High School Survival Theory

Chapter 41

After Ashton and I manage to tie all of our friends together with a rope that we found in Grace's basket, we sit them next to each other on the floor.

Payton sticks her tongue out at me as others scowl.

Ashton and I both decided to ignore them and sit around the counter. Ashton gives me a glass of water and we drink them silently.

"Our next mission is, getting them to your house," he mumbles.

"My house?"

He nods. "Yes, cause you're the only one who doesn't have any parents at home tonight and we can't risk anyone else finding them like this," he reasons with me. "Moreover, I doubt we can send them home without them running away later and doing only God knows what."

I sigh and agree, hoping things will work out as planned. Ashton then tortures Owen's car key out of him.

"We can't fit all of them in your car so I'll drive Owen's car back to your place," he tells me.

Owen huffs in the background and crosses his arms.

"Are you sure you can drive?" I ask Ashton worriedly. "I mean your leg, it's still-"

"I'll be fine, stop bothering your pretty head." He rolls his magnificent blue eyes for the unnumbered time tonight. "I'll be fine, really." He tries to assure me by holding my gaze.

Gosh, why do his eyes have to be this catching?

"Can you two please stop flirting? I feel like throwing up," Cora groans, making us look away.

A blush creeps on my face and when I look at Ashton, I find his cheeks the same as mine.

I clear my throat. "Take her to Owen's car with you."

"S-sure," Ashton mumbles.

We pick up Nyako first since he's still passed out and help him to Ashton's car.

I open the backdoor as Ashton struggles to put his friend inside.

"At least he was passed out," he sighs and closes the door. I turn around and freeze when a particular black car watches my attention.

"Let's go get others," Ashton says and starts walking away until he realizes I'm not following me. "Snow?"

Ashton comes back to my side and I follow my gaze. "Isn't that-" he doesn't finish.

He didn't need to. We all know who that car belongs to.

"Derek is here," Ashton mutters. I nod slowly.

Derek is here, at the party. And he didn't tell me.

'You really expected him to tell you such minor details after he completely forgot to wait for you after the game and now is ignoring your texts and calls?' My conscious mind snorts.

I agree with her again. Though I wonder if I didn't run into him tonight. I've been all over the place.

"Hey," Ashton waves a hand in front of me.

I look away from the car and turn to him. "What?"

He nudges me to follow him and open the trunk of Owen's car. He stands aside to allow me to see what's inside the trunk.

A smile creeps on my face when I see the colorful plastic containers there. I look up at him.

Ashton grins. "The car looks a bit sad in that color," he says as he picks a roller. "Wanna give it a little makeover?

Fifteen minutes later, Ashton and I stood before the newly orange and pink painted car in front of us.

"We did a pretty great job," Ashton says as he assesses his masterpiece. The paint is still dripping from the car and we didn't think the color would sit on the car until Ashton brought the primer too.

This guy is a life savior.

We fist pump and admire our beautiful work. One thing for sure, the color suits the baby.

"The paints are washable," Ashton assures me.

"That sucks." I pout. "We worked so hard on this one." Ashton snorts.

'Derek is going to have a fit,' I snort at the thought.

He deserves it.

Though I may regret this later, let me enjoy the moment first.

And it's not like he'll ever know who did this to his car.

I feel like fucking drunk right now.

"Never thought I would be so happy to see this combination of orange and pink again," Ashton says.

"What were they for anyway?" I ask him.

"Riley wanted to repaint her room last month," he sighs. "She wanted to paint her room pink and orange!" Ashton emphasizes the last part. "No matter how many times I tried to walk her out of it, she wouldn't listen. And then dad and p-" he halts.

"Then what?"

He looks startled. "Oh, nothing. In the end, my parents let her paint the room whatever she wanted," he says. I wonder what he was originally going to say but then let it slide. Ashton is very tight-lipped when it comes to his family.

"We knew she was going to regret it later," he continues. "So we bought temporary paint and then I gave it to Owen so that she can't get her hands on them again. Turns out, Riley couldn't stand the color of her room a week later."

I burst into laughter. Ashton joins me too.

"I swear she's so stubborn," Ashton says.

"Just like her brother," I snort.

Ashton glares. "I'll just pretend I didn't hear that one."

I roll my eyes and we walk back inside. "Speaking of Riley," I start. "Won't she need you for trick or treats? Or are your parents-"

"No, she's going with her friend this year. This is the first year she'll be going trick or treat without family, so she was a bit upset in the beginning," he says. "But when we told her she'll be going with her best friend and her sister, she went all over the moon." He grimaces. "Honestly, I'm glad I'm not joining them. That sister of her best friend is a bit-er-gluey!"

I laugh at his discomfort. Ashton pouts and looks away.

"Let's fetch others before they can run away," he mumbles.

My smile drops at the thought of those high adult-kids.

"Yeah let's get over it," I tell him. "It can't be that bad, right?"

Wrong.

And for the next two hours, Ashton and I chase around seven whiny teenagers around Micheal's mansion.

And let me tell you something, never in my life, I'm buying a house with more than two rooms or having kids in the first place.

📸

Thoughts?