Chapter 2: Forgotten

The front lawns of Green Valley high was once again littered with new and returning students. It was the first day of a new school year.

Caleb's Porsche Cayman eased into the parking space two spaces away from the entrance and then the engine ceased.

Ash had been silent the entire ride. It worried Caleb.

"Are you—"

"I'm fine." she retorted immediately.

For a brief moment, he was lost for words.

"I'll see you after school then," he said.

She nodded, grabbed her backpack and pushed open the door.

He sighed and turned away, his attention now resting on a particular group of boys. His people, the soccer boys.

He was about to follow Ash's actions when the passenger door was opened and slammed shut quickly.

Before he could comprehend what was going on, Ash's arms were around him, her head buried in his chest.

He got over his shock and placed a hand on her back.

"It's okay. It's okay."

Her body quivered against his but he knew she wasn't crying. She was strong. But even the strongest of hearts cracked some times.

"How about this," She looked up, "we walk together?"

She nodded and pulled away.

He got out and opened her door. Hand in hand, they walked up to the giant brick red building.

Outside no one would have guessed she wasn't okay; her demeanor was her usual deadpan, but occasionally she would squeeze his hand a little tighter. She managed fine till they were behind the great double doors.

Beyond that, he only had to walk as far as her locker before his replacement arrived in the form of Maddie, Ash's girlfriend.

She was dressed in a flower print T-shirt and a pair of jeans held up by suspenders. Her hair was held up in two pigtails.

Ash took one look at her from her hair to her yellow shoes and shook her head.

"Hey babe." She kissed Ash on the cheek and slipped her arm into place around her waist. From her position, she did not have the pleasure of watching Ash's face form a frown,  "Caleb, have you been working out?"

Caleb couldn't quite place the thing that had drawn his sister to this high-spirited, oddly dressed girl. He had a feeling it was probably that spark he caught in her eyes as she flirted harmlessly with him.

"Maddie, hey!" And to her question, he added, "Matter of fact I have."

She smiled in approval and nodded.

"Hey, have you seen—"

A pair of hands covered his eyes and he felt a soft chest pressed against his back.

He reached around and grabbed her behind.

"Well there you are." He laughed.

"How did you—" Maddie asked as the culprit took her hands away.

"I'm allowed to know my own girlfriend's ass, am I not?" Caleb asked before turning to confirm that it was indeed Emily.

He put his arm around her shoulders and her hand slid into his back pocket as if on instinct.

"Er, no..." Ash muttered with a bothered yet shocked expression.

Emily was staring at him with the same awe-struck expression when he turned.

"Your perfume...extraordinary," he confessed then inhaled deeply, "And it's also mine."

Emily's expression changed to mild aggression as she smacked the back of his head.

"In my defense, I do know the feel of your ass."

He admitted with a sly wink.

"If you don't mind, I'll be taking Ash away now."

Before Caleb responded, he met Ash's eyes questioningly and she gave a ghost of a nod.

"Sure. See you guys later," he said.

They turned to walk away as he pulled his girlfriend in for a kiss.

"So, how was the twins' party?" Maddie asked as she walked Ash to her first period class, "I'm really sorry I couldn't come with."

"It was alright. Not much happened though," Ash answered blandly.

If she had been honest, Ash could barely make out the details of what had happened at that party beyond the good booze and the two hot chicks she had been flirting with. But for some reason she couldn't quite put her finger on right there, she knew she had been glad her girlfriend wasn't there.

She would have paid a pretty penny to remember why.

"You know you don't have to walk me to my class, your first period is on the other side of school," she said instead.

"I'll make it. I could use the exercise anyways."

For what? Losing your soul? Ash almost blurted.

Maddie was physical perfection. Slim bod, flat stomach, long shapely legs, perky brea—that was besides the point. The point was the girl had no need for the exercise. It was just a stupid excuse to watch over her like a hawk.

"Maddie, I am fine. Get going already." Ash said.

That was pointless and truthfully Ash knew that even before she spoke. She knew that Maddie was going to take her all the way to her classroom door and practically put her in the care of Miss 'Amplebum' before leaving for her first class.

Maddie was one of the few people who knew what had happened over the summer but unlike Caleb, Emily, Maria and even her absentee father, she was taking the consolation and support thing a little too far. She was even more protective and controlling than usual.

Some would consider it sweet. It irritated Ash.

Even further when she looked up and saw that Maddie was giving her a patronising smile.

Ash deadpanned and halted her strides.

"What? Is something wrong?"

"What is this? Does my brother have you guarding me now? Making sure I don't break down in the school hallways?" Ash spat.

"Actually that was all me. Your brother actually asked me to back off a little," she admitted.

"You should have listened. I am not a child, Maddie. Now leave me alone, I'll see you at lunch."

She didn't wait for a response before she pivoted and marched the rest of the way.

If Maddie knew what was good for her, she would reconsider Caleb's advice. But Maddie hardly ever did know what was good for her. Being in a relationship with Ash in the first place was proof.

Miss Amplebum was at the door when Ash got to class.

"You're late, Ash."

"Nice to see you too, Miss Amplebum," she retorted.

"Applebaum," she corrected Ash for what was to be the umpteenth time.

"Maybe. But you'll always be Amplebum to me." She shrugged.

"Get to your seat before I send you to the principal's office."

"How is old man Grundy these days?" Ash asked as she walked past her into the classroom.

"Alright, settle down."

Ash hadn't been lying. Watching the voluptuous woman in a button down shirt and a complimenting short skirt strut to the board, Ash was reminded of the one reason she actually paid attention in English. It really was nice to see Amplebum.

As Ash had anticipated, Maddie just couldn't help herself. As soon as the last class before lunch was over, she was at the door waiting for her.

