Ashley’s point of view

After much begging, I finally managed to convince Andy to drive me to school. It wasn’t because I didn’t mind walking of course; I’ve been walking to school for years, it was just because I wanted to spend as much time with him possible. The ride to school was quiet, even though I tried to make conversation with him all the way there. I could tell he was still worrying about Justin.

"Andy baby, how many times do I have to tell you that I don’t care about Justin seeing us together?" I said finally as we pulled into the parking lot. He didn’t reply; he just stared straight ahead, an unreadable expression on his face. He pulled into an empty parking space and killed the engine.

"I know you don’t Ashy. But how many times do I have to tell you that I care? You have no idea how badly you would get hurt." He whispered, still not looking at me. I laughed.

"Andy," I began, but he quickly interrupted me.

"No Ashley, don’t ‘Andy’ me. Don’t you remember his threat? He has no problem turning against you. At all. And that was only if you befriended me. Imagine what he’d do to you if he found out we were…" He trailed off. I was silent for a moment; I didn’t know what to say to put him at ease. It was true, Justin would lose his shit if he found out Andy and I were dating.

"You’ve seen how bad I get it already. But, you were his best friend for years. I’m just so scared you’ll get it ten times worse, and I don’t want to be the reason you get hurt." He said, looking at me with pleading eyes, begging me to understand. I saw tears glistening in his eyes and sighed.

"I know baby. But soon, we won’t have to worry about Justin." I replied, taking his hand in mine.

"Maybe," Andy muttered before grabbing his bag from the back seat and stepping out of the car.

I groaned and copied him. As we were walking towards the entrance to the school, I tried slipping my hand into Andy’s, but he quickly pulled his hand away from mine and shoved them in his pockets.

"Anndyy." I whined. He just shook his head without looking at me.

"Not now Ashley." He muttered under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear. "And if Justin sees us walking together, punch me or something. Pretend you’re beating me up."

That took me off guard, and I stopped suddenly in my tracks.

"N-no. What the fuck Andy?" I stuttered, staring at him in shock and disbelief.

"Look Ashley. I can handle a beating, I’ve been getting picked on for years."

"Yes! But never from me!" I cried.

"Well you’ve had no problem with it before. You haven’t done shit about it before. Why start now? Might as well just join in." Andy said harshly before walking off.

"Andy wait!" I called, starting to go after him. A heavy hand on my shoulder stopped me. I turned around and came face to face with Sandra.

"Let him go Ashley." She said with a small, sad smile on her face.

"But," I began, trying to go after him again.

"No," Sandra said, holding me back. "He’s in one of his moods. You need to just let him chill on his own. He’ll come around."

I sighed and stopped fighting her.

"Good. What’s got him so worked up anyway?" She asked, letting go of my shoulder.

I paused. Did Andy want his friends to know we were dating?

I really don’t see a problem with his best friends knowing, and I don’t think he would either… But he should be the one to tell them. I thought to myself.

"Ashley?" Sandra said after a moment of silence. I shook my head and turned my focus back on her.

"Oh, yeah sorry. Uhm, it’s about the whole me being friends with you guys thing. He… He doesn’t want to see me get hurt when Justin finds out." I responded after a moment.

"Understandable." She replied, nodding her head slowly.

"No, not understandable. How many times do I have to tell you guys that I don’t give a flying fuck about Justin or my reputation? They can fucking suck my-"

"Ashley." Sandra said, cutting me off. "I know you don’t care. We all know that. But he does. He cares about you Ashley. He just doesn’t want to see you get hurt, and he has a reason to be worried. He’s been getting the worst from Justin for years."

"I know." I sighed, a little bit exasperated. "But he fucking asked me to beat him up if we ran into Justin while talking to each other! Don’t you think that’s being a bit… I don’t know… Fucking stupid? I mean… He cares about me. I fucking get it; he doesn’t want to see me get hurt. I understand that. But I fucking care about him too! Doesn’t anyone realise this? What makes you think that I want to see him hurt… Especially by my hands!"

