Collide ((Bryce))

[Ashley Hill]

Ashley smiled as sat down on the wooden bench of the Hufflepuff table next to Ivy. The girls around her were talking about their day, or other things going on in their lives. Before Ashley could even have a say in the conversation the food magically appeared on the table. A small smile appeared on Ashley’s face as she piled her plate up high with food adding an occasional saying in the conversation around her. Truthfully, nothing too exciting was going on in Ashley’s life. Just classes, tests, essays, figuring out her future, the usual. Elina had been sending more owls than usual, giving her younger sister an update about her newly acquainted marriage with Eliah. Ashley still couldn’t believe that he sister was already happily settled down. Just last year, they were going to Hogwarts together, and now Elina was already a wife. At least Ashley could let her parents down easy when she told them she didn’t want to take over the family restaurant. With her older sister already working there, Eliah would probably take over the restaurant with her, leaving Ashley free to do what she wanted. Smiling at the thought, Ashley jumped back to her senses as she felt one of the girls kick her lightly. “What was that for?” she asked taking the last bite of her sandwich. “Just making sure you were still here with us.” Ashley chewed then swallowed before standing up from the table. “I can’t stay for long through. I have an astronomy test tomorrow that I have to study for.” With a confident nod, Ashley said goodbye walking back Ivy and tugging lightly on her friend’s braided hair.

Making her way up the stairs to the girl’s dorm room, Ashley opened up her shoulder bag taking out her book and notes. Tucking the things under her arms, she headed back down the stairs, leaving the common room in a rush. Ashley headed down the corridor finally reaching her destination. It was a spare classroom, rarely used by any professors. Closing the door softly behind her Ashley looked around the room. There was a large window in the far corner which was the only sense of light from the moon. Ashley smiled as she took a seat down on an empty chair opening the book up in front of her on the table. Taking out the pieces of parchment she wrote notes on, Ashley scattered them around the table glancing over her curvy handwriting. Ashley didn’t have the best handwriting, but it was better than it used to be. Tucking her blonde hair behind her ear, Ashley read over and over again the words, hoping to commit them to memory. Professor Miller wasn’t the easiest of teachers. She understood what she teaching, but her class was almost nearly impossible. Luckily, Ashley was alright in the subject. Potions, on the other hand, was a course she could not do.

An hour had passed by until finally Ashley felt exhausted. She closed her eyes, rubbing them gently as a yawn escaped her mouth. Stretching, she then closed the book up, tucking the stray pieces of paper into a small folder. Tucking the school materials under her arm, Ashley walked back toward the door, turning the knob, but it wouldn’t bulge. Ashley tried turning it again before she felt a wave of panic rush through her. She did not just lock herself into an empty class room. There wasn’t even going to be anybody near by! Quickly taking out her wand, Ashley tapped the lock reciting a simple charm. Turning the knob again she groaned as it wouldn’t budge. Was this some kind of a sick joke from Peeves? If it was, Ashley was going to murder that ghost again. Groaning she sat back down in her chair, resting her head tiredly in her hands. Her eyes closed for a brief second until finally snapping opening hearing the door open. Jumping up from her seat, Ashley ran toward the door hoping to stop it. “Wait!” she nearly shouted but the door was already closed. “Perfect,” she mumbled turning around to look at the boy more closely noticing that it was Bryce Alexander, the boy prefect for her year and house. “Hi Bryce, unfortunately were kind of locked in here.”

[Bryce Alexander]

Bryce gave a stare of disbelief as he counted the number of essays he still needed to write before the school year ended. Sure, there was a month or so left, but he knew that time was against him now, and oh how he hated to write. Glancing at his watch, he noticed that dinner was just ending, which meant he had a few hours until his prefect duties would require his time. It always felt like his turn to patrol the hallways came so quickly. It was a boring job, but there was no getting around it. Gathering the heap of books that cluttered his desk, Bryce threw them into his bag and heaved the heavy load over his shoulder. He needed to go somewhere quiet, and the sixth year boys' dormitory was never quiet in the evening. The common room was never a good place either. So, Bryce headed out in search of either an empty classroom or the student lounge.

Approaching the student lounge, Bryce heard what sounded like music. It was loud, and upbeat. Glaring into the room, he saw a gathering of younger girls, dancing in front of the fireplace. Had he felt maybe even the slightest bit mean, he'd have kicked them out in a second, but that wasn't like Bryce. Instead, he turned with a sigh and walked toward a hallway of classrooms. The first one that he found sounded quiet from the outside, so he opened it and then turned to see that there were already candles lit to light up the room. As he heard the door click behind him, he jumped back when he realized that he wasn't in the room alone as someone shouted at him. He was about to leave again, with his hand on the latch when the girl spoke in a less forceful tone, and he saw that it was only Ash.

