“Ashley, are you awake?” My aunt asked softly, knocking at the door.

“Yes,” I replied, putting aside my laptop and getting up to open the door.

“How are you feeling?” She asked hesitantly, entering the room with a cup in her hand, which I noticed was my favorite hot chocolate.

She looked amused and handed me the cup.

“Thank you,” I whispered, taking it from her hands, and felt immediately better. “I’m fine now.”

“Of course,” she rolled her eyes and sat on the bed, noticing my laptop. “It seems like you're fine now. Great. We can talk about what happened earlier.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I shrugged, avoiding her gaze.

"Ashley, you need to give me an explanation," my aunt demanded in a stern voice.

I sighed, rubbing my forehead and leaned against the bed. I knew I was testing the patience of my aunt but I didn't know how to explain everything to her.

I was grateful that she didn't ask me anything in the car and gave me time to cool down.

"Ashley?" I could sense the irritation in her voice as I felt her burning gaze on the side of my head.

I cleared my throat, "I'm sorry."

She let out a sigh and grabbed my hand, rubbing it slowly. "Please tell me, what happened?”

I bit my lip, mentally debating for an excuse but then decided against it. "I had a panic attack."

She gasped. "What? But how? You were fine when you went out. What happened?" She stood up, clearly not expecting this.

"I don't remember it clearly." I lied, glancing at her from the corner of my eyes.

She pursed her lips in disbelief, but didn't push me further, instead asked, "Okay, but how did you end up in that area?"

"I wanted to try a different route. I’m sorry. I wasn't thinking straight," I mumbled, not knowing what to say.

How would I explain to her that someone almost blew my cover?

She pursued her lips and said, "I’m worried about you, Ashley. I thought you were doing better but after this panic attack… I don't know what to say anymore. I think you should talk to your parents and-"

I immediately cut in, "No. They don't need to know about this."

"Ashley, they’re your parents."

"It was just a panic attack. I don't want to trouble them," I replied, ignoring the ache in my chest.

"Fine. But you need to visit a doctor." She sighed, too tired to deal with me.

"Aunt Jenna, you're taking this too seriously." I let out a laugh but stopped when I saw her serious expression. "Fine. But if it happens again, then I’m going to consult a doctor, okay?"

She nodded and got up, walking towards the door. "Finish your homework. I'll prepare lunch for you."

"You're not going to the office?"

She turned, looking straight at me, and I noticed the uncertainty in her eyes. "No. I don't have any meetings today so I'll rest at home."

"You don't need to babysit me," I said, crossing my arms.

"Can't I take a day off?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. Her expression was enough to explain how pissed she was.

“I'll be down in fifteen minutes.”

“Good,” She replied and left the room.

We finished lunch in peaceful silence. At first, Aunt Jenna was cautious towards me, as if she were afraid that I would have another panic attack, but when she noticed that I was behaving normally, her posture relaxed.

After that, we decided to go grocery shopping which was her decision so she could spend more time with me.

***

*unknown pov*

One week has passed since her panic attack and her life was going back to normal. Her friendship with Melissa was growing stronger. Surprisingly, Ashton never bothered her again and she couldn't feel better about the silence she was receiving from him.

But, there were also certain thoughts bugging her.

How had Ashton discovered those things about her? And why didn't he ask her anything afterwards? What if he told Melissa about the panic attack?

She didn't find anything strange in Melissa’s behavior, so it was safe to assume that Ashton didn't tell her anything. But how long would he keep her secret?

She had too many questions and there was only one person who could give her the answers, the person she never wanted to talk to.

In her break time, she walked to the bathroom and checked her reflection. She was a nobody, a loser in an oversized hoodie with dead looking brown hair hidden under a cap and dull eyes which were covered with her thick glasses.

The fact that she had bags under her eyes were a reason of late night studies. Mr. Sinha was going to give a math quiz and after that only he would select the two best students for AMC to represent the school.

Two girls entered the bathroom and gave her a side glance of disgust before staring ahead in the mirror. Ashley stared at the girl whose name she remembered, Skyler. Her hair was pin straight and a deadly, dark colour, her bangs messily covering one side of her face. Her eyes were electric blue, her eyelashes rolling like a wave and her eyebrows practically perfect. Her tight black skirt was showing off her curves.

Ashley felt weird staring at her, but she couldn't help feeling jealous. She used to dress up like Skyler but now she wasn't even close. She shook her head and reminded herself that she didn't need to think like that. She wasn't at school to get the attention of a bunch of losers.

People who judged someone because of their looks should be avoided.

Skyler looked at her in confusion and asked, “Do you need something?”

“No,” Ashley mumbled, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

“Then, stop staring,” Skyler replied harshly.

“Yeah… sorry.” She mentally scolded herself for being such a fool. What was wrong with her? Why was she suddenly feeling so low?

Skyler rolled her eyes and washed her hands, giving Ashley a side glance. Her friend, who was busy on the phone, lifted her head and narrowed her eyes. Before she could opened her mouth to say anything, Ashley bolted out of the bathroom.

She huddled against her locker and twisted the combination on her lock, grabbing her lunch box from her bag when she felt someone staring. She snapped her head in the other direction and found Ashton against his locker, which was two rows beside her.

She shouldn't have done that because as soon as her eyes locked onto his ocean blues, she was unable to turn away.

His gaze was so intense, taking her breath away, and she was unable to blink. Their eyes connected like magnets. He looked captured, entranced in her eyes, somehow. He cocked his head slightly to one side and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

Her stomach flipped when he straightened up and walked in her direction.

Her heartbeat accelerated far too fast with the every step he took towards her. Her palms were sweaty as she wiped them on her jeans. Nervously, she looked around and found the hallway empty.

She needed to breathe.

“Mr. Sinha asked me to tell you something.” His voice was smooth but still had a hint of huskiness.

She hesitantly nodded, not knowing what was going on.

“The quiz will be tomorrow. So prepare yourself.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, not getting it at first, but then her eyes widened, making her breathing speed up faster than normal. Her heart nearly bounced out of her chest.

Oh shoot!

She sucked in a big gulp air, noticed Ashton’s burning stare, and took a step backward. Quickly, she turned on her heels and started walking away.

“You can't avoid me forever, Ashley Conner.”

His voice made her stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide as saucers as she turned around to look at him. “I know that,” She whispered, her eyes once again meeting his piercing blue ones. “But I suggest you stay away from me.”

She held her chin up, suddenly feeling confident with his stunned expression and took the chance to walk away.

Ashley kept her pace fast as she entered the cafeteria, sliding in next to Melissa and putting down her lunch.

“Oh, hey, I got a cheese burger. Wanna bite?” Melissa beamed at her, pointing towards her own tray.

Ashley offered her a small smile, shaking her head, but couldn't say anything as she saw, out of the corner of her eye, the lanky outline of him.

Oh God!

Ashton waltzed to their table and she felt his hand slightly brush hers, sending a warm feeling inside her. He hadn't sat with them for the past week, and suddenly he decided to join them?

It was like Melissa sensed her inner turmoil as she turned toward him and cocked her eyebrow, “Why in the world did you decide to delight our table with your presence?”

He looked down at the table, playing with the straw of his milkshake, and she caught the faintest hint of a mischievous grin on his plump, soft lips.

“Well,” He started dramatically, and tilted his head towards Ashley and locking eyes, making her heartbeat pick up, “I thought I could make a new friend.”

He smiled at her, a big, wide grin that made her heart just die, right then and there. It was a cute grin, like a smirk, but playful. “What do you think, Ashley Conner?”

What game he was playing now?