I could see a faint smile on his lips. "It's pretty good," He commented, nodding his head. I nod as well, smiling at him. "Have you always listened to music like this?"
"Like this?" I gesture towards my phone, which was now playing The Japanese House softly. Ashton nodded in reply, too concentrated on the road to speak. "Well, of course not. I grew up on hip-hop, and went through my Jonas Brothers stage, but one day I was on 8tracks looking for new music and came across bands like Catfish and the Bottlemen and The Japanese House. I explored some more and that's how it started"
Ashton was parking, but he nodded along to the words I said. "You know I thought you were dating Calum" He told me, "And when you said you weren't...I don't know I just got really happy. Calum can be a dick and every time I saw you two together I got mad because I knew all he was going to do was hurt you"
I laughed, thinking he was joking, but when I saw his expression, I pressed my lips together. I gulped, staring at him nervously. "Calum? He hasn't done anything remotely harmful. He's just a friend, Ashton, and he isn't going to hurt me"
"I thought that too" Ashton snorted. He opened his door and climbed out quickly, slamming the door behind him. I frowned, almost too nervous to get out of the car. I could see Ashton walking around towards my door, his face blank, making it hard to see what he was feeling. I grabbed my phone just as Ashton opened my door, smiling sweetly at me. "Have you ever been to this place?" He asked as we walked into the sushi bar.
"No, I haven't" I replied after we were greeted upon entrance. Ashton beamed and lead me towards a two seats near the middle of the room. The vegetarian sushi had just gone past us, making me frown as I'd have to wait for it to come back. Ashton had already grabbed something from deep fried - parcels containing either crab or prawn - and was crunching down on it happily.
"You know," Ashton began, swallowing his food, "the art assignment we're doing? I was just wondering if...well, if I was wondering if I could draw you"
I had just picked up the sushi I was waiting for and nearly dropped it onto the table. Ashton laughed nervously, noticing my scared expression. "Me? Why me?" I knew the assignment he was talking it; we had to pick someone and draw them, but change it to match what their personality is like. I was doing Calum, adding devil horns on his head, due to his devilish nature.
Ashton shrugged almost shyly, "Because you're beautiful, Blake. And I was going to draw a halo on you, because that's what you remind me of" I almost laughed because our drawings were matching. Calum the devil and Blake the angel. Fitting.
"Oh, well sure. That's fine" I tell him, using the chopsticks to manoeuvre the sushi into my mouth. He nodded and grabbed more food. We ate in almost silence, occasionally talking. Once we were finished - and had argued about whether we were paying separately or not - we got back in Ashton's car. My mum had messaged me sometime during lunch to asking me where I was, so I had to explain to her that I was out and hadn't I already told her that? She told me to come home after lunch, there was things I needed to do.
"I had fun today," Ashton told me as we drove the short distance to my house, "You're really funny. Crystal never made me laugh like that" The way he said Crystal made me wonder what had happened between them two and if it somehow involved Calum. I pushed those thoughts back and smiled at him.
"Thanks, me too" I replied, pointing to my house. "That's it" Almost reluctantly, Ashton stopped in front of my house and sighed. "We should hang out again" I tell him, honestly.
He nodded. "Definitely" He agreed. We said our goodbyes and I climbed out quickly, practically skipping to my front door. I stopped and the door and turned, waving to him with a grin before pushing open my door and entering, my heart pounding against my chest and my lips in a permanent smile. I like him, I thought giddily.
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i've gone on so many walks to find pokèmons oh my god
