Ash

Finally. Wednesday had arrived. Ash nearly groaned with relief as he pulled himself up into Clyde's massive truck. It was tall and broad, much like the football player himself.

Ash side-eyed the buff young man from the middle of the backseat. Another football player slid in next to him, a cheerleader taking a position on his lap. On the other side, Ash's mutual friend with Clyde assumed a similar position with another cheerleader, though the two were shameless enough to start making out as soon as they were situated. A blonde girl closed the door with an eyeroll as she climbed into the passenger seat. Ash was pretty sure that she, too, was a cheerleader.

Clyde pulled out of the university campus parking lot, heading to whatever bar or club he would be getting them into tonight. Ash didn't like the buff athlete, and he was pretty sure Clyde was already half-way to being wasted despite the fact that he was driving, but Ash didn't care tonight, so long as he got some decent liquor. And maybe a fun- one-night stand.

"Is that the newbie?" the blonde up front asked as they waited for the light to turn green. Ash peeked at her before trailing his gaze towards the figure she had spotted crossing the sidewalk in front of them. Clyde, along with the others, stared intently at him as he waited at the corner to presumably cross the other street. Black hair waved slightly in the cool night breeze and Clyde gasped while driving forward as the light turned green.

"I think it is! Let's check it out!" he pulled over to the side of the road and parked before anyone could argue, though Ash was starting to worry that he was the only one that wanted to wake up in the morning with no memory of what he had would be happening sooner this night rather than later.

"Are we really ditching the bar to stalk a classmate? Why?" Ash tried to stop them as they all got out.

"'Cause he's mysterious, duh," the blonde wrapped her arms around Clyde's waist, "He just moved to town and no one knows anything about him or his family. I mean, he never even talks to anyone!"

"And when he does talk, he's always irritated or bored, like he only has one emotion and it's real only half the time," the other football player had pulled his cheerleader tightly against his side. Ash figured he hoped to get some dirt on the poor new guy. If he could either become the guy's best friend or start some juicy rumors about him, the football player might just manage to get laid. The girl at his side was not going to stay with him all night, that was for sure.

Ash lagged behind the others as they stumbled into the old building the new guy had disappeared into. Ash had a flashback to the Gersh Theatre in Old York with the grand staircase leading to the top of the massive seating area stacked so the stage at the very bottom of the half-bowl would be visible to everyone. A huge, empty concession stand stretched between the two staircases, accessible from either the seating or the outer area.

On the stage was a setup of chairs and music stands in a half-circle. At the edge of the stage was a raised platform. A rather complicated looking stand stood facing the myriad of empty and occupied seats, papers crazily sticking out every which way from the compartment on the complicated stand.

Just what I was wanting. Ash thought to himself as he rolled his eyes and let out an irritated huff. A music rehearsal. It's not like everyone already knows that the newbie musically talented as well as academically. it was all anyone could talk about.

He hoped that the rest of the group's curiosity had been curbed enough to get them back on their way to go get drunk, but to his immense displeasure, they appeared to be even more curious. They sat on the front row, looking straight up at none other than the object of their curiosity. Ash groaned internally before sinking into a seat on the second row, right behind Clyde and the blonde. It wasn't curiosity that killed the cat. It was the person the cat dragged along that killed it.

Can we go yet? Ash was severely tempted to start whining, but knew that these people wouldn't pay him any attention. After all, who wouldn't be curious about the good-looking, mysteriously smart newbie?

Ash eyed the kid. His dark black hair was a mess and not even cut properly. It was only accented by his almost-but-not-quite mocha skin, like he was part Asian, part in-the-sun too long. His hair, one of the only features Ash could properly see from his seat, shimmered in the stage lights on occasion, like ultra-soft raven feathers. His emerald green eyes were just barely visible from the front row seats as he put his instrument together. "Attractive" was a poor word to describe him in that it didn't really capture all of him. He was definitely potential "hot" material. In fact, something as simple as a change of wardrobe would probably do him wonders.

Shit. Quite thinking like that, Ash. It doesn't matter that he's good-looking and talented. He took away your Top Student placement and is now taking you away from your drink-till-you-pass-out time.

The others started whispering about how amazing he apparently is with a saxophone, but Ash couldn't care less. He crossed his arms and tuned them out, deciding to simply glare at his academic rival who know sat chatting with a couple young girls that sat behind him.