"What do you mean?" he questioned curiously, not even bothering to say hello since her second statement had him confused. "It wasn't locked when I came in." Bryce used his hand that was on the door to try the latch. Sure enough, it was locked tight. Thinking logically, he pulled out his wand, wondering if Ash had already tried this. She wasn't dumb, and so she probably had, but Bryce insisted anyways. "Alohomora," he said hopefully as he waved his wand over the door. No click. Nothing. Well, just because the basic unlocking charm did not work didn't mean they were stuck, did it?

"Well," he said in a tone that showed he wasn't too worried. Someone would find them eventually. "I guess this means that I'll have plenty of time to finish all the homework I've brought along." He looked at Ash with an unfortunate grin as he plopped down onto one of the chairs behind a desk and let his bag fall to the floor with a thud. He couldn't even force himself to pull out a book though, as homework was the last thing he really even wanted to do. And now that Ash was here, he knew that his chances of actually doing it were slim, since he always preferred socializing any day. "Wait a second, I have an idea," he said, rummaging through the mess of books in his bag to pull out a wrinkled piece of scrap parchment and a pen. With a few quick scrawls on the parchment, he held it up for Ash to see and then slipped it under the crack of the door.

Help! We're stuck inside this classroom!

It was their best chance for now at least. "I'd say we could try screaming, but the halls on this side of the castle are pretty empty. Plus, it would probably be someone like Filch who would hear us, and, I don't know about you, but he's not the person I want to rescue us." Bryce smiled again as he walked over to one of the desks and sat on it instead of a chair. "So what do you suggest we do now?" he asked, trying to make the best of their situation. If they were going to be stuck in a classroom, they might as well at least try to make it fun.

[Ashley Hill]

Ashley sighed as she stared into Bryce’s confused face. “The doors magically lock. I guess it’s either Peeves playing on of his blasted pranks, or maybe a Professor who didn’t want students to use this empty classroom,” she said with a nod crossing her arms over her chest. She took a step aside as Bryce pulled out his own wand, trying his luck at opening the door. The lock did that same before when Ashley tried, didn’t even budge. “I’ve already tried. This has to be a very advanced spell or charm to keep it locked.” Her arms were still crossed over her chest as she glared at the lock. All Ashley wanted to do was head up to the dorm room, get into a nice pair of sweatpants, and fall asleep. Well, she wasn’t going to be sleeping anytime soon. Worse thing that could happen is that they would be stuck there all night until the morning. “Do you think you can kill a ghost so they never come back again?” Ashley asked, looking at Bryce over her shoulder. It would be nice to get rid of Peeves once and for all. “Just thinking if Peeves did this to all the classroom, then we aren’t going to be the only ones stuck in a classroom.” Watching as Bryce took a seat at one of the empty desks she uncrossed her arms. Leaning up against the wall she dug her hands into her jean pockets, her brown eyes never leaving Bryce’s face. “I was just studying for the Astronomy test for tomorrow…if we don’t get out of here in time first class starts in the morning then we don’t have to take it.” Ashley wrinkled her nose slightly as she shook her hand. “On second thought, I don’t think Professor Miller will let us make it up if we give her the excuse that we were locked in a classroom all night.”

Watching curiously as Bryce took out a piece of parchment from his bag, Ashley waited as he wrote something down. When he stood up from table, he held the paper up in front of her face. “Help! We're stuck inside this classroom!” she said with a nod of approval. “Good idea, but I don’t think people will bend over to pick up a piece of paper. They might not even notice it….” Stopping as she got to negative, she smiled warmly at Bryce. “It’s worth a shot.” Laughing as she nodded her head at the thought of Filch finding them she shivered slightly. “I second that motion. My lips are sealed.” Running a finger across her lips she made a zipping noise to put her point across. Ashley had only had a couple of detentions from Filch, but that was in her fourth year from running down the hallway at night screaming the muffin man song at the top of her lungs. She had grown up quite a bit over the years. When Bryce took a seat on the desk and asked what they could do, Ashley raised her eyebrow at him. “Don’t you have essays to write? I wouldn’t want to keep you away from your school work,” Standing up from the wall, Ashley sat down on the desk across from Bryce, her legs dangling from under her.

