“Daze, I think that’s enough, leave the poor girl alone.” Her father finally came to her rescue, and Lucy sighed with relief.
“You are staying home for the rest of the today.” Daz said abruptly.
“Oh come on! It’s not my fault. I hope she’s getting into trouble too.” Lucy huffed and Daz nodded.
“Of course she is.”
“Great, I’m going now, if we are done with this conversation.” She slashed her hand at them, and marched out of the room.
Her father watched her go as he brushed his silvery hair back off his face and chuckled. He turned to his tall, burly son, and prepared to inform him that his little sister had found a boy she liked. This was not going to go well.
Lucy meanwhile, stormed in the direction of her sister’s room ready to return the lecture that she had just endured. Instead, her phone beeped again. In irritation, she yanked the phone out, only to stop dead in her movement on getting revenge on her sister.
'So, are you doomed to be trapped in your house forever?’ The message stated, and she knew it was from Ash.
'Nope, just today.’ She texted back.
‘Good’ He returned.
“So, I wonder who you’re talking too,” Penny exclaimed from behind her, completely distracting her.
“Penny! You are in so much trouble,” Lucy gave her a deadly look, making her back away as quickly as possible.
“Well, if you hadn’t have run away from him then I wouldn’t have taken the car,” Penny argued back. “How did it go by the way?”
“Um, good.” Lucy lost all her fight, as she thought back to Ash.
She had had a surprisingly great time, no matter how brief it had ended up being. Lucy was actually starting to look forward to seeing him again, which was unusual for her. She was used to guys that were just her mates. They hung out, played rugby, but never actually sat and talked with her as Ash had.
“You know, he really likes you,” Penny said, with a wink while swishing her long blonde hair off her face.
“Maybe,” Lucy muttered.
“No, he does. He pretty much told me that.”
Lucy felt her stomach flutter crazily at her sister’s words, but she shook her head slightly. She walked away up the stairs almost in a daze, while Penny just grinned at her sister’s unusual quietness.
Was it crazy to think that Ash liked her? They had only met last night, so how could he know if he liked her? Then again, did she like Ash?
Her whole body tingled just thinking about his bright golden eyes that were so unusual, but also incredibly mesmerising. Even to defending her from his brother, who was quite obviously an arse of epic proportions.
It was bordering on dark when her step mum called her down for dinner. She realised that she had spent the last few hours thinking of nothing but Ash. She shook her head at her own silliness, and determined to put him from her mind
Lucy felt a bit crushed when she didn’t hear from Ash the following day. By the day after, she was mad, but crazily checking her phone every few minutes. By the time the last week of holidays was over, she realised that she must have been wrong about him liking her.
He popped into her mind all too frequently, which only made her scold. She tried to put him out of her mind, by either working on the farm with her father, or spending time with her mates.
When she drove past the old Crampton place, she felt a bit sad. She had to stop herself from driving up to his house to check if he was doing okay.
On Sunday night, before school was due back, she found herself restlessly pacing. She wasn’t nervous about school, all her assignments were completed, and all her friends would be there.
It all came back to Ash. She was edgy because he should be starting school with them too. Nope you’re angry with that loser for not calling you, she told herself firmly as she lay down.
Her phone rang, and for a brief second she felt a twinge of hope, before she forced it back down. There was no way that it would be Ash. She picked up her phone from the bedside table, and the hope flared into brightness.
“Hello?” She asked
“Hey, Lucy, its Ash, how's things?" Ash’s voice came down the line, and Lucy felt instantly relieved.
"Fine," she answered abruptly.
"I forgot to take my phone with me. I’m sorry I didn’t call you, but I had an, um, family emergency that I had to deal with.”
“It’s okay, Ash. I guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” She answered.
“Yeah, I guess I’ll see you there,” he said softly “I didn’t mean to not call you. Nick was just being a pain when I was going, and I left my stupid phone behind.”
