The first big event to plan for the school council was the homecoming celebration. Each class representative was in charge of the preparation of the class floats for their year. Each class year had a president, VP, etc. But that wasn’t enough so some students had to make a committee for the floats. Every day before and after school, time would be used by the class to work on their floats, Layla would help make the float as well but she was mostly taking care of gathering supplies and managing the budget. Ashton could be hiding how exhausted he was but he was running around preparing floats, the dance, and promoting it. Luckily things were going smoothly and the school was getting excited and many students were having fun deciding who they would vote for homecoming king and queen. One day after school Layla and her team were working hard on their float which was going smoothly and she needed to get a new glue gun from the supply closet in the school. After digging through some cabinets she was making her way out when she saw a foot sticking out of a blanket, she was startled at first but she pulled the blanket towards her and gasped. It was Ashton. He was sleeping and looked so comfortable. But Layla knew he couldn’t sleep there, even though she wanted to let him. She woke him up slowly trying not to startle him. He opened his eyes and blinked a first time before slowly turning to look at Layla. Her face showed concern. He grabbed his head and closed his eyes, apologizing.
“Are you okay? If you’re tired you should go home...” Layla said in a quiet voice
“No I’m alright, I just needed to shut my eyes for a while. I’ll go home after I finish up a bit more work” Ashton grunted as he stood up and stretched. “Sorry you had to see me like...it’s a little embarrassing” he laughed while looking away. “Ahem...anyway I’ll be in the English building if you need anything good luck on the float, can’t wait to see the final product” he patted her shoulder and walked away sluggish.
Layla watched him walk away holding the glue gun with furrowed eyebrows and her lips slightly parted. She never thought about how much he had been working, even though she always had a feeling he smiled a little too forcefully. By the time Layla got back with the glue gun her working spirit had dimmed and she told everyone it was okay to pack up early. After cleaning up she went to the English building to see if he was still there. She walked into the first classroom. A girl was in there looking through a bunch of papers. The girl turned to look at the door. Layla slowly peered in, not completely walking into the classroom, asking if Ashton went home yet.
“Ashton went to the restroom, he should be back soon, but did you need something?” The girl asked while looking Layla up and down as she got closer.
“No...it’s okay I’m on my way home. I just came to give him this.” She lifted a sports drink bottle while placing it on the table near the front. “He looked tired so...” Layla set the drink down while heading towards the door.
“Oh...” the girl was slightly confused. They were on opposite sides of the classroom so it was hard for them to see and hear each other.
“Thank you, have a nice day.” Layla left while adjusting her backpack and her voice disappearing as she got farther from the door. Layla didn’t recognize the girl but she didn’t seem suspicious.
“Okay good work see ya tomorrow...” the girl tried to say before Layla got too far.
As Layla was walking out of the school entrance Ashton had been leaving the bathroom. He notices her but didn’t think he could call out to her in time to tell her goodbye so he just walked back to the English class.
As he walked in he saw the girl was still there. “Hey Sofia, you can head home now I’m just gonna finish up,” Ashton said as he got closer. He planned to stay for a few hours because of how much preparing that needed to get done. It’s not that there was so much work for a simple homecoming, but Ashton loved putting in a lot of effort even if no one would notice or appreciate it, so teachers left it to him since he didn’t need much help figuring things out. He felt bad pushing work onto other students since they’re his ideas but it’s not like he needs to do it all on his own. So students don’t question or complain when he says that he’ll do all the work and only get the bare minimum done. Sofia was a little bit more dedicated. She couldn’t be a full-time council member so she wasn’t on the float committee or even the secretary for her class, but she had known Ashton for a while and wanted to help him whenever she could. Sofia was a senior and in another club, so Ashton felt bad when she offered to help him.
“Alright, it’s getting late anyway.” Sofia started packing her bag and cleaning the desk she was sitting at.
“Hey what’s this?” Ashton asked pointing to the sports drink that Layla had left there.
“Oh, some girl came in and left that for you, saying you looked tired.” Said Sofia
“What? What does that even mean?” Ashton laughed while picking it up.
“I’m not sure she looked pretty quiet so I’m not sure if she was your fan or a committee member.” Sofia joked.
“Fan?? What did she look like?”
“Uhh...she had long hair and a dark sweater”
Ashton hummed but he figures who it was that left the drink there.
“Well I’m heading out, seriously don’t stay so late, bye” Sophia walked out while putting her earphones in.
Ashton nodded while saying bye. He was holding the drink and moving it in his hand. He laughed, not realizing how considerate Layla was. He was scared she was cynical and frustrated. Ashton was relieved and thought maybe he should go home earlier. But then a sense of embarrassment came over him. He felt useless that so many people worried about him. He thought people wouldn’t worry if he worked harder if he was better at doing his work then no one would feel bad. He was conflicted, thinking he had worked hard enough for the day but he wanted to work even harder, and he didn’t know why. He opened up the sports drink and took a big sip. He set it down and packed his bag to go home.
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