“Well, if you want to avoid your essays, then I’ll think of something to do.” Swinging her legs back and forth she laughed as she accidentally nudged Bryce’s. “Option A, we can think of ways to get out of here. If we aren’t found soon by a student then either a Professor or prefect will find us. I’m really not looking forward to any detentions or points deducted.” Looking up from her feet she smiled remembering that Bryce was a prefect. “But you’re a prefect, so I think I’m pretty safe.” Swinging her legs again she smiled trying to think of something to do. “Talking is always a good option, since there is nothing else to do in this room,” Ashley suggested looking around the room noticing that there literally wasn’t anything inside but candle, desks, chairs, and empty cabinets. “So Bryce, go one, talk about yourself, I’m listening.”

[Bryce Alexander]

When Ashley mentioned the Astronomy test, Bryce let a groan of resentment. He had totally forgot that Professor Miller had decided to throw a unit text on them at the last minute. The sad thing was, he also knew though that he would probably get about the same grade whether he took the text or not. Astronomy was probably his worst subject, and he was greatly regretting the fact that he only took it because most of his friends were taking it as opposed to some of the other electives. He was still unsure why Professor Miller even let him in the class. Obviously, he was as incompetent as you could be when it came to astronomy. "I would be perfectly fine missing the test," he said with a serious nod and then it turned into a guilty smile. "I think I am averaging a Troll-level in that class," he admitted.

As Ash joined him after reminding him of the essays he needed to write, Bryce just rolled his eyes at the thought. "Now that we might have all night here, the essays can wait," he answered with a grin. Ashley's swinging of her legs naturally led Bryce to join her as they bumped into one another. She then went on to offer some ideas of what they could do. "Well I doubt that a prefect will find us... since it was my responsibility to be the prefect patrolling this part of the castle," he offered with a small frown. "But anyways, we wouldn't lose any points. Have you ever witnessed me in my persuasive mode? I can talk anybody into something," he nodded with another smile.

"I've got a better idea," he said excitedly as Ash suggested they simply talk to get to know each other. Bryce hopped down from the desk and rummaged through his bag again, finding another two spare sheets of wrinkled parchment. He took the pen that he was using and then opened one of the desk drawers to find a cluttered mess of used parchment and a bunch of other writing utensils. He handed one of the pieces of his parchment to Ash, along with a pen. "Here. Write down ten questions about you. Kind of like a Do You Know Me Quiz," he explained. "I will do the same, and then we switch and see who can get the most questions right about the other person. The winner gets.... ummm, well the winner gets to decide what they get after we see who wins." He gave Ash a mischievous smile before beginning on his own quiz. "No peeking," he teased as he turned his back to block her from seeing what he was writing.

1. What is my middle name?
A. Daniel
B. Darwin
C. David
D. Matthias

2. What pet do I have?
A. Owl named Talan
B. Cat named Nell
C. Cat named Tippy
D. Owl named Boots

3. What holiday is my birthday on?
A. Valentine's Day
B. Christmas
C. Halloween
D. New Year's Day

4. What is my twin's name?
A. Briana
B. Brianne
C. Bree
D. Matilda

5. What color of eyes to I have?
A. Hazel
B. Blue
C. Brown
D. Gray

6. Which parent do I live with, and where?
A. Father in London
B. Mother in London
C. Mother in Birmingham
D. Father in Birmingham

7. What subject did I do best in on my O.W.L.S.?
A. Herbology
B. Charms
C. Arithmancy
D. Astronomy

8. Where does my twin go to school?
A. Durmstrang
B. Beauxbatons
C. Salem Witches Academy
D. She isn't in a magical school!

9. What are the basics of my wand?
A. 12.5, Holly, Ashwinder Ash
B. 11.5, Ash, Hippogriff Talon
C. 12.5, Yew, Ashwinder Ash
D. 11.5, Yew, Hipppogriff Talon

10. How many girls have I kissed?
A. 0
B. 1
C. 2
D. Too many to count

After a few minutes of writing and trying to make his quiz as fun and informational as possible, Bryce turned and faced Ash. "Here you go," he said, handing it to her. As she gave him hers in return, he hurried and turned again so that she wouldn't be able to get a chance to read ahead and see that she needed to take note of his eye color. Smiling, he glanced down at her quiz and started to see if he could answer the questions.

