To say I woke up on the wrong side of the bed is the understatement of the year.

Not only did I have only 20 minutes to get ready, I felt a slight hangover, but the only alcohol I'd consumed was last night was a sip.

I quickly jolted out of bed, running over to my closet almost tripping over my dress and pumps. I grabbed an over-sized college t-shirt and some black leggings and tossed them on my bed with the first underwear and socks I saw.

Still running, I made it to my bathroom, barely, and hopped into the shower.

10 minutes later, I was out and dressed looking for shoes.

I settled for my white converse and grabbed my keys, converse, and bookbag filled with homework I did not do.

I raced down the stairs, grabbing the first thing I saw in the kitchen which of course, happened to be a whole box of Fruit Loops.

Great.

When I reached my car, I began the well known route to school, knowing I was going to to be late. I ate my dry cereal happily anyway, and yes, I brushed my teeth, in my car.

When I made it into the school parking lot, I had approximately 2 minutes to get to class. Grabbing my keys, phone, bookbag, and Fruit Loops, I began to bolt through the school grounds in a record time.

Okay, one minute left to throw all my things into my locker and --

"Hey Mads where were you last night? And why is Ashton Moore looking for you?" Nashly questioned, popping out of nowhere.

"What? I don't know? I got to go I'm going to be late Nash, we'll talk later promise." I said hastily, trying to shove the box of cereal in my locker along with many other miscellaneous things.

"You get hungry this morning little one?" Ashton's amused voice came from behind me.

My eyes went wide with shock.

Well he found me.

Tell why do I even bother? The bell rang notifying me what I already knew.

"Yeah I uh.." I stammered, turning around to look at him.

Nash walked steadily backwards mouthing 'Tell me everything,' her wide eyes surely matching mine.

As I finally let my eyes fall to Ashton I studied the way he was standing in front of me. He shift from foot to foot, looking extremely uncomfortable but what shocked me was what he was holding in his hand.

In his hand he held a single red rose, that he was holding up to me. I was so shocked, I felt words sticking to my throat. At this point, I knew my eyes were likely bulging out of my head and I tried to look casual.

"Look Madison, I apologize.. For what I said to you yesterday.." He claimed, hanging on to every word so delicately, it was hard not to believe him. "I-I'm not sure why I do the things I do." he sped out, later studying my face for a reaction.

His face remained cold.

Mine probably resembled that of a whale washed up on the shore.

I kept his gaze for a long time finding his piercing green eyes hard to look away from but as I tried to form words, so many things and nothing all at once happened.

If you knew anything about Ashton, it was that he didn't care if offended you, and he likely wouldn't acknowledge you if he wasn't looking for a lay.

Here he was apologizing to me.

I guess I took a little too long analyzing the situation.

"Right."

he mumbled tossing the rose at my feet and walking off.

Again, shocked by his actions, I scooped up the rose and ran after him.

"Thanks Ashton, I-i didn't mean to make it a big deal." I uttered, feeling the heat rising to my cheeks.

He turned to look at me, and I tried to study his eyes for any sort of emotion.

I came up empty.

Nodding, he stalked off like nothing ever happened, a familiar red head attaching to him along the way.

I stood there in that same spot, focusing on the rose in my hands, repeating three of the same words in my head.

What

The

Fuck