never will you ever ⇒cashton s.s. [completed]

six

(one week later)

ashton put his lunch tray down at his usual lunch table. michael was already sitting there and reading a book, his lunch in front of him. "hey," ashton said.

michael put the book down. "hey."

"how has your day been so far?"

"not bad. i had to give a presentation in speech class so that sucked."

"i'm sure you did great," ashton said with a smile. michael was a great friend and a good person; he just could never see that about himself.

michael could ask ashton about his day, however, a very angry man stormed into the cafeteria. he was very well dressed and looked a bit like someone ashton knew, although he couldn't quite figure out who. the man stomped over to the attending teacher and said loudly, "i'm looking for coach avery."

"is the coach expecting you?" asked the attending teacher, mr. jones.

"the coach is avoiding me; that's what he's doing."

out of the corner of his eye, ashton saw calum enter the lunch room with his tray and stop dead upon seeing the man.

"are you a parent?" mr. jones asked.

"yes, i'm a parent. david hood. my son is calum hood."

"he's in my calculus class. i'm martin jones." mr. jones stuck out his hand.

mr. hood looked at it and them back at mr. jones. "the coach."

"why don't we walk down to the principal's office and see if we can't find the coach?"

"i've seen the principal," snapped mr. hood, "and all i got was a bunch of 'politically correct' talk about the agenda here that is penalizing my son, taking opportunities away from him and giving them to someone who doesn't deserve them!"

"everybody gets a fair chance here, mr hood. we go out of our way to make sure that they do."

"my son is the best player on that team, and you can't just give it somebody just because—"

"you're in a lunch hall, mr. hood. there are kids here trying to have lunch. that's not the audience you want, is it?"

mr. hood glared at mr. jones and then then followed him out of the lunch room.

ashton pushed his lunch away, feeling sick. he looked back over to where calum had been standing, but he was gone.

(later that night)

ashton walked out of the school to his car, his legs aching from running. he threw his bag in the back and slid into the drivers seat. his stomach growled; ashton hadn't been able to eat his lunch after witnessing the whole ordeal between mr. jones and mr. hood. he hadn't seen calum for the rest of the day and he hadn't come to practice, which is what ashton was leaving. it was a late practice on a friday night, and ashton was ready to just go home. he started his car and was about to lock the doors when the passenger one opened, and calum slid into the seat next to him. he looked very nervous, he turned to ashton and said, "my dad is always looking for someone to blame, okay?"

"i have to go home," ashton said coldly. "my mom is waiting for me."

"right. your mom is waiting." calum leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "god, why is everything so easy for you?"

ashton's jaw dropped. he recovered quickly and retorted, "easy? what planet do you live on? i have spent most of my life trying not to feel the way i feel. i come out and my first boyfriend breaks my heart and leaves for a country on the other side of the world, and now he's done with me. so yeah. it's all about ashton—all ash, all the time—"

calum cut ashton off by grabbing his face and kissing him. ashton, too shocked to close his eyes, barely moved. he wanted to kiss calum back, but he felt like he was cemented in place.

calum pulled away and looked down. he seemed surprised with himself. "don't tell," he whispered. he opened the door and got out of the car, leaving ashton to stew in his own shock.

FIN