((Note: I took all of the questions from my biography (except for maybe 1 or 2), so you have all of the answers at your disposal if you want to look at them. I thought it might be fun though to see how well the both of us could do without looking at the biographies though. I promise not to look at yours until after I take the test. Go ahead and post your quiz as well as your answers and then I will post my answers to your quiz and we can go from there.... ))

[Ashley Hill]

Ashley raised a curious eyebrow when she heard Bryce groan at the mention of the Astronomy test tomorrow. “Did you study for it yet?” she asked her brown eyes searching his face. From the tone of his groan, Bryce either hated the course, or just forgot about the test. It sounded like it would probably be both cases. Ashley didn’t like the subject that much either. She used to love it. Always skipping to class and humming when they looked through the telescopes or were doing book work. Now, it was all different. No enthusiastic skipping, or breaking out into songs, just an occasionally groan and shuffling of feet. “I would be happy to miss it, but the problem is if Professor Miller doesn’t let us make it up, then were going to get an exceptionally low score in that class.” Nodding her head at the statement she sighed as she ran her fingers through her curly blonde hair. “You’re not the only person who isn’t doing so well in that class either.” Looking up from her shoes she sent Bryce a small smile. “I’m just barely passing either. No matter how hard I study, I still don’t do well on her tests. I like the class, and Professor, it’s just the tests that give me a hard time,” shifting her weight over to the left, Ashley reached out for her astronomy book filled with notes. Setting it down on Bryce’s lap she smiled at him. “We can study together!” Ashley said with such great fake enthusiasm in her voice.

When Bryce rolled his eyes at her, Ashley laughed as she felt his legs swinging into hers. “You’re a big procrastinator aren’t you?” she asked looking down at his bag beside the table. She had gotten back into the habit of finishing her homework right when she got it. Her fifth year wasn’t the best year, but she had a reason for it to be as horrible as it was. Another large smile spread across her face as Bryce mentioned being good at persuading people. “Really?” she asked gently kicking his leg before swinging them again. “Who do you normally try to persuade?” Ashley looked into Bryce’s face again, her smile still on her face. “So you’re saying you can talk a Professor into not losing points, or giving us detentions?” Ashley watched as Bryce stood from the table digging into his book bag when he said he had another idea. Scooting off from the table, she followed him to the large teacher’s desk where he looked through the drawers. She looked at him oddly when he handed her a piece of parchment and a pen. A quiz about themselves? “That’s not faire!” she protested sighing as he turned his back on her to write his out. Ashley didn’t have a clue what questions to write, or even if she knew anything about Bryce. She only heard little things about him from around the school, but not enough to answer a quiz.

Finishing writing down her last question, Ashley frowned as she forced the memories back. Handing Bryce he paper her eyebrow rose as he zipped back around from her before she could even glance at his face. Jumping up onto the large desk, Ashley read over the questions completely clueless. It was like taking a test a test on something that you never learned. Sighing, she began to circle the best choices. The last question made her snort with laughter. She knew that Bryce was a big flirt, so it wouldn’t be too hard to answer that question. 1.C 2.A 3.D 4.A 5.B 6.C 7.C 8.B 9.C 10.D Standing up from the desk, Ashley handed her completed quiz over to Bryce taking hers back. “Alright tell me how I did, and whatever question I get wrong you have to tell the right one.”

What is my middle name?
A) Meredith
B) Marie
C) Claire
D) Irene

What is my favorite color?
A) Yellow
B) Orange
C) Blue
D) White

When’s my birthday?
A) October 15
B) December 10
C) January 5
D) May 18

What’s my older sister’s name?
A) Judy
B) Melanie
C) May
D) Elina

What position do I play on the Quidditch team?
A) Beater
B) Chaser
C) Keeper
D) Seeker

Am I half…?
A) German
B) French
C) Italian
D) A 100% British

Is either my mom or dad magical?
A) Mom
B) Dad
C) None; both are muggles

What is my favorite class?
A) Charms
B) Potions
C) Astronomy
D) Care of Magical Creatures

What is my natural hair color?
A) Red
B) Brown
C) Blonde
D) Black

What do I regret the most?
A) Telling my parents I don’t want to run the family restaurant
B) Not ice skating anymore
C) When Ryan and I broke up after his accident
D) Not being closer to my parents

[/center]

((If you can't read her answers just im me...good idea though!))

[Bryce Alexander]

At first, Ash didn't seem to keen on the idea of exchanging quizzes. Bryce was adamant though, and he knew she would eventually do it, which she did, if he ignored her complaints. After they had both finished and exchanged, he quickly read over hers and knew right away that he was probably going to score lower than he'd have anticipated. Still, he gave it a try, circling each answer he thought was correct as he went. Ash had finished before him, which made him think that she either was really good, or just really bad. Smiling, he snatched his quiz back from her and read over it before handing hers back.

