Chapter nine

Ashley let out a long sigh. At times, she would place her head on the table, or rest her chin in her hands while her elbow rested on the table. 

She felt so guilty about the fight, she was so restless. She ought to be the one out there with Claire, not Henry and Alex, but Alex had to interfere to protect his girlfriend maybe.

She couldn't even concentrate on the lesson.

"We'll continue from here in the next class" Mr Oliver concluded the lesson and Ashley could not help but heave a sigh of relief. 

"They ought to be done with their punishment, why aren't they back yet?" She contemplated, closing her book. She had only scribbled down some words in it because she wasn't concentrating. 

Claire wasn't happy about the whole thing either, all in her mind was that everything happened because of Ashley and that made her more furious. 

As soon as Mr Oliver stepped out of the class, she dashed to Ashley's seat. 

"All this happened because of you bitch! Because of you..... All because of you, they fought. Now there's no chance of reconciliation" She fired.

Ashley wanted to push her and tell her to shut her mouth, but the last statement caught her attention. 

"Reconciliation? Why do they need to reconcile?" She was thinking, but suddenly, Claire pushed her off her chair. 

"I'm talking to you bitch!" She yelled, her eyes burning with rage. 

Ashley stood up and was ready to give Claire a good beating, not caring about the consequences, but the door  creaked and Henry strolled in with Alex. 

Ignoring Claire, she breathed a sigh of relief. 

As they took steps towards their seat, Ashley's eyes landed on Alex's hand.

She held her breath. Not able to withstand the sight, She grabbed the handkerchief she used to wipe Alex's mouth earlier. 

Stopping right in front of him, she gripped his hand and quickly wrapped her handkerchief around it. Then, she released the breath she had been holding. 

Alex again was touched by her sudden reaction, but the same questions lingered in his mind. 

Did she care? Why did she do it? Why? Why? Why? Just why? 

"Are you okay?" Henry's voice disrupted his thoughts. Apparently, he was referring to Ashley because he was a little bit worried about her. 

"I should be asking you that" She chuckled slightly. 

"Are you really okay? You have to go to the clinic, I mean the both of you" She said. Though, she disliked Alex, she was a softhearted person who cared about other people's well being. 

"I'm fine. I don't need to go to the clinic" Henry was about to move a step, but Ashley gripped his arm.

Suprised by her action, her heart started racing again and her stomach twisted in excitement. 

"You have to go to the clinic, both of you and I'm not taking no for an answer" She sounded so serious, Henry had to give in. 

With a raised eyebrow, she turned to Alex, who had a blank expression on his face. 

Sensing that he was going to disagree, she gripped his hand too.

In an eyeblink, Claire separated her hand from Alex's. She was completely eaten up by jealousy. 

"I'll take him myself" She shot Ashley an angry glare, her eyes depicting pure jealousy. 

Again, Ashley was pissed off by Claire's attitude but she let it go. 

They walked silently in the hallway until they met Charles who was strolling towards their direction with his hands in his pockets. 

His sight alone made Alex clench his fists. 

"Where are you going?" He asked, his voice filled with so much authority. 

Ashley wanted to say something but Claire's voice interrupted her. 

"To the clinic" Claire's sounded so polite, Ashley started to wonder why people respect Charles so much. Was it because he's prefect? Or was it something else?

"Why?" he gave them a questioning look. 

"If you're not blind, you'll see that they're bleeding" She snapped before anyone else could reply. 

Charles expression changed. His forehead creased.

"You really need to learn how to speak politely" He tried to quail his angry voice and Ashley rolled her eyes at him. 

"They can go by themselves. You don't need to go with them" He eyed Alex and Henry. He was jealous. Jealous that Ashley won't look in his direction yet escort his two arch enemies to the clinic. 

Immediately, Claire turned back. 

"I'm going with them" Ashley stated bluntly. 

"No loitering around, go back to your class" Charles half yelled. He was already getting pissed off by her attitude. 

"Are you deaf? I'm going with them" Ashley's eyes sparked with annoyance. 

Noticing Alex's clenched fists, Henry knew things could get worse. Moreover, Ashley wasn't ready to surrender so he said, "It's okay Ashley, we'll go alone".

"Are you afraid of him?" Ashley said with irritation in her voice.

Afraid of him? He just wanted to avoid trouble. 

"Go back now Ashley" He said in a soft tone. Ashley wasn't pleased one bit. She stormed off Angrily. 

"Come on dude" Henry nudged Alex, who glared at Charles like he was going to kill him.

"Get going or do you wanna fight?" Charles smirked. 

The memory of a figure walking in the school premises at night flashed through his head. The figure walked along the corridor, towards where she was seated, gazing at the sky. 

He clenched his fists harder and blood started to drip from the handkerchief Ashley wrapped around his hand. 

"You... " He said with gritted teeth, but Henry held him back. A vein popped on his neck, he was very angry.

"Let's just go" Henry whispered in his ear and without wasting anymore time, he pulled Alex away. 

Charles watched them walk out of sight, at the same time wondering what was wrong with Alex. 

***

"What the hell happened to your hand? And what happened to you.... Uh-huh.... Did you guys get into a fight again?" The nurse examined their wound. 

They kept mute like their tongues had suddenly been ripped off. 

She cleaned their wounds and treated everything. 

"I'll be back" She packed up the cotton wool that had blood on them. 

Alex's mind wandered back to what happened in the class. When Ashley gripped his hand, a warm feeling enveloped him and his heart started to race. 

Why did she make him react that way? Did he really like her? He ruffled his hair in frustration. He didn't want it to be like what happened when they were in junior high school. 

Thinking of that, his thoughts drifted to Charles. He was damn sure he was the one he saw walking along the corridor that night. He wished so badly that he could reverse the time, but it was impossible to do that. 

"I miss you" Henry said disrupting his thoughts. 

"Miss me? You shouldn't since you chose to believe what other people rather than hear me out" Anger was evident in his voice as he spoke. 

It had been two long years but it seemed to be forever for Henry. He wanted his bestfriend back, but he didn't know how to get back with him. He had caused it, everything that happened two years ago was his fault.

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