《University Minibus Above》

Ashley whirled her head around so fast, she could have sworn she felt her brain shake. To say that she was shocked would be an understatement though his revelation explained a lot. The place was very feminine in nature, and she could tell from the moment she stepped in that this was a woman's design. There had been very subtle hints, from the carpets on the bottom floor, the very detailed kitchen, how it was positioned such that the sink was in front of the window and the islands where fruits and such would be placed rested perfectly in the middle. 

Blake met her gaze with his own, "So, in short, it's haunted." He revealed, his face as straight as it had ever been.

"I—It's wha—?" 

He chuckled, "No, I'm kidding, but it is off limits, so if you're going to stay here try not to stay at night because of the lights, yeah?"

Ashley nodded and turned back to the view in front of them. The moon was out and the street lights were on as well. Grudgeford University looked livelier than ever to her in that moment as cars pulled up to the parking and drunk couples stumbled to their respective dorms, unaware of their eyes watching them. She could see the cafeteria and Elite Building from where they stood, but the other building were blocked because of how huge the two were compared to the cabin. Only a handful of people used the path they were on, but for those who did, they couldn't help but turn their heads and gaze up at where Ashley and Blake stood; before locking eyes with either of them and looking away, gossiping and whispering among themselves.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

"Mmhmm. I'm glad I bumped into you." He said, sounding smug as he puffed his chest proudly.

"What was she like? Evelyn." She asked, turning and leaning her back on the rail so that she faced the door. She would bring a mop and a bucket to start cleaning up when she had the time. The thought of running into the students from the building across them however, almost made her think otherwise. 

Almost.

Blake let out a breath through his nose before he too turned to face the door they came in through. He had been in Grudgeford for most of his school life, so he would be lying if he said he didn't know Evelyn as well as he did. There was also the fact that he was friends with both Eros and Ally since they were little.

"Evelyn was a sweetheart. She was nice, lively and had the biggest heart I have ever seen to this day. She made Grudgeford fun before it's reputation changed. The Academy was more like a utopia than a place to bring your spoiled children. It wasn't just a place for rich kids, it was mainly meant for students who were struggling financially. She would take in kids from all around the world, fly them out if they needed to be and offered them free education and guaranteed job placements. Literally anyone could apply as the requirements weren't that hard to meet." He paused to take a breath.

"Life was so simple and pleasant when she was around. Eros and Ally were at their happiest, Gregor barely showed up and everyone was just having the time of their lives. Evelyn always took it upon herself to make sure that everyone was comfortable. If there was ever an issue she would personally be involved in the dispute and often come to the best conclusion that benefited both sides. 

"When the news of her passing was announced the Academy was never the same. People started to lose hope, arguments arose and when no one made an attempt to step up, the school turned to shit. Gregor went into a deep depression as he had been mourning his late wife and Eros and Ally were too young and shocked to try and take charge. Her death was really unexpected.

"The school became divided, more and more issues arose and people's true colours started to show; what with teachers not caring anymore. It became unruly. People did whatever they wanted. They bullied each other, slept around, employees started slacking off and the students were free to do whatever they wanted. I remembered a time when there was a fire that broke out in the university section, because of a dispute between the Elite and the Novice students. 

"The sections themselves became gangs and fights broke out on the daily. Gregor snapped one day, and started building the T.S.D.A as an attempt to scare everyone, since most of them were sponsored and had nowhere to go. He slowly became the authority they needed but no one expected. At first, no one took him seriously, thinking that he was trying to fit into Evelyn's shoes. 

"He quickly grew to be fear by everyone, however, when he started sending students to the T.S.D.A, where it slowly gained the reputation it has today." Blake paused as he pointed at the building staring back at them. "He took away the privilege of the students who ended up there, starting off worse by demoting them from students to workers for a period of time unknown to them. Some would work easy jobs for longer days, others would work hard jobs for fewer days, and sometimes he would be unpredictable and play around with the dates because he could. 

