Chapter 8

I got to school and went to math class just like I usually would first period on a Monday morning. Everyone else was already there, and I was one of the last to get there, but Ashton had saved me a seat next to him. Today he was wearing skinny jeans which emphasised how muscular his legs were, being a quarterback on the football team.

"Hey," I muttered as I sat down.

"Hey," Ashton replied, "Are you okay?" He asked as he saw me properly.

I woke up this morning and realised I had puffy red eyes from crying myself to sleep last night. After getting annoyed at Austin, I explained what had actually happened and then we both cried about it. I'd only fallen asleep just after midnight, so I was exhausted as well. "Yeah, I'm fine, just couldn't sleep last night." I guess that was partly true.

"Okay," Ash nodded but kept glancing at me throughout the lesson. He obviously didn't believe me.

At the end of the lesson, Mr Rivers, my maths teacher, announced that there was going to be a test on Friday and we should all start revising. Annoyingly, he didn't tell us what it would be about. I've always had trouble revising for maths because it could literally be anything from first grade up until now.

"Hey, did any of you want to come round mine after school to revise for the test?" Charlie asked as we left the classroom.

"Nah, I'm busy, sorry," Harry said.

"Yeah, me too," Dylan said.

"I'll be out, by the way," Leo told Charlie.

"Do you know if Oliver will be home?" Charlie asked.

"No, he's coming with me."

I guessed Oliver lived with them too. Maybe another brother?

"Er, I'm free," I piped up.

In the end, it was me, Ashton and Cheanne who were studying with Charlie at his house. As Harry and Dylan were the only other people with cars and they weren't going, everyone came in my car after school. We stopped at a gas station on the way back because I was running low and while I was filling up, everyone else went inside and grabbed lots of snacks for the evening.

By the time we actually started studying, it was already 5 pm so we didn't do much. We also managed to finish the snacks everyone bought earlier.

"Hey, does anyone want a lift home?" I asked when we eventually got up to leave.

"I'm good thanks, Jack's picking me up," Cheanne said, "My boyfriend," She explained for my benefit.

"Could I get a lift please?" Ashton asked.

"Sure."

We said goodbye and then when we were in the car, I started asking Ash about Vegas.

"Have you lived here your whole life?"

"No, we moved away from Utah when dad died. Mom said she wanted a fresh start."

I had to swerve quickly before I crashed into the sidewalk as I was slightly shocked at what he'd just told me.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I had no idea," I quickly apologised, hoping I hadn't just upset him or anything.

"No, no, it's fine, you couldn't have known." He said, "Anyway, didn't you tell me you used to dance before you moved?"

"Yeah, me and Austin competed with our dance group but we left when we moved away, so we stopped competing because we didn't want to go against them. We also couldn't find a group around here that was similar to where we were before."

"Oh, right."

"Hey, do you have anywhere to be?" I asked, having a sudden idea.

"Er no, I don't think so."

"Great, I have an idea," I grinned stupidly.

Right before Ashton's street, I turned a corner and headed to the local bookstore. I loved it there! I'd already been twice since moving here. I texted mom when we got there to let her know I would be a bit late home.

"Okay, I came up with something on the way here," I said as we got out the car, Ash looking confused. "Basically, I thought we could pick out a few books we like the look of and then switch with each other."

"Wait, that actually sounds really fun." He said, grinning stupidly too.

Half an hour later, we emerged from the shop carrying a heavy stack of books each. When we got back in the car, I handed mine to Ash and he gave his books to me. We both flicked through, looking at our new books.

"I've read all my books at home and I've been wanting to try something new so this should be good," I said, still smiling.

"Yeah, that was so much fun," Ashton said, smiling back. I loved it when he smiled. His eyes lit up and the small specks of orange in them glowed even more than usual.

"Do you wanna grab something to eat?" I asked, really hoping he didn't have to go straight home or anything.

"Yeah sure, let me just text my mom first."

My heart leaping for some reason, I pulled out of the small bookstore car park and headed back onto the main road.

"Where do you wanna go?" I asked. I didn't really know what food places were in the area so I decided to leave it to Ash to pick.

"Um, there's this burger place not far from here. It doesn't look great but the food's nice."

He gave me directions until I could see it up ahead of us. The sky was pitch black but the fluorescent lights of the burger place lit up the road in front of it.

We ordered our food and then found a booth near the window, talking while we waited. We started asking each other random questions, just getting to know each other better.

"Right, this might be a bit personal," Ashton began, "But are you in a relationship?"

"No, not right now. Are you?"

"Well no, but I've been talking to this girl from school, she's only a sophomore so she's a year below us but that doesn't matter. Her name's April. Isn't that such a pretty name?"

"Yeah," I said almost half-heartedly. For some strange reason, my whole mood seemed to change. I had no idea why but I just felt kind of tired and I wanted to go home.

"Oh, how's Austin, by the way?" Ashton asked.

"I think he's feeling a bit better," I said, "Maybe."

"What do you mean?"

I paused for a second. How much should I tell him? I decided to go for it, see what he thought of everything. "Well, remember earlier when you asked if I was okay? The truth is... no. I'm not. Neither is Austin. Yesterday, I spent the evening in the hospital-"

He audibly gasped.

"-with my mom. I got home and found her on the floor of the basement, unconscious. When I rolled her over and tried to make it easier for her to breathe-" My voice cracked on that last word and I paused again. Tears welled in my eyes and threatened to escape. "Well, I found an empty pill packet in her hand."

Tears streamed down my face as I said that.

"Oh my god, Hayden!" He whisper-shouted, aware of the eyes now on us. He glanced around.

"Maybe we should go somewhere more private..."

We collected our food and then headed back out to my car. Ash suggested we go back to his house and when we got there, we went straight up to his room. My eyes were still red and I was on the verge of tears until we got up to his room where I finally let everything out. I told him what had happened last night and he held me as I cried. I curled up in his arms and he tried comforting me, though he wasn't too successful.

"Hayden, I'm really worried about you. Is there anything I can do?"

"You don't have to worry, I'll be fine," I sobbed.

"Look, I know we don't know each other that well, but I'm still worried about you. No-one deserves to be alone."

I was about to answer when Ashton's bedroom door opened and a young girl walked in.

"Oh, Hayden, this is Addilyn, my sister," Ash explained.

I gave her a watery smile and she seemed to take after her brother. Her eyebrows met in a frown and she looked at me, seeming very concerned.

"Addy," He muttered, "Is this important? I'm kind of in the middle of something."

She shook her head and hesitated for a second before smiling and leaving, closing the door behind her.

I fell back into Ash's arms and he pulled me down so we were laying on his bed. I rolled over and leant against him and he pulled me even closer.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"For what?"

"Bothering you. You probably had other things to do tonight, instead of looking after me."

"You don't need to apologise. I wasn't doing anything, anyway."

We eventually fell asleep at some point and I woke up a couple hours later, still curled up in Ashton's arms. Being careful not to wake him, I snuck out of his house and down to my car to drive home. I would've stayed but I had school the next day and I didn't want my mom to worry either.