Addicted to Black

Chapter 8: Pay Attention

It was now Thursday and for some odd reason I was actually excited to wake up for school today. I walked to the closet and decided on ripped jeans, a sheer white button down, and a cute pair of sandals, I was usually never this... "Girly" but I decided a swift change couldn't hurt.
After about 30 minutes of getting ready, I said goodbye to my mom and headed out the door.

As I made my way down the dim street I plugged in my music and searched for a good walking song. After about 2 minutes of searching, I finally settled on "Do I wanna know" by the Arctic Monkeys. Yes. This was definitely the right choice.
Once I made my way to the bus stop I started thinking about Carter. I really miss him and I regretted the way I acted towards him after the 5sos concert. I knew deep down I had to make it up to him, and I had to do it soon before he slips farther, and farther away from me.

I walked into school and made my way to my lockers, as I put my books in my locker I felt someone lightly tap my shoulders.
"Carter! Oh my god!" I hugged him and he immediately returned it. I never realized exactly how much I missed him until now, at this moment I didn't want to let go.
"Hey Sloan, I missed you." He looked like he hasn't slept in days.
"Carter I missed you too, and I'm so sorry for the way I acted," I could see his face soften and his eyes returned to the way they used to look.
"It's okay Sloan, it was petty and it never should've happened," he continued, "Listen! Tomorrow is our Friday night, we should definitely..."
Suddenly, I heard someone come up next to me.
"Hey Sloan! Ready for our first NOT DATE tomorrow?" Oh. Fucking. Shit.
I absolutely forgot Ash and I were supposed to hang out tomorrow! From the second I looked into Carters eyes, they turned back into dull, almost sulking, and I knew that I had yet AGAIN... Fucked up.

"Carter I'm so..." He looked at me in disgust, it was like I slapped him, that's how it felt. He only turned and muttered "Forget it Sloan," and in that instant he left me to watch him walk out of my life for the second time.
"What was that about?" I looked at Ash, and shook my head and headed straight for class with Ashton hot on my trail.
We made our way into Patterson's class and I sat in my regular seat, as did Ashton. We sat through about an half an hour of lecture, but I was hardly paying any attention. I'm so dumb! I was definitely not expecting Ashton to come up to me, now I have a pissed off best friend and a confused Ash and I don't know which ones worse.
Patterson finished her lecture, and as always, we had the rest of class to ourselves. Ashton didn't hesitate to take the empty seat next to me.
"Sloan, look at me." Oh god. The way he sounded made me question my entire existence, it was definitely more of a command rather than a request. I did what I was told, and I was met with a pair of green-hazel eyes, I drowned almost immediately.
"Sloan, talk to me, what happened with Carter? Did I miss something?"
Ash was being genuine, and I knew I couldn't lie to him so I explained what happened from beginning to end.
"Let me get this straight," Ash straightened his back and I realized he talked with his hands a lot.
" So you and Carter have a special night to go out, that was the night you saw me play, but then you got into an argument, then you and I made plans on your supposed SPECIAL DAY, but then he found out after he came to apologize because I said it unintentionally in front of him," I looked at him guiltily, "Yeah, pretty much sums it up Ash." His looks softened and he leaned back into the chair. "So, what exactly are you planning on doing about this whole...debacle," he raised his perfect eyebrows and waited for my response. "Ash, I'm not sure! This was never supposed to spiral out of control!" He looked kind of sorry for me, I hated that.
"Do you want to just... Postpone our night and do it some other time?" He was giving me an ultimatum, but I could tell he didn't want me to say yes. I took a deep breath and said, "No Ash, you were the one I was suppose to go out with tomorrow night, and that's the plan I'm sticking to, I'll find a better way to make it up to Carter." I could've sworn I saw his eyes sparkle, but I myself wasn't feeling too right in the head so... It could've been my mind.
"So it's settled!" He looked like a child on Christmas Day and I loved it.
"By the way, you look very beautiful today, let's see how you pull off tomorrow night!" He threw his head back and did a laugh only Ashton could muster up. I hit him on the head with my book, which I definitely need to stop doing, because it only makes him laugh harder. "Idiot," I said playfully. In one swift move he put two fingers under my chin and lifted my face, I was waiting for him to say something, but he just looked at me with those eyes and smirked. As he released my face he let the end of his fingertips caress the end of my chin, with that, the bell rang and he gathered his things and walked out.
Fuck. I'm never this type, but new underwear was definitely needed before the day was over. That smooth fucker.