Ashley woke up an hour later than usual, and yet she didn't feel bothered at all. She forced herself out of her bed and got ready to get to class. She scurried around the empty room, walking up and about as she unwillingly kept replaying what happened last night. She couldn't believe that she had actually managed to get the resolve to walk all the way over to Eros' in just lingerie and an oversized shirt.

She groaned and cursed herself for even bothering to go that far. Of course he would have a girl over. Of course he wouldn't be affected as much as she was. Of course he didn't feel anything towards her. Eros Huxley could have any girl he wanted, now that she thought about it. He was handsome, rich, driven—he was perfect.

Why would someone like him ever settle for her, be worried when they had a fight and beg her to come back?

He had everything, really. She sighed and decided that she really couldn't blame him. Plus, there was that gigantic fact that they weren't even dating to begin with.

He did nothing wrong.

So, why did it feel like he did? Why did Ashley feel like she had been cheated on?

She grabbed her share of the keys and was out thirty minutes later. She dragged her feet as she went to the Elite Building, all the while keeping a look out for Blake and hoping like hell she doesn't bump into him. She got a notification on her phone from her class group chat and nearly groaned out loud.

To all Elite Students.

Mr. Fernandass' morning class has been relocated to the Pioneer Building. You are to have a joint class with them, as he is unwell.

Yours,

Elite Building President,

Austin McLaren.

She sighed and shoved it into her pockets, making a u–turn and heading back down towards the Pioneer Building, which was right next to the main cafeteria where they had the food fight not to long ago. Ashley shuddered remembering how much of a hustle it had been to clean up the whole damn three story building. How the food managed to spread down the floors was still a mystery to everyone.

She got to the class just as the teacher was about to assign groups. Ashley sat at the very back and sunk on her seat, zoning out as she read out the group members.

"Simon, Jason and Austin will be joined by Ashley Crowther. Akira, who is not present, will join..."

Ashley looked up at the teacher then immediately swiped her gaze around the room to met Jason's excited brown eyes. She relaxed and shot him a grin back as relief slowly crept into her system. Blake apparently wasn't in this class.

Once the teacher was done calling out the groups, everyone moved towards their group mates, actually looking like they would get the work done. Jason stood up and walked all the way to where Ashley was sat. She tilted her head to the side and noticed then that Jason had a certain bounce in his step, and his shoulders suddenly seemed broader.

For a guy who loves food, he was in really good shape.

He was in a dress shirt that appeared to be tighter than usual around his muscular arms and his slacks hugged his strong thighs perfectly. Ashley was tempted to sneak a peek at his bum but figured he was already uncomfortable enough and instead chuckled when he asked her if she liked what she saw.

"You're starting to sound like Brock." She commented.

Jason scoffed and wrapped his arm around the back of her chair, watching as their other two group mates made their way towards them,

"So, what's wrong with you?" He suddenly asked, an unusual frown on his face.

Ashley purses her lips and leaned back, scratching her chin, "I don't know what you mean."

"You're not okay. What happened?" He asked again, now looking right at her.

He could tell something was wrong immediately she walked into the class. Usually, when Ashley knew she was in trouble or was being stared at, she would have a certain expression on her face and would look down and nibble on her lip. Today, however, she looked like she was ready to beat up anyone who tried to piss her off or met her eyes.

It was unlike her.

"I'll tell you later." She promised with a sigh. She really needed to stop surrounding herself with perceptive people for a while.

"Promise?" He said, holding his pinky out.

Ashley snickered, but wrapped her own around his taller one, "Promise." She said, and pulled her finger away.

"Then I'll walk you back to your dorm." Jason suggested.

"Careful there. Isn't she Eros' girl?" A new said.

Elliot took a seat in front of Ashley while another guy Ashley has never met before sat across Jason. Ashley looked at Austin, who had spoken earlier and frowned,

"I'm no one's girl."

Austin shrugged and leaned back on his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. Ashley felt Jason suddenly stiffen when he looked his way and frowned even more. She looked between the two before directing her attention to the other guy.

"You must be Simon."

He nodded and sent her a wide smile and a wave, before he looked behind him and started talking to some guy. Ashley sighed,

"Let's get this over with, yeah?"