Sandra sighed. “Ashley calm down. Andy’s just like that. He’s always been like that. He always puts friends before himself, no matter what. He doesn’t think he’s important or worth anything or anyone. Do you know why he gets picked on more than anyone?”

I was stunned. Andy actually thinks that about himself? He’s always seemed so confident, so sure of himself. I mutely shook my head to Sandra’s question.

"When we all first started high school, Justin used to pick on all of us pretty equally. CC got it pretty bad one time, and that’s when Andy decided that he had enough of that shit. He went up to Justin and acted like a complete ass; mocking and making fun of Justin, making sure he pissed off Justin enough to become the main target. He did it so he wouldn’t see us get hurt quite as often."

I didn’t reply; I didn’t know what to say. I always thought Andy was picked on the most because he was an easy target, not because he made sure it was him and not his friends. I felt myself tearing up a bit and coughed awkwardly just as the bell went.

"Come on, we better get to Maths," Sandra said quietly with a small smile. I just nodded and followed her, not caring if anyone saw me with her.


Andy’s point of view

I know I was a little harsh on Ashley, but I had to make him understand. He couldn’t be seen with me, he just couldn’t. It wasn’t as simple as just saying, ‘Fuck it with my reputation, I’m friends with the Outcasts and I’m dating Andy Biersack!’ He’d get his ass kicked. And it would be because of me. I wasn’t worth him getting hurt.

For the good part of the morning, I completely zoned out in all of my classes. I didn’t even respond to any of Ashley’s texts. I was just too worried about what I would have to do after Chemistry.

At lunch, I could tell CC wasn’t feeling any better than me; he sat there in complete silence, pushing around the food on his plate instead of shoving it hungrily in his mouth like he usually did. I silently got my food that I’d never eat and sat beside him. After about ten minutes of not talking with the rest of our friends, Jake cleared his throat.

"What’s with you guys? Andy, you’re usually silent, but you look terrified to death. And CC, we can never usually get you to shut up."

CC didn’t look up from his plate of food. Was he seriously going to make me tell them? I kicked him lightly under the table, but he didn’t even look up. He just continued pushing his food. I sighed heavily.

“Our Chemistry teacher is making us go to the office after class to report the bullying.” I muttered without looking up.

“Well that’s good!” Sandra exclaimed, grabbing my hand. She paused for a second and quickly pulled her hand away, awkwardly looking down.

“Yeah, sure. If they do something about it. If not, we’re dead.” CC said, looking up.

“CC, buddy, don’t worry. They’ll do something about it. How could they not?” Jinxx asked.

My phone vibrated and I pulled it out of my pocket, ignoring Jake’s mutter of agreement.

Hey Andy. You don’t have to respond I guess, but I’ve decided I’m coming with you to the office, as support. Or backup if you need it. Principal knows me and Justin are friends, he’ll believe me if he doesn’t believe you.

I looked back up with my friends as Jinxx was finishing his sentence.

“Besides, they can’t not believe the five of us.”

“Five?” CC asked, looking at Jinxx.

“We’re coming with you.” Jake responded before Jinxx could.

I cut CC’s protest off. “Six. Ashley said he’s coming too.”

I ignored the mix of shocked looks and cheers my friends gave me and replied to Ashley’s text.

… You have no idea how much that would actually mean to me babe. I’m so sorry for the way I’ve behaved today. It’s just… I don’t know. I’m not worth you getting beat up. I’m not worth your pain. It’s not worth it. I’m not worth it.

I sighed and sent it. I returned back to pushing around my uneaten food and waited for his reply. It came not even five seconds later.

You’re honestly a fucking idiot baby; of course you’re worth it. And fyi, it hurts me more than Justin ever could when you say you’re not. I’ll meet you after you Chemistry class, kay?

I sighed and was about to pocket my phone when it vibrated again, showing that I had another text from Ash.

