Alex’s POV

Gym class. The wonderful time in the week where guys get to stare at girls’ butts and watch them without being too creepy. Boobs bounced around and asses jiggled. It was basically a boy’s wet dream. Normally I joined everybody else, and drooled over every girl that had a good body, but this time I could only focus on her. Yes, the one you expected: Ash. But, come on, she was just perfect.

We were outside playing soccer and most of the class was sitting out on the bleachers while the rest of the class was actually playing a game. Secretly I wished to be on Ash’s team, but that didn’t happen. I wasn’t even ever going to play against her! It was fucking bullshit. This just wasn’t fair. How was I going to catch her attention if I was always separated from her? After the short conversation we had when my mom and dad came to check what we were shouting about, I knew for sure that Ash didn’t have feelings for me and that she didn’t realise I was head over heels for her. She was giving me advice like a friend, not like somebody who hoped it was about them or somebody being awkward because they knew it was about them. All I was was a friend. Nothing more, but maybe something less. And it was just so fucking annoying.

I watched as the teacher blew the whistle for a foul and Ash ran back to her team’s side of the field. She ran her finger through her hair and started putting it up in a ponytail. Her muscle shirt rode up a bit and the light was hitting her at just the right angle. The black running shorts and the gray hoes she was wearing were toning her legs perfectly. Before I met her, I would have said it was just simply hot, but she was just completely and utterly beautiful.

“I know, right, Gaskarth?” One of the popular jocks, Edward, sat next to me, “she’s quite a view.”

“I guess,” I shrugged and looked down before I realized what I was doing, “I mean, uh, yeah, very hot. I would bang her any day.”

“You had me scared there for a moment,” Edward let out a breathy laugh, “thought you might have changed your mind and started rooting for the other team. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. I mean, I totally support you if you are gay. It would make sense. I won’t judge.”

I gave him a disconcerted and shaken look, “what the fuck! I’m not gay! What do you mean ‘it would make sense’!”

Everybody around us looked at me and I realized I had shouted a bit too loud. But what was this guy’s problem? He had no right to just assume those things about me. Sure, people would often joke about me being gay, but he was actually being serious. And yes, I was probably overreacting. But come on. I was not gay!

“Are you sure about that, baby?” Jack shouted in his most feminine voice from the other side of the bleachers.

“In your wildest dreams!” I scoffed at him and turned back to look at Ash playing soccer on the field.

She was like a natural. I didn’t know she could play soccer, but she was definitely like a pro. With the ball right in front of her to kick off, she ran up, her hair bouncing up and down in her ponytail, and kicked the ball all the way to the opposite side of the field. Holy fucking shit. She was only getting better and better. I wasn’t going to be able to wait long enough for her to feel something back.

The teacher called for a break and I felt somebody hit my chest, having forgotten that Edward was still next to me. He stood up while telling me what he was going to do, “I’m going to see if I can ask her out.”

Before I could even think of a reason to prevent him from asking, he was jumping off the bleachers and running up to her. I cringed when I saw Ash turn around to listen to him. Why couldn’t I just have the same confidence he had? Ash would have been mine by now. My heart ached when I saw her nod and run up to me. Great. I didn’t even have a chance anymore.

“Feel the sweat!” She grinned and gave me a hug, making sure she made me feel the stickiness.

“Eww,” I made a face and scrunched up my nose, “now I have to call my mom and tell her I have cooties. I will be a disgrace.”

“Am I really that disgusting?” She sat down next to me and laughed.

“Not as bad as Zack after we finish playing a show,” I shivered at the sweat that was able to come off that boy, “but, in all seriousness, how are you that good at playing soccer!”

“I’m not good,” Ash shook her head and gulped some water from my water bottle, “the other people just aren’t,” she looked for a word, “that good.”

“You mean they are complete and utter shit,” I laughed, but stopped when I became conscious of what I said. Ash didn’t like swearing-

She chuckled, “yeah, I guess. I’m just used to playing against soccer girls who fanatically play soccer outside of school. All I do is play it with my brothers.”

“Well, you’re pretty good at it, you should consider joining the girls’ soccer team.”

“No… That would mean less time to play the piano.”

I smiled and watched as she looked out over the shabby green grass. It was quite fascinating to see someone who was just as fanatic about music as I was. But with her it was still different. Music made me happy, energetic, and hyper. Ash was more calm and relaxed when she talked about and played music. Yet it was still perfect. Sometimes I would sit in the hallway at home just to hear her play the electric piano we put in her room. She wouldn’t put it loud enough for me to hear it in my own room, but I loved every note she played.

Our daydreaming was interrupted by Edward standing next to us, getting rid of the sun in our faces.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go out with me?” He asked Ash before she could even look up at him.