They all nodded and leaned forward to start the assignment.

🔱🔱🔱

They got nothing done.

Ashley laughed at Austin, who was trying and failing at balancing a pencil on his nose. Jason had his jaw clenched and kept fidgeting on his seat constantly. Ashley made a note to ask him about that later in the day.

"So, tell me. How's it like rooming with Eros Huxley?" Austin suddenly asked, crossing his fingers together and placing his elbows on the desk in front of him.

Simon turned to his seat at that moment, his interest perked at the question as he sat down,

"You really are his roomy? It isn't a rumour?" He asked, speaking for the first time.

Ashley nearly did a double-fake at the sound of his deep, husky voice. She hadn't been expecting such a deep sound to come out of his mouth. She pursed her lips and met his almost black eyes. The more she looked at him, the clearer it was to see that he was a mix of Asian descent and Black. She pursed her lips, suddenly forgetting his question.

"Well? What's it like?" Austin pressed on, leaning closer.

Jason locked his jaw and let out a sigh, "What exactly do you want to know, dude?" He asked, his voice holding a certain ice to it that Ashley has never heard come from him.

"Whatever she can tell me."

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Ashley frowned and looked between them as they stared each other down. Austin let out a breath through his nose and smirked.

"It's not bad to know things." He paused, looking from Jason to Ashley.

"—what I do with the information however," he paused and looked at Jason, "—is what draws the line, don't you think, Ashley?" He finished once again meeting Ashley's narrowed gaze.

With one last glance at Jason, Austin got on his feet and walked away from their work station. Simon shrugged and grabbed his book, "Bell rang anyway. I'll send my part by the end of today, don't worry." He said, before he left as well.

Jason shook his head and let out a big sigh, before he looked at Ashley and smiled; raising up on his feet. Ashley followed his lead and packed up her books. Jason fell into step with her, his hands curled into fists in his front pockets.

"What was that?"

Jason raised an eyebrow at her in question.

"You and Austin."

"Oh." He paused and ran a hand over his chin, a frown on his face. He clenched his jaw.

He conclude that there was no point in keeping it a secret. They weren't friends, he didn't owe it to Elliot and he trusted Ashley, so he told her.

"He's been hooking up with the football coach." He revealed.

Ashley frowned, "What?"

"Austin. He's gay—or Bi, I'm not sure—and dating the football coach."

Ashley blinked at him blankly, not really processing the new information, "You're kidding."

Jason shook his head and put his hand back in his pocket, "I'm not, nor do I have a problem with it, I just—," he paused and cringed, "—don't like how I found out."

"How did you find out?" Ashley asked, and he told her.

She laughs at him, "No wonder you were acting weird when you were brought in."

He nodded with a sigh, "Now every time I see either of them I'm just automatically taken to that specific day." He said, waiting for her to put her things inside of her locker before they walked out of the Pioneer Building together. Of course, there were curious eyes following after them, but neither of them noticed.

"What about you? What happened this time?" He said shooting her a look that said he wasn't surprised something was up.

Ashley playfully shoved him for making that silent joke but then told her what happened yesterday night as promised. She spared him no details, because she knew that he wouldn't judge her.

Oh, how wrong she was.

"So, you were going to seduce him." Jason concluded with a curt nod and a convinced look in his eyes.

"No! I was—I was going to—."

"Seduce him." He interrupted with a smirk, "—by wearing lingerie. I never knew you were that freaky, Ash." He stated, shaking his head and adding a tsk for effect.

Ashley's cheeks flushed a bright red and she scowled at the path in front of them.

"I'm joking." He said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

She pouted but nodded nevertheless, taking a whiff of his cologne.

"Are you okay though? No wonder Blake was looking for you earlier."

"He was?"

Jason nodded. Ashley groaned and nibbled on her lip nervously.

"You know he doesn't care that he saw you cry, right?"

Ashley said nothing as she kicked a lone pebble in front of her.

"Come on, Ash. Hear him out. Trust me, you'll feel like an idiot after."

"Huh?" She asked, but he shrugged and tightened his grip on her shoulders.

"You're an idiot." He said suddenly as he shook his head.

She gasped and tried to shove him off her, but as expected, she didn't succeed.

