Ashton's hazel eyes were clouded, holding a dark look in them as he reached his arm out towards me. Steadying my book bag on my shoulder, I looked him up and down, my eyes eventually training on the cellphone in the palm of his hand.
"Here," he said quietly. When I took it back he added, "Let's go."
I nodded, mumbling out a small thank you before following him to the door. We walked outside together and got into the car, the suffocating tension following us. Both of us were silent, maybe afraid to speak up and break the silence. Or, had we been afraid of arguing again?
What was up with us?
After suffering through about ten minutes of awkward silence, we finally reached the school where I said a small goodbye and jumped out. Thankful to escape, I let out a sigh and followed the mob of people inside. I debated searching for Auburn, since we waited in the lobby together before class started, but then ultimately decided against it.
Swerving over to the side of the hallway so I was out of the way, I pulled my phone out and started to text Max, asking if he'd want to wait together.
"Daisy?" a voice called over the loud voices around us.
Startled, I looked up, confusedly smiling at the unfamiliar girl stood in front of me. She was really pretty, with wavy blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her body was gorgeous as well, the simple jeans and tighter shirt showing off her figure.
"Are you the Daisy Irwin?" she squeaked, eyes widened and a big smile tugging at her lips.
"Um... Y-Yes?"
The? What did this girl mean by the?
"Oh my gosh. Can we take a picture?" she asked, holding her phone up to me.
"I–" awkwardly stammering over my own words, struggling to even form a coherent sentence. My throat closed up and I looked around, desperately praying Max would just show up and save me from this situation.
"It's okay if you don't want to," she quickly said, but by the way she hopefully looked at me and kept her phone held out, I knew she still wanted to take the picture.
"No, I –" I stuttered. "Maybe I shouldn't. I just, um, I dunno if I should –"
"It's cool," the girl waved her hand as to dismiss the problem. "See you around, Daisy."
I waved, frozen in my place as she walked off.
Did that really just happen? Obviously she was a fan of the boys. Had a fan of someone I was related to actually seemed excited to see me?
This brought on a new sense of curiosity, and I found myself quickly going to Safari, typing my name into the search bar. Articles and pictures popped up, making my heart skip a beat.
Disregarding the articles, I found myself going onto images, flipping through them as I scanned each picture. There were shots of me with the boys, ones of us going to the restaurant to meet Evie, and others of us just going out.
Then came other pictures, shots of Max, Auburn and I. I had even found an article briefly discussing Max and I's relationship.
Whatever our 'relationship' even was.
I couldn't help but to zoom in on various pictures, taking in the way my body looked. My mind went off on a million thoughts, coming up with what parts of my body need to be thinner, or even how they'd look thinner. I was falling deep, falling apart.
"Hey you ignored my text," a finger prodded my arm, causing me to jump and drop my phone.
Looking up at a smiling Max, I groaned in a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. He laughed, swiftly picking my phone up for me, eyes narrowed in confusion at the picture.
"I can explain –" I awkwardly reached for my phone, worried he'd think I was some stalker.
"Daisy I already know, remember," he playfully rolled his eyes, flicking his chocolate brown hair from over his eyes.
"Oh, um..."
"Anyway, you ignored my text. I asked if we could meet outside," he teased.
"Sorry I was distracted," I smiled sheepishly, closing off of Safari.
"It's cool," he shrugged, glancing down at his phone before looking back up at me. "Anyway... I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tomorrow? Maybe you could come over?"
I felt myself start to blush at the question. "Oh um sure. I-I'll see if I can."
"Okay," he smiled again, pausing when the bell rang. "I'll see you in class then?"
I nodded. "See you."
***
There was a lot going on in my life. First things first, my best friend started ignoring me for no reason. Or for a reason I was unsure of.
Secondly, Ashton and I weren't getting along and I already didn't like his girlfriend. I almost wondered if it was Evie that caused our fights, but then decided she couldn't just brainwash him into acting like this and that it was just me. Was I really in the wrong?
Lastly, the boy I liked invited me to his house but I still haven't told him I'd be leaving the country in a week. I had limited time to tell him, but I just couldn't bring myself to doing it. Besides, I didn't even know when or if I'd come back, and I didn't want to ruin our relationship over moving.
I thought about all of this all day at all times. At lunch I didn't eat after losing my appetite, I couldn't focus in class, I was a mess.
Finally, the day came to an end and Max walked with me outside to Ashton's car.
"I didn't get the chance to talk to her yesterday," Max told me as we walked. "I'll text her today okay? And we can facetime."
I nodded, my heart warming with gratitude towards his actions. "Thank you. I really appreciate you doing this."
"You're welcome," he shyly hugged my side, cheeks tinting pink a bit after we hugged. "I'll talk to you later."
"Okay. Bye," I waved, turning and walking over to Ashton's car.
Ashton smirked at me as I climbed in, obviously catching Max and I's interaction.
The ride back to the house was a little better this time, Ashton and I trying our hardest to keep a small conversation going. When we reached I went up to my room, flopping down on my bed and letting out a long sigh of relief.
Except, the moment was disturbed when my door was pushed open, Ashton poking his head in.
"Hey," he said. "Can I come in?"
"Yeah," I sat up, bringing my legs up onto the bed with me and crossing them.
"Evie is coming over again so I thought I'd make dinner. Is pasta okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," I quickly added to my one worded answer. "I'm still not really, um, hungry."
Ashton didn't say anything, instead absently staring down at the floor as if he was deep in thought.
"Um, can I hangout with Max tomorrow?" I quickly asked, desperate to change the conversation.
"Yeah. We'll talk later," Ashton walked back over to the door, and without saying another word he walked back out into the hallway.
I watched the door click shut, my mind swirling with thoughts.
***
next update will be after monday :) hope y'all have a great weekend
i slept for like 4 hours and it's currently 1am so i'm hella energetic
i literally did my homework for fun and then still had the energy to spend like 2 hours writing this chapter wtf
but now i'm crashing
also my best friend completely embarrassed me in front of my crush !! i'm not joking when i say i almost punched her in the face.
i'm too tired to think of a qotd so ask me things ahah :)
would y'all want me to put like a fact or two about myself at the end of a few chapters?
be safe, be kind, stay positive. ily <3