Chapter Text
I smile and snuggled closer to the warmth that enveloped me. Me and Calum were seated at the couch, watching some chick flick. His arms were wrapped around me, holding me tightly as if I was something precious to him.
“Ashton,” I heard him mutter beside me. “Ashton!”
I chuckled. It was cute of him, chanting my name. “I can very much hear you Cal. You don’t need to particularly scream when you’re right next to me.”
“Ashton!”
“I said I can hear you Cal.” I looked up at him weirdly.
“Ashton!”
I got a little pissed. “What?!”
“ASHTON FLETCHER IRWIN! WAKE UP!” I jolted up upon hearing my full name. Oh where was I again? Right. At school. I looked around and saw my classmates laughing. Michael and Harry smirking, shaking their heads.
I turned towards Ms. Ackerman, scratching my head “Yes mam?”
Then she smiled at me. It wasn’t the ‘kind’ smile. It was the evil smile. All teachers are evil. She quickly scribbled on a note pad before tearing the pink page and handed it to me. “Detention Mr. Irwin.”
“Yes mam.” I groaned internally.
XoXoXoXoXo
The bell rang and students sat up, leaving for their next classes. I groaned as Harry and Michael approached my desk. I just got detention for daydreaming about a guy even though I’m a guy. Fuck. How screwed up can I get?
“I never took you for a daydreamer, Ash.” Michael smirked, leaning closer to me. “What were you thinking of? Or rather who.”
I rolled my eyes, “No one in particular…” I mumbled, looking at the floor.
“Oh, quit the act Ash. We know it was Calum who you thought about.” Harry joined in, chuckling. “You can never fool us, mate.”
“H-how did you know?” I stuttered, “I haven’t told anyone yet!”
“We saw you checking out his ass a few days ago during break. That wasn’t the first time we caught you though.” Michael replied, with Harry nodding.
I groaned. Great, now they know it too.
I’m Ashton Irwin. People call me Ash for short. I’m in my senior year in high school, along these two idiots, Harry and Michael. Needless to say, they both were idiots who have been through me, thick and thin.
I smiled sadly at them. “Could you please not tell anyone about this? It would never work between me and Calum, he’s as straight as a pole, crushing on Maddie as you all know it.”
So Calum, is one of my childhood friends. We grew up together ever since we were little. Around this campus, He and his best mate’ Luke, are one of those ‘popular’ dudes, excluding the other boys Michael, Harry, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn.
I’ve been pretty much having these thoughts ever since few months ago. I don’t exactly know when or why or how it happened.
It just did.
Sometimes, I would catch myself just simply staring at him whenever we’re at the cafeteria or anywhere I can find him. It’s stupid really. It’s really stupid because he’s as straight as a pole.
I could see the faces on Michael and Harry’s faces; pity. They both knew that about Calum’s little - no, scratch that – HUGE crush on Maddie.
Harry jumped and gave me a super tight hug, crying. “Oh no! My baby boy is experiencing heart break! How cruel!” I playfully rolled my eyes at how pathetic Harry can be even with situations like this.
“Sorry mate. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us.” Michael patted my shoulder. He then pointed at Harry with an accusing face. “And you! Stop taking him all for yourself!”
Harry shook his head frantically, hugging me tighter. “Never. You’re just jelly I can hug him like this and you can’t.” He stuck a tongue at Michael.
Michael looked at him, disbelievingly, “I can very much hug him like that.” He scoffed playfully before yanking Harry away from me and hugging me for himself. A cry of protest came from Harry.
“Guys, I’m not your boy toy.” I scolded, pushing Michael off. “You both clearly forgot the fact that I have to go to detention.”
Harry blinked his eyes in realization. “Ah! So that’s what it was! I knew I forgot something, I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it.” Michael’s eyes widened, realizing that too. “Oh yeah!”
Idiots. They’re all idiots.
I shook my head, standing up from my desk, swinging my bag over my back. “Remind me why I’m still friends with you people. Well If you’ll excuse me, I have to go.” I said, heading outside the door.
“-Wait!” Harry called out, “Me and the rest of the boys are heading over to your house today!” Talk about being uninvited. Well, that’s what a childhood friend does. I guess.
I looked at their pleading faces. “Fine.” I mumbled, giving in. “Just don’t arrive before me, okay?” I warned.
They both gave themselves a hi- five.
Childhood friends.
XoXoXoXo
I walked down the hallway, trying to find my locker. I’ve been here for three years and I still can’t find my own locker till now. I’m a genius.
I shut the locker and was surprised to see someone I don’t usually talk to. I smirked, looking at the blonde boy who’s piercing blue eyes stared back me. “Well this is a bit of a surprise, Goldilocks.”