Ash couldn't tell which was worse: this or Maddie passing notes to her in Biology; one of the classes they had together, to ask if she was alright because she was looking out the window while the teacher droned on about the respiratory system of a toad.

Did she really expect her to pay attention to toads?

She smiled enthusiastically as Ash approached her with her book bag slung over one shoulder.

"How was—"

"Don't...even...think about it." Ash warned, walking past her.

That silenced the girl for the rest of the walk to the cafeteria.

For all the tough act she was putting up, Ash froze as they got to the baby blue doors of the cafeteria. She was attacked with the paranoia that everyone could see through her.

Maddie's reaction was fluid. Her hand slipped into place in Ash's, her fingers interweaving with hers.

Ash turned to find Maddie's soft honey colored eyes looking into hers; those eyes she had fallen in love with, reassuring her that she was with her.

In that moment, it was everything Ash needed.

And so, hand in hand, they strutted into the cafeteria.

People stared but Ash wasn't fazed.

With Maddie at her side, she felt like her old self a bit. Confident. Tough. Slightly frightening.

When Maddie wasn't overprotective, she was a good shoulder to lean on. Ash knew that with her by her side, she was going to make it through the day. If she didn't suffocate her to death with her presence first.

Ash let Maddie guide her to the lunch line where she filled her tray with 'healthy' food and exchanged pleasantries with the two Spanish lunch ladies.

Ash didn't notice that the line ahead of her had stopped moving momentarily and bumped into the girl in front of her.

"Oh! I'm so sorry." the girl turned and smiled apologetically as she nervously pushed her glasses up her nose.

Then her eyes fixed on Ash in what she assumed was recognition.

"Oh... It's you," the girl said. She beamed a smile.

Ash couldn't tell why the girl sounded like they had met one on one recently but she returned the smile, smiling more effortlessly than she had done in a while. At least she knew the girl's name.

"Hailey, is it?" she said.

But somehow that seemed like it was the wrong thing to say.

Her face went emotionless as she nodded slowly.

Ash had a feeling there was something the girl knew that she was supposed to know as well. What was it?

Before Ash could ask, Maddie tapped her shoulder.

"Babe, you're holding up the line," she whispered.

There was nothing wrong with Ash's girlfriend calling her 'babe', save for the fact that it turned her stomach, so why did the girl in front of her make her feel guilty about it?

Hailey turned away, suddenly interested in yogurts.

This was not the time to question her, Ash decided and made a mental note to speak to her later.

She turned her focus to the last lemon burst yogurt and screamed internally. Talk about a stroke of luck.

She reached out about to grab it when Maddie held her hand. The action was gentle but Ash didn't understand the need for it at all. She liked it even less.

"Are you sure you want that?"

"Maddie, it's just one lemon burst, the world won't end because of it. Chill."

"It was your mom's favorite," she said matter-of-factly.

Jesus Christ! This girl...

"Yeah, it's also my favorite. Now leave me."

She picked it and dropped it in her tray with unnecessary force to show that she had made up her mind but when she looked back at Maddie's face, she saw that her face had been twisted in hurt.

Then her resolve broke.

"Fine, I'll drop the damn thing," she said through her teeth.

She turned and marched off with her tray towards a table occupied by a group of rowdy girls.

She let her body drop heavily into her seat.

The discussion at the table paused for a second.

"Lovers' spat?" Kira asked.

"Not important," Ash said, "don't mind me."

The discussion resumed as Maddie joined them at the table, seating beside her. They must have decided it was not serious if both of them could still tolerate each other.

They were discussing last night's soccer match and more importantly Juventus' 5-0 dominating of Chelsea.

It was nothing new listening to them argue over soccer and hot soccer stars. This was after all the soccer girls' table and Ash was one of them.

But today, her attention wasn't with them. She watched as that Hailey girl walked away with the last lemon burst.

For a second, she childishly considered snatching it from her as she passed behind her but she got distracted from her pointless thinking by Kira who was bent on including her in the conversation.

At the moment they were arguing about soccer stars and Kira was hell bent on having a supporter who agreed that Griezmann was the most handsome.

She was drooling over his jaw line and hair when Ash noticed something on her table she hadn't put there. It was the very yogurt she had been deprived of. And it was just sitting there.

She was about to question Liv who sat next to her about it when she noticed a piece of paper sticking out from underneath.

She pulled it out and found it wasn't blank. There was a note.

"I think you need this more." was all it said.

No one at the table seemed to notice and none of them could have dropped it. The only person who could have was the person who had witnessed her argument with Maddie over the stupid thing: Hailey.

"What have you got there?" Maddie asked, gesturing towards the note.

"Nothing," Ash replied, squeezing it into a ball and shoving it deep into the pocket of her jeans.

The yogurt she stuffed in the side compartment of her bag when Maddie was distracted describing Ronaldo's abs. Somehow having it with her felt better than eating it.

Hailey didn't know why she did it. She should have been pissed at the dark haired girl, who strangely smelled of masculine deodorant, but no. Instead, she had jumped at the chance to do her a favor.

The girl had literally acted as if they had never spoken before. As if she had not kissed her to senselessness two nights ago. How did one do such a thing?

But as she reflected on the expression on Ash's face when she had spoken to her and the circumstances surrounding their encounter, it slowly dawned on her... Ash hadn't been pretending.

Hailey couldn't believe her luck. Ash had given her what was easily the best night of her life...and she didn't even remember it.

Why was fate so cruel?

Ash probably didn't even care about the stupid yogurt and she had gone ahead to make a fool of herself.

So why did she care? Hailey asked herself

Another thing she couldn't explain.

But when she dared to look in the direction of the soccer girls' table, she found Ash staring.

Then accompanied by a smile, she mouthed the words,

"Thank you."

And that made Hailey's day.