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So much for always being there for me, I thought miserably as I stared at his retreating figure.

I turned back to Ashton and directed what was left of my anger at him, but I guess I wasn't doing a good job of being angry because he just crossed his arms with a smirk.

"Listen you, you can't just appear and disappear whenever you want to like you're some kind of magician. You're ruining my friendships with your attitude."

I was now on tiptoes trying to make up for the height difference, but he just stared down at me as if I was a puzzle he needed to figure out.

I dropped back down to my regular height with a huff.

"Just leave me alone, Ashton. Please. I don't understand why you're being like this all of a sudden."

No response.

I rolled my eyes and started to walk away from him, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back towards him.

"Ow," I groaned, as I lifted my head from his very hard chest.

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from him, Elizabeth?" he asked.

His voice was deadly silky and calm which set me on edge. I would have felt better if he had shouted or something. I had no idea what was going on in his head.

I took a couple of involuntary steps back, but for every step I took back, he took one forward.

"Wasn't I clear enough for you?" he continued as he walked towards me.

In all honesty, he had been very ambiguous with that statement, but I was too scared to say anything that might make him even angrier.

Did no-one realize what was happening?

Well, it was pretty dark where we were. But come on! Humans don't fail me now.

"I'm sure I spoke English," he growled.

I winced at the sound. My worry intensified as my back came in contact with a wall. There was always a darn wall blocking my escape.

I gulped. He had me cornered. A dance off had broken out around the pool and no-one was paying any attention to us.

He probably still had a grudge from when I'd confiscated his chewing gum last week. But I was a prefect for crying out loud. I had to make sure people stuck to the rules. Don't hate me for it!

Ashton seemed hell bent on breaking the rules, and then got angry when I talked to him about it.

Maybe he wanted to kill me for it. If it were gummy bears then I'd understand, but gum? I sighed, wishing I had just left his darn gum alone.

My eyes slowly travelled from the ground to his own. They were heated, angry and... somewhat protective?

No, I must have read his emotions wrong. The last thing Ashton Rivera would do was protect me.

I closed my eyes, trying to make sense of what was going on and why he was saying things like this.

"Elizabeth, look at me."

I cracked my eyes open, one at a time and looked into his eyes. I'd always thought they were black, but now I could see that they were midnight blue with little flecks of gold. They were very beautiful, like a night sky. A lovely sky that-

"When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it," he continued.

I snapped out of my trance, the awe becoming replaced by anger.

"Stop trying to control me, Ashton!" I yelled at him.

His beautiful midnight blue eyes were furious now, but I bit back my fear.

"Why are you constantly making my life harder than it has to be? Do you live off the pain of others or something? I'm sorry I took your gum and I would give it back, but I threw it in the trash. And telling me to stay away from Kevin? He's literally the only guy I talk to. I don't understand why you're doing this!"

"You don't have to understand, just do it!"

"Or what?"

His eyes narrowed at me and his jaw clenched as his eyes glittered with anger. I blinked in shock, realizing a little too late that I had spoken.

"You don't want to know."

My eyes widened in fear and my heart skipped a beat as Ashton drew nearer to me with each word.

I wished I could pull a Danny Phantom and slip through this wall. With the wall behind me, there was really nowhere else to go.

Ashton was serious. I knew that. He wasn't just all bark, he had a very vicious bite too. He fulfilled his threats.

I groaned internally, wondering how I managed to get on his bad side so much.

He stepped away from me with a hateful expression before turning swiftly and striding away.

Yeah, you better run.

I sighed shakily as I peeled myself off the wall and watched him walk away, still brooding. Ashton usually scared me, but recently he was taking it to the next level and I didn't have a clue as to why.

I moved off unsteadily to go look for Callie and Melissa. I still needed to apologize.

I found Melissa after a moment. She was lounging on a deck chair and chatting animatedly with Trey.

Aw, they were so cute. I decided to leave them alone.

I couldn't find Callie, so I just decided to apologize later.

I walked around aimlessly after that, helping people with random stuff like finding the bathroom or getting another chair to lounge in.

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