“Its fine, Ash, don’t worry about it.”
“Alright. Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning?” His voice seemed to hold the same amount of hope that she had felt earlier, which started the butterflies dancing in her stomach again.
“Yeah, Ash. Night.” She whispered, as she hung up her phone.
All her anxiety washed away, when she placed her phone back down. Five minutes ago, she was furious with him, but now she knew she had forgiven him. All she could think was that she would see him in the morning, before dropping into a restful sleep.
High school, the one place that Ash had never really attended. Thanks to his money hungry parents, and his singing skills, he had only gone as far as primary school. After that, his parents had dragged him around the country. They entered him in talent shows, or visited recording companies, rather than be educated.
As soon as he began making enough money, he had hired tutors so his schooling wouldn't suffer. He knew this was going to be a far different experience to anything he had ever done before, but he wanted to know what a normal life was like, just this once.
He gulped in some air, as he parked his car, and saw all the other kids walking in the school gates. Thank God, he'd thought to buy an older car. He could only imagine the expressions on their faces if he had driven his sports car in. He looked around, as friends greeted each other, while he wondered what he was supposed to do first.
“Hey, Ash,” he heard Lucy’s sweet voice calling, and turned to see her beaming at him.
His heart started racing, as he returned her smile. She looked great, even in the plain light blue checked dress that was the uniform of the school. Penny followed her with a sly grin on her face. She sent him a wave, before walking away to talk to her friends.
“Hi, Lucy,” he greeted her. For a second, he felt like the world had stopped, and only revolved around the two of them “Sorry we didn’t get to catch up…”
“Lou! Good God girl, have you forgotten our tradition?” A guy that looked familiar to Ash ran over to them.
“Of course not, Ren, but not him.” Lucy said, with a roll of her eyes.
“Um, what are you talking about?” Ash asked curiously, while Lucy just laughed.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” She answered wryly.
“But he’s the only new guy,” Ren whined.
“Well then, it’s not happening.” Lucy told him sternly
“Hey, if you made me try and do it all those years ago, then he has to as well.” Ren pointed his finger at Ash, who just raised an eyebrow at him.
“My names Ash, by the way.” Ash stuck his hand out to the disgruntled guy standing in front of him.
“Ren. Hey, you were the guy that had that party right?” Ren’s eyes lit with recognition.
“Yeah.” Ash answered uneasily.
This last week with his brother had not proved pleasant. In a way, he had been thankful for his agent’s phone call that had sent him briefly overseas. Sometimes Martin James proved to be quite a helpful person to have on his side. Instead of a grumpy brother, he had put up with interviews for most of the week. The only annoying thing had been forgetting his phone, and not being able to contact Lucy.
“I still say he has to do it,” Ren argued as his younger brother Col tackled him to the ground "God, you’re a pain,” Re
n muttered, as he shoved his brother off him
“Will you just tell me what you are talking about?” Ash demanded. Both Ren and Col sent him an evil smile, as Lucy rolled her eyes yet again.
“Fine, the new guy has to sing the national anthem at homeroom instead of introducing himself.” Lucy muttered, while Ash sent her a perturbed look.
“Really? You dare me?” Ash got over his surprise, while the other guys jaws dropped open.
“Hell, yeah!” Ren whooped.
“Bring it on.” Ash grinned, which just made Lucy shake her head.
She had always dared new guys to do it, but she’d never actually seen any guy she dared sing a thing, except for Ren. This would make the day much more interesting. The bell rang, but as they headed towards their classrooms, an announcement told them to head towards the auditorium instead.
“Dare you to sing in front the whole school,” Lucy grinned broadly.
“No problem,” Ash said confidently, while the other two guys laughed their heads off.
“Are you sure?” Lucy questioned, wondering if she should have quit while she was ahead, before Ash got completely humiliated.
“Yep. What do I get if I do it?”
“I don’t know. What do you want?” She replied dubiously.
