k a r r i s

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If I had a dollar for ever second that passed as Ashton and I silently glared at each other, I'd have enough money to treat myself to a super-sized chicken nugget meal at McDonald's. It seemed like the world continued to move, to expand, and to grow as the two of us did nothing but keep stationary. I could tell that Ashton had so much to say, but his wordless breaths were signs of his brain silencing him.

"Ashy,"

A young, whining voice, muffled by the walls of the Irwin home filled our ears. Ashton turned over his shoulder, then turned back to look at me with uncertainty. He was contemplating, I deciphered, by the way he opened his mouth to speak then closed it quickly when the words couldn't surface.

"Look," he breathed, "this is a bad time."

"Is everything..." my words faded, curiosity etched on my face as my eyes trailed from Ashton to the figure standing a few feet behind me.

Messy brown hair, pouty lips, and big, bright hazel eyes that matched the ones belonging to the hockey captain standing before me, were all traits of the little girl who was now hiding behind Ashton's legs. I gave her a smile, as she peeked her head, keeping her arms clutched to a bright green, stuffed frog.

"Sweetheart," Ashton sighed, bending down to meet the girl eye to eye. It was then, did this familiar scene jog my brain.

I was in San Diego with Calum, before he shattered my heart, when I ran into Ashton at an ice cream parlor. He was bent down on one knee, wiping the little girl's face with a napkin. And as I stood on the front porch, gazing in awe, I realized that the little girl was Ashton's little sister.

"Why did you get out of bed?" Ashton asked, pushing the girl's hair out of her face. "You're still burning up."

"You were taking long," the little girl explained with a raspy tone, "and my throat is dry."

"Let's get you back into bed and I'll bring you some warm tea to help your throat," Ashton picked up the girl, resting her on his hip before looking at me with guilt. "Sorry Karebear, but my baby sister is sick and I have to take care of her today."

"Don't apologize," I shook my head, "it's okay. We can talk another time." I smiled, "I hope she feels better soon."

I gave the two a wave, taking a step backwards before spinning around to walk down the path. As I headed back to my car, leaving Ashton to tend to his little sister, I tried to configure a new plan in obtaining the answers to my questions.

Do I go back to school and ask the hockey team?

Would they even tell me the truth?

Would Berkley know?

What is in the mystery meat in the cafeteria?

I guessed I delved too deeply in my thoughts to realize of the voice calling after me. It carried with the wind, almost like a whisper at first. But as I slowly unfazed myself and drifted back into a state of reality, did the whisper morph into a full fledged yell.

"Karris!"

"Huh, what?" My body whipped around to follow the sound of my name, but my two left feet savagely sabotaged me and I fell into the Irwin's bushes. "Ah! Nucking futs!"

Ashton bursted into hysterical laughter, running over to me to grab a closer look at the nerd flailing around in vegetation. My butt sunk straight into the bush while both my legs were shot upwards-- I mentally thanked myself for not wearing a dress, otherwise the dimpled hockey captain would catch glimpse of my pink-polkadot panties I got on sale from Victoria's Secret.

"Lauren! Look we've got ourselves a baby bush monkey!" Instead of being a gentleman and helping me out, Ashton continued to giggle uncontrollably, clutching onto his little sister who couldn't help but to giggle too.

"She's a pretty bush monkey," Lauren argued in between giggles, and I decided that she was my favorite Irwin.

My scowl, dripping with annoyance, soon faded into amusement when I noticed the uncanny similarity in the way both Ashton and Lauren laughed-- it was cute to say the least. Nevertheless, I was still stuck in a bush and wanted to get out immediately.

"It's funny, ha, ha," I groaned, grimacing as I tried to lift my body out of the bed of flora, but poking my hands with twigs instead. "But can I get a little help, please?!"

"Sorry babydoll," Ashton's laughter dwindled as he reached his arm forward. Grabbing onto his hand, he easily pulled me out of the current predicament.

