I'm mainly writing these to get a better perspective on Ash and my idea of her, so as to better characterize her in my main stories, and also to keep you all entertained while I work on my bigger stuff. Most, if not all, of these will be written from Ash's point of view.
Lancaster High School
Los Angeles County, CA
Miss Tavares's Sophomore English Class
"Ashley Heilig?" called Miss Tavares, a saucy young cockatiel recently hired on as an English teacher, going down the roll and nearly finished. Ash raised her hand, bored.
"Here!" she said, and the sound of Tavares tapping on her keyboard followed; then the teacher continued calling names. Ash sighed and propped her head up with one hand, pulling out her phone and earbuds with the other. The beginning of the second nine weeks, while marginally exciting, had quickly degenerated into the dull monotony Ash felt, not only in school, but in most aspects of her life. You'd think that, living so close to LA, she'd lead a more interesting (worthwhile) life, but her parents made sure to wring any sort of fascination or mental stimulation out of their daughter's life. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Ash to put up with it, even when she hid in her music.
Music made her feel like a different person, a more intriguing person; but more than that, it gave her hope that there was someplace she belonged.
Ash had been asking her parents for a guitar for awhile now, but they'd just been giving the old spiel of 'If you keep your grades up for however long' in return, and she knew that it'd eventually just fizzle out into nothing. She hadn't saved up any money to buy one for herself, and mom and dad wouldn't even let her get a job. 'Getting good grades' was her job. Sometimes she thought about failing just to get back at them, but ultimately knew it wouldn't be worth the trouble just to spite them.
It could be said that school was easy for Ash, but that wouldn't be the truth of it. School work was easy for Ash, tests were easy for Ash, but school itself was very difficult. Nobody was ever really mean to her, and other girls only had compliments for her, but it was hard for Ash to really connect with anyone. There were people she'd talk to in class, or at lunch, but she didn't have any actual friends–no one to whom she could speak candidly. Since she was a porcupine (and on account of a quill-related medical condition) she was always put in the back row of her classes, with the reprobates and class clowns, and they weren't the sort she could easily socialize with, so that just made it more trying.
Ash put in her earbuds while Ms. Tavares continued roll call, now on the last few names (according to seating arrangement). She scrolled through any number of the metal albums she normally listened to, though recently she'd been getting into punk rock. She popped on a playlist mainly comprised of The Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Velvet Underground, New York Dolls etc. The usual fare for someone just getting into punk. It crossed her mind that school wasn't so bad–all the teachers were pretty cool about students using phones and listening to music, and the work was all easy enough. And, of course, in this particular class she got to sit next to-
"Lance L'Estrange?" called Tavares.
"Yo!" shouted Lance, affecting a farcical tone, and most of the class gave little chuckles or snickers. Lance didn't even look up from his phone. Ash smiled at him, dreamily, glancing over. She'd seen Lance in the hall, and even had a few classes with him for a few years now, ever since he transferred over from some Catholic middle school–but she hadn't started to really appreciate him until their freshman year of high school at Lancaster. While he might've been a little rough around the edges, and from the bad part of town, Ash had decided that he wasn't like the other boys. She could tell from those enthralling green eyes of his what a nice, caring boy he must've been on the inside.
Miss Tavares flicked on the projector and toggled the lights off, which usually signalled the class was about to take notes. Ash pulled out her earbuds, a little surprised they'd be taking notes so late in the week, and grabbed a sheet of paper that had been passed back. While most of the students in the back of the oversized class just relaxed or turned to talk to their friends, Ash pulled out her composition book and a pencil. She looked over, just for a moment, to see Lance reclining in his desk and staring at his phone with his usual blank expression, obviously without intent to do any work. Normally Ash looked down on that kind of thing, but she made an exception for Lance. While he had a reputation for being one of the laziest students in the school, he also had a reputation for being deceptively intelligent–known for letting people cheat off his tests, and always answering every question correctly. Accordingly, Ash had already made up her mind that Lance was sweet, smart and sensitive; but from the wrong side of the tracks, and correspondingly brooding and damaged.
For all she had thought about him, the two had barely ever spoken. The first memorable time Lance even referred to her was when he gave her the nickname 'Sieg' Heilig (which unfortunately stuck) the first time he heard Ash's name get called. The only other 'conversation' of note was at the start of Ms. Tavares's class a week and a half earlier when he said, "I like your jacket," in reference to Ash's denim battle jacket, adorned with several heavy metal patches, and she embarrassedly replied, "Thanks," and nothing else.
While Ms. Tavares squalled about Shakespeare in the background and switched slides, it all seemed to melt away for Ash (who didn't realize she was staring at Lance). Then, like he could sense her gazing at him, Lance turned his head and met her soft blue eyes with his own. Realizing what she'd been doing, he smiled–flashing his dopey buck teeth. Ash's heart started to pound and she looked away, trying to suppress a smile of her own.