[ 4 ] 1960 

-

"Don't trust anyone."

-

"Am I interrupting something?" He asked them.

The two pulled away from each other with lightning speed, Con turned to face Ashton. But the two were completely speechless. They didn't know how much he had seen, and they needed to think up a lie quickly.

"I was told the only relationship the two of you had was one of being childhood friends." Ashton reminded them. They were the words they themselves had used when they said it to him. Con had even insisted his family was too rich and of a higher class than Claire's. "Is it then, maybe, that the two people who I have come to trust, are lying to me?" Ashton felt a hint of hurt poking at him. If they were interested in each other, why were they hiding it from him? Were they doing it for his sake? Had Con noticed Ashton liked Claire and didn't want to hurt his feelings? There were many possible theories in Ashton's mind. But he just wanted to know the truth.

"No-" Claire began, her voice sounding nervous.

But Con cut her off before she could say more. He knew she was no good under pressure and could be stupid enough to let anything compromising out. "Calm down, mate. Whatever you saw was just a misunderstanding." His voice sounded as composed and as calm as ever. He was a master of deception.

"I saw you leaning in to kiss her." Ashton argued. If they were going to try to fool him, Ashton was willing to argue that what he saw was the truth.

Con shook his head. "Your view was skewed by the angle in which you saw us." He explained. Now the high class education of his family was coming in handy. "She had a bug on her face and I just helped her get it off."

"That's right." Claire gulped. She still could not get rid of the sensation that they had been caught. For Claire it was all a matter of convenience and money. Of course she had been in love with Con since they were children, and he was the ideal catch when it came to a husband. In the rich society of Sydney, money mattered above all, and Con's family had plenty of it. She also knew that the new boy in town had taken a liking to her. He was of new money and she knew it was convenient for her to get as much out of him as she could, especially if Con wasn't willing to settle down with her. "I have a phobia of bugs." She added after a short pause.

"Like I said," Con grinned, pleased that she hadn't screwed up. "Misunderstanding."

Ashton had never actually seen Con smile before and he didn't think he'd ever witness it. In the short time he's known him, he always kept to himself and hardly talked to anyone at all. Con wasn't the type to smile, it required a certain level of joy that Ashton thought Con would never condone. He wondered how someone as talkative and happy as Claire could ever be friends with him. Then again, the same could be said for him.

Ashton chuckled at the whole situation. "Aw, okay. Sorry for stirring up some unnecessary drama." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly before joining them on the grass where they were having lunch.

For the next few minutes, he watched them eat their lunch, until Claire finally noticed he had nothing of his own to eat. "Where's your lunch, Ash?"

"Oh," He looked down at his backpack which he had set down on his lap. "I was looking for you guys in the caf and I acidentally made some guy drop his lunch. Poor guy," Ashton lamented. "So I let him have mine cause I felt really bad for him." 

"Let me guess," Claire sighed with a roll of her jade green eyes, "Lucas dropped his lunch again?"

"It happens often then?" Ashton asked, surprised.

She nodded her answer, "He is the clumsiest, dorkiest, weirdest, guy ever."

"He seemed quite nice to me." Ashton shrugged. "But he was a bit guarded when I tried to give him my lunch."

Sticking her fork into her plate of salad, Claire explained, "That's probably because he felt intimidated by you. He's the school's reject. Like, no one talks to him but those dorky leadership friends of his. And he's not even well-liked there. I think the only person who truly tolerates him is Mary-Joy, but she loves everyone."

"Don't you think that's rather mean to say?" Ashton eyed Claire.

She laughed at his question. "They're just dorks, Ashton. They're not like us."

"Like us?" He cocked an eyebrow at her. "How?"

"Priviledged." She said matter-of-factly. "Perfect."

Starting to get annoyed, Ashton sighed. "Maybe we should change the subect. I'd like to talk about something else." The boy from the family of 'new-money' couldn't help but feel offended. If she felt that way about people with less money than she did, he wondered how she might feel about him. He knew that he had a family of old-money somewhere in Australia, but his father had been disowned by them when he married a girl who worked for the family. And they never tried to contact them since. As far as Ashton knew, he had no family on his father's side.

