Eternal Changes (Mikah) by Tiffany Berry

Ashton from the corner of her eye.
     
    Ashton was gazing at her with a perplexed look on his face. He slid his hand through his hair as he looked away. What was he was thinking about that had him so flustered?
     
     “Class, we’ll be doing a group project,” Mr. McCleary boomed. “There should be a total of three people in each group. I’m going to be nice and let you choose your own groups.”
     
    Lucy peeked over at Ashton and blushed as she noticed he was staring at her. She broke her gaze away from his as she felt someone touch her arm. Lucy looked up to find Sam staring down at her.
     
    “You wanna be in my group,” Sam murmured with her eyes slightly downcast.
     
    Lucy beamed. “Sure, Sam.”
     
    “Do you mind if I join, too?” Ashton asked as he walked up to Sam.
     
    Sam looked a little shell shocked as she shoved her bifocals back up her small nose. “You w-w-want to be in m-m-y group?”
     
    Ashton’s smile lit up his gorgeous face as his soft velvet voice floated through the air. “I wouldn’t want to be in any other.”
     
    Lucy glanced over at Sam. Sam eyes were the size of saucers and a blush stained her cheeks.
     
    Sam’s glanced down at the floor as she wiped her palms on her jeans. “I’d love to have you in my group.”
     
    “Wonderful,” Ashton said as he began moving his desk.
     
    Lucy helped Sam move her desk and they placed them in a circle for the assignment. Lucy slid into her desk and stared at Ashton.
     
    Mr. McCleary banged his ruler on the desk to get the class to quiet down. Lucy attempted to pay attention to what Mr. McCleary was saying, but her heart wouldn’t let her. It pounded in her chest like a stampede of wilder beasts. She snuck a glance at Ashton as she pretended to take notes. What was it about him that kept her off balance every time he was near her? His brown eyes were flecked with slivers of topaz. They made Lucy think of melted chocolate with honey dropped into it.
     
    “So, did you take good notes on what we’re supposed to do?” Ashton asked as he looked at Lucy, his mouth hinted at a smile.
     
    Lucy looked down at the piece of paper in front of her. The white paper glared back at her. Not a drop of ink graced the page. She started to blush as she heard Ashton’s light chuckle.
     
    “I’ve everything outlined right here,” Sam said as she enthusiastically waved a sheet of paper in her hand. “I’ve some great ideas on what we can do.”
     
    Lucy smiled at Sam as Sam rambled on about American women throughout history and how far they had come. Sam continued to explain that women had even pretended to be men to join in the fray of the Civil War battles. Lucy could feel Sam’s passion about the subject as Sam rattled on.
     
    “So, what do you guys think?” Sam asked with an earnest look on her face.
     
    “I think it’ll be perfect,” Ashton said as he touched Sam’s shoulder.
     
    Lucy smiled as she noticed Sam looking at Ashton like he hung the moon. Sam was getting sucked into the black hole and would soon be lost forever. Lucy shook her head. She knew how easy it was to get hung up on a bunch of words. She had to give credit where credit was due.  He was good.
     
    Ashton watched as Lucy scrambled out of her desk and headed for the door as the bell rung, dismissing the class. Her cheeks were flushed a pretty pink.
     
    Ashton ambled out of the classroom after Lucy. He glanced down the hall. The human male that Lucy ran with the other night was walking beside her.
     
    Ashton briefly closed his eyes as he tried to slow down Lucy’s thoughts as they buzzed through his mind like a runaway freight train. He attempted to find out the human boy’s name, but her thoughts were currently focused on the track tryouts. It took Ashton several minutes before he finally heard what he was looking for: Michael.
     
    Ashton opened his eyes to find a blonde girl smiling up at him. He tried to keep from frowning as he tried to move around her.