"Thanks," I mumbled, using my hands to brush off the stray leaves and twigs that were caught on the back of my jeans. "What did you need, anyway? You called my name."

"My sister wants you to stay," Ashton declared, and with confusion I glanced at the little girl in his arms who suddenly grew shy, hiding her face in the crook of Ashton's neck. "She said she likes your shirt."

I dropped my focus to peer at the shirt that hugged my body. It wasn't anything special-- just a plain white shirt with a light green silhouette of Princess Tiana, and one of the scenes from the movies imprinted within the silhouette. It was a shirt I bought with Berkley last summer when Hot Topic was doing a BOGO deal on their Disney apparel; Berkley had picked out a cute Princess Elena top while I opted for this one.

"The Princess and the Frog is her favorite movie," Ashton mentioned, upon seeing my puzzlement. "I know there's school, but I can tell you don't want to be there right now. Is everything alright? Besides falling into a bush, your face is looking more stressed out than normal."

I shrugged, gazing down at my shoes, "it's been a long morning."

"Wanna come inside and talk about it?" Ashton suggested. I looked up at him to see that his body was moving in the direction of the open front door before him. "I need to get Lauren back in bed before her cold gets worse."

I didn't want to admit it, but Ashton was right. His super observant demeanor had kicked in at just the right time and I didn't want to be at school; I didn't want to walk through the halls of Willowridge High with an aim to learn all I can, all while trying to avoid catty, judgmental people.

Ashton was already inside somewhere by the time I came to my senses and entered his home. It was weird, at first, to be standing at the entryway of Ashton's house. But then, as I slipped off my shoes, and my eyes drifted to the walls decorated with several family portraits, I felt a rush of warmth. There was one photograph in particular that caught my eye, and I gazed silently at it.

It was a beautiful portrait of the Irwin family-- and I knew this because each person caught in laughter, had the same smile; the same aura of happiness. The photo was taken near a park somewhere, with the beautiful ocean behind them. Ashton, curly hair hidden beneath a hat, had Lauren in his lap, while a little boy was climbing on his back. Two adults who I assumed were his parents, held onto each other, chuckling as they gazed ever so lovingly at their children.

"Harry farted,"

"What?"

Ashton stood next to me, staring at the same photo as I, "that's why we were all laughing. My little brother let out a big, juicy one."

"It sounds like you had a good day when this photo was taken," I noted, looking over at Ashton with a grin, "how long ago was this?"

"Almost two years ago... when life was less cruel," his tone was laced with bitterness, and although the curiosity had me wanting to ask for more, I knew it was time for me to drop the subject and move onto ones that pertained to my own personal life.

I opened up my messenger bag, sticking my hand inside of the main pocket and pulled out Ashton's Biology quiz. Brandishing the stapled pieces of paper towards him, the high-marked exam was now in Ashton's hands. He stared at it for a moment, his thumb grazing across the red ink that marked the paper with an incredibly high score.

"Will you please tell me the truth about my brother?" I asked.

"Gabe was a hotshot and everyone knew it," Ashton kept his eyes on his quiz, flipping to the second page to examine each question. "And what was worse," he paused, finally looking back at me, "was that he knew everyone knew."

"He was a little cocky, even I could tell you that," I expressed, remembering all the times my twin had a sassy lip whenever he excelled in something.

"Karris, your brother used his charm to get his way," Ashton continued. "Because he was the big dog on campus, he used that power to get whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He could get any girl by just a simple wink; an extension on a term paper? Gabe used the fact that alumni would pull back in donating sums of money to the school if the hockey team lost. And let's not forget about Peter, Nolan, Frankie, and of course Calum."

I scrunched in my eyebrows, "I know Calum... but who's Peter, Nolan, and Frankie?"

Ashton let out a small, cynical chuckle, and crossed his arms in ire. I glared back, waiting for him to continue; waiting for an explanation of why these names were dropped in our conversation.

