Bruises

9| Hypnotised

Chapter 9: Hypnotised.

Three days had gone in a flash and I was back to my Ashton free life. You know, the boring one.

I casually sat in the my microbiology class, a class which I actually enjoyed, studying about living organisms just excited me.

Maybe it was the fact I could find out what a human was made of, the pieces that built them up into what and who they were, their identity, quirks and characteristics.

My phone pinged.

Paul- Hey Maddie, we've got a project to finish, to be submitted next week.

I'd almost forgotten on our dreadful Phy 102 project on Electrical circuit. I lazily typed:

Maddison- sure, meet you at the library this Saturday?

Paul- sounds great.

I sighed, casually shoving my phone into the pocket of my hoodie. My eyes darted to the wall clock, I had a shift at the gym by 2:00pm and it was already 1:30pm.

By the time the class was over, I hurriedly picked my bag, unable to even meet up with Paul, I rushed out the door but immediately bumped into someone, tumbling to the floor.

It was the girl from the last time, what was her name? Kacey?

"Sorry," I apologised.

"Watch where you're going." She scoffed, looking irritated. "Maybe next time, you can also hide your face so I don't get to see it."

B*tch!

But I wasn't into confrontations so I just said, "my bad, I'll look out next time."

She rolled her eyes. "Doubt you have enough brain cells to do so though."

Would it kill her to be nice?

"You know what, you should prob-"

"That's okay, Kelsie," a voice sounded.

Kelsie. Right? That was the name, I turned to find my defender, his blue eyes stared with confidence, arms folded across his chest, wearing a light blue sweatshirt and jeans with a ray ban sunglass swung on his forehead.

"Ashton! I didn't see you there," Kelsie said in a soft tone as I stood, dusting off the dirt.

"Are you here to see me?" She asked, swirling a strand of her hair.

"No, I'm here to see her," he said, gesturing at me.

Kelsie's eyes widened. "Her?"

"Me?" I repeated.

I didn't want to believe Ashton had just been standing outside my lecture hall the whole while just to see me.

I didn't want to see him, I wasn't ready for a conversation so I just quickly pulled out my phone and earplugs, finally settling on No fraud by Nicki Minaj, Drake & lil Wayne.

I increased it to the highest volume until I could barely hear the complaints of Kelsie, stating a hundred reasons why she was better than me.

I casually reached for my bag but Ashton caught it first, biting back a smirk.

"Give it back," I said and he gestured for me to take off the earplugs.

I sighed, reluctantly doing so. I didn't want to be here, students had started walking out the hall and the first thought on everyones mind was probably 'what's he doing with her.'

"What do you want?" I asked, coming off a little rude than I intended.

"Are you avoiding me?" He asked, surprised like this was a first. "I called and texted, even sent voicemails."

"I've been busy," I threw out that lie once again.

"I think we should talk."

"About what?"

"What happened the last time."

"There's nothing to talk about, Ashton," I said, eyes trailing to the my bag.

"I really want to apologise about how my dad acted back there, he gets overly protective at times," Ashton said, his voice sounding soft and genuine.

"Apology accepted, can I have my bag back?" I asked. I wasn't really angry with him, I just felt it was great to stay away after everything that had happened.

He still refused to give me the bag, so I decided to go to the gym without it. Unfortunately, he followed, swinging my bag over one shoulder.

I could tell his ankle was somewhat better, he found no problem with keeping up with my pace, even though I was almost running.

I finally sighed as I got to the entrance of the gym. "Look Ashton, I'm not mad but I think it's best we stay our separate ways. We literally don't belong in the same category."

Was I dissing myself?

"So who says we can't be friends?" He asked

Friends? Ashton wanted to be my friend... That took me by surprise so I just stood there, staring like a 2007 Windows rebooting.

He smirked, inching closer to me before finally placing a hand on my shoulder, his touch was warm.

I took a whiff of his expensive cologne, eyes trailing away from his face.

"I really want to get to know you, is that too hard to believe?"

Yes.

He handed me back my bag, turning to leave a girl like me hypnotised.

•••

I sat in the gym, looking over my phone at my blacklisted numbers.

His contact was there, my fingers hovered over it, unsure of what to do.

I really want to get to know you.

What was a girl supposed to do? Jessica sauntered into the gym like she owned it, a scowl on her face.

"He f*cking blocked my number," she yelled.

"Who?"

She was too depressed to throw another of her sassy lines. "Ashton."

Well, he did that to almost every girl. What if I was just another pawn he wanted to use for fun?

"I'm going to see him, it must all be a mistake," Jessica said, already leaving the gym like I was the only one meant to look after the place.

My shields were up, I didn't know what game he was playing but I couldn't let a guy like him mess with me.

•••

Hey guys, did you enjoy the chapter?

Btw, what do you think about Maddie's decision? Any ships?

Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed, please consider a vote. You can also find me on Instagram @thea_caylen.

Love ya.
-Thea