"Gregor became a tyrant." He paused as he let out a sigh and lowered his eyes at the people walking along the path below, steering clear of the T.S.D.A.

"He became the scary man people knew today. He used the Academy as his way to mourn and get over Evelyn's death. He stopped all the scholarships programs and increased the fees of all the Academy sections, completely changing the purpose of the school in the process. Though he let the ones who already got accepted finish their studies.

"—that's the history you won't see anywhere. All that became nothing but a memory to everyone." Blake finished with an exhausted sigh. "—I'm just happy I saw it at it's peak."

They had both moved from standing by the rail to sitting in front of it on the dusty ground, still facing the door. The night was quiet, with the occasionally chirping of crickets on the ground below them, and the rustling of leaves from the trees around them and at the Forrest in front of them. It was a calm night, a bit windy but calm nevertheless. Majority of people were in their respective dorms, so it was quiet, with disregard to the cars zooming past the school.

"So do people in the T.S.D.A still work to date?" Ashley asked, hugging her knees closer to her chest as she shuddered from a gust of cold wind that breezed past her.

"Yeah, but it's not as bad as before." Blake explained, "—you choose where you want to work and for how long everyday until you're finished with your hours. Gregor also doesn't over see the punishments anymore."

"Who does?"

"The school Dean. You saw him a while back at the auditorium. He's a tough guy to crack, but talk to him nicely and he can give you a small sentence."

Ashley remembered the man from before. He was the guy no one was paying attention to as he talked about the coming exams and whatnot. He was a short man that looked to be in his mid-thirties, with a head full of blonde hair, a beer belly and a weird sense of fashion. Ashley remembered him being dressed in a baggy beige suit, red and blue sneakers, and a black baseball cap worn sideways above his head.

"Though I hear he's a bit of a perv, so people try not to get involved with him." Blake added, raising on his feet and dusting off his butt, "—we should start heading back before the old gate man notices we're here." 

Ashley scoffed and rose to her feet as well, following Blake's lead as they walked out of the rooftop; switching off the lights as they did. Once they made it outside, Ashley automatically wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to shield herself from the cold. A few beats later, a warm jacket was placed on her head, before a sweet but manly scent blessed her nostrils. She smiled up at Blake from below the jacket in silent gratitude before she pulled her arms through it and zipped it up.

"So, Minsook calls you Blakey—boo." She begun, "—I really can't picture her saying that. She's so badass."

Blake scoffed as they made their way back towards the T.S.D.A, "She's a sweetheart. Trust me, she wouldn't hurt a fly."

Ashley let out a nervous laugh, suddenly feeling conscious of the jacket wrapped around her shoulders, "Maybe so, I mean, I don't know her as well as you do." She paused, "—speaking of which, tell me about yourself."

Blake raised and eyebrow at her, but contemplated about his answer, "Well, I'm currently just helping out my dad with work. I usually go after classes and come back around this time, then go to bed and repeat. He's a co-operate CEO. Took the job over from my grandpa who retired a long time ago so naturally, I'll take over after my dad." He paused to catch his breath as the dormitories begun to rise into view.

"I enjoy it, really, it deals with cloud computing or data storage if you will. It's all computer stuff which is a field I've always been interested in. I'm doing IT as an added bonus so I can have an idea of what it entails and know the basics of it. My mom is more or less a work at home mother, raising my two siblings. They're toddlers so they need the attention." He finished, with a shrug.

"Oh, a tech wizard." Ashley as the grew closer to the dorms.

"But of course, someone has to be."

🔱🔱🔱

It was finally the day. The trip to Fregate Island was today. To say that Ashley was looking forward to it wouldn't do her justice. Anyone could tell how excited she was just from looking at her. She has never been to an island before, let alone on a plane. As she was getting ready, Ally had told her that they had the whole island to themselves for three weeks. Of course, she had brushed her off as a joke, but as she dragged her suitcase towards the awaiting 12-seater mini bus. She approached her friends, the reality of the trip slowly sinking in as she sent them a smile while they watched her close the distance.