“I’m sorry,” she gave him a sympathetic smile and looked back out at the field, probably imagining some song being written in her head.

“Ok, then…” Edward looked at her for a bit longer before awkwardly walking off and kicking a trash can.

“He’s not really used to being rejected,” I pointed my thumb in the direction he had gone in.

Ash bounced her leg up and down and fumbled around with her fingers before whispering, “number four.” She stood up and left without another word, leaving me confused and alone.

What was number four? And why did she just leave me? At least she didn’t say yes to Edward. But she was just such a confusing person. I didn’t know how I was ever going to have her realize the way I felt for her.

----

Ash actually decided to join me, Jack, and Rian, for lunch today. Harper, nor Lianne joined her, which was pretty surprising. They were always together and you could barely separate them during free periods and lunch time. It was so weird. Three different girls from different groups became best friends all because of one of them. But now it was just one of them: Ash, the other two nowhere to be seen.

We sat down, Ash opposite from me, and got our lunches out. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow, “where’s Harper and Lianne?”

“Their last class got canceled,” she shrugged and put her bag down on the floor, “they asked me if I wanted to join them now for lunch in town, but I didn’t feel up for it.”

“Oh, ok,” I nodded. At least they didn’t have some fallout or something. That would have been pretty bad. I was not good with girl drama.

Ash and I started unpacking our lunch. We had leftover burritos from the night before, which Ash and my dad made together. And boy, did they taste fucking good. It was, like, just holy shit. Well, shit might not be the right word, but you know what I mean. They were just that fucking good! I took a big bite and was immediately hit with a food orgasm.

Ash was about to bite into her as well, when something caught her attention. I followed her gaze and saw she was looking at Jack, who was sitting next to her, and was drooling while staring at the wonderful godly food she was holding. She sighed and handed Jack the burrito before sliding over the tray with food he had. Jack took a large bite and groaned while he closed his eyes, having had a similar reaction to me. Except, he took it a step further.

He took another bite and chewed slowly before swallowing the big piece. He stood up and shouted, “I just wanna fuck this burrito!”

The whole cafeteria looked at him and some students laughed. Ash took hold of his empty hands and slowly pulled him down, “shh, it’s ok, no need to get physically attracted to it.”

“But it’s so beautiful,” Jack whined and pouted.

“It’s ok,” she patted his shoulder and reached out for the burrito, “now give me it, I also want one bite.”

Jack handed it to her and Ash took a bite. Like an actual bite. Not a girly I-only-eat-salads bite. She handed it back to Jack and wiped her mouth, getting rid of all the grease, before chuckling, “now I’m going to have to eat this weird… what is this actually?”

“I really don’t know,” Jack shook his head, having devoured half of the burrito already.

“Ugh, now I regret trading my food with you.”

“You could always kiss me to get the taste of this amazing burrito,” he joked and smirked.

“I might actually consider it,” Ash laughed and started eating whatever the school lunch was supposed to be.

I felt the worst pang of jealousy soar through me. She was acting the way I wanted her to act around me, with Jack. This was really not going well. She was actually thinking about kissing him! That was supposed to be me! I had to say something… But I stayed quiet instead. I couldn’t do anything. All I did was eat my burrito in silence. What made it worse was what happened next.

“Go for it, then,” Jack smirked at her, completely forgetting about my presence and feelings.

Ash actually shuffled over, grabbed his face and kissed him on his cheek. But not just on his cheek; it was literally just a couple of cells away from the corner of his mouth. I cringed inside and felt my heart crush.

She sat back properly and grinned at his shocked face, “that’s all I can give you.”

I gave Jack the what-the-fuck-are-you-being-serious eyes, but he was just as stunned as I was and raised his shoulders back at me. But he probably couldn’t see the envy I was desperately trying to hold back. Ash rarely came close to me, let alone kissed me on the cheek. I was going to have to be nicer and become a much better friend to her before anything could happen. But there was only more being added onto my pain.

Another random guy came up to us - well, mainly Ash, but still. He nodded at us and then started talking to Ash, “so, you’ve been here for quite long now, and I hope you’ve settled in. And I was just wondering if you’d like to go out sometime?”

What the actual fuck! This was the second time already! Why couldn’t guys just leave her be and give me a chance as well… not that I was planning on asking her out any time soon. But still. I didn’t want her being asked out by any other guy. Wait. What was I even thinking! She was supposed to do whatever she wanted. I didn’t have any say in that. But jealousy just makes you think weird things.

“Um, sorry, no. I’m not really looking for a relationship right now. I’m sorry,” Ash answered and went back to her food without giving the guy a second chance. He muttered an ‘ok’ and walked off back to his friends.

“Number ten,” Ash murmured and shook her head before looking up at us, “is it ‘Ask Ash Out Day’ today or something?”

