Ashlynn follows Sean to the office since he and Twinkie still have to get their schedules. She takes hers and compares it to Twinkie's and Sean's.
"Man... You're brilliant," Sean whistles. "You have mostly junior classes when you're a sophomore." Ash takes it back. "But you have first with me, Twink, Reiko, and Earl. I think you'll like them a little bit." Ash follows Sean to homeroom, looking at a lone seat in the far back where a blonde is messing with a piece of machinery. The desks are huge tables so he has four other people on his side.
Twinkie and Sean sit next to two people in the front, but Ash can't handle the front. She mouths 'sorry' and goes to the back. Twinkie looks back and holds a thumb up, signalling that it's all cool, and she smiles. She hasn't really had a friend like Twinkie before, especially not one she actually kind of likes. She liked some people at her old school, but not quite as genuine as Twink.
"Hey, can you hold onto this for me?" the blonde murmurs as the teacher comes in the room. Ash holds something for him as he fiddles with it, staying in constant motion. "Name's Jesse."
"Ash."
"What's it short for?" he asks after a moment, a bit distracted.
"Ashlynn. Double N." She lets go as he slightly tugs on it, pocketing the item. She turns to the front to see the teacher nearly passed out. "Do I even want to know what's going on with him?" Ash asks Jesse, who still keeps moving. He shakes his head. The brunette tries not to be rude and ask, but her curiosity is getting a bit better than her. Then the teacher fully wakes up, all over the place.
"Good morning. I'm Mr. Leo. Since I really don't feel like having to grade anything the first day of school in chemistry, you're going to answer these questions." He hands some to a girl on the front row for her to pass out. "When it gets to your turn, I'm going to say a number and you'll tell us the answer to that question." Ash takes the paper from the girl as the last person to get a sheet. She digs through her bag and pulls out a mechanical pencil.
Ten minutes later, Mr. Leo begins in the front row to the back. Everyone tells their answers calmly with only one or two smart alecks. Ash, on the other hand, shakes as he points to her. "Number one."
"Ashlynn Kris Sempers," she replies.
"Number four."
"My favorite color is lilac."
"Number seven."
"I like Marvel movies."
"Number nine."
"I don't really do much on weekends. I just moved here two weeks ago and haven't bothered to socialize."
"Number ten."
Ash swallows. "I don't have one." Everyone turns and stares, even Jesse whistles next to her. She blushes bright red. "Sorry if I don't understand the big thing about cars," she mumbles, sitting back down to bury her face in her arms while Jesse goes next. She barely listens as the rest go on, learning only the names of the people at her table. Next to Jesse is Leon, next to Leon is Vince, next to Vince is Dom, next to Dom is Letty.
As the bells rings, Ash takes her things and rushes out of the room while people laugh at her. If she knew the racing scene was so big, she would've gotten some type of car, even a junky one. Junky is better than nothing at all, or so her father used to say back in the shop. Sean takes her schedule from her hand as she gets to her locket, a bit away from the people she knows.
She turns around to come face to face with a really pretty girl. Her dark hair and dark eyes make Ash feel a little insecure, especially how confidently she carries herself. "I'm Neela. Sean said you need help getting around?" It's phrased as a statement, but comes out as a question. Ash nods, and she smiles. "Follow me. See you, Sean." One look at the boy tells Ash he's completely whipped to her. She tries not to giggle at him.
"So, you're Ash? Sean wouldn't shut up about you once he got your name and could text without being caught. Not that Mr. Leo cares. As long as you don't get him fired, you can have sex in his class," she says, and Ash turns bright red at the mention of doing something so intimate in front of everyone. Neela laughs at her bright red face. "Yeah, you can imagine how bad it was finding out it's true. I was in seventh hour last year."
Ash looks around. "Why is the racing scene so big?" she asks with a bit of genuine curiosity and apprehension. If it's too big, her mother will send her back to let her live with one of her friends, and Ash doesn't doubt she'd do it if she saw anyone while she was here.
Neela waves at someone. "Most schools are big on sports, but we're all a bunch of kids going nowhere. The few who are don't participate in our activities, such as partying, racing, so on and so forth. We just choose to go fast in life." She turns and smiles at Ash. "Don't worry. You'll get it soon enough. You'll be sucked into the scene too."