"Alright then," he said, after she told him he had to tell her the right answer if she got it wrong. Number one, you got right. I don't really like my middle name, but it's a heck of a lot better than Matthias. Number two, nope," he said, shaking his head with a grin. "I don't have an owl. I have a cat, and her name is Nell. So you're one for two. Next one," he continued. "Ah, another wrong. I was born on the good ol' day of love," he said with a smile. "And, you're one for four, because my twin's name is Brianne, which is close to Briana, but not exact." He gave another taunting grin before going to the next question. "Number five, you got right. I guess you must have caught a glimpse before I could turn quick enough. But number six, you missed doubly wrong. I live with my father, not my mother, and we are in London, not Birmingham." He gave her an anxious look as a teacher might give a student who wasn't doing to well. "I think that puts you at two for six. You better hope these last four are better. Hmmm, for number seven, Arithmancy was one of my higher scores, not that it means much, but Charms was still my highest so that's another wrong answer." He read ahead and then gave a nod of approval. "Well, that's good, you got numbers eight and nine both correct, which puts you at four for nine. Get number ten right and you finish with half correct." Bryce glanced at her last answer before smiling to himself. "Well, it was a good attempt, but for ten, the answer is B. I may be a flirt, but I'm a conservative one," he commented as he glanced up and looked Ash in the eyes. "Four out of ten isn't terrible," he said with a small smile. "At least it doesn't put pressure on me to do well."

Bryce took the quiz that Ashley had gave him and handed it back to her. Before she took it though, he pulled it back and added, "Whoever has the higher score gets to dare the loser to do something, and the loser has to do it no matter what." He watched, waiting for her to agree and then finally handed over the paper so that she could check his answers. "Same rule applies- you have to tell me which ones I got wrong and what the right answers were."

((Bryce's answers: 1.D 2.B 3.D 4.D 5.A 6.C 7.A 8.A 9.B 10.A))

[Ashley Hill]

Ashley crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for Bryce to grade her test. This was completely unfair. She barely knew anything about him, but it was fair in a way since Bryce probably didn’t know much about her. So it seemed fair grounds. Looking up when he began to go over the answers she grinned as the first one was first. “Bryce David Alexander. It flows rather nicely, but at least your first name is slightly unique. I don’t know any other Bryce’s out in the world.” Smiling she frowned as the second one was incorrect. “You strike me as a guy who would own an owl,” she said listening to the other questions. Numbers three and four were wrong. How was she supposed to know his birthday, or what his twin sister name was. She didn’t even know he had a twin sister. There was always new things people learned everyday. Of course the next one was going to be wrong, but Ashley was quite shocked to know that he lived with his father. Strangely, she found herself wanting to know more about that matter, but didn’t want to seem too pushy. “Are your parents divorced?” Ashley asked, her brown eyes searching his face for any kind of emotion. “You don’t have to talk about if you don’t want too…I was just curious.” Smiling she raised her hand to her curly hair ruffling it slightly as Bryce continued on. Wrong. Wrong. Ashley was expecting the next to answers to be incorrect, but instead they were right. She really did luck out on guessing, but the last one was wrong, which was a slight shock to Ashley. “What exactly happened with that just one kiss?” she questioned her eyebrow rising slightly. She was quite curious to know what happened.

Laughing at Bryce’s last comment she nudged him playfully with her leg rolling her eyes. “You know I had to guess on almost all of those answers. I’m not exactly a Bryce know it all kind of girl.” She was about to take the quiz back when he pulled it away before she could even grab it. “Yes I’m aware of our deal. I’m a girl of my word.” Taking the paper out of his hands she skimmed through his answers. Wow. He was either a good guesser, or maybe he knew some things about her. “Alright,” she began hopping up on the desk side of the desk in front of Bryce. “Question one is correct. My middle name is indeed Irene. Number two though, is wrong. My favorite color is yellow. Orange makes me look like a pumpkin.” Laughing at the mental image she read down the page. “Three is wrong, but December 10, not May 18. Four is actually correct. My older sister name is Elina…How did you know that?” she asked looking up from the quiz a questioning looked in her brown eyes. Shrugging she glanced back down at the paper continuing on. “Five, six, seven are right. I’m a half Italian girl, who plays beater and whose mom is a witch.” Tisking her tongue as the last two questions were wrong she looked up insulted. “I am not a brunette! I’m blonde, but my hair just gotten darker over the years. You should of seen me when I younger. My hair was a big, light frizz ball out of control.” Laughing she shook her head, her blonde curls waving about. Ashley didn’t want to answer the last question truthfully. “Ten is also wrong. I don’t regret not taking over the family bossiness, but I regret what happened to Ryan even more…but that’s another story that should stay locked up.”