"Tell me about yourself." She suggested and Jason frowned for the billionth time since the day began.

"Sorry, is this a job interview?" He joked earned an elbow to his stomach.

"I'm serious. I realized a while ago that I don't know much about you guys."

"Oh." He said with a chuckle, "I mean, I love food?" He begun and Ashley shot him a deadpanned look.

"Right, um, I live alone. My mother is a surgeon and my dad is a renowned Chief. He's got a few restaurants here and there. Oh, I have my own little start-up business. I sell original stuff like shoes, shirts, jackets, hats, you name it from my partnerships with companies like Gucci, Louis Vuitton or Ferrari. I'm actually working on coming up with my own clothing brand with fresh urban designs." He continued, "—yeah, that's pretty much it."

Ashley's eyes twinkled with pride as she looked up at him and he chuckles,

"There was no way I would have guessed."

"No, you're just terribly oblivious, Ash."

Ashley scowled and punched him on the stomach again, but not enough to hurt him, not that she even could if she tried.

"What about you?" Jason suddenly asks as he pulled his hand from her shoulder to let her go first up the dormitory stairs.

Ashley purses her lips, "My family's nothing special, really. I mean they're special to me, obviously, but—you get what I mean."

"I still want to know. There isn't anything you could say that would make me see any less of you. We're friends, if not best friends." Jason reassured her, a soft smile on his face as he looked up at her from the bottom of the stairs.

"Awww, we are best friends, Jason."

"You can tell me then."

"Well, my mother works at a flower shop. So now you know who to call when you need to surprise your girlfriend."

Jason's grin out widened as he climbed the steps after her, once she was a flight ahead.

"—and my dad is a detective."

Jason's smile flattered slightly, enough for her to miss it.

"As for what I want to do, I think I'd want to be a boss lady. At what, I'm not so sure." She concluded, gazing down at Jason with a slight smile on her lips.

"Yeah, you'd make a great and fun boss lady."

"Why thank you." She said, adding a curtsy for extra effect, "—that was sweet of you."

Jason scrunched up his nose and shook his head.

"I'm serious. If you ever had a girlfriend, she'd be really lucky."

Jason pursed his lips and looked away from her, "I do have one." He revealed as the rounded the corner towards the black hallway with grey, golden arowana wood flooring.

"Wha—?"

Jason nodded, a slow grin winding it's way across his lips, "I met her first at a club back at home. She was drunk and was going to puke all over herself so I held her dreadlocks back. I took her home and she actually paid me thinking I was an uber ride."

"Oh god." Ashley commented, chuckling.

"Yeah. But I called her the next day and paid her back. We met the next day because she wanted to thank me. She recognized me then from my Instagram. She likes my brands and showed me her Instagram. It was like she was an ambassador for my brand." Jason paused and let out a chuckle, "—she showed me the outfits she pulled off and I think I started liking her at that point. I drove her home and told her I wanted to see her again. She's back home in Kenya though, because she's coming back for good this summer."

"Awwww. Do you have a picture of her?" Ashley asked as they stood outside Ally's dorm.

Jason nodded and fished for his phone in his right pocket. He pulled it out and after a few taps and swipes, showed Ashley what she looked like. She was gorgeous. She had short dreadlocks on her head, was tall, curvy and had nice golden skin. Her face was the most flawless she had ever seen.

She looked back at Jason and her smile grew bigger, "She's beautiful."

Jason grinned proudly and put his phone back in his pocket, "That she is."

"Do the others know?" She asked as she brought her fist up and pounded it against the black, wooden door of Ally's room. The door number was carved with a golden, blocky font and the door handle was a nice, smooth gold as well as the key.

He shrugged, "They've never asked." He said, a smirk on his face, "—but I want to keep her as my little secret for as long as I can."

Ashley's grin widened, "Then I won't tell a soul."

Just then, the door swung open and Casey's head poked out, a frown on her face.

"Won't tell a soul what?" She asked, looking at the two of them expectantly.

Ashley rolled her eyes at her comical best friend and gave Jason a quick side hug goodbye.

"Bye. Thanks for today." She rushed out and walked in, pushing Casey inside with her.

Casey shot Jason a deadpan look, telling him that she knew, and that she wasn't stupid, "Seriously, what?"