Oh, and stupid? I miss you. :) xoxo

I smiled and turned to CC, who was still looking down at his uneaten food.

“Buddy,” I muttered quietly so that only he could hear me. He nodded once to show he was listening. “It’ll be fine. I promise. So eat, or you’ll be hungry later and I’ll never hear the fucking end of it.”

He looked up at me, and I gave him a grin. He grinned back and started shoveling his food into his mouth. Yup, our CC was back.

All throughout Chemistry, I was sending worried looks to CC, texting Ashley, and staring at the clock. However, this was the first time that the minutes seemed to go by like seconds instead of the other way around. I just didn’t want this class to end, ever.

But it did, and Mr Norman was waiting for CC and myself at the front of the class once the bell rang. I could tell CC didn’t want to do this either, as he was moving as slowly as humanly possible to pack up his stuff even though he barely had anything out. I heard Mr Norman sadly chuckle from the front as he watched us.

“Guys, I know you don’t want to do this, but it’d be easier just to get it over with, don’t you think?
Plus the outcome will be good. You both wont have to worry about the bullying anymore.”

“That’s what you think.” I muttered to myself as I swung my backpack over my right shoulder and pulled out my phone to send a quick text to Ashley.

We’re leaving now. You know where my Chem class is?

I kept my phone in my hand as I slowly walked to the front, CC not far behind. My phone buzzed.

Yeah, see you in a few seconds. And stop stressing baby! It’ll be fine, promise.

I smiled a little, nerves still making my stomach tie itself painfully in knots, and pocketed my phone.

“Sir,” CC said slowly, a little unsure of himself. “We asked a few friends to come along to back us up… I hope that’s okay?”

“Are they getting bullied too?” He asked us sadly.

CC and I nodded. “All but one,” I added softly.

“Then yes,” Mr Norman said, looking from myself to CC. “It’d be best if they came along. Will they meet us there?”

I shook my head.

“They should be waiting outside our classroom actually.” CC muttered, looking down at his boots.

Mr Norman nodded, grabbed his bag from his desk and started towards the door, looking back once to see if we were following, which we weren’t. He gave us an encouraging smile.

“Come on guys, it wont be as horrible as you think.”

CC and I looked at each other with wide eyes, sighed, and started to follow Mr Norman out the door. Sure enough, all our friends were waiting outside, including Ashley. I looked around me quickly, and after seeing that no one was around except for my friends and Mr Norman, I threw myself into Ashes’ arms. He giggled slightly when my surprise hug nearly knocked him over, and wrapped his arms around me.

“Hey Brighteyes, everything will be okay.” He whispered in my ear, rubbing my back gently to try and calm me down.

“I’m really scared Ashley,” I muttered into his hair. He just nodded and continued rubbing my back until someone let out an awkward cough. I froze and pulled back from Ashley slowly; I had forgotten there were other people here.

I looked over at my group of friends and smiled sheepishly. CC grinned and Jake let out a wolf whistle. Jinxx didn’t say or do anything for a moment, but then his face broke out into a large smile.

“Wait,” He started, his smile growing larger. “Are you guys… Official?”

I looked down at the floor, finding an interesting speck of dust right by my left boot. I felt my cheeks heat up and looked over at Ashley, who was already looking at me, asking permission with my eyes. I grabbed his hand and intertwined his fingers in mine.
“Yes.” I replied, smiling slightly, still really embarrassed and never taking my eyes off of Ashley. “He asked me to be his boyfriend last night after our date.”

“Aweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh.” Jinxx, CC, and Jake said all at once. Mr Norman stood there grinning and Sandra didn’t say a word.

Ashley looked over at the group and smiled. “I’m here for moral support. And if for some reason the principle doesn’t believe you guys, he might believe me because they know I am, sorry was, friends with Justin.”

Mr Norman stopped grinning. “Justin? As in Justin Kellond?” He asked.

We all nodded. I looked at him wearily as he sighed.

