The Date

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Attraction, at first, was mainly physical. In some way, we were visually, olfactorily, and auditorily stimulated by the person we found attractive. That was because all we had were the physical attributes to go off of. We loved the way people looked before we could ever manage to figure out of we were attracted to them emotionally as well. Our attraction to smells and tones of voices also determined whether we worked to get a person or not. Which was why I had to stimulate Ashton with the first three until I was able to start the process of the emotional attraction. It was so fucked up to dive deep in the realms of psychology to get the process moving faster, but I had to.

I put in more effort before class this morning. Of course, it was a football Friday, the very first of the year. I wore the black and burgundy cheer uniform and a gold bow in my hair and in an easy half up-do. I spritzed on a random perfume that Luke had given me, claiming it was from Paris and nothing could leave a man in awe like it. Instead of letting my lashes droop for the day I applied mascara. I looked decent, but I didn't feel like myself. I was the face of fraud and only I knew that. I couldn't even bring myself to spread school spirit, instead I glared at Elizabeth and Veronica who were giving out pom poms and buttons to any student that looked like they were having a bad day, while also encouraging them to go out to the football game tonight because their lives would magically become better if they did. The correlation between football and happiness...didn't even exist. The idea of it was just as fraudulent as me. 

I held a stack of Lakewood Prep stickers, passing them out with half a smile and little enthusiasm because the stickers would be scattered throughout the hallways by the end of the school day anyway. 

It was rare for me to ever be approached by anyone. I wasn't friendly-looking enough to have my peers constantly come up to me. No, they'd rather laugh at me behind my back in response to whatever Calum was saying about me, so to have Ashton resting his weight on his hand against the wall on my left surprised me. His smile was welcoming, almost ecstatic to have finally found me. Maybe I was happy too because he was making this job easy for me today. Check.

"Wanna do dinner tonight?" I shoved the stickers in my backpack. I leaned my back against the wall, clutching my books for dear life. I was so worried about this not working out for me - for us, Michael, Luke, and I. But who could go wrong with dinner? Quick, simple, and guys loved to eat.

"Like after the game?" He scratched the side of his head, a little confused. 

Ugh, I kept forgetting about the game. So I nodded to keep my cool. "Right. Yes, after the game."

"What are you in the mood for?" His smile widened almost causing my eyes to widen and my heart to race. He was actually quite stunning in the perfect lighting, or any lighting for that matter. He combed his hair through his fingers, brushing it out of his face. I loved that.

Stay on task, Sage. Dammit.  I was here to get information out of Ashton, not fall in love with him because his hazel eyes peered so deep into my soul. It was hard to keep myself on track. I was distracted by how good he looked in his school uniform, topped with his Letterman jacket. I'd never been into the football player type, but Ashton was surely going to be my exception. He made Calum look like a potato.

"Burgers."

"A girl that knows what she wants," He titled his head, allowing his eyes to scan my body up and down. Ew. Why was I becoming self-conscious? "I love it."

I gagged. Literally. "That's weird."

"Huh?"

I peeled my back from the wall, starting my journey to my next class. I knew I had Ashton whipped when he followed me like a lost dog. "Don't say shit like that." 

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