Ashley was grumpy. She couldn't blame it on a lack of sleep because she had slept well. No she was grumpy because seeing Maddox yesterday had made her take a closer look at her feelings. All the things she didn't want to think about or consider had been going around and around in her head.

It was his fault. And hers for letting him get under her skin.

"Do we have that Ash today?" Diane asked with a raised eyebrow.

She couldn't remove the deep set scowl in her face.

"What happened?" Sally asked trying to suppress a smile.

"Maddox Larson," she mumbled under her breath.

Sally scanned the crowds around us looking for him but he was no where in sight.

"What did he do?" Diane asked.

She let out a frustrated sigh trying to convert her emotions into words. "He's just annoying me."

"Annoying? Is that what you call it?" Sally quipped with a playful smile before Ashley glared at her.

"Calling what?" Ashley grumbled.

"Courting." Her smile widened.

Ashley spluttered before giving her a death glare. Sally clamped her lips together and put her hand over her mouth like she had just said the worst word in the dictionary.

"What century are you from?" Diane shook her head.

"Both of you stop." Ashley put her hands up to both of them. "I don't want to talk about it."

She knew better than say anything to the two of them. They were both seeing what they wanted to see and not necessarily what was going on.

"I don't want to talk about it," she stated, ensuring they understood that anything that had to do with Maddox was off limits. Well at least until she could figure it out for herself. This was unknown territory for her.

"Fine," Sally caved in.

"I'm off boys so they're all assholes in my world," Diane admitted reminding us of the turmoil Noah had caused for her.

Which also reminded Ashley of her prank. She shifted nervously. "Did he figure out who pranked him?"

Diane smiled. "No...not yet."

Ashley had done such a good job it had taken him a while to get the plastic off his car. She couldn't help but feel proud of her pranking skills. She was safe, he had no idea it was her.

While Ashley stood with her friends she found herself looking for Maddox. When her eyes met Jasper he smiled and inclined his head in her direction. Ross was beside him watching him. Then she saw Maddox. He had his back to her but she would recognise him anywhere. Seeing something had his friend's attention he looked over his shoulder to catch her staring at him. He winked at her but she glared back before making a point of looking away. Asshole.

"Carson came by and was asking about you?" Sally said while they headed into school for our first lesson.

Ashley stopped. "Carson?"

Diane nodded.

Carson was a friend of Noah. They attended the same school and that was about it. She could count on one hand the number of times they had spoken. They didn't really know each other well so she was puzzled as to why he was seeking her out.

"Did he say what he wanted?" She couldn't for the life of her think of anything he could want from her.

"No."

Diane walked a couple of steps. "Do you think it might have something to do with Noah?"

And with that statement her mind went directly to the memory of wrapping Noah's car like a Christmas gift. She swallowed nervously. There was no way anyone would suspect her, could they?

"He said he would catch you later," Sally added.

"You really have no idea what he wants to talk to you about?" Diane asked, giving her a curious look. Perhaps she thought it might have have something to do with her ex.

Ashley didn't want her friend to build her hopes up for a reconciliation only to be hurt and disappointed when it didn't happen. She had watched Noah and Caitlyn sit beside each other at lunch, the way they looked at each was enough to turn her stomach. She couldn't imagine how much this was hurting her friend. She rubbed Diane's arm gently.

"I'm sure it's nothing important." Ashley refused to allow her imagination to run wild with reasons why he would want to talk to her.

Ashley was hyperaware of the way she looked for Maddox in the sea of students and the classes they had together she swore she could feel his eyes on her. This guy was making her act like someone she didn't recognise and it scared her. She had always been the one who didn't fully commit, she always had one foot out of the relationship ready to run when it got too complicated.

This was the first time she was probably more invested than the guy. This time she wasn't in control and it was scary. She couldn't help how she was feeling, she was a slave to her emotions. She held onto the determination to stop herself from becoming another girl he could walk all over. No matter how she felt about him she refused to allow it to dictate her actions.

Just lunch she headed to her locker to swap some books for her next lesson. She opened her locker as was about to take out a book when someone cleared their throat behind me.

She turned to see Carson. He had always been a good looking guy with the lightest blue eyes she had ever seen but now there was something more grown up about him. It was difficult to pinpoint it exactly. He had dated a few girls but didn't seem to have a reputation most football players had.

"I need to talk to you," he said.

She scanned the students around to make sure Diane was no where in sight.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

"Could we talk somewhere private?" he asked casually.

She frowned before she nodded.

"I need to get a couple of books and then I'll meet you by the front entrance of the school." It was usually quiet during lunch time so there wouldn't be a lot of people hanging around.

"Sure." She watched with growing confusion as she watched him disappear in the direction they were going to meet.

She could ditch him but her own curiosity made her get the books she needed before she headed to meet with him.

He was leaning against the wall and when she arrived he pushed away from the wall to stand. She looked around to make sure no one was around to see them.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked, when she finished scanning the area around them.

"Is there something going on between you and Maddox?" he asked.

She crossed her arms slowly. "I'm not sure if that's any of your business."

"You're right. It's none of my business." He paused. "It's just...I want to know if you're dating anyone at the moment."

Dating. She shook her head before dropping her arms to her side.

"I know this might be unexpected...but I didn't want to wait too long..." He seemed nervous. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to go out sometime."

"Out?" she echoed.

He nodded.

"Like a date?" she asked, making sure she wasn't misunderstanding his intent.

He smiled. "Yes a date."

That she hadn't expected. She had just split with Logan and the rumour had just died down. And there was Maddox. Besides, she had also never looked at Carson in that way before.

"Why?" she murmured still trying to figure out why he would ask her out so suddenly out of the blue. Not that she was even contemplating accepting. How could she go out with someone when another guy had her all tied up in knots?

"I like you." He was confident as he spoke the words.

"Really?" she whispered. She hadn't seen that coming at all.

"I wanted to ask you before Logan but he beat me to it."

"Oh."

She didn't understand when someone who could date anyone he liked, was standing in the middle of a hallway waiting for her response. She had never looked at him like that, for goodness sake they had never had a meaningful conversation. If she even contemplated it she had a feeling it would be a Logan all over again.

"I don't know..." She was hesitant to tell him no outright. She had hurt Logan and look what that had led to.

Besides how could she forget about Maddox. Just the thought of him was enough to make her heart race.

"You don't have to make a decision right now. Think about it." He shoved a piece of paper into her hand. He gave her one last look as she looked down into her hand to see his number written on the note. When she looked up he was already walking away.