“I should have guessed. I’ve had issues with him in the past; Acting out in class, teasing kids, the list goes on. I have had to send him to the office in the past for his behavior, but I’ve never thought he’s actually gone to the point of threatening other people.”

“And carrying out the threats,” Sandra muttered quietly to herself. Mr Norman heard her.

“What do you mean by that?” Mr Norman asked, turning to her. Sandra blushed and looked away. She obviously thought her comment would go unnoticed. To my surprise, I spoke up when she stayed silent.

“Nearly almost threat he’s ever made to us, he’s carried out. Like, beating us up for example. We’ve all had a few run-ins with him.”

Mr Norman had a clear look of shock on his face. “He- He’s b-beat you up before?” He stuttered.

I just nodded and looked back down at the ground.

“It’s one of his favourite things to do. He loves picking on them, especially Andy.” Ashley said, whispering the last part quietly.

Mr Norman didn’t say anything. I peeked at him from under my fringe and saw him staring at me, his eyes full of pity. I dropped my gaze back to the dust speck on the ground.

“Right, okay.” Mr Norman said after a moment. “We’re going to the office.”

The seven of us walked to the office in silence, my hand never leaving Ashley’s. I didn’t care who saw, or who knew at this point, because in all honesty, all I could think about was what was going to happen. I started shaking slightly in fear and nervousness. Ashley squeezed my hand lightly and started rubbing circles on it with his thumb.

“It’s fine Andy, I’m right here. We all are. It’s okay baby. It’ll be okay.” He whispered over and over again in my ear to try and calm me. He continued for the entire walk, and it was working until he reached the doors to the office.

“I can’t do this Ashley.” I moaned quietly. “What if they don’t do anything about it? What if nothing happens to Justin? Me and my friends would get it ten times worse that we do now. I wouldn’t be able to handle that. Worst of all though, he’ll somehow find out that you were involved. He’ll hurt you. I can’t risk that Ashley. I cannot do this.”

He turned to the rest of our group that were standing at the door waiting for us.

“You guys go ahead. We’ll be right in.” He said, giving them a small smile. The nodded and followed Mr Norman into the office. Ashley watched them until the door closed, and then turned to me.

“Andy. You can do this. If you wont do it for yourself, do it for your friends, for me. For us. Andy, if you wont do it for anything else, do it for us.” He said, hugging me tightly. I melted in his grasp and let out a strangled sigh as I tried not to burst into tears. Ashley just hugged me tighter until I regained my composition. I slowly let go and looked into his eyes.

“Okay,” I whispered quietly. He smiled and grabbed my hand. Together, we walked into the office; ready to face whatever the future would throw our way.


Ashley’s point of view

Once I calmed Andy down enough, we walked into the office, hand in hand. When we got in, we saw Sandra, Jinxx, CC and Jake sitting on chairs in front of the main desk. I sat down next to Jake and Andy sat slowly beside me, still holding tightly onto my hand.

“Where’s Mr Norman?” I asked Jake quietly. I’ve always felt really awkward talking louder than a whisper in the office, yet I have no idea why.

“Went to go talk to the principal first.” Jake replied, mimicking my whisper. If it was just because I was whispering or because he felt awkward too, I didn’t know. We fell into a nervous silence and for the next five or ten minutes I sat, holding Andy’s hand tightly in mine, listening to one of the secretaries type away on her computer.

Finally, the door to the principal’s office opened and Mr Norman and Mr Wallace, the principal, walked out.

“Hello,” Mr Wallace said, looking over at us. “I’m ready to see you guys now.”

I felt Andy tense up beside me and I rubbed circles on the back of his hand with my thumb to try and sooth him. Mr Norman cleared his throat before beginning to speak.

“I have a lot of work to get done, so I need to get going. You guys will be fine.” He spoke the last part quietly, looking directly at Andy. Andy just looked at him with fear-filled eyes and nodded slightly. I knew that Mr Norman wouldn’t stay; teachers never do once they send you to the office. I would know; I’ve had my fair share of office trips because of my friendship with Justin.

