Page 6 of Ashes to Ash’s

“As you can see, he’s unrepentant, unapologetic, and lacks remorse for all of his actions to date.”

“Wow, you realise those words all mean the same fucking thing, right?” And they say I’m dumb.

“ASH! Shut up and leave this to us!” Dad Dory yelled at me.

“There’s nothing left to say. I’m very sorry to have to do this to you again, but your child is no longer enrolled at this school, and we’d like him off the premises as soon as possible. If he’s seen here again, I’ll call the police.”

Shit. My parents stood up, and dad grabbed my arm, dragging me up from my seat. I was nearly as tall as him, but he had plenty of muscle on me right now. One day I’d be stronger though. One day nobody would be pushing me around.

“Let’s go. You’ve really done it this time, Ash.”

Callum

I saw them leading him back out of the school, and I know he saw me, because he fixed me with a fierce glare and flashed a middle finger at me. I think they’d planned to get him out before classes ended, and we were filling the hallways, but maybe it was always meant to happen this way, so we’d lock eyes, and I’d see his malice for me.

I felt guilty though, because I’d never meant for him to be expelled. That was clearly what had happened, since his parents stopped with him at his locker, and they cleared out the few things he’d stashed in there, and he slammed the door with a loud bang.

What would happen to him now? He had to finish the school year and complete next year, along with his exams. How would that be possible now? I knew his sister had ended up being homeschooled after she was expelled from here, so I guess that would be the plan for him too. How awful it must have been for his parents to be dealing with a second child of theirs being expelled from school. It’s pretty rare, to be honest, for any kid to get expelled, but he did try to punch the headmaster, so yeah, I guess there was no other way it could go down.

“Are you okay? I heard that prick punched you!” I groaned as Brenda from my English class joined me at my locker. She was always flirting with me, and touching my arm, and stuff, and I just wasn’t interested. I should be, but I’m just not. Cool fingers touched my cheek and I flinched, turning to see her pulling her hand back.

“You’re going to have a nasty bruise there.”

I glared at her, and shoved my books in my locker. I didn’t need them for the next class, since we’d be changing into gym stuff.

“Yeah, doesn’t hurt.”

She followed me down the hall, instead of going for her own class, whatever the hell it might be.

“Why did he hit you? Is he bullying you?”

Was he? It seemed like something more. Something a little sinister, if I’m honest. What did he want from me exactly? It seemed like he was intent on being in my life, but aside from having some mutual friends, I had no idea why it mattered to him. Or maybe I was just fooling myself, trying to pretend he wasn’t looking for more than friendship. He was too intense, too intent on spending time with me. He sent me dick pics, for heaven’s sake!

“No. He was just, I don’t know, being a bellend. You should get to class.”

Why did I feel like I wanted to text Ash that evening to see if he was okay? Even though he’d been expelled from school, he might still be able to train with us in the football club, since it’s not run by the school. Was I nervous to see him? Afraid? Excited? I had no idea. He was the quintessential bad boy, but his behaviour around me was unnerving, because he was showing the kind of interest he should be aiming at girls. Was he sending them pictures of his genitals too? I had a feeling it was just me.

My mum had fussed so much over the bruise on my face when I got home, but for some reason, I didn’t tell her it was Ash, because news had already reached her of his expulsion, and she already thought he was a ‘demon child’ because of his strange parentage. He had three parents, for heaven’s sake. Three. How did that even work? None of them were married, which was another sticking point for my parents, although they all used the name Cross, as if they were all married.

I went to take a shower, but my head was still full of thoughts of Ash, and his terrible anger, and the way he seemed to always be watching me, or following me. There was something enticing about that, even though such an idea was forbidden. Was my interest in him more than as a friend? Was that why I was struggling with his persistence? Was it because I didn’t want to push him away as much as I did, as much as I knew I had to?

I ignored the fact that thoughts of him were causing stirrings within me, because the sad truth was that I couldn’t be interested in him, as a friend or anything else. My family would never allow it, and if I was caught getting too close to him, I’d probably get sent away to live with my uncle, and he was even stricter than my parents, even more obsessively faithful to his church, and their restrictive, bigoted ways. That was the last thing I wanted. I just had to toe the line for a few more years, then I could get my freedom.

Chapter Five

Ash

My parents were trying to get me allowed back into that school of assholes, but in the meantime, I’d been assigned digital options to keep me up with the curriculum. It was so much easier for a number of reasons. One, I could just look shit up on my phone and save myself the effort of actually having to learn this shit, and two, I had freedom from the restrictive classroom setup, and strict rules.

I really wasn’t great at being on an enforced schedule, or following rules, or listening to authority, or any of that shit. My parents had always understood that I needed to be free, but for some reason, they were really pushing this school crap.

“Em said they’ve found a place,” I heard mum saying outside the room I was studying in. Formerly her ‘classroom’, it was now mine. Bearing in mind that she was shacked up with her teacher, I had no idea if this room was even safe, or covered in cum stains and stuff.

“Yeah, but can that deadbeat fucking support her yet?” I loved how my dads called him that now, when originally he was like fucking god’s gift. Mr E this, Mr E that, and now he’s ‘fuckhead’ and ‘that fucking predator’. Whatever. At least she had her freedom now, well, as long as she let Ethan control her every move. Maybe he was a twisted fuckhead, but I kinda like the idea of having that control over a person. Especially if that person would be Cal. If I had him under my control, he wouldn’t get to do a fucking thing without my permission. He’d be mine in every possible way.

“Ash?”

I lifted my head from the screen I wasn’t even focused on, because I was fantasising about Cal, and saw dad Gray.