He sat there and just waited. Waited and waited. She was late. She was never late. She was always on time, at least to class. He was nervous. He started to make Benji nervous and a little annoyed.
"She's not going to show." Joel said, moving his leg up and down while leaning his head back in the chair. "Why would she come, anyway? It's not like we were ever good high school pals or something. She's not going to show."
Benji rolled his eyes and leaned forward putting his head on the table. "She'll show. She better, because if you get any more annoying I'm going to kill you!" He tilted his head to Joel's view.
Joel sighed and continued tapping his feet on the ground to some random and fast tempoed beat. She was late. It was only five minutes late, but it was a lifetime.
Minute after minute ticked by, and finally he watched Ashton walk towards him, except this time the feeling was different. This time he knew for sure that she wouldn't be walking straight past him like she had in the hallways a thousand times, giving nothing more than a mere smile, this time she'd stay and talk for a little bit.
Ashton walked around the gate out to the patio off the coffee shop. The boys both stood up and greeted her. She gave Benji a quick hug first, then Joel. He couldn't believe it, she was in his arms. He didn't want the moment to end, but it did all too quickly. She was even more beautiful than he had ever imagined. She smiled and sat down in the middle of them. "It's been so long since I've seen you guys, I just can't believe it."
Benji nodded. "I know," he shook his head. "At least we're not playing at this place anymore."
She laughed. "I can't believe you guys made it so big. I'm amazed I haven't had to work with you guys yet."
"What do you mean?" Benji asked. Joel sat silently beside him, still staring at her.
"Oh," She shook her head. Ashton often forgot that there were still a few people in the world who didn't know about her. "I do free-lance photography for different magazines."
Joel nodded, he knew. He'd try to figure out what she was doing in life a couple times on the internet. Every time he'd end up getting some picture with her name in small type below it.
She smiled and turned her head to the other side to look at Joel. "You're quiet."
He nodded timidly and Benji spoke up. "He still hasn't gotten over that whole shy thing. Especially sitting next to the Ashton Keats."
The Ashton Keats rolled her eyes. "I hate that. I don't know what made me more special than anyone else in that school. I was just another head in the hallways."
"You were friends Kai. That had to have made some effect on your reputation."
"No. It wasn't Kai. I mean, you were her boyfriend, it didn't keep you from being made fun of."
Benji laughed. "Jealous sons of bitches."
They all laughed. "Seriously, what separated me from anyone else?"
Joel pulled his hand away from his mouth. He'd been biting around his nails again. "It's not like any of the other girls at that school were as nice or as good looking as you." He couldn't believe he had just said it, looked her in the eyes and said it. He wanted to crawl under a rock, fall off the earth, die. He knew he didn't have the guts to say that to her, he just prayed it wouldn't strike again and make him seem even dumber.
Ashton's hazel eyes transferred over to his just as he looked down. "High school wasn't any easier for me than it was for you." He looked up.
"What? You never got beat up." He whispered.
She shook her head. "No. I was never beat up." It was a lie. There were guys that had hit her a few times. Forced her to do things. "Rumors are always worse though. I mean, there's nothing you can do to stop it. It just spreads. Never ends."
"Were any of those rumors true?" Benji asked.
"Some. The petty ones about who's going out with whom or what shirt was so last year. The juicy rumors lived on." She gave a weak smile.
Joel shook his head. "You never deserved any of those." He looked her directly in the eye. The gaze stayed locked and more was said in the little bit of time when no one spoke than was said the entire time spent at the coffee shop.
Ashton went through high school believing that no one knew her except Kai. In reality Joel seemed to know more about her than even her best friend. He knew she wasn't a slut who slept around. He knew she didn't get that bruise from falling down the stairs. He knew she was different. She couldn't believe how someone who just sat behind her in one class knew it all. After all those years believing he was the classiest guy in the school, he proved her right. He was the only guy who didn't deserve the beatings he got back then. They were both so misunderstood.
While the pain of it all faded with Joel after awhile, hers lingered on for years, wouldn't go away. Hers mimicked the never ending rumors that whispered through the halls between classes. She couldn't fix what had been done, no one could ever help her.
"Perfect Life" by Useless I.D. haven't got a sign or a clue of how you should be of what you should do to win the big race such a disgrace when there is no way out on a dead end street can't make it right can't stand on your feet when you got knocked down fell on the cold ground so what now? ... how come such a sunny day can look so gray? And you just can not figure out why you don't want to keep on playing, is this game a bunch of lies and you feel you have had enough you want to fill the empty half of what you lost on your way here, you have got to fight through all your fears in this game of life no need to run no need to hide next time you fall on the cold ground you will know why the sky is so grey why there is no need for you to keep on playing, cause you don't belong in this big race at all!