"I'd rather not," Ash mumbles. "Fast cars and I don't mix. Not anymore." Neela doesn't question it, but Ash does catch the glance her way. "I have... English next, so bring it on." Ash follows Neela to a classroom. "See ya." The other waves back as she begins going to her class. Walking into the classroom, Ash immediately goes to the back. The classroom is longer than it is wider, so there are four rows with several desks in each row.
Setting her bag down, Ash puts in her earbuds and presses play to whatever is on. She taps her fingers to Imagine Dragons, ready for class to start and be over with. She looks up as someone taps her shoulder, pulling one out. "You're in my seat." Ash gives him a look, glancing around the desk and looking under it, ignoring the gum that's been there for longer than she cares to know. "What're you looking for?"
"Your name." Ash looks back at the guy of Japanese origin. "I didn't find it. So guess what? It isn't yours." She's appalled by her own behavior but chooses to ignore it before she can really feel bad about it. She knows if she does that she'll lose this seat, and she really doesn't want to do that. She loves the back of the classrooms where the teacher is watching just because he knows you're doing something wrong.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Does it look like I care?" Someone grabs her arm hard, pulling her. Ash pushes her elbow back, throwing him off of her. "I was here first, so I'm going to stay here." She sits down, pressing play again and replacing the bud. She yelps as he picks the desk up, emptying it of her. Growling and not fully thinking about it, Ash kicks the chair into his ankle so it hurts. And it does.
She seats herself back in the chair as two of the three who came in with him check on him. She prods her shoulder where she landed, the delicate skin not used to getting pushed around and thrown on the ground so suddenly. "Hey, would you mind moving? We've sat in the back since the beginning of high school, and it's kind of like tradition." She looks up at a guy clearly of Korean origin. Don't ask how she knows. Her friend made her study these types of things. "DK didn't mean to be so rude. Or rough."
Ash looks where the guy grabbed her, seeing red marks from his grip. She makes a nasty face at it. "You know, if there were more people like you or if they had just simply asked like you did, this whole thing could've been avoided." She picks up her bag, setting it in the seat in front of her and leaving the desk behind as DK, red faced, sits there. The Korean sits next to him, and another on the other side. As the teacher comes in and passes out Shakespeare books, she gets a note thrown on her desk.
From experience, Ash smoothly takes it, gliding it under the desk as he comes by with her book. She waits for him to go away, then takes it out to read the messy handwriting almost as bad as her mother's. DK says thanks. -Han.
"Tch." Ash takes her pencil and writes a quick note. Tell him to start asking nicely and we won't have a problem. Ash doesn't fail to notice she doesn't get a note back for a while, reading the book as best she can. It's one she's already read, but going back to just soak up the words brings some type of peace to her. When she gets another note, she turns to glare at Han.
He said no need to be a bitch. Well, I did, but that's beyond the point.
Ash turns back around, throwing the paper at his face. She's never done that before, but it feels almost natural here. Her mom was right. Acting like herself would help with her esteem for sure. She gets another one moments later. Don't be so mean. I haven't even gotten your name. Ash throws it back only to have it on her desk moments later. She glares at it, taking the paper and quietly tearing it up.
She takes the edge. You're not going to. So shut up and read, alright? She passes it back, letting the slip fall to the floor. He taps her shoulder, and she ignores him as best she can. This class is going to be long, she tells herself with a sigh. She turns back to him.
"I still want a name."
"Try Fred Flintstone." She turns back around, blowing a breath as he tapped her shoulder again. Ash turns around again. "What could you possibly want that isn't my name? I'm sorry, but I don't have an interest in being friends with you, pal." He grins. "It's an expression, jerk-"
"Miss Sempers? Please refrain from speaking in my class." She hears Han chuckle and tries not to make an annoyed face as she nods, getting back to work. She gets back to her work, trying to finish what the teacher has assigned so she can get out without having homework. He said it isn't, but she's an overachiever. Ash's mother always says if you don't get it done now, it's going to be late.
While thinking about all of this, Ash gets another piece of paper. Still working on that name.