Setting the quiz down, Ashley sighed as she looked down at the floor. “That leaves it to five out of ten. You win…but promise me that I don’t have to do your homework. I’ll purposely do it wrong just to give you a bad grade.” Sticking her tongue out at him she jumped off from the desk. “How exactly did you know almost all those answers about me? Are you just a good guesser, or do you really know those facts about me?”

[Bryce Alexander]

As Ash made comments on his answers Bryce folded and unfolded the paper that had his questions on it. He smiled when she made humorous comments, but then got a look of seriousness on his face when she questioned his parents. By this time, Bryce was pretty much over the divorce, yet it was something he never really talked about. For the first few months after it, he and Brianne would owl each other on a daily basis, but once that faded away, Bryce just put it all in the past, opting not to really talk about it unless he had to. At first, he felt like just shrugging it off and answering Ash with a simple 'yes' and then he contemplated giving her the details. His first thought was what he ended up going with, deciding he would only explain more if Ash asked. "Yup, they're divorced. I live with dad and Brianne with mum." The initial silence was broken by Ash's next comment. "No, it's not that I don't like talking about it, it's just that sometimes I don't really know what to say about it, ya know?" He gave her a confused look, hoping she understood what he meant.

Quickly, she changed the subject to his last question, which caused him to blush a little bit. When he created that question, he had a feeling she would pick the answer she had, but that was just something Bryce was used to. Along with his personality, many people just assumed he had been with a lot of girls when, in all reality, he was simply a big flirt. Behind his quick wit and overbearing charm, Bryce was actually somewhat shy and reserved when it came to actual relationships. Nobody would know that from just the surface though. "Yeah, only one kiss," he said rather nonchalantly. "It's a rather boring subject anyways though," he added with a shy smirk. "So, go on, tell me how bad I did." He grinned and waited as Ash looked over the quiz she had created.

Again, Bryce smiled when Ash would give one of her humorous comments. He really liked that aspect of her. Bryce loved to smile and loved to be happy. Ash was good at making him smile, which, in turn, made him happy. When she finished, he gave a small sigh. "I guess I'm just a tad bit luckier than you." He didn't want to admit that a few of the questions he just knew from having a pretty good memory when it came to people. For some of the questions he'd have no way of knowing, he simply tried to use his skill of reading people. It wasn't the best, but Bryce thought he was at least pretty decent at getting a good understanding of someone in just a short time. "So I guess I owe you a dare then," he said, followed by Ash's comment that he wasn't allowed to have her do his homework.

"Hmmm, well if homework is out of the question, I guess I will have to be creative. Before he could think of something though, Ash questioned how he had known some of the questions. "Like I said, luck... and maybe a little skill," he teased. "A win is a win though, and so here comes your dare." With that, Bryce walked up to the chalk board and picked up two of the pieces of chalk that were sitting on the tray. He threw the pink colored one to Ash and kept the green one for himself. "I dare you to go to the chalkboard in the back of the room and make two lists. For the first, you have to list three things you don't like about yourself. And for the second, you have to list three things you like about me." He gave her a mischievous look before rolling his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm doing the same on this chalkboard." He turned and numbered to three in two separate columns. Then, he labeled each column: 'What I Like About Ash' and 'What I Don't Like About Me'. Turning back around he saw that Ash hadn't moved from her original place. "Come on now, at least I am doing this dare with you. And no peeking!" he ordered with a fake look of seriousness. Then, he turned and began writing. When he had finished, he read over his lists one last time and then waited for Ash to finish.

_________________________________________

'What I Like About Ash'

• The way she makes me smile and laugh.
  
• The way you know she cares just by looking at her.
  
• The way that she makes being stuck in a classroom fun.
  

'What I Don't Like About Me'

• The way that I tend to suck when it comes to schoolwork.
  
• The way I tend to hide my true self behind joking and flirting.
  
• The way I am selfish about everything in my life.
  

[Ashley Hill]