A scowl emitted from his face, “It’s Luke, thank you very much.”
“Whatever you say, Goldilocks.” I teased. So this blond over here is Luke Hemmings, Calum’s best friend. Another childhood friend of mine. This school’s pretty close to our neighborhood so it wouldn’t be really surprising if I had many childhood friends in this school. It’s pretty much odd for Luke to be here, talking alone with me, not since we were kids. He’s usually with Calum all the time, and we don’t talk much in comparison with the rest.
“So, whadaya want?” I inquired. I saw him fidgeting, looking left and right frantically before stopping to take a deep breath.
“-Hold on. You’re not confessing to me right?” I joked and he looked at me weirdly. I got flustered and shook my head. “N-no it’s nothing, go ahead.” Stupid me. Because thinking about my feelings for Calum suddenly makes me very delusional making me think every guy is gay.
Luke huffed. “Here it goes…”He closed his eyes and trailed off before speaking really fast, “Ireallylikealeisha.”
I raised my eyebrows. Was he rapping? “What? I didn’t hear you.”
He whispered close to my ear. “I like Aleisha…”
I blinked.
Then I blinked again.
Few more blinks until I finally understood. “OOOHHHH!”
“Sshh!” Luke hissed. “Don’t tell anyone.” He warned.
I raised my eyebrows. “Then why tell me? Isn’t this matter supposed to be ‘hush-hush’?”
I stared at Luke, who, intern, started looking down on the floor, pretending as if it caught his interest. He paced back and forth, doing the summoning ritual before looking up, fully red. “Well… you’re close with her and I want you to, you know, help me?” He asked shyly.
“Luke that is so not you. Stop being such a girly girl.” I snorted, amused by this new side he brought out.
“I’m not girly…” He mumbled.
I rolled my eyes. Okay so, Aleisha is our childhood friend (not much of a surprise in there) but I would label her as ‘best’ because she has been the closest among all. Along with my best mates Michael and Harry, of course. “I don’t even think you even need my help, Lukey. You’re not invisible to Aleisha, heck, she’s also our childhood friend. So you just have to…
LET IT GOOOOOO~” I sang, looking at the totally-not-amused blonde. “…and confess to her.”
Luke ruffled his hair. “I would have done that if it was that easy, genius. But she can’t take the hint! No matter what I do, she’s so oblivious.” He groaned.
I smirked, “How bout’ we test it.” I scanned around the area to see Aleisha. “Perfect timing. She’s heading over here.”
“-what? –Oh hey let me go!-“ “I pushed a protesting Luke towards her and whispered “Go get her tiger.”
Luke, the idiot, tried escaping but his efforts were in vain. She was already in front of him.
I’m sure I could’ve sworn Luke’s face screaming Fuck you at me, but, hey? Who am I to blame, he’s the one who wanted my help in the first place.
Aleisha waved at us smiling brightly. “Hey guys!”
Luke chuckled nervously before replying with a meek ‘hey’. I waved at Aleisha. Then, I pretended to look as if I was in a hurry for something. “Oh, hey Aleisha! I’m sorry but I got to hurry for my detention class, see ya later!” I looked at her with an apologetic smile before pretending to run towards the detention room. I hid behind a pillar, where I could at least see them from afar.
I could pretty much see them talking, but I couldn’t hear anything. Luke scratched the back of his neck, offering a few laughs here and there. They got along pretty well. When Aleisha was about to leave I could see Luke doing the maniac ritual before stopping her from leaving. After few exchanges of words, they waved and Aleisha left.
I saw Luke heading towards my direction. And by the look on his face, It probably didn’t go well.
“So, what happened?” I asked. Luke groaned. “I asked her if she could to the movies with me this Thursday. I obviously meant just me and her, but she thought that You, Mikey, Cal and the rest of the boys would be tagging along and so she offered to invite them too.”
I laughed though I felt a bit sorry for him.
A bit. At least the chances of him and her getting together are more than Calum liking me. “Wow Lukey, She totally friend-zoned ya. Sorry mate’.” I patted his shoulder.
“Fuck you too.” Luke groaned, “You embarrassed me, in the hallways, in front of many people. I told you it wouldn’t work.” Well, okay true. Maybe Aleisha was an idiot, being totally oblivious. Okay, she was.
“Hmm…” I thought deeply. I guess I could help this poor guy over here. “Okay fine, I’ll help you get her.” I saw Luke pumping his fist in the air muttering ‘finally!’
“Come over to my house later in the afternoon. The rest of the lads are coming too.” I said,“But right now, I need to go to the detention room.” I heard Luke snicker, “I heard it was because you were daydreaming.”
