It was just another lazy Saturday morning, it seemed. Ashton sat on the porch of her house, swishing back and forth on the porch swing as she read a book. Reading was her favorite past time. It took her to a world she would have been unable to fathom without such talented authors. Though most of her good reads were those with tons of action, there always seemed to be a hint of romance, something Ashton had never had.

It seemed pitiful to be nearly eighteen and never been kissed, let alone had a boyfriend, but Ashton didn’t mind. Her best friend, Iris, had had enough boyfriends for the both of them. It seemed that dating brought nothing but stress and Ashton didn’t have time to stress about silly things like that. She had to focus on school and getting into to college so she could leave this town behind and be something. Who cared if she was still a virgin? Who cared that everyone thought she was a lesbian? Ashton didn’t.

The sound of her father’s car pulling up into the gravel driveway pulled her out of her fantasyland. Her brown eyes peeked up to see what exactly was going on. She frowned at the sight of some creature in the passenger seat as her father walked around the car and opened the passenger door. Ashton couldn’t help, but quirk an eyebrow as the creature climbed out of the car.

To be quite honest, the thing looked like a big dog or a very tiny wolf. Its fur was a dark shade of brown, curling slightly at the ends. Her father pet its head and it seemed to be content with it. Well at least it was friendly.

Her dad closed the door and locked the car, walking the dog up to the porch. She noticed then that it had bright green eyes, which startled her slightly compared to his dark coat. She never exactly liked dogs or any animal, but she had to admit that the creature was beautiful despite her distaste for things of its nature. She gave it a light smile before looking up at her father.

“What’s its name?” She questioned as the dog walked over to her, putting its head in her lap, looking up at her with those bright green eyes. Her dad shrugged and opened the door to the house, walking in and leaving it slightly ajar. Ashton sighed, closing her book and setting it down on the seat before standing up. She petted the dog’s head and walked into the house, the dog following behind her.

“Well where did you get it?” She asked as she walked into the kitchen. Her dad was eating an apple and a huge chunk was in his mouth when he looked at her. He put his finger up as he chewed and she rolled her eyes, impatiently waiting for his reply.

“At the pound,” He said after he managed to swallow the chunk down. Ashton looked at her father rather confused as the dog whimpered, rubbing against her leg. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes again as she walked out of the kitchen.

She sat down in the living room and the dog laid its head back in her lap. She wasn’t sure why the dog was clinging to her now. It wasn’t as if she was excited about suddenly having a new pet dog or anything. She sighed, petting its head as it whimpered.

“What should we call you?” she asked the dog, as if it could respond to her. It only took her a moment before she laughed at herself. Had she really just talked to the dog? She guessed it was already growing on her. Strange.

“We’ll call you Strange!” She smiled before ruffling the top of the dog’s head and stood to her feet. Strange panted and then barked, seeming to like the name for now. She stood back up and Strange followed as they walked back out of the house. She sat down on the swing and grabbed her book. It was actually relaxing as she pet Strange’s head with one hand, holding her book with the other.

Two Days Later…

“Ashton! Ashton! Ashton!” Iris was screaming as she ran over to Ashton, who had just gotten out of her car. She frowned and rolled her eyes, knowing that usually when her best friend called her name like that, it involved one thing and one thing only. Boys.

“What is it, I?” She sighs as Iris grabs hold of her hands, jumping excitedly in place. It’s not like Ashton really wanted to hear about whatever new fling Iris was starting, but the girl was her best friend and that’s what best friends had to do for each other, no matter how much they really didn‘t want to hear about it. It wasn’t as if Iris didn’t listen to her when she had something to say, so it seemed only fair.

“There’s this new guy and he’s super duper hunky,” She smirked, stopping her bouncing and squeezing Ashton’s hands. Ashton rolled her eyes, pulling her hands away with a light groan, pushing away from her and adjusting her bag over her shoulder.

“You are absolutely boy crazy and it drives me absolutely nuts sometimes,” Ashton said as she headed towards the school building. Iris followed behind her as she pouted.

“I wasn’t finished yet!” She whined as Ashton walked up to her locker. Her fingers moved quickly, unlocking it as it popped open. She managed to roll her eyes once again as she reached into her locker, grabbing her first book for class and then slamming the locker shut.

“Well go on,” Ashton urged her, “I totally want to hear what else you can say about mister hunky,” Sarcasm dripped from her voice, but it seemed Iris was distracted, looking at something behind her with wide eyes. Ashton raised an eyebrow before turning around, bumping into a firm chest before she found herself looking up at the most beautiful guy she had ever seen.

“Wow. Uh sorry,” Ashton said. The words tumbled out of her mouth rather awkwardly. He smiled and nodded, pulling out a piece of paper. It looked like a class schedule, which made sense since she guessed he was mister hunky that Iris had been talking about and with good reason too.

“Could you tell me where this class is?” He asked as he pointed to the first block. They had many classes together, to her surprise, including the one he was pointing to at that moment. Iris was still staring stupidly at him as his green eyes flickered over to her in slight amusement.

“Uh yeah. I have that class for first period as well,” She said as he chuckled lowly. She frowned before following his gaze. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes, something she was beginning to realize she did quite often as she smacked Iris’s cheek gently. She snapped out of it, turning bright red and laughing awkwardly. The bell rang, announcing the start of the school day.

“Well uh there’s the bell! Gotta go!” Iris said hurriedly and then ran off, feeling rather embarrassed. That left Ashton and the new boy alone. She felt a bit overwhelmed. She wasn’t used to being attracted to boys to the point where she was lost for words as she was right now. She pretended to look over his schedule again as she struggled to find her words.

“My name’s Harry by the way,” He said and her eyes flicked back up to him. He still held that smile, dimples piercing his cheeks as his green eyes lit up in amusement. They reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it just yet.

“I’m Ashton,” She said rather quietly before looking away, “We should head to class now,” They headed down the hall, Harry following behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw that his face was serious as if he were looking out for something or someone. He was definitely very strange.

The thought made her miss her dog, something she had thought would never happen to her. Yet as she turned into class, she messed with the zipper of her bag, trying to pull out her binder. It didn’t work too well, so she took a seat. Harry sat behind her as if it was the natural thing to do as she pulled out her binder. She’d taken a picture of Strange and put it in the cover of her binder. She smiled at the picture, stroking it gently.

“Is that your dog?” Harry asked as he looked over her shoulder. His dark brown curls tickled her neck and she could feel his breath, hot against her skin. She found her cheeks turning a slight shade of red before finding the strength to answer, turning slightly in her seat so he could get a better view of the picture.

“Yeah. His name is Strange. I got him like two days ago and he’s the nicest dog you’ll ever meet. Plus he’s so warm. It’s nice to cuddle with him at night. I usually can’t sleep, but with him I feel like safe and protected, you know?” She smiled as she spoke of her dog before she looked back up at him.

“Do you have any pets?” She asked him as he looked at the picture. He smiled a bit at it, his finger pressing against it gently. He sighed softly before handing the binder back to her.

“I did once,” He said quietly, running a rather large hand through his curly locks. The class wasn’t even close to being full considering only the first bell had rung. Everyone else had at least four more minutes to get to class.

“Once?” She questioned. Her face dropped slightly as she put her binder away and then looked back at the gorgeous green-eyed wonder that sat behind her.

“Yeah” Harry replied in that same quiet tone, eyes looking down at the desk instead of at her. It made her sad to see him like that for some reason. She guessed something bad had happened, but she wasn’t sure whether she should ask what happened. Before she had figured out whether she was going to or not, the last bell rang as everyone crowded in. Ashton sighed and turned in her seat. Today was going to be a very long day.