My eyes nearly popped out of my skull, “10 guys have asked you out already!”

“Well, one girl has, and surprisingly she was the only one I actually didn’t get annoyed by. I might actually contemplate going out with her, she seemed nice.”

“That’s hot,” Jack blurted out.

“I didn’t say we will take our clothes off and start kissing,” Ash gave him a disgusted face, “I just said going out. And it was a joke anyways. But who knows, now I might do it.”

“Really?” I asked, hoping she was continuing her joke.

“I don’t know,” she started to gather all her stuff together, “remember, you guys forced me to tell you about my lack of experience. I could just as well like girls as I like guys. But seriously, though. At home, everybody seemed to just ignore me, and here everybody just wants me. What is wrong with the people here?”

“More like what is wrong with the people there,” Rian scoffed, not denying he also acknowledged Ash being pretty hot, “but I guess it’s because guys here can’t stand the idea knowing there’s a type of girl, or just a girl in general, that they haven’t banged or at least kissed.”

“Very true,” Jack confirmed.

“Okay, then… I’m just going to try and think of a better answer to reject guys with,” she stood up and picked up the tray after swinging her bag on her back.

“Hey, where are you going, we still have 10 minutes?” I asked, not wanting to lose her company just yet.

“Does that really matter?” She retorted and left without giving me a good answer.

I frowned and started packing all my things as well. Ash was walking out of the cafeteria and I made sure to keep looking at her, not being able to afford to have her leave my sight. Something in me just wasn’t going to leave my question unanswered. I started getting up, but Rian stopped me.

“And where do you think you’re going?” He held onto my arm.

“To follow her. She never answers questions with another question unless it’s sarcastic.”

“I think we have a stalker here!” Jack giggled and pointed at me.

“I’m just concerned, I’m not being a stalker,” I ripped my arm from Rian’s grip and started rushing behind her. This could look very wrong like I was following her to have some fun, if you know what I mean. But that really wasn’t the intention.

I watched as she disappeared into the music classroom. Nobody was in the hall, everybody enjoying their time away from the classrooms. I quickly got closer and heard the piano being played. A second later John walked out. Over the years I had been here, he had grown to be one of my favorite teachers. He was just really cool about everything and actually made jokes that were funny… unlike some teachers.

He stopped when he saw me waiting outside, “oh, Alex! You’re here early. You can go in if you want, just don’t disturb Ash.”

“Ok, thanks,” I smiled and quickly slipped into the classroom without making any noise. I watched Ash play from where I was standing.

She had stopped playing and was scribbling on something I could only assume were notes. After furiously crossing something out and calming adding something new, she put the pencil down and placed her fingers elegantly onto the white and black keys. She took a deep breath and started playing something with deep notes, which turned into a flowing melody that seemed calming. But the occasional flat or sharp and the key gave it an eerie atmosphere. She moved along with the louder and faster notes and calmed down when things got softer and lighter. Her eyes slipped shut occasionally and I was mesmerized by the beautiful music that fit so perfectly with the girl. Everything went back to the dark deep notes, but the piece ended with a feathery light touch. There was something that just made me think of a young girl running through a dark forest in the middle of the night while strange things are lurking. But the girl is too innocent to notice. Ash took her hands off the keys and smiled to herself.

“That was really good,” I gasped and approached her.

Ash jumped and looked at me with wide eyes, “you scared me!”

“I’m sorry,” I chuckled and put my bag down in the seat I normally sat before I went up onto the platform the piano rested on. There was enough space of the stool for me to sit on, so I took this chance to be close to Ash.

She grabbed the pencil and drew a couple more notes on two lines, “it’s finished now.”

I looked at the sheet and saw a title, “Insanity?”

“Yeah, it’s for my brother, Kayden. It’s about him,” she said absentmindedly.

“That’s the ten-year-old, right?” I asked, and she nodded, “why is is so scary and why call it insanity, though?”

Before Ash could answer, the bell went and kids started rushing in. I was left seated all alone since Ash collected all her paper and went to her normal seat. She really was a mystery.

Notes

So I just realised this chapter is over 3000 words, but splitting it into two wouldn't make any sense. I've started writing the next chapter, but am having some trouble finishing it off without making it rushed. It might also be quite lengthy (this might actually not be that long for some people, but for this story it is).

I'd really appreciate any suggestions for this story. I'm kind of getting stuck in a writers block because I'm not sure how to build up the friendship between Ash and the others. So if there's anything you like to read, just either comment it or send me a message, and I'll be happy to try to write it.

Also, please check out the song. I thought it was pretty good. Have you been able to connect any dots yet between the last two chapters and this one?

Anyway, here's an awesome Rian gif, since I haven't had one for him yet. Maybe I'll try to find one for Zack for the next chapter.