As soon as Ashton had paid and we got our coffees, we hurried out of Sweet Escape because our little encounter with Olivia had made us late.
"Thanks for the coffee." I lifted the straw to my lips.
"No problem." The corner of his mouth curled up into a crooked smile as he focused on the morning traffic. "I don't think we're going to be late." He peeked over at me out of the corner of his eye.
"I'm not worried." I took a sip of my latte.
"You are, too. You're always worried about being late to class." He laughed, turning onto Wilshire Blvd.
"I do not." I grabbed my book bag on the floorboard between my feet.
"Then why did you just grab your book bag? As if you're going to jump out of the car the minute I park." He laughed, pulling into the school parking lot. He found a parking spot in the middle of the lot, a little closer to the school. "You can jump out now and take off, flying toward the school." He smirked, opening his driver's side door.
I opened my door, grabbed my book bag and coffee, and got out, trying to refrain from making a mad dash to the front of the school. He glanced at me over the roof of his car, smirking. I knew he was waiting for me to take off running across the lot, but I wasn't going to prove him right. I pulled my book bag straps up onto my left shoulder and started following Ashton to the front of the school. I couldn't help but notice he was moving a little faster than his usual slow-paced walk, smiling at girls flirting with them. The more we walked, the more I noticed he wasn't really flirting with anyone. He didn't ignore them, but he didn't stop and talk to them like I've seen almost every day since he started driving at the beginning of last year. At the risk of being late, I paused, letting the strides between us lengthen as I stared at the back of his head, wondering what was happening. Each step I took toward the school felt like I was moving five steps backward. Ashton opened the door for us while talking to a couple of his buddies who were walking up the steps. I slipped inside as he closed the door, hanging back with his friends. I turned around, watching him stand right in front of the door, talking to a couple of friends. One of the friends was Caleb, Ava's boyfriend, that annoyed the living shit out of me on a daily basis. Mainly because I didn't like how he treated her a lot of the time. I gazed at Ashton for another minute, which turned out to be a minute too long.
"You do know, I'm going to get him back." Claudia's grating voice echoed in my ears, wanting me to rip them off. I rolled my eyes and turned around, preparing for her to degrade me or something.
"What are you babbling about?" I grasped the handles of my book bag. I shifted my weight to my left leg. Claudia's ponytail bounced as she approached me, stopping a foot away. Claudia wasn't surrounded by her circle of mean girls who hung onto her every word. "Where's your coven?" I smarted off.
"Funny." She wrinkled up her nose. "This little thing that's going on between you and Ashton won't last. He'll realize that he made a mistake and come crawling back like he always does."
"I wouldn't count on it," Ashton said, glaring behind her. I tucked my lips in, trying to keep from laughing in her face, even though she fully deserved it. Ashton moved around to the side, standing beside Claudia and me. "Why are you harassing, Gemma?" He grasped his backpack strap, tilting his head to the side, waiting for her to respond.
"Huh..." Her eyes flashed between Ashton and me. "I wasn't. I was simply telling her that whatever this is going on between the two of you won't last. Let's face it; you always come running back to me."
"Not this time. I meant what I said about us being over. Come on, Gemma, let's go before we're late for class." Ashton motioned me to walk with him down the hall, leaving Claudia by the entrance. "Sorry, she harassed you." Ashton tilted his head close to mine as we kept walking down the hall. "I'll see you in class." Ashton nudged me with his elbow and turned down the hall his locker was on.
I continued to stroll down the hall, noticing kids' eyes were on me, whispering to their friends as they passed. A couple of them I'd never talked to before waved and said hi as they walked by. I stopped a few feet from my locker, staring at it, wondering what the hell was going on. How was it that I was being acknowledged all of a sudden? I glanced down at my clothes to make sure my boobs weren't hanging out too much, or by some chance, my jeans were missing off my body. My clothes were intact, and nothing was hanging out. Then, it hit me like a freight train racing on the tracks toward a brick wall. The kids think Ashton and I are dating. My eyes widened at the thought.
"Hey, Gem. Gem..." I jumped when someone touched my shoulder. "Sorry." Laughter erupted behind me. I walked to my locker and spun the dial to each combination number. "I didn't mean to scare you." Ashton continued to chuckle. "Don't be mad."
"I'm not mad. Why do you think I'm mad?"
"Gee...I don't know. Maybe it's the way you're shoving your books in your locker." I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, grabbing my Math book.
"I'm not mad." I slammed my locker door, pressing my lips together, knowing that didn't help my case.
"Anyway...What are you doing after school today?" He had caught up with me within seconds. I glanced at him, then over my shoulder, wondering how he did that.
"Probably going to Sweet Escape to study, seeing Mom won't be home when I get there." I rolled my eyes at the thought.
"Do you care if I join you?" Ashton stepped aside, letting me walk into Math.
"Yeah, sure." I walked into class, sitting next to Ava, whose eyes were big, her mouth parted, and her phone in her hand. "Ava, why do you look like you just witnessed some sort of miracle?" I asked, swiping my phone on.
She blinked, closing her mouth as she turned sideways in her seat, glancing between Ashton and me. "What's going on? Are the rumors true?"
"What are you talking about?" My eyes narrowed at her questions. "Nothing is going on between us. We're just friends." I swiped my phone back on again. Ashton texted me, wanting to know what Ava was going on about. I glanced up at Ava, who was on her phone, fingers tapping like mad, then peeked back at Ashton and shrugged. Ava's head snapped up, her mouth opening like she was about to say something, but Mr. King walked into class, telling us to quiet down because the class was starting. Ava and I placed our phones in our laps so Mr. King wouldn't confiscate them. He was notorious for taking kids' phones and giving them back at the end of the day, not class. I wasn't about to lose my phone for the whole day. True, I wasn't on mine like Ava, always texting my boyfriend, who sat a few seats away.
"Psst..Psst.."
I raised my head, glancing over my shoulder. "What?" I mouthed back at Ashton.
"Let's go to the beach after school," he whispered, leaning over his desk as far as he could without getting caught.
My face scrunched up, gazing at him, confused as to why he was asking me now instead of later. "Why are you asking me this now?" I mouthed back. I turned my head before he could answer so we wouldn't get caught talking in class, which was another huge no-no.
I watched Mr. King carefully for the next few minutes, making sure he didn't catch us talking. He never called you out in class for talking; he waited until after class and slammed you with detention. Before he'd slam you with detention, he'd glare at you on and off throughout class. I kept writing down the problems while studying his demeanor. When he was done writing on the board, he turned around and glanced over the classroom, his eyes not really landing on anyone in particular. He pushed his glasses up, backing up toward his desk, still talking about the lesson for the day. I glanced at the clock and noticed the bell was about to ring in seven minutes. I perused the classroom; kids were gathering up their things so they could jump up and run out of the room the minute the bell rang.
"Tomorrow is review for finals coming up in a couple weeks!" Mr. King announced as everyone bum-rushed the door. He grabbed his red mug and walked out of the room, yelling at the kids to stop running in the hall.
"So, how about the beach after school?" Ashton stopped at the edge of my desk.
"What about Sweet Escape?" I slid out of my seat and grabbed my books on my desk.
"We'll get it to go. How about it?" He flashed one of his perfect smiles, which I'd seen him give to other girls. "It'll be fun." He stepped away from my desk and started to walk away.
"Where you going? I didn't give you an answer." I stood there, staring at him, confused as to why he asked me if he wasn't going to wait for my answer.
"I don't need to wait for your answer." He winked and walked out into the hall, disappearing in the rush of kids that stormed by.