"Here," She said, passing him a plate of food which had a piece of grilled chicken and a side of macaroni on it. "You can have my food. I'll just have the salad today."

Ashton shook his head, trying to refuse. "I can't accept this." But it smelled so good and when he took a whiff, he felt his stomach growl.

"Eat it." She assured him. "I don't really like pasta. It makes people fat."

"Are you trying to fatten me up then?" Ashton joked. He laughed when she was left without anything to say. "I'm joking, Claire. I'll eat your food because I'm really hungry. But I owe you lunch and I'll make it up to you." Looking at Con, who had remained quiet the entire time, Ashton asked, "Why aren't you joining the conversation?"

"I don't have a lot to say about macaroni." Con said rather indifferently.

"Don't listen to him." Claire patted Ashton on the shoulder. "Con rarely has anything to say to anyone."

Digging a fork into his plate of macaroni, Ashton commented with a smile. "Well you know what they say about quiet people."

That got a response from Con. "No. What do they say?"

"They say the quiet ones are the smartest." He said, bringing the forkful of food to his mouth.

.

.

.

.

When they finished their lunch, the three got up from their spot in the grass, with ten minutes of lunch time left to spare. 

Claire dusted her uniform off quickly as a gasped escaped her lips. "Oh no, I forgot that I was supposed to meet with Anne-Sophie at lunch. She was going to help me with my French homework." Gathering her school bag, she ran off towards where the row of trees ended. Stopping dead in her tracks, she turned and called out to the two boys, "I'll see you boys later. Oh ragu!"

She left Ashton puzzled with her last sentence. "Uh..." He began, "I didn't catch what she said last. Was she trying to say au revoir?"

The raven haired boy nodded. "Yes. She's really bad at French."

Con and Ashton watched as she ran towards the school building as fast as she could manage.

"Who's Anne-Sophie?" Ashton asked, curious.

"A French exchange student. Her family, the Fontaines, is one of the most prominent families in Paris. My family does business with them and so they decided to send her over here for a few months." Con explained. "They thought that if she and I got along, it could help the two families work together somehow."

"So, she's helping Claire with her French." Ashton concluded.

Con nodded in response.

The two stood there for several minutes, under the shade of the thick trees until Ashton spoke up, hoping to get answers about Con and Claire. He had noticed she was nervous and thought something was wrong. "Do you love Claire, mate?" He asked rather bluntly, yet making sure he was also polite.

Never taking his eyes off where she'd just disappeared, he shook his head in response. "Nah, mate. I thought I told you we're just childhood friends."

But Ashton didn't completely buy his answer. "Because if you do," Ashton continued, determined to make everything clear from the start. "I'll back down right now and save myself a lot of trouble. I don't want to lose the two of you over something stupid, you're the only friends I have in this town. Besides, you two have known each other longer."

Con shook his head once more. "Claire and I are just friends." He assured Ashton. "In fact, date her if you want, I could care less."

"Alright," Ashton sighed, "Then I think it goes without say that I intend to court her, and if she'll accept me, I will try my best to always make her happy. Of course, I'll need her father's permission to court her. But I don't think that'll be a problem."

"Goodluck with that." Con said in amusement, slinging his schoolbag over his shoulder. "Claire's father won't allow her to date anyone he doesn't approve of. And he doesn't he doesn't approve of most guys who try to date his precious daughter. And another thing, Ashton." He told him, taking a few steps past him before pausing in his stride. "You're too trusting, mate. So, here's some free advice. Don't trust anyone."

He walked away, leaving Ashton there by himself, thinking of the advice Con had given him.

-

i think after this one there is a gap that i will fill with new chapters that do not include ones already in man in the mirror, so finally there will be some completely new stuff! i'm very excited for it, and i hope you are too. thank you all so much for reading and supporting. it means a lot to me. 

i love you!

-clary xx