He frowned, "I might tell you later." He dismissed and craned his neck at Ashley. He grinned and he waved at her, "Later, Ash."

"Baiii." She answered, grinning proudly and waving vigorously at him.

Casey looked between them, her eyes narrowing suspicious at a now retreating Jason, "You know," she paused, closing the door, "—you two would make a weirdly cute couple." she concluded, shutting the door.

"I agree." Ally said from behind both of them.

She was seated in the living room, a licorice stick hanging between her lips.

"No. Jason and I are just buddies. Trust me."

Casey frowned, "Come to think of it, does Jason have a girlfriend?"

Ally turned to Casey, raising an eyebrow in thought, "Wow. I actually have no idea."

Ashley rolled her eyes at them and joined Ally on the coach, grabbing the popcorn from the table in front of them.

"Oh right. I heard Alessio is coming to Grudgeford." Ally announced.

"Who's Alessio? Are they a band or something?"

Casey suddenly stopped mid step, before she went on and occupied the seat next to Ashley.

"There's no way. I can't even handle one Huxley, let alone two, and now, you're telling me, they'll be a third?"

Ally tugged at the licorice, cutting a bite off it before she spoke, "A fourth. Donovac admits tomorrow."

"Who?" Ashley asks, being the only one confused.

"What? Why are you telling me this now?"

"Guys who are Alessio and Donovac?" Ashley asks again, only to get ignored.

"I literally just found out too."

"Does your brother know? About Donovac?"

Ally shrugged, "But I'm a hundred percent sure he knows about Alessio. they are pretty close, or so Mika tells me."

Ashley sighed, and waited it out, for one of them to notice her floating a thousand feet in the air above them.

"Alessio is Casey's ex, Ash." A deep, gruff, familiar voice said, "—and Ally and Eros' cousin."

Ashley whirled around and nearly doubled over when she was met with a very shirtless Seb in the kitchen, chopping what looked to be onions. Brock was beside him, wiping sweat from his forehead; wearing only an apron and some shorts.

"What—? Why—? You're feeling better?"

Seb nodded, sending her a small smile before his eyes flicked not so subtly in Ally's direction.

Brock's head suddenly poked out from behind Seb's shoulder, grinning at her, "That's right, Ash. We had a foursome. where were you?"

Ashley choked on her own saliva, coughing violently as Casey and Ally whirled around, scowling at the nasty bastard,

"Brock!" Casey exclaimed.

"Yes, baby?"

"Ugh." She groaned and sunk back on the coach.

Ashley looked at a concerned Seb when she finally recovered from her coughing.

He smiled and shook his head, "We lost at jenga against them, so, we're cooking for your girls night." He thankfully explained.

Ashley sighed in relief, but then frowned again.

"Shirtless. Yes, that was the specified detail." Seb explained further.

Ashley flushed and immediately looked away from him, "Oh." she said, clearing her throat, "—yikes. Well do it's not like I'm against it." She joked, with a teasing wiggle of her eyebrows,  "—wait, then, what was in it for you if you won?"

Seb looked away from her and pursed his lips. Brock grinned and poked his head from behind Seb once again.

"A foursome!" He said proudly.

Ashley let out a huge gasp, looking between Casey and Ally, knowing they had actually agreed to such a deal.

What have they become!

****

Seb and Brock had left.

Ashley had asked Casey about Alessio, having never heard of him until today. Casey said that she met him  when she moved out of her old neighborhood.

"He was the first friend I ever made, and I actually met Ally, Seb and Brock through him. Of course and Eros, but we've never really talked to each other that much, only acknowledged each other's presence. It's honestly no different from how we were now, but I mean, I know him and he knows me."

"Alessio had a frustrating on again off again relationship until I gave up and moved on. I broke up with him and went to Grudgeford with everyone else. Alessio was home school because his father was very protective of him and was against him enrolling into the Academy."

"But now he's coming." Ally sang, a grin on her face.

"What about Donovac?"

Ally and Casey exchange a silent look before Ally sighed and decided to tell her,

"Donovac is...." She paused, "—our stepbrother."

VOTE. COMMENT. AND KEEP BEING AWESOME.

©