Blake stood leaning on the door of the black Mercedes Sprinter with his arms crossed, looking fresh and ready for the journey ahead of them. He was clad in a simply white shirt and blue, fitting jeans.Of course, him being his extra self, completed the look with a black and gold fanny pack hanging over his shoulder. Next to him stood Casey who was by the truck of the golden and black school bus.

She was dressed in a pair of loose fitting khakis, a plain white blouse, a denim jacket and casual sneakers. She held a single totte beige bag on her side. Ashley's excitement only tripled when she saw her friends, glad that she gets to share such an experience with all of them. 

"Hey, bestie." A familiar voice said.

Ashley looked but and saw Jason's head poking out of the window above Casey and immediately grinned back at him. He placed his arms out and crossed them on the window sill, waiting for a reaction. He scoffed when Casey sent him a death stare before she addressed Ashley.

"Are you sure you got everything? Passport, Id and boarding pass?" She asked, doubt shinning in her brown eyes.

Ashley nodded and crouched down to open the truck a few feet away from her when a large, veiny hand beat her to it. Taken a back because she hadn't heard someone behind her, she straightened up and turned to face the person. She stiffened and immediately looked away from those hard, familiar eyes.

Reece met her eyes with his own blue ones, before he cocked his head to the side and a smile snaked across his full lips. He too straightened his back. His lips parted and he spoke,

"Seriously." He began, pulling the duffel bag he had on his shoulder down to his arms, "—I'm starting to think meeting you wasn't a coincidence." He finished, then briefly lowered his eyes to the trunk.

Ashley could only chuckle, not knowing what to say as this was the first time they had ever addressed each other directly. He sent her one last smile before he walked past her and Casey with his suitcases following behind him, and his bag held loosely on his right hand. He nodded at Blake who acknowledged him and stepped slightly to the side to let him through the door in to the bus.

"You've met Reece?" Casey asked, bringing Ashley's attention back from taking as many whiffs of his cologne as she could.

"Yes, kinda. Remember that one time I asked you about the T.S.D.A? We didn't really talk though." She revealed, seeing Jason cock a questionable eyebrow at her.

"Oh, right, apparently he was there because he took the blame for something he didn't do." Jason revealed, a knowing smirk winding it's way across his lips when both Casey and Blake sent narrowed gazes his way.

He shrugged, "Just saying." He looked back at Ashley as he slowly disappeared in to the bus, "—he's not a bad guy."

Ashley shook her head and bent down to put her suitcase in the truck. The space was almost full but it was enough for her to put her stuff in. A smile wound its way across her lips when she realized why he decided to take his suitcases with him. Once she realized herself, she quickly dropped her grin did her business quietly with the others watching her. 

As they got in to the bus and took their seats, however, she couldn't help but look for those beautiful blue eyes once again, only to find them already looking at her. He was seated next to Jason, who was only a few seats behind where her and Casey were. She quickly turned away, her heart doing somersaults in her chest as she did. She gulped, Jason's words playing at the back of her head.

He's not a bad guy.

She took in a deep breath and looked outside the window. Her breath hitched in her throat and she choked on her own saliva. The last person she wanted to see stood a good distance away from her with his phone on his ear. 

Eros stood besides his car, as if he was about to get in but had stopped in the process. He was dressed in the most casual way she had ever seen. He wore a simple, plain, light blue shirt, black fitting jeans and casual black sneakers. His intimidating eyes were already on her as well and his jaw was clenched tighter than she had ever seen. 

She gulped and immediately felt terrible. She felt like she had been caught cheating, but then she remembered what went down between them that night in his room and that feeling was immediately replaced with fear and uncertainty. Before she could look away first, he broke their eye contact by looking down to her right, causing her to unwillingly do the same.

