Collateral Damage

She left me.

Just walked right out of the room and left me standing there, my concern hanging, empty, in the air. I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked out only a few moments afterwards. I caught the eye of a friend of Lottie's, sporting that fucking varsity jacket, and his bottom jaw dropped. He looked from me, to Lottie's retreating back, and then back to me.

I don't know what came over me, or why I said it, but I did and I immediately knew I was going to regret it. "They're right in what they say, you know. Cheerleaders are flexible as fuck." I winked at him and his mouth widened even further. Regret instantly bubbled in my stomach but I pushed the feeling away.

"Ashton! Where's your outfit?" As I rounded the corner, I was soon face to face with the boys. Thank God Luke hadn't seen what had happened. After lunch I had changed back into my normal jeans and a jacket, tired of the green fabric.

"You have got to put it back on! Luke is going to ask Gracie to homecoming!" I blanched. He was what?

"How'd you get Lottie to agree with that?" I smirked and Luke's face darkened.

"Don't talk about her right now." He had the right to be angry and upset over what had happened, but that didn't mean he had to be a dick to me about it. I just nodded, unphased, and waited for an explanation. "Gracie's got a council meeting after school and I've got a plan." I nodded slowly and turned into the bathroom to change back into the costume.

When I walked back out, Calum tied the red mask over my eyes. The bell rang and soon students were pouring into the hallway, all dressed as their favorite super hero. We got a few compliments, mostly from the underclassmen. I felt so stupid. Luke led the way to the room that the senior council normally met in and I trudged behind. I still couldn't believe I had said what I said to the guy. Lottie was going to hate me, well, more than she already did. A few of our friends stood around, one girl video taping everything. This was all over the top, sure, but Gracie was going to love it. Hell, she'd love it if Luke just bought her a pizza and went to her house to ask her.

I could smell her perfume before I saw her, and then Lottie slowly walked right past me, not meeting anyones eyes. I had almost forgot that she was on the council with Gracie. The halls slowly emptied and Luke was counting down the minutes as he stared at the clock. The sound of the gavel hitting the podium sounded and Luke flung the door open, Mikey running inside.

"April O'Neil, I need you to come with me. Leonardo is in trouble! Luke ducked out, running down the hall and into an empty classroom. What the hell was I supposed to do, stand there and look pretty? While Mikey urged Gracie to follow him, Calum motioned for me to follow him towards the same room that Luke had disappeared into. My box sat in the corner and Calum quickly grabbed his guitar.

""Check Yes Juliet. Start as soon as she walks in." Luke ducked into the back of the English classroom, in the book storage room. The door opened and Sam, the girl recording, stepped in backwards, Gracie and Mikey following close behind. Lottie walked in after, holding her arms across her body, but her expression lightened when she took in what everyone was doing. Her eyes met mine and I looked away first, flooded with guilt of what I had said earlier. Calum and I started the song, Gracie soon noticing what it was.

As the first verse flooded out, Luke stepped out from the closet, strumming his guitar. And that's why he was our lead singer. Given, we all could sing a little, but Luke had the stage presence. Besides, Mikey was better at guitar. I cracked a grin at that thought, still tapping along to the beat.

Luke made his way across the room to Gracie, who was practically coming out of her shoes in excitement. Mikey reached over, his fingers replacing Luke's on the frets before he held the guitar fully. Luke grabbed the bouquet of flowers from the desk, still singing. "Run baby run, forever we'll be, you and me," he smiled down at her as his voice dropped in the last verse. "So, Gracelyn Taylor, can I escort you to homecoming?" Escort? Lord, he was laying it on so thick right now. I'm pretty sure I even caught Lottie rolling her eyes. Was she mad about all of this? Lord knows she was mad at me... Eyes turned to me slowly and I looked around finally.

"What?"

"The song's over, Ash," Cal shot me a coy smile and I laid my hands flat on the box. Oops. I felt Lottie's eyes on me and I glanced up to look at her, but she had already turned and walked out of the room.