“You to go out on a date with me on the weekend.” Ash asked capturing her eye, while Lucy stopped abruptly.
“You don’t want to dare me to do something?” She asked in amazement.
“No, just a date.” He said with a grin.
“Alright, done. Good luck up there.” She said with a waggle of her eyebrows.
They walked into the hall together and sat down. Both Ren and Col gave her a strange look, as she sat down next to them, but she shrugged it off.
Ash sat on her other side and grinned. This was nothing. He had done concerts in front of millions of fans, so a couple of hundred teenagers didn’t worry him at all.
When the principal first started speaking up on stage, Ash sent Lucy his cheekiest grin. He stood up and walked calmly to the front of the room. The principal finally spluttered to a stop, as Ash approached him.
“Can I help you?” He asked Ash, looking at him sternly.
“Sorry to interrupt Sir, but I was asked to sing the national anthem, if you don’t mind.” Ash returned seriously.
He thought he saw a tilt of the principal’s lips, before he glanced in Lucy's direction, but she looked away innocently. This seemed less unexpected than Ash had thought. Surprisingly, the principal handed over his microphone.
“Good luck, Son.” The principal said, while patting his shoulder reassuringly.
Ash cleared his throat, and looked directly at Lucy. He hummed for a second to get the right note, before starting to sing. Nobody was more surprised than Lucy was to see the principal hand his stage over to a student.
When Ash started singing, Lucy found herself swept away by his beautiful voice. She felt speechless, as she watched him He wasn’t embarrassed or afraid, he just stood there and sung in a clear, melodious voice.
When he finished singing, applause and cheers from the other students surrounded him. He walked calmly back over to Lucy, sat down, and tried to ignore the questioning looks that were coming his way.
“You owe me a date.” He muttered, to which she just nodded vaguely.
“Well, thank you to our new student, Ash Martin,” The principal said, before looking to Lucy “For that dare, Miss McConnell, you are responsible for this young man for the rest of the day. I also expect you in detention this afternoon.”
Lucy let out a groan. Detention on the first day back, that would suck. Then again, she never thought Ash would do it. She turned her head to look at him, feeling a bit humbled by him, only to find him staring at her. She sent a quick jab into his ribs, which made him chuckle.
“Hey man, that was un-freaking believable.” Ren whispered to him, as he raised his fist in the air. Ash bumped his fist against Ren’s, until Lucy jabbed each of them with her elbows.
As they began filing out of the hall, everyone wanted to talk to him and Ash obliged briefly. Lucy started walking away from him shaking her head, so he quickly ran to catch her up.
“You have now spoiled that dare forever,” she chided him and he grinned.
“Hey, you started it,” he told her simply.
“Well, remind me never to dare you again. Do you even have your schedule yet?” She asked, and at his confused face, she knew that was a negative. “Come on, we still have to get to class.”
They were late by the time Lucy had everything organised. Thankfully, they had the next class together. She led the way at an almost run down the empty corridors, before finally skidding to a halt in front of their classroom. She opened the door, and Mr Carter scowled at them from the blackboard.
“Ah, it’s our newest celebrity,” The teacher said, and Lucy didn’t miss the way Ash’s face paled and blanched. What was that about?
“Sorry we’re late, Sir. We had to get Ash’s schedule.” Lucy managed to say, as she tried to catch her breath.
“Well, sit down, and stop wasting my time,” Mr Carter snapped. “Not you boy. You need to introduce yourself to your classmates.” He pointed his bony finger at Ash, while Lucy gratefully took a seat.
“Okay, I’m Ash Martin. I recently moved here…” He trailed off wondering what to tell the class about himself.
“Hi, Ash, why don’t you come and sit with me. I want to hear all about you,” he glanced over to see a raven-haired girl pointing to the seat next to her.
“Yeah, right, Rachel.” He heard Lucy mutter.