Ashley’s brown eyes never left Bryce’s face as she asked about his parents. His smile disappeared, all the happiness in the lines of his face stiffening into seriousness, which made her stomach feel uneasy. She was waiting for him to shrug it off, or just give her a simple one word answer, but he seemed to be deciding on something. There was a stiff silence between them, expect for the sound of crinkling parchment from Bryce’s fidgeting hands. Her gaze slowly dropped to his busy hands, listening as he gave a short, but still some detail answer. She nodded her head, looking up into his face again a calm smile spread across her face. “It has to be hard…” she began nodding while she stared back into his face. “Having both your mom and sister live in France and your still here in England. I guess you visit them often? What about your dad? What’s he like? There has to be a reason why you wanted to stay with him and not your mum.” Ashley had to stop herself from questioning the topic, since Bryce seemed like he rarely ever talked about it. “Well you could start off with those…. somewhat simple questions first,” she responded to his confused look hoping he would at least give her some more detail this time. When Bryce blushed she grinned shaking her head. “I’m sorry…I guess that I let what I thought you were guide my better judgment.” Sending him an apoplectic smile, Ashley could almost hear her own father’s voice inside her mind. He always taught her never to assume something about someone without actually knowing them. “Could you please tell me about it? We’ve got loads of time…I’m not going anywhere…” moving her head sideways toward the door she crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe I could tell you about my own pathetic love life?”

With a raised eyebrow at Bryce as he handed her a piece of pink chalk, she listened to his dare idea. It was a lot better than having to do his homework and her dare which if she had won, would be that he had to do as many pushups as he can with her on his back. Sighing, she nodded sticking her tongue at as he rolled his eyes at her when he said that he was going to do the dare with her. “Who said that I was going to complain? It’s a dare right? A really simple one, but there will be no crabby remarks from me on it.” That was nice, but Ashley felt somewhat nervous to see what Bryce liked about her. Shaking that worry off, she headed to the far side of the chalk board, out of Bryce’s view to write down her own list. She drew a straight line down, before labeling both sides with titles. It was easy to fill out her reasons why she liked Bryce, but the second was hard. Ashley stared at the straight pink line, trying to figure out only three things she hated about herself. There were at least a dozen things that came to mind, but they all seemed….too personal. Sighing, she wrote her three things down quickly, taking a step back to look at her work.

What I like about Bryce

1. He always has different creative ideas up his sleeves
2. His smile can brighten any gloomy room
3. He’s also rather good looking (Don’t laugh, just being honest)

What I don't like about myself

1. How weak and fragile I am
2. My jealousy toward my older sister
3. Afraid of trusting people with my heart

Happy with her answers, Ashley looked over at Bryce noticing that he was already done. She made her way over to his side, grabbing on the end of his sleeve pulling gently before he could look at her list. “We can go over your list first, mine second.” Smiling up at him, she gazed back at the board to read his respond. Her small smile got larger at his reasons why he liked her. Glancing sideways at Bryce she put her hand to her heart in a dramatic effect. “That is so sweet…wait are you trying to charm me? If you are, then I have to try better to resist.” Quickly glancing away, her hand fell to her side as she read the reasons why he hated himself. A small frown saddened her face as she read over the sentenced a couple of times. “I guess…there’s more to Bryce Alexander then what people expect.” Nodding she turned around to face him, leaning back carefully on the chalkboard. Her arms were spread out, palms resting on the cool metal chalk holders. “Those things can be fixed really easily Bryce, but only if you really want too." Looking at him straight in the eye, Ashley tilted her head to the side. "Is the person I see right now the true Bryce?"

[Bryce Alexander]

"It was hard at first," he replied as if it were nothing. Just as he had grown used to, Bryce refused to let emotions come out. He had put them behind him so long ago and felt they were best if they stayed there. "Now, I just tend to think of it as the way it was always meant to be. I see my mum and sister at least two times a year, and as for the reason I stayed with my dad... well... I guess because I liked my friends and my home. I was afraid of starting new." He left it at that, glad that Ash had moved on to other topics, although his love life was not his next choice of conversation.

With a slightly blushed face, he smiled and replied rather suavely, "Maybe later." He wanted to move on to his next idea anyways, and he figured as Ash said, they would probably have a lot more time to talk about such things. With that, he glanced back at the chalkboard and let Ash read what he had written while taking the time to read what she had wrote. Before he could comment though, she insisted they go over his lists first. Waiting nervously as Ash read, Bryce read over his list again with her. "Charm is my only weapon," he said with a grin. "So you should always be wary of it." With a wink, his smile then faded at her next comment. He didn't speak again until she questioned him after turning her back to the chalk-board. It wouldn't be a simple answer, he concluded. He didn't want her to think he was lying though, and so he opened his mouth to speak, but then still took a few more seconds to formulate his answer.

"Not all of me," he said simply, yet honestly. He didn't want to admit it, but he had been hiding part of himself even from Ash. He couldn't help it though, as the thought of becoming completely open with her scared him. That was only natural though, right? He wanted to say more. He wanted to say a lot more, actually. Instead though, he said nothing, and he looked over at Ash's list.