Mr Wallace waved us into his office, but no one moved. Andy let go of my hand, so I stood up slowly. This seemed to give confidence to the others, as they began to rise one by one. CC and Andy both sighed quietly, and were the last ones to stand. Silently, without looking at one another, we filed into the small office, with Jake in the lead. Once the last of us were seated, Mr Wallace closed the door and made his way over to his chair. He sat and began to look at us individually. Once he got to me, he paused for a second and gave me a small, tired smile.

“Nice to see you again Ashley.” He said. It was sarcasm, obviously. My last office visit wasn’t all too great, but in my defense, it wasn’t entirely my fault. It was Justin who was in the wrong, I just happened to be with him. I returned Mr Wallace’s smile.

“So,” He began slowly, looking at the seven of us seated in front of his desk. “Mr Norman said you were all here on account of Justin Kellond?”

“Yes sir,” CC responded quietly when no one else spoke up.

Mr Wallace nodded. “We’ve had problems with him in the past. Name-calling, teasing, out-bursts in class. However, Mr Norman said that your situation is different. Can someone explain what he means by this?”

No one said anything; we all exchanged quick, nervous glances. Andy just stared intently at his hands that were in his lap. I cleared my throat.

“Justin has been threatening them, bullying them relentlessly, but the type of bullying he has been doing goes way beyond name-calling. He’s even carried through on some of his threats.” I responded.

Mr Wallace glanced at me, doubt clouding his grey eyes.

“Have you been apart of this in anyway Ashley? Victim or otherwise?” He asked me. In other words, have I been helping Justin with the bullying and torment.

I shook my head quickly, never breaking eye contact with him.

“No. But I have witnessed it on countless occasions.” I said.

“I see. Okay, well what kind of threats exactly?” He asked, looking away from me.

“Threats against our safety.” Sandra replied. “Like, threatening to kick the shit out of us.”

If Sandra’s language bothered Mr Wallace, he didn’t show it. “And has he actually done it?”

“Beat us up?” Sandra snorted. “Many times.” She crossed her arms across her chest and slumped slightly in her chair, exposing her bandaged hand. Mr Wallace noticed it.

“Is that why your hand is bandaged?” He asked her, nodding towards her injured hand.

She nodded. “I had a run in with him and his friends yesterday while walking to school.” She hissed. Since I’ve been getting along with Sandra lately, I was starting to understand her a bit more. Because of this, I knew that she wasn’t mad at Mr Wallace, she was just mad at the whole situation. We all were.

Mr Wallace nodded and turned to Jake and Jinxx. “Does this type of thing happen often?”

Jinxx shrugged, but didn’t say anything. Jake was the one who responded.

“Not really to us.” He said, looking down at his lap.

“What do you mean?” Mr Wallace asked.

“The four of us, me, Jinxx, Sandra, and CC, don’t really get picked on as much anymore. Maybe a few cruel remarks now and then, but never really anything physical.” Jake said, still staring at his lap.

“How often would you say?” Mr Wallace asked.

“Barely ever. Yesterday was the first time in like, a month.” Sandra replied.

“Andy is the one who gets it the worst.” CC said quietly. I looked quickly over at Andy, who was staring at CC in shock.

“The worst?” Mr Wallace repeated, looking over at Andy. Andy dropped his gaze quickly and
remained quiet.

“His beatings are more violent, longer, and more frequent. Three times a week, and that’s if it’s a good week.” Jake said.

“What about a bad week?” Mr Norman asked, never looking away from Andy.

“Nearly every day.” Sandra responded bluntly. “He’s actually the reason we’re barely targeted anymore. Andy is Justin’s favourite target.”

Mr Wallace nodded gravely, and was silent for a moment. “Andy?” He asked finally. Andy looked up slightly; pain and fear clear in his blue eyes. “When was the last time?”

