recovery // a.i.

08 // home

ashton's point of view

"You just made my day, Ash," said Hayden, removing a pastry for each of us from the box. She poured me a cup of coffee and we sat on her couch.

"Gladly."

"Why are you up so early?" she asked, stirring her coffee with a spoon.

I can trust Hayden. I can answer honestly. "I'm going to visit my brother and sister today."

"Do they live with your parents?" Hayden asked curiously.

"No, they live with my foster family," I responded.

Hayden furrowed her eyebrows as she wrapped her thin fingers around the mug. "Foster?"

"I grew up in a big foster home. They were my only family. Lauren and Harry are biological family, of course. Michael's like my biological little brother, too, but he's not," I explained. Part of me figured that she'd infer that Michael was a foster kid, too, so I didn't include that detail. She nodded her head in understanding.

One thing I liked about Hayden was that she understood. I didn't have to explain things twice to her. She caught onto things I said quickly. She actually listened to me, unlike most people I've talked to. The only other people that listen would be Michael, my foster mother, and Lauren. I would say Calum, since he's my other best friend, but he didn't listen to a damn thing I said. Ever.

"What time do you have to be there?"

"No time in particular, but Michael wants me home before ten so he won't have to wait up for me," I said. Michael watched over me. He always knew where I was, he always made sure I took my medication on the days I needed to, that kind of stuff.

I spoke with Hayden for a good hour. She was hell of a good listener. Now, I was carrying our mugs and plates to the dishwasher as she dressed for work in her room.

"Hayden, I've got to go catch a train. Can I see you tomorrow?" I asked through her door. I heard a quiet "mmhmm" from the other side of the door. "Good. Bye, then," I exited through the fire escape after a minute or two trying to figure out how to use the damn latch on the window. I could just hear Michael's voice in my head saying, "Come on, Ash. You are smart. You have a scholarship to Columbia, of all places. You have been in the gifted program since third grade, but you can't work a latch?"

I avoided the broken step on the way down to the alleyway. I decided to take the shortcut to the subway steps, through the back alleys between buildings. As I passed between Rosewood Apartments and Martin's Bakery, I passed the usual group of the rude ones, smoking cigarettes while sitting on uncomfortable plastic milk crates. They hung out and smoked there because one of them lives in Westmore and the building has a no-smoking rule. And they're constantly smoking.

"Irwin!" called Wes, the Parson High "charmer," who was actually the dickiest dick you'd ever meet. "Your little friend Clark told me he was in a hurry to get to your place yesterday."

"His name is Calum," I corrected, which was a bad decision. Wes flicked ashes from his cigarette onto the scattered gravel.

"I saw you come out of Hayden Huntington's apartment a few minutes ago," he said. "Why's that?"

"I wanted to visit her," I said, terrified of his possible reactions.

"You know what me and her have, right?"

"Her and I," I spat back. It was Wes's worst pet peeve when smart people corrected him.

"Shut the fuck up, Irwin," he began. "But anyways, I don't want you near Hayden Huntington. You got it?"