“Hey, he might have accepted your stupid dare, but it doesn’t mean he wants to be anywhere close to you.” Rachel returned snidely, which received a black look from Lucy
“Okay, that’s enough. Mr Martin just sit down, so I can finally teach a class.” Mr Carter demanded, before letting out a sigh.
Ash looked around the room. Every girl seemed to be sitting up straighter, or deliberately pointing to a seat nearby. He was thankful that the spot next to a scowling Lucy was free. He strode over and plonked himself down, startling her. She cocked an eyebrow in question at him. but said nothing as he organised his books and pens.
By lunchtime, Ash was exhausted. Was school this full on all the time? Between the girls trying to get his attention, and the amount of work piled on him, he wasn’t sure if he would even survive to the end of the week.
He had to endure the last class all by himself, and ended up following the crowd towards the canteen. His stomach growled, but he watched as the other kids jostled in the lines. Maybe he should have brought his own lunch.
Strangers stared at him, making him feel awkward and uneasy. Some called out a greeting to him, but not the strawberry blonde headed girl he was searching to find.
“Heads up!” Came a familiar voice from the crowded tables.
It was a second, before he realized that a football was hurtling its way towards him. Then it was too late, as it hit him hard in the chest. He grunted, but snatched the offending ball quickly.
“Sorry, Ash, you, ah, seemed a bit lost. Do you want to come and sit with us?” Lucy asked, with a reassuring smile, as she grabbed the ball off him.
“Yeah, thanks,” he mumbled.
“That was the worst throw ever, Col. Were you trying to knock him out?” Lucy shouted, as she tossed the ball back to a grinning Col.
“No. Sorry about that man.” Col turned towards Ash, who just shrugged.
“So, did you brave the queue for food?” Lucy asked, as she gestured to the seat beside her.
“No, it looked pretty deadly.” Ash muttered, before glancing around the table.
The people he hadn’t met stared at him, until Lucy quickly made introductions. He tried to keep the names sorted, but was still a bit muddled. Ren and Col were easy with their black hair and brown eyes. The rest were still a bit of a mystery.
“You can share mine. I got extra for you,” L
ucy’s whispered voice interrupted his thoughts, as she gestured at her tray of food.
“Thanks,” he said gratefully, feeling much better at her soft smile, and generosity towards him.
“How were your other classes?” She asked, as she handed him a sandwich, which he quickly devoured.
“Yeah, alright, I guess.” He answered with a shrug.
They were talking so quietly together that they didn’t notice the rest of the table watching them. It wasn’t lost on Lucy's friends the way they were acting towards each other. A few were a bit disgruntled, while the rest were pleased that Lucy may have finally found her someone special.
Chapter 4 – Family issues
Lucy sat in detention twiddling her thumbs, hoping that Daz didn’t find out that she got detention on her first day back. She was not in the mood for another ridiculous lecture. Silence surrounded her, and the rather bored looking teacher.
At first, she thought she was hearing things. Then she considered that maybe it was an excessively loud iPod. She tilted her head as the sound got louder, before she realised that it was coming from outside the room.
A guitar was gently strumming out a beautiful melody that Lucy had never heard before. The bored teacher looked up from her marking, as she heard it, before she sent Lucy a wry grin.
“I guess that’s enough punishment for today, Lucy. Try and stay out of trouble from now on okay, and no more bets.” She said, and Lucy sent her a grateful smile. She packed up her bag and raced from the room.
She was startled when she bumped into Ash in the hallway, who looked at her a bit sheepishly. Her mouth dropped open in shock at the guitar that he had a firm hold off.
“Was that you?” She asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed by him.
Who was the guy that sung in front of the entire school without fear or embarrassment? Not only that, but he brought his guitar to strum a few tunes as well. Ash had to be the most confusing guy that she had ever known.
“I felt bad for you having to do detention because of me, so I thought I’d keep you company,” he said with a shrug.
“What was that you were playing? It was really beautiful,”
I Met Her On the Balcony Page 3