The Mafia King [BOOK 1] 18+

Chapter 1:

For weeks now, an itch underneath Ashton's skin refused to leave. When everything seemed normal and his days would go by undisturbed, the looming thought of something being amiss clouded his head, itching and picking at his brain that something -he didn't know what- was undoubtedly wrong. Frankly, with his midterms just around the corner, he had no time for his anxiety to spike up when he couldn't even single out one instance where there was an indication of the danger his brain so highly insists on existing.

He tries his best to push his thoughts to the farthest corner of his mind and he does what he needs to; he tries to attend class every day, works through the long hours of assignments upon assignments that keep stacking up, and even attempts studying ahead of time for his upcoming exams, not that it worked but he at least gave an effort. But every time he feels himself reel over to actually believing nothing was wrong, his thoughts tug on his mind like pieces of thread until he's caught up in the same cycle of remembering and trying to forget.

Groaning in frustration at the sinking feeling in his chest, he closes his textbook and lays his head down, cheek pressed against the cold front cover. If his mind would just focus on the actual problem at hand, he'd be able to understand the words he had been skimming over the last hour. The uneasy feeling and the repetitive thoughts were aggravating him due to the fact that he had not a single clue why he was feeling the way he was. It was as if his mind was playing games with him just to piss him off.

Beside him, Theo raises a brow at his actions as Marley stifles a laugh. "I didn't realize studying happens with the textbook closed." Theo jokingly says, receiving a glare in response from the brunette who still had his face down. If you had to ask him, Ashton had not a single clue what he had done in his past life to warrant such terrible best friends.

"I don't get it, you've been so out of it for the last four hours we've been here. Why'd you agree to come to the study session if you were just going to sulk for whatever reason." Marley asks, head on her knuckles as she stares fondly at the exasperated boy. The original plan; as the trio had discussed for the past week, rummaging through each other's schedules to fix a time where they would all be available together, was to meet at the school's library and just cram whatever they had learned in the last six weeks together at an attempt of staying productive.

However, as soon as they got to the library and collectively brought out their books, Ashton's head began to spin with his reoccurring thoughts again. He tried, as usual, to push them away so he could actually get some work done and revise but the nagging feelings just stayed constant.

In all honesty he felt like he was going insane.

"That was the plan, yes. I don't know, I told you guys, something's up with my brain. Absolutely nothing is wrong and I know that but for some reason, I just can't seem to focus on anything these days." He sighs, lifting his head from the book only to lean back against the chair.

"If your brain is pestering you that much, I'd say listen to it. You never know, maybe it's not wrong after all." Theo replies, eyes not leaving the computer screen as he furiously typed away on his chem report. The deadline was tonight and he was only three pages short of completing it, considering he waited til last night to actually start it, Ashton was more than impressed with how much he had done in such short amount of time.