savior

five

DAY THREE; TWENTY EIGHT DAYS TO GO

"I don't have a crush on you."

Ashton looked up at me from his seat. We were currently in the cafeteria, getting ready to eat lunch. I hadn't been able to get close enough to talk to Ashton all day. Now I finally had a chance. I pushed my lunch tray towards him, causing him to look at me even more skeptically.

"I thought I asked you to leave me alone?" he said, peeling off the lid of a fruit cup. Ashton dug into it, scooping large amounts of the fruit on his plastic spoon, and stuffing it in his mouth.

Instead of leaving, I plopped down in front of him. Hopefully Michael wasn't in this lunch with us. He'd be a big distraction. I wouldn't be able to get anything done with him around.

"I want to be your friend, Ashton," I told him, stealing the chocolate milk from the tray. He moved on to something else—a slice of pizza—chowing it down quickly. Parts of his curly hair fell in front of his eyes as he looked back up from the tray.

Ashton wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I don't need any more friends," he said. "I've got Michael. He's all I need. Do you mind getting another tray?"

I ignored his comment about not needing more friends. I took in his request, and told him I'd be back in five minutes with more for him to eat. Anything to make him happy. Anna stood there at the pizza line. It seemed like she didn't notice me. She was too busy holding onto a boy with black hair, kissing him every few seconds.

When I she looked at him, I noticed a strange look in her eyes. It was like nothing I'd ever seen from her. It was the look of actual love. Her eyes glistened as she looked up at him—she was tall, but he towered over her still.

I bit back a smile. It was nice to see something other than lust in eyes when she looks at a boy. Whoever he was happened to be the luckiest guy ever. He wouldn't be heartbroken like every other boy Anna has ever been with.

I returned to Ashton's table with another tray. Michael was sitting there, talking to Ashton about something, but I wasn't paying attention. Instead I was focused on one of his arms, which was slightly poking out of his hoodie. I couldn't see anything, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what was there.

"Here," I said quietly, shoving the tray at Ashton with a little force. I took my seat again.

"What is she doing here?" Michael asked, pointing to me. He looked at me in disgust. Next to him was another boy. He had orange hair, and very dark brown eyes. A scar sat on his forehead.

"I'm sitting, that's what. Who's your friend?"

The boy with the orange hair had his eyes on me for a long time. I looked at him with my eyes furrowed. He didn't stop staring at me. Eventually I just turned back to Michael and Ashton, and tried my best to avoid the creepy boy that had joined us.

"It's Ashton?" Michael said. He rolled his eyes at me. "Look, I don't really like you, so if you could excuse yourself from the table, we'd greatly appreciate it."

Ashton looked at him. "Don't be such an asshole, Mike. Sorry about him." He looked genuinely sorry for me. It was like he was surprised at Michael for how he was speaking to me, even when he hadn't been so happy with me earlier this morning, himself.

Michael grunted.

"I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to the restroom," Ashton said. He looked over at Michael again. "Don't be rude." Then he slipped away, and almost ran to the bathrooms.

"Look, Regan, I really, really don't like you, okay? I know you're best friend, Anna, and I know that you're just like her. So if you think that you can just barge in here, and try to get Ashton and I with you two, you're wrong," he spat. "We don't want you here."

The boy with the orange hair laughed a little.

"I'm nothing like Anna. I just want to be friends," I responded. It was true. Why would he think I'm a boy-crazy freak like my best friend?

"Whatever. Just—"

The orange haired boy walked away, slowly. He kept looking back at Michael and I. When he was gone, Michael's expression changed. He didn't look angry anymore.

"So, are you going to sit with us everyday?" Michael asked.

"Uh, I'm not sure. If you want me to," I said with caution. I flicked my eyes around the entire cafeteria. Ashton was still nowhere in sight. "You, like, literally just told me you hated my guts, though?"

Michael's expression was full of shock. His plump lips were parted, and his green eyes were wide.

"I did? No, no, no, I don't hate you! I hardly know you. We should be friends. You seem nice."

"Okay?"

I think I was a little more shocked than Michael had been. Less than five minutes ago he was expressing his hatred for me, but now he's suggesting we should be friends?

Ashton came back after minutes of awkward silence.

"What'd I miss?"