“How did you know?”
Luke smirked, “The word spreads fast. You’re pretty popular you know.”
I snorted. “Yeah okay. I got to go now. Bye.” I waved before turning around walking towards the detention room.
“Sure, see ya later!” I heard Luke say before leaving. Luke was a pretty fun guy to talk to. I always thought he hated me or was some kind of emo freak. I guess that proved wrong.
XoXoXoXo
I opened the door not surprised to see the not-happy-at-all-teacher. She was tapping her foot against the floor really fast so I guess she was cross or something. Did she break up with her new boyfriend? How can teachers even have boyfriends? I will never understand.
What I was surprised about was seeing the guy who caused me to get into detention. Not directly, but still. It was Calum Hood, sitting on the chair while drumming his fingers on the desk looking extremely bored. When he saw me, his eyes lit up like a really happy puppy- oh gohd I should stop thinking like this. I smiled back and gave a little wave. I felt happy that I saw him but my happiness changed when I forgot that I was still in detention.
I looked the not so happy teacher. “Hey mam.”
The teacher snapped back, “Don’t ‘hey’ me. You sir should know the meaning of being in here.” Maybe I don’t know the meaning of being here, but I can’t voice that out because, yea you know. Double-detention.
“Yes mam.” I looked down while replying.
“Take a seat Mr. Irwin.” She said and I did just as told. I sat next to Cal.
The teacher cleared her throat. “So what you two would be doing today is to write a-“ She was cut off from the buzz of her phone that was on the table. “Excuse me.” She said before she took the phone in her hands. I could see her eyes turn even more furious when she looked at the caller id.
Probably the boyfriend who cheated on her. She took the phone and stormed off angrily outside the classroom.
Calum laughed when she left. “Ms. Ackerman’s ex is calling. Poor her.” And I’m correct. Wow. I should become the next Sherlock Holmes.
Oh wait, I can’t because I don’t even know why I like Calum. It’s not so elementary. I shrugged before looking at Calum and staring at his gorgeous eyes. Play it cool Ash. Act like you normally do. “So uh, what’re you doing here in detention to get Ms. Ackerman so mad?” I asked.
Calum shrugged. “I dunno. She muttered something along the lines of me looking like her ex. I didn’t even do anything.” I laughed. At least he didn’t actually do anything wrong on purpose.
“So, why did you get in trouble Ash?” Calum asked, “You didn’t daydream and just got caught right?” He asked jokingly. He expected me to laugh along with him but I didn’t. How did he know?
He’s eyes grew wide, “You actually did get in trouble for daydreaming! I should become the next Sherlock!” funny, I was thinking of that earlier.
“So,” Calum wiggled his eyebrows teasingly, “Who were you thinking about?” You.
But of course, I can never say that so I have to make up something up on the spot.
“Pancakes.”
“What?”
“I said I was thinking about pancakes.” That is officially the most stupidest answer I can come up with.
Calum did let out his hearty laugh though. And that was so adorable- I should stop thinking like this, it’s driving me nuts.
“Dude, you’re crazy.” He lightly punched my arm .
Yes, yes I am.
Calum’s phone vibrated so he took the phone out of his pocket and began smiling. “Hey Sided check this out. Maddie agreed to going on a date!” That line hit me like a ton of bricks.
I smiled weakly. “Wow Cal, you succeeded, congrats man.” Fuck why do I have to do this.
Calum grinned back. “Thanks man, but I’m not actually there yet. This girl has been the girl of my dreams ever since a middle school and she’s just so amazing. I never wanted any girl more than her. And you know what, she even…” Calum continued blabbering about her. And I was just there, smiling and listening to every word he said.
Luckily, at this moment on, Ms. Ackerman opened the door with a really happy smile plastered on her face. Thank goodness she came at the right moment.
“Okay boys, Detention dismissed. You guys can go home.” Ms. Ackerman said smiling brightly. Talk about mood swings. I’m actually grateful for that.
It’s barely been 15 minutes and we’re already sent off to our homes. That was short because before we knew, it Ms. Ackerman had already grabbed her purse and sped up to the exit.
“Wohoo!” Cal jumped, his fists up in the air. “Whoever that guy was, we should really thank him! Man, I thought I was gonna die.”
“But is was barely 15 minutes.”
Calum faced me seriously. “Minutes in school is hours, Ash. Hours. Eternity. Never forget that.” He began to smile stupidly and dashed outside the door, “Here I come, freedom!”
