Over the next few days I pretty much kept to myself. I knew that pouring my drink on Ash's head was a little out of line and unnecessary. I knew that it was dramatic and I could have made any other choice in that situation. Although I knew that it wasn't ok what I had done, I didn't think that it would cause the reaction that it had out of Ash.
Ash had completely ignored me since the movie that night. It was now Friday and he hadn't so much as looked in my direction let alone torture me like he had been. I knew that I told him to stay away from me, but I felt as though I had said that a million times and until now he hadn't. He hadn't called me beautiful; he hadn't stared at me or smirked, nothing.
Whenever I had looked over at him in the hallway or in our two classes together, he would just stare ahead with a completely unreadable expression. Again, I knew that pouring the drink on him was dramatic, but I didn't think he would have affected him this much.
Whenever I had looked over at him in the hallway or in our two classes together, he would just stare ahead with a completely unreadable expression. Again, I knew that pouring the drink on him was dramatic, but I didn't think it would have affected him this much. And somehow the chain of events switched something in my brain. I felt bad for what I did and somehow I felt even worse that it was affecting Ash. To be honest I could be acting completely self-involved right now and Ash's behavior could have a absolutely nothing to do with me. All I knew now was that I couldn't stop thinking about Ash.
I stared at my ceiling as I laid in bed contemplating all of this. It was Saturday and I was supposed to be hanging out with Haley today. I knew she wanted to go to the mall and go shopping, but I wasn't sure if I was exactly in the mood.
As of on cue, my phone buzzed. When I looked at the screen it had a flashing envelope on it, signaling that I had received a text message. When I opened it, it was from Haley saying, "Be ready in a half hour, I'm coming to get you."
I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get out of these plans. After the movie earlier that week, I had avoided Haley when I kept to myself. I went to the library a couple of times during lunch, shooting her a text to let her know. She had come to my locker multiple times but I would make an excuse for why I needed to be in class early. I didn't know why I was avoiding Haley so much, she was my best friend, but I just wanted space, and even though I couldn't keep my mind off of what had happened, I didn't want to talk about it.
I got out of bed, jumping in the shower and quickly getting ready. I wore mu usually jeans and a t-shirt outfit with my blue and black Vans. I quickly blowdried my hair enough that it wasn't dripping wet and applied my makeup. I liked having a line of eyeliner with eye shadow to match my outfit of the day, but not too dramatic. As I finished getting ready, I heard Haley beeping her horn outside.
I bounded down the stairs, and out the door. Dad wasn't home, leaving a note that he would be home soon but to have a good day with Haley. I wasn't sure where he had gone, but he typically did errands on Saturday's like grocery shopping and I was pretty positive he spent some of his morning at moms grave, talking to her. Unlike dad, it was really hard for me to go to the grave site. Most of the time, when I needed to talk to her, I would talk to her when I was in my car. I wasn't sure if it was because of the privacy I had there or what, but that is where I was most comfortable.
"Hey," I said to Haley, as I got into her car.
"Hola." she said, putting the car in reverse and starting to back out of my driveway.
"So where are we going again? The mall?" I asked.
"Yeah, I want to get a new pair of shoes and maybe a new shirt and pants." she added.
"So a whole new outfit." I said. She glanced over at me.
"You can never have too many outfits," she stated, matter of fact.
When we got to the mall, we went into a couple of different stores before we began to find things that we liked. We were in a thrift store with vintage clothing when Haley found a lace shirt and squealed.
"What about this one?" she asked me, holding it up.
"I like it," I said. "Its totally your style."
She agreed, immediately walking over to the register to pay for it. As Haley paid for her shirt, I continued to look through the racks but didn't see anything that drew my attention to it. I looked aimlessly through each rack, not really sure what I was even looking for.
"You ready to go?" Haley asked. I turned around, and she was right there, shopping bag in hand.
"Yup."
We went to a couple other stores, in which Haley found a dozen things she wanted to buy, complaining about the prices in every store. I ended up buying a pair of black lace flats that I really liked, and felt satisfied that I even bought anything new at all. After some time, we decided to go back to Haley's house to hangout.
"I don't want to stay here and see all the amazing things I want to buy with the money I don't have a the moment." She said as we left yet another store.
We were on our way to the exit of the mall, when I looked over into a shoe store and saw him. He was with some guy that was a year older than us in school; I think his name was Blake. I was pretty sure that Blake was the closest thing Ash had to a best friend, knowing they were always together.
When I saw Ash, I stopped walking and just stood there. Seeing him had caught me off guard, but it wasn't the only reason why I suddenly stopped walking to stare. I saw from a far that Ash's face had a discolored spot on it, and even from across the mall, I was sure that he had a black eye.
I don't know how long I was staring at him, but he must have sensed it, because he looked up, and saw me. I couldn't read the expression on Ash's face when he looked at me. He didn't smirk like he normally had or wink like he did when he was trying to be an asshole. He looked almost hurt and before I knew it, he looked away and back toward Blake.
"Faith!" Haley yelled into my ear, snapping me out of whatever trance I had been in. I looked at Haley shocked, my ear ringing from the volume of her scream.
"What?" I asked, knowing she had caught me in an embarrassingly awkward moment.
"What do you mean what?!" she asked. "You have been staring into that stupid store and haven't responded to a thing that I have said." She said, clearly annoyed. "I tired to call your name but no, you wouldn't listen. Hence, the screaming in your eardrum." I looked around, and sure enough people were staring at us.
I looked back into the shoe store, where Ash, and Blake were, but now they were gone. I grabbed Haley's arm, and pulled her out of the mall, sensing the stares on my back and suddenly feeling the anxiety creeping into my chest.
"What were you staring at anyway?" she asked as we walked back to her car.
I didn't want to tell her the truth that I had seen Ash. If she knew it was him that I was staring at for so long, she would immediately go into one of her rants and I was happy to have avoided the whole topic so far that day. She hadn't mentioned him once since she had picked me up that morning and I was grateful for it.
"Umm..." I said, thinking of a lie. "I saw a cool shirt that I liked." The lie was a pathetic one. I wasn't good at lying let alone coming up with one on the spot.
"Are you trying to tell me that you stood there staring at a shirt in some sort of weird trance until I had to scream on the top of my lungs to snap you out of it?" Haley looked at me flabbergasted, and clearly did not believe a word I was saying. I just shrugged my shoulders and got into the car. "Your lying." she continued, glaring at me.
"Haley I don't know what to tell you, I just spaced ok?" I turned and looked out the window, praying Haley would just drop the subject.
"Fine," she said as she put the car in reverse and began to drive back into town and towards her house.
All I could think about the entire car ride back was the look Ash had on his face and the mark that I was sure was a black eye. I wondered if he had gotten into a fight with someone at school, and if so, when? I was sure Haley would have known about a fight if there was one. She was always up to date with the newest rumors and drama around school. All I knew was, I wanted to know what had happened and I wanted to see Ash again.