How she wished she hadn't.

She once again met with dark green, smug eyes, that seemed to get more sinister the longer she held them. A shiver ran down her spine. She broke away from Donovan's eyes, suddenly feeling uneasy with the situation. Just once, she wanted to have a nice, Huxley male free day, but it seemed that it would be impossible since they were everywhere in the damn school. She resulted to staring at the seat in front of her, when more people begun to file in to the bus. A few minutes passed when she finally gave in and looked back to where Eros had been before. 

He wasn't there.

She let out a sigh and looked behind her, scanning the faces of everyone else that was in the bus. There was thankfully no other familiar face except for Ally who was sat at the very back right. When she noticed Ashley staring, she stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes in greeting, knowing her roommate would do the same. Ashley leaned back on her seat and let out a sigh, placing her head on the headrest behind her and closing her eyes.

"Don't worry. He won't try anything as long as you stick with any of us." Casey had reassured her as she glared at where Ashley could only assume Donovan was seated.

Oh, trust me, I don't plan on leaving your side, Case.

🔱🔱🔱

The drive to the airport wasn't as long as she had expected. They filed out of the bus, having reached after the other two the were packed in front of them. The airport parking was full of people rushing towards the departure with their luggage despite it being 7 am. Ashley had spent the trip going over everything with Casey in an attempt at her having a rough idea of how airports work. She waited on her turn to pull out her luggage and tried her best to keep her eyes ahead of her, not wanting to look eyes with Donovan. Casey stood behind her and Jason was a few metres in front of her in the line. Eventually, they joined the other two groups. 

She was able to spot Brock and Seb in the crowd and sent them a grin, too distracted with the view and having her boarding pass and passport ready to think much of it. 

"You ready?" Casey asked her as they approached the building.

Mr. Heine was with them at the very front of the group leading them towards a screen. He examined it for a few second before he pointed to their right and they all flocked after him. Once Ashley was close enough to the screen, she looked at the boarding pass in her right hand then back at the screen, seeing their flight details appear. She took note of the terminal they were supposed to be in and proceeded to follow Mr. Heine, wanting to get the full experience for future. 

She looked up at the signs above their heads and happily followed along, content hat it was in fact, easy to follow. They reached what looked like the luggage drop where everyone started weighing their luggage to see whether it was the right weight or they had to pay for it. Ashley only had one bag and a small carry on that would come in handy since they would be making three stops and would need to freshen up. Casey had made it her goal to prepare her for everything and anything. 

Once they were done with checking in their luggage, they all got their tickets that showed their seats, boarding time and the gate they were all supposed to go to. They also got their luggage tags which had a bare code and details for their luggage in case they get lost. Ashley could only assume what it must have looked like to have a group of twenty seven people follow after a short, scowling man who walked like he had nails poking at the bottom of his heels. 

She scoffed and shook her head, silently laughing at her own joke. 

They reached security and made the line for the TSA scan. It took forever for everyone to get through as there was already a line waiting for them when they got there. There were the occasional people who didn't know that liquids weren't allowed at the airport but other than that the process was a breeze. Once everyone was through, they were allowed to shop around for the essentials they might need or forgot to get before they regrouped. They still had about an hour and fifteen minutes before the plane left.

Eventually, they made it to their gate and checked in two more times, once at the gate and again just outside the plane. 

The seats were all randomly chosen, so Casey helped Ashley look for hers and explained to her how to find it in case. Ashley's seat was to the right of the plane. She was on the aisle seat and next to two students she had never talked to before. They seemed a bit tensed when she sat down besides them but eventually, they loosened up and went about their business. Ashley sighed and reached for her bag, pulled out her loyal earbuds and stuffed them into her ears.

This is going to be a long 24 hours and—

She looked at the time displayed on the monitor in front of her, a grimace forming on her lips.

—twenty minutes.

VOTE. COMMENT. AND KEEP BEING AWESOME.

©