At her first comment, he simply nodded, figuring how she had come up with that since he had already pulled out two very random tasks for the two of them. At her second comment, he smiled, ironic as it might have been. And finally, for her third, he blushed again. "Well I can't say that the first three are all true," he commented, moving on to read the second list. Realizing then how easy it must have been for Ash to say how he could easily overcome the things he didn't like about himself, Bryce knew that it was probably common to see the good in others while they could only see their weaknesses. Or, at least he figured it was always best to see the good in others. "You're stronger than you think, Ash," he commented for the first. Concerning the second, he didn't say anything, as he really didn't know her sister. "And trust..." he said, shaking his head, "...it's never easy. "Trusting is such a dangerous thing; it's only natural that you fear it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't fear it myself."

With their lists out in the open, Bryce already felt like he knew Ash a lot better. In all reality, that was what he had hoped when he came up with the idea. His mind wandered though, between his list and Ash's. "It would take time," he said finally, after thinking about Ash's question. "I mean, for you to see the real me. It would take time, and a bit of that thing you say you fear so much." He smiled softly again as he looked into Ash's eyes. "But like you said, it seems we have a lot of time."

[Ashley Hill]

Ashley continued to stare at the ground as Bryce explained more about his parents. His tone seemed so…practiced? Emotionless? Anyone would assume that Bryce didn’t care about this whole situation, but Ashley knew better. How could no one think, or care about their family? Well, there were some people out there, but not everyone had good parents like she did. Looking up from the ground, Ashley sent him an encouraging smile, letting his words sink in. A part of her was speechless, while the other side wanted to run her big mouth, yapping out questions. There were just some things that people never really grew out of. Yes, Ashley liked to talked, but it used to be she would go off onto random rants about anything; ranging from Winnie the Pooh, or what happened in class, she used to just chat until someone had to stop her. Now, she knew when to stop. When to not ask questions, and right now, was that time, but she wanted to know more. Ashley didn’t know why, but maybe she was trying to push Bryce to his limits, until he finally told her something real, meaningful. Just like those old black and white movies, where the detective would shine the lamp on the subject and integrate him. Just minus the whole murder and ‘where’s the money’ thing. Was that so wrong to want? When he didn’t want to talk about his love life, she mentally sighed with relief. Ashley really didn’t want to have an emotional breakdown if he made her talk about her own. Though, there was still that little part of her that wanted to know. Maybe it was some sort of clue that made him the huge flirt he was today.

Rolling her eyes at Bryce’s charm comment, Ashley re-read the lists, trying to figure out exactly how to respond to them. Her hands touched the cool metal chalk rails, but she ignored the feeling, waiting for Bryce to respond to her questions. Just like before with his parents, she was expecting the same short and sweet answer. Ashley was starting to understand somewhat how Bryce’s personality showed. He was right, with the hiding behind flirting and joking, shielding his true self from the world. At least he wasn’t overbearing with the whole flirting while talking to her. Actually, this side of him was different then from what she had seen around school, but not his true self. Well she didn’t want to rush things. Sighing, when he gave her that short answer, she stared at him waiting for more. There were a few moments of silence, Ashley trying to figure out what to say to him. Nothing came to mind, so she decided not to press the topic. It was going to take time for him to show that side to her, but that’s only if they were going to see each other after this night.

Looking over at her lists, she took a deep breath waiting for any kind of remarks Bryce had. “You don’t think their true about yourself?” she asked finally to his remark, her eyes never leaving his face. “For one, you’re ten times more creative than I am. I would have never thought of the quiz idea, or even this,” smiling she looked away from him deciding not to mention the other true. It was like Bryce ever got comments from girls at how good looking he was. When he finally moved onto her weaknesses, she sighed gripping harder onto the rail. “I’m not strong Bryce…not at all…” Ashley whispered looking at the pink chalk she had set down next to her. She wasn’t the kind of person who dealt with things well. Normally, when things turned out horribly wrong, she would run, have a breakdown, or resort to something drastic. Bryce didn’t need to know that though. At his comment to trusting people, she looked up at him again. She didn’t say anything, but instead just nodded her head agreeing. Ashley had a hard time trusting some people, she trusted her friends, but someone with her own heart? That was a different story.

Picking up the piece of chalk next to her, Ashley stood up straight twirling the chalk around in her hands. It tumbled over and over, leaving pink dust trails in her palm. When he finally spoke, Ashley looked up from her hands his eyes meeting her. He was right. Time was going to be the only thing that would mend anything. Smiling she set the chalk back down on the rest. “I think you should start those essays…Just say anything if you need my help.” Ashley stepped out of Bryce’s way toward her Astronomy notebook.

((Hehe...yey...finished!))