I shook my head at his stupidness. Why do I even like him? I sigh. I will never become Sherlock Holmes. I ran out the door and caught up with him. “Wait for me you dickhead! Don’t leave me alone!” I shouted and heard him laugh across the hallway.
Why the hell does he run so fast.
XoXoXoXo
It was currently six and I was waiting for Luke to arrive any minute by now. I wasn’t some girl who waited and pranced around the room so I decided to watch my favorite series. DBZ, yeaa. How can anyone not like DBZ?
I was in this part where Goku was fighting Vegeta and hell yea. “Throw away that Kamehameha Goku!” I screamed at the laptop, fully aware that he can’t hear me.
At this same moment I heard the door bell ring but I ignored it. Few moments later I heard my mom shouting downstairs. “Ash! It’s your guest, Hemming’s son! Oh dear I’m so sorry Luke, Ash is just being a lazy bum.”
I shouted loud enough so they can hear me. “Guys, I heard that! And I’m not lazy!”
“Then get down here this instant and stop being rude to our guest!” with that, I lazily got up and walked down before mumbling about the fact that they interrupted the best part of the fighting scene.
“It’s just a cartoon-“
“ANIME.”
“-It’s just an ‘anime’ Ash hunny. You can re-watch those episodes again.” My mom rolled her eyes at the correction. “Go show Luke around meanwhile I go prepare the food.”
I looked at Luke (no pun intended) who had an amused expression on his face. Jerk. “I never knew you liked cartoons so much.”
“A.n.i.m.e.” I gritted my teeth. “It’s anime.”
Luke shrugged, “What’s the difference?”
Aghhh this guy is so aggravating. “Anime has better plot. Personally people describe the same as cartoons but there’s a difference with the western style and this one. Anime is from Japan it’s so much better and way cooler than cartoons. You see, we call anime fans otakus and I’m one of those.”
Luke just looked (no pun intended, again) even more puzzled.
“Ahhh.” I ruffled my hair, “You know what? I give up. Come on, let’s go up to my room.” I walked up stairs with Luke tagging along.
My room’s a mess. Stacks of magazines were lying on the floor, along with the pair of socks I didn’t keep. But I’m a guy, and that’s how we roll.
I saw Luke standing awkwardly, looking around the room before deciding to sit on my bed. He looked at my laptop and saw what I was watching. “Wow man, you seriously watch these.”
“They’re pretty cool kay?” I defended, “And you interrupted the best part!”
“Weren’t you the one who invited me here?” Oh, right.
“Whatever Goldilocks.” I snorted and heard him protest about his name actually being Luke.
Luke looked (do I have to repeat myself on the no pun intended?) at me. “So, what’s the plan Einstein?” I thought of myself as Sherlock, but okay.
I smirked. “Easy. Since you basically mess up whenever you talk to her, why not just text her?”
Luke muttered, “Isn’t that what cowards do?”
“But you are a coward.”
“…Shut up.”
I love teasing Luke, that’s what I’m best at when it comes to him. Because that’s the only way I could get the conversation going whenever we’re with the rest of the boys. So you wouldn’t really find it surprising if he hates me. It’s shocking that he came running for love advice instead of running to punch my face.
“Okay, so hand me your phone.” I said, opening my hand.
“Why?”
“I’m gonna see if I can turn it into a burrito, of course I’m going text her stupid. You probably don’t even know what to type.”
“Fine.” Luke groaned, handing his phone to me. “Don’t scroll through the other messages though.” He warned.
“Sure sure.” I said. It wasn’t like I was interested. It’s not like there was going to be juicy stu-
Okay, maybe I’m a little interested.
But first, I need to get back to work. I saw their past conversations and it’s amazing how Luke makes it seem as if he shows no interest in her. I decided to start the conversation like how he normally does.
Luke: hey =)))
Within a few seconds, there was a reply.
Aleisha: hey! ^^
“As expected, Al does respond really fast.” I commented before Luke pushed me to hurry up. “Okay okay.” I rolled my eyes.
Luke: so I was wondering..
Aleisha: ?
“Hhm. Here comes the question.” I said proudly, looking all so smug. Luke, beside me, rolled his eyes, “Just get on with it.”
“Sheesh don’t be so pushy.”
Luke: i was wondering if we could be more than friends?
Now it was all up to Aleisha.
Aleisha: Sure! i’d love to C:
We looked at each other, surprised. Was it that easy?
Luke: wait, you’re serious right??
Aleisha: ofcourse. =D I’d love to be bestfriends with you.
you have to ask Ash first though! Hahahaha just kidding xD
I slapped myself. Of course. It was too good to be true. “Aleisha is such an idiot.” I groaned, typing away.
