Ashley

"Mr. Radke, I will not tolerate profanity in my hallways!" Principal Hertz stated firmly.

I sighed and replied, "I'm sorry, Principal Hertz."

She just scowled at me, her steel gray eyes burning into my brown. "Mr. Radke, there will be no more of this. A weeks detention. Do it again, and it's a month. Have I made myself clear?"

"What?!" I stared at her. "A week?"

"Have. I. Made. Myself. Clear?"

I groaned and nodded.

"Starting today, Mr. Radke."

"Why do you keep calling me "Mr. Radke?" I'm not my dad," I shuddered.

She narrowed her eyes and said, "Get back to class, Ronald."

I smirked to myself and hurried to gym. Today was going just great. Not only did I get a weeks detention for what I'd just done, but I think I broke my toe in gym, failed my math test, failed my history test, and I'm probably failing English right now, too. Oh, and while I was walking home, it started to rain. A downpour. When I got home after detention, Michael stopped me in the doorway.

"What brings you home so late?" he asked.

I stared into his sky blue eyes. "Detention," I growled, shoving past him.

He smirked, moving in front of me. "What for?"

I glared at him. "Fuck you," I hissed. I stormed into the bathroom and grabbed a towel. I brought it into my room and dried myself off as I locked the door. I stood rooted to the spot for a moment, then decided to call Ashley. Max answered. "Hi, it's Ronnie. Can I talk to Ashley?"

"Sure," Max replied.

Everything was quiet for a moment. Then I heard her croak, "Hello?"

"Hey. Heard you were sick. Feeling any better?"

She sighed. "Not really."

"Think you'll be at school tomorrow?" I asked, curiously.

"Maybe."

"Yeesh. You don't sound good at all. Well, I hope you feel better." Then I hung up. Something seemed wrong with Ashley. Not just that she was sick, but something seriously wrong. I had no idea what, but I wanted to know. Then again, knowing might torture me. ...Not knowing was torturing me.

"Ronnie, look, I'm sorry," Michael said, pounding on my door.

I sighed and sat on my bed. "Whatever," I half-shouted, half-whispered.

It was silent for a moment, then he walked away.

I had to figure this out somehow. Figure out everything. My feelings about Ashley, what was wrong with her, and just...I don't know. That's the problem. I didn't know anymore.