"Peter, who lives off of welfare and food stamps, switched schools after your brother revealed to the entire school that his mother was the lunch lady, causing everyone tease him about it," Ashton explained, "Frankie, the Minister's son, was shipped off to boarding school on the East Coast after your brother stole his phone during gym class and published personal text messages to Nolan. Nolan, who was the captain of the basketball team, was in a relationship with Frankie but he wasn't out, yet."

"What happened to Nolan?" I questioned, fully engrossed in every word Ashton spoke.

He sighed, a wave of guilt washing over him, "after being further humiliated by Gabe, Nolan jumped off of the overpass in the early morning hours."

"Wait a minute," my mind was working in steadfast mode, as pieces of memories from an evanesced world slowly came into view.

It was sometime in January, from what I could remember, when a boy from Willowridge named Nolan Aoki was found at the bottom of the 8-freeway overpass. I knew about this, not because of the news coverage, but because his older brother Nathan, played hockey at Brampcrest.

"Nolan survived," I mentioned, recollecting the fact from the endless reports our town saw.

"He's paralyzed from the waist down. That's not really living is it?"

"If all that is true--"

"--true?" Ashton laughed unamused, interrupting me before I could finish my statement. "Were the stories published in the Arden Heights Herald not enough evidence of Nolan's suicide attempt?"

"Not that!" I gritted my teeth, "I'm talking about my brother bullying Nolan... if that were true then how come he didn't get in trouble for that? I'm certain the Aoki family would've pressed charges."

"Press charges against Gabe? Do you actually know what you're saying?" Ashton let out a loud laugh, "Nolan was scared of Gabe; I know he lied about why he jumped off that bridge."

"If you knew my brother lied, then why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I was scared of Gabe too!" 

I became silent, not knowing how to feel but feeling everything all at once. My brain was thinking a hundred thousand thoughts at the same time, colliding against my skull with incredible force it was making me feel dizzy. Was what Ashton telling me completely true? Was my brother; my twin; my best friend the reason why three boys lost themselves completely? Was the boy I grew up sharing my birthday with; playing in the park with; and wished so much with, actually the cruel bully Ashton was making him out to be?

"I-I-I-uh," I swallowed, unable to find the words to express whatever I was feeling.

"It's a lot to take in babydoll," Ashton stepped towards me, resting a hand on my bare arm. My attention switched to the warm, tingling feeling that prickled my skin, instantaneously causing my heart to palpitate at a pace that was inhuman.

"A-and, um, Calum? What d-did my brother d-do to him?"

Ashton gazed at me with eyes filled with sorrow and wonder, and I just knew that his mind was running in circles of what to tell me. It seemed liked whatever conflict my brother had with Calum had to be notorious, otherwise Ashton wouldn't look so morose every time I asked.

"Look, what your brother did to Calum was detrimental at the very least," Ashton shook his head, "it destroyed him."

"Calum's alive, he's not paralyzed from the waist down, and he's one of the top dogs at school, so whatever was 'detrimental'," I air-quoted, "must've not been that horrible, right?"

Ashton only smirked, and instead of answering my question, simply stated, "I have a literature exam next Tuesday."

My face fell into smooth, displeased lines. I shot Ashton a scowl, not fond of his statement and the insinuation behind it. But I guessed I had no choice, as this was our prior deal.

"Get your books, I'll start tutoring you now," I told him.

"Are you playing hooky Miss Villanueva?" Ashton chuckled, "I'm impressed."

"Don't just stand there, tara na," I insisted, grabbing onto Ashton's hand and tugging it.

(translation: let's go)

"That's kinda nice," Ashton disclosed with a small grin.

I cocked my head to the side, "what's nice?"

"This," he lifted both our connected hands upwards, swinging it slightly.

My face grew warm, feeling awkward with the situation. When did Ashton start getting flirty? I didn't know how to react, and the more I thought about how I should react, did my mind start to drift from the current reality. And my face, well, it started to contort in ways I didn't mean for it to.