“Monday,” Andy whispered after a moment. “Ashley stopped it before it before it progressed into something worse. I only got a few bruises.” He looked over at me and gave me a small, barely noticeable smile, which I quickly returned.

“Where are they?” Mr Wallace asked softly, as to not offend or scare Andy. Andy paused for a moment before wiping away the layer of makeup around his cheekbone area. The bruise was barely noticeable before, but now that the makeup was removed, it stood out quiet clearly on his pale face. The dark purple bruise made me feel slightly sick to my stomach and I quickly looked away, tears starting to form in my eyes.

“I have more on my chest and stomach, some of which are healing, and some that are pretty new.” Andy whispered, hiding behind his fringe once again.

Mr Wallace nodded gravely and fell silent. After a moment, he let out a long breath and began to speak.

“Thank you for informing me about this, a lot of bullying victims often stay silent in fear. I will need to talk to Justin.”

We just nodded. Mr Wallace stood up, indicating that the meeting was over. I stood up and walked towards the door, the others following suit. We all walked out, and Mr Wallace walked over to the main desk where his secretary was still typing away at her computer.

“Can you please call Justin Kellond to the office Anna?” Mr Wallace asked her when she looked up from her work. She nodded once and picked up the phone.

“Justin Kellond to the office, Justin Kellond to the office.” She said over the intercom. Mr Wallace thanked her and turned back to us.

“Thank you again.” He said, giving us a smile before returning to his office. Anna began to type on her computer again. CC and Andy gave each other a look, and began to walk out of the office.

“Come on guys,” CC said over his shoulder. “We better leave before Justin gets here.”

The remaining four of us looked at each other, Jake giving a shrug, and followed the other two out.


Andy’s point of view

Like Ashley promised, the meeting wasn’t all that bad, but at the same time, it was horrible. Justin was going to find out that Ashley was with us, and because of that, Ashley was going to get hurt. Worst still, it’d be my fault.

Since there was only about twenty minutes left of class, we all decided to just skip. Normally, we’d just go back to my place or whatever since we all have spare together, but Jake, Jinxx, and CC wanted to stay to see if anything would happen to Justin today.
We were sitting at my locker, talking about nothing, when Ashley’s phone rang. He let go of my hand to pull it out of his pocket. As he was reading, a huge smile appeared on his face.

“What is it?” I asked, trying to see the message. He turned the phone towards me so I could read it. It was from Justin.

Those fcking faggots got me suspended for a week. i swear they are dead.

I nearly dropped Ashley’s phone in shock.

It… It actually worked?

“What is it Andy?” CC asked.

“It worked.” I whispered. My friends looked at me in confusion while my boyfriend gave me a huge smile, pocketing his phone.

“It worked!” I laughed. “We got him suspended for a week!”

“Seriously?” Jake asked.

I nodded happily, laughing, and gave Ashley a huge, grateful hug. CC cheered and Jinxx laughed with me.

I can’t believe it actually worked. I thought, still happily numb from shock.

“Hey baby, I’ll be right back. I gotta pee.” Ashley said. He gave me a quick kiss on the nose before getting up and walking to the bathroom. I watched him walk away until he turned a corner.

“I’m so happy for you two Andy,” CC said with a smile. I turned back to him and smiled.

“Thanks!” I replied cheerfully.

“You two really are cute together.” Sandra said quietly. I looked over at her, and she forced a smile. It worried me a little bit, but I selfishly decided to ignore it. I didn’t want to worry about anything right now because I was so happy.

We continued talking and joking around, waiting for Ashley to get back from the bathroom so all of us could go back to my place and hang out, when we heard a huge bang from around the corner, making me jump. We quickly turned our heads to where the sound had come from.

“What the fuck?” Jinxx muttered. We heard a loud curse, followed by another bang, like something hitting a locker.

We continued watching, only to see Justin storm around the corner, carrying his backpack in one hand. He spotted me and started walking quickly in my direction.

“You fucking faggot.” He screamed. When he reached me, he grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me to my feet. I swallowed hard.