Luke: no, I mean more than just bestfriends…
Aleisha: sure! we could be siblings! I can be your twin! ^^
Now both me and Luke face-palmed. “How can she be this clueless?” I groaned. “It’s not working Lukey, we have to go with another method.”
I looked over at the blonde who was clearly helpless. Luke fell on the bed, sighing. “So Einstein, what’s plan b?”
“Hmmm.” I pondered, “Clearly we’re doing this straightforwardly. How bout’ you use subtle methods instead?”
“Like?” Luke raised an eyebrow
“Well, you could flirt?”
“How is that subtle.”
“Oh I don’t know! Just show your appeal. Clearly Luke, you’re one of the hottest guys in school.” I swore I could’ve seen him blush. “So, do you get what I mean?”
“Yea. I’ll try I guess…” Luke mumbled. He looked at the floor, face flustered.
It was pretty much silent after that. What is there to be expected? The last time me and Luke hanged out was ages ago. Afterwards, nothing much happened.
I looked at his phone in my hand. He probably didn’t notice it was still with me since he was still lying down on the bed. He was being over-protective about his phone so I pretty much got curious. What was in it?
I know I shouldn’t look at the conversations but- Aghh it’s killing me. Maybe just one look. Maybe he wouldn’t notice.
I slowly scrolled up, looking over at Luke to see whether he was looking or not. Once the coast was clear, I began scrolling through the messages.
There wasn’t anything juicy in here. It was boring. I then searched his whole phone and found this app named, “My Diary.” Pfft, my diary? Does it mean Luke writes in his little Diary?
Just when I was about to click the app, Luke sat up the bed and was facing my direction. His eyes widened in realization. “My phone!”
I smirked at him, “Took you long enough. I can clearly see an app named My Diary.” I looked at him teasingly. “Does the little Hemmings write diary entries? Pretty interesting."
“Give it back.” He warned, standing up from my bed, “Give my phone back, Irwin.”
“Oooh, calling each other by our last names, eh?” I teased, “What would you do if I don’t give the phone back to you?”
“If you won’t, then…” He looked at me with an evil smirk. “…run.”
And with that, he leaped forward and I started running around the room while he chased me. I got caught soon enough (With the small room and those long giant legs? How could I not get caught). He pounced on me and we both ended up lying on the bed.
I still hid the phone away from him, so he started tickling me.
“Hahaha- Stop- Hahaha- Luke!” I tried to contain my laughter as Luke began poking me. Why do I have to be so ticklish?
Luke smirked, “Not until you give my phone back, Irwin.” He continues tickling me, “Now, hand me the phone.”
“Never!- Hahaha-ouch!” I tried to stop laughing, pushing the phone far away from him. “-Get off me!”
“-Uh guys, are we interrupting something?” I heard a familiar voice asking. The tickling stopped and me and Luke turned towards the door, finding Michael and Calum with shocked faces.
“Interrupting what?” I raised an eyebrow, looking clearly confused.
As if on que, I saw Harry pushing Michael, trying to make his way in. After he saw us, He started screaming, “HOLY SHIT GUYS WHAT ARE YOU BOTH DOING!”
I still looked puzzled. What was wrong with us? Was there something on my face?
Clearly not understanding, I stared at Luke, who was inches away from me. My face heated up and we both stared before coming into realization.
We pushed each other away, trying to explain the situation. “Uhm, It’s not what you think guys!” I tried explaining. Oh God. How embarrassing can this get? Calum is starting to think wrongly.
“Y-yea!” Luke stuttered, “I just wanted my phone back but Ashton kept it away from me.” They all looked at us with disbelief.
“What are you even doing here, Luke?” Calum asked, raising an eyebrow, “I tried calling you to ask whether you were going to come but you never replied.”
“My phone was on silent mode, and I’m here because, uhh, err…Ash?”
“Ash?” All three of them looked puzzled.
Luke looked at me, begging for help. I shrugged, “You should just tell them the truth. It’s not like they’d tell anyone, Luke.”
Luke sighed before giving in. “Fine…” He muttered and began explaining the whole story to them. By the time he finished, Michael and Calum were on the floor, laughing.
“Oh my god!” Calum started, tears about to come from his eyes, “I never knew Aleisha was so oblivious!”
“Hi five!” Michael agreed, bursting into a fit of giggles.
Harry was still in his state of shock, so all of us just shrugged and left him like that.
The rest of the hangout went pretty well afterwards. The rest of the boys wanted to play the games on my playstation. Can't they get their own? Sigh.
Tomorrow would be the day where operation: ‘Get Aleisha’ commences.
And little did I know that giving Luke a helping hand would change the rest of my life.