"You look like you're going to vomit," Ashton grimaced. "If you are, the bathroom is to the left."

"I'm not gonna vomit," with annoyance, I pulled my hand away from Ashton's clutch, wiping my sweaty palm on my pant leg, "that's just my face."

"I have an idea," Ashton pipped up.

"Which is?"

"I still have to cook my sister lunch," he began, "why don't you help me cook some soup for her, and quiz me on literary terms?"

"Deal,"

The two of us cooked up a storm-- well, kind of. Ashton tried to concoct a delicious meal for his adorable, sweet sister, while I altered whatever he was trying to brew in the large pot. It was amazing actually, to see someone so tough, who put on such a facade at school, have a big heart.

"Next question," Ashton held an open jar of salt above the steaming pot of soup.

In fear, I gasped at him, grabbing his hand and taking away the salt, "don't dump all of that in there, you'll give your sister heart disease."

"Sorry, sorry," Ashton held his hands up in mock defense.

"Why don't you just watch, and I'll add the spices?" I snickered, bumping my hip against his, causing Ashton teeter off to the side.

"Whatever you say babydoll," Ashton surrendered with a dimpled smirk. He jumped onto the countertop, grabbing an apple in the bowl next to him and took a big bite. "So I take it you got your cooking skills from your dad?"

"I learned a thing or two from him," I proudly announced, seizing the bowl of uncooked elbow macaroni and dropping it into steaming liquid. "Tell me what a red herring fallacy is."

"A red herring," Ashton began, swallowing the bit of apple he had in his mouth, "is a piece of literary evidence that is meant to distract readers or characters from the real issue."

"Can you give me an example," I challenged, placing the lid on top of the pot, and turning my head to look at Ashton with a grin.

Ashton rested his thumb and pointer finger beneath his chin, stroking it as he pursed his lips. He fell into deep thought, and after a few seconds, I began to teasingly hum the theme song of Jeopardy. Ashton shot me a disapproving glare, and I only giggled in expense.

"Tegan's confidence," Ashton blurted, and it was his words that took me aback.

"Excuse me?" I jeered, narrowing in my eyes with vexation.

"You heard me: Tegan's confidence," Ashton repeated, "it's a red herring."

"I meant for you to give me an example in a piece of literature," I reiterated.

"Tegan Loeli is the greatest, tragic piece of literature to ever not be written," Ashton spewed, "and her confidence is a red herring."

"How so?" I crossed my arms above my chest, curious as to what justification Ashton could possibly come up with.

"Her confidence is distracting you from the main issue; she's using whatever power she has to make you feel inferior so you don't realize what she's actually doing," Ashton explained.

"And what is she actually doing?" I questioned with an annoyed sigh.

"You're a threat to her," Ashton declared.

I chuckled, rolling my eyes, "you're lying through your teeth, Irwin. I'm not a threat. I'm a mouse; I live behind the curtain, and I'm the TV Guide while she's Vogue Magazine."

"See, you're proving my point and Tegan isn't even here," Ashton hopped off of the counter, taking a step in my direction till there was only a few inches between us.

My breathing hitched, and I leaned backwards out of panic. I gulped, nervousness embedded on my skin like a fresh tattoo. Ashton placed a few stray strands of my hair behind my ear, and with a whisper he concluded:

"She's distracting you, so you don't win... because she knows you will."

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I really liked writing this chapter a lot. Especially because more about Gabe's past has been revealed. He was, without a doubt, a bully. As the story continues, you'll find out more about what Gabe did, and exactly how he treated Calum.

Thank you all so much for being amazing, loyal readers. I wish I could update this story faster than I have been, because I hate to keep you guys waiting and waiting for each chapter. Thanks for being patient with me. 

Don't forget to vote, to comment, and to share this story with any of your friends. Thank you!!