fourteen│lashton

                                    

                                          
unedited 
                          
—
                          
the following morning ashton managed, barely, to drag himself out of his messy bed, untangling himself to from the sheets that somehow managed to morph into knots that clung around his body in the middle of the night. he gathered himself enough to match his clothing head to toe, and he dragged his boyfriend's--ex boyfriend's beanie over his tousled, unwashed curls. 

                          
the few stray wisps were tucked behind his ear, yet during the trip to his car, they managed to frame his tense yet blank face. though, the distracted teenager ignored the chance to readjust them as he quickly trudged the path to his bus stop; something he familiarized himself with over the past few weeks.

                          
the distracted teenager quickly slipped out his cracked phone, selecting the playlist that best fit his state of depression and popping each ear piece into his ear to block out any noise with the music. although, ashton eventually tuned the music out with the outside world as well. 

                          
the numbing music passing through the ear buds simply made the whole process easier instead. ignoring the rest of the world, he slipped his cracked phone into his back pocket, continuing the familiar route to the bus stop, and he quickly boarded it once it had arrived.

                          
the curious, prying stares had lessened each passing day ashton entered the school alone and kept his distance from the people he mistaken to be friends. he strolled calmly pass the few eyes that watched him roam the slightly crowded halls, that happened to be quiet new since people rarely showed their faces before the first bell, still contemplating whether if bothering to come had been worth it. 

                          
ashton could contest to this as luke always preferred to arrive beforehand each and every day to ensure his nearly perfect attendance, and he had mind at the time since he lost an extra fifteen minutes of sleep. but now, ashton was grateful for that annoying habit. 

                          
casting his eyes down, ashton peeked up every few seconds. he neared his locker each step he inched closer, yet his eyes longing glanced swiftly towards the set of lockers fifteen feet away, searching for the figure that typically took up at least two lockers due to the broad length of it's shoulders. 

                          
though, the space was empty. nothing more than air. ashton narrowed his eyes on his own familiar locker number, sliding into the narrow space he managed to take. he blatantly casted his eyes over his shoulder, ensuring his eyes were not failing him. 

                          
the empty space baffled the disheveled teenager: his newest routine he adopted since luke and him broke up was ruined. the brooding sandy-blonde that slumped against his locker and watched ashton broke the order of things along with his usual punctual routine that he created since freshman year. ashton, however, craned his neck back into the proper position, minding his attention to the task at hand.

                          
sliding his locker door, ashton clicked the lock into place and headed the familiarized path to his first class of the day. his eyes wondered over to previous spot he scoped out, but the space was never filled with the presence of luke that morning, which had ashton drawing a long, frustrated huff such as one would had done after solving a strenuous homework problem just to answered it completely wrong.

                          
ashton clicked his jaw into place and locked down anymore undesired noises that made an attempt to escape. the empty space had him tense since the last time he saw luke erupted into a disastrous moment, and the other boy twisted the situation further out of control by showing up absent. he destroyed the newest habit ashton struggled to build and force himself into.

                          
falling into his seat once he arrived to his first period, ashton ignored the other people that already plagued the classroom--specifically the person to his right as he had nothing but empty, heavy exhales for them. he dropped his notebook on his desk, and he flipped open to the first clean sheet of paper. the exhausted teenager started off doodling, his tongue poked out in concentration and eyes squinted, before he realized the doodle was much more.