“Get the fuck away from him!” Sandra shouted, jumping to her feet. Justin let go of my shirt.

“You stay the fuck out of this, cunt. But don’t worry, you’re next.” Justin hissed, pushing her hard. The shove caused her to stumble and fall, smashing her head against the floor.

“Hey!” I blurted out. In anger, I swung my fist wildly, surprised when I actually felt it make contact with his jaw. The impact took Justin by surprised and he stumbled back a bit, but he quickly regained his footing. He lunged towards me, grabbing my shirt again.

“Stop it ass hole!” CC shouted. “Why do you think you got fucking suspended in the first place?”

“Stay out of this CC.” I said, staring into Justin’s eyes. Justin grinned, his eyes flashing in anger.

“Yeah ‘CC’, listen to your boyfriend.” He hissed, never looking away from me.

“No Andy!” Jake said, jumping at Justin. Jake’s fist connected with Justin’s jaw in the same place mine had. Justin let go of me for the second time and turned towards Jake, who was glaring at Justin.

“Get the fuck out of here,” Jake spat. Justin just laughed.

“Or what?” He mocked. I took in the scene before me. CC was kneeling beside Sandra, who was leaning against the lockers, her eyes half closed as she held her head. Jake and Jinxx were standing side by side, staring at Justin, their fists clenched in anger.

“Or this!” Jake screamed, throwing another punch. Justin caught Jake’s fist mid-air and returned the punch, sending Jake flying against the locker.

“Stop!” I yelled. “Jinxx! No!”

Jinxx looked at me for a split second, and his hesitation gave Justin the perfect opportunity to punch him in the gut. Jinxx doubled-over, gasping for breath, and earned a kick in the stomach.

“Stay down, fag.” Justin laughed. He turned back to me, grabbing my shirt once again.

“Because of you, I got suspended. Just for that, you were going to get it worse than you ever have before. But because your little friends intervened,” He smiled at me, causing me to shudder in fear. “You’re going to wish you were dead.”

I closed my eyes, trying to prepare myself for the pain. It never came.

I felt Justin get torn away from me, and I opened my eyes. Ashley had pulled Justin away from me and was now delivering a punch to Justin’s face. It hit him square in the nose and I heard a crack.

“Stay the fuck away from them.” Ashley hissed, letting go of Justin.

“Ashley?” Justin asked, looking slightly confused. A second later, the confusion was replaced by a look of pure anger. “You… I always knew you were a little faggot.”

“Damn right.” Ashley shot back. “They’re twice the man that you’ll ever be. And I’m including Sandra in this.”

Justin let out a growl and lunged towards Ashley, which Ashley easily dodged. The bell signaling the end of third period rang out and kids began to file out of their classrooms. A small circle formed around us when curious kids noticed the scene. Justin looked around, noticing a few teachers leaving the classrooms as well.

“This isn’t over Purdy.” Justin hissed quietly, blood dripping slowly from his broken nose.

“Walk away, Kellond. It’s over.”

Justin glared and turned around. He walked past me, and in the process, shoved me out of the way with his shoulder. It caught me off guard and I staggered back into my locker. Not even a second later, I felt my adrenal rush start to fade and I slid tiredly down my locker, ending up on the floor.

“Andy? Are you okay?” Ashley asked worriedly, rushing over to me. He kneeled in front of me, and I looked up at him. His eyes were full of concern, and I felt myself start to relax as I stared into his warm, brown eyes.

Suddenly, no longer caring that 30 plus kids were watching, I leaned forward quickly and forcefully pressed my lips against Ashley’s.


A/N: THAT TOOK FOREVER TO WRITE. And I’m also so very sorry it’s so long. I just wanted to fit as much as humanly possible into this chapter. :PLike always, please comment if you’ve enjoyed this. Even if you haven’t, let me know! Tell me what you think and why! This will only improve my writing skills. Thank you! See you guys next chapter! Cheers! xoxo