The Gray Letters.

"And then Trevor asked Gina if he could come over then she said no and of course Trevor got really mad like his ears were letting out smoke or something and then Gina--"

"Do me a favor and shut up for a minute okay?"

Ash shut his mouth and crossed his arms, clearly upset that I just cut him off. Again.

"It's not like you're doing anything important. You're just staring inside an empty locker." His tone suggested that he was annoyed at the same time perplexed. Can't help but feel the same way.

"Yeah," I mumbled while scrutinizing the peeling paint of my locker.

"Where are your books anyway? Weren't they there this morning?"

I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut. It's only been a month since school started and they're doing it again. The same things they've been doing since second year. It's becoming tedious: going after the culprits, giving them a lesson, then retrieving my belongings again.

I slammed my locker shut and kicked the bottom locker with such force, I was sure there was going to be a dent after. Note to self: apologize to the kid about the locker later. I turned to Ash who was fumbling with his books, his eyes narrowing at me. Rather, what was behind me.

"What's with the sour look?"

He focused his eyes back on me and offered a grim smile.

"Oh nothing. I just saw something... how do you say this? Oh yeah, rotten."

Part of me wanted to crawl into a hole when I heard Ash speak that way, the other part just wanted to slap him in the back of his head and say, 'stop being a creep'.

"Come on, we'll be late for class." He started to drag me away from my locker, obviously unconcerned for my lack of educational tools. I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans and started to follow him. It was weird for Ash, one of the few people in this school that I trust, to be mean. Out of curiosity, I turned my head around to see what Ash was referring to but saw nothing.

Just a person.