- 14 - N o r a - Lost in Thought

59 5 0
                                    

- 14 - N o r a -

 

“I’m not listening Nora! I don’t care! Leave me alone, I don’t need you ruining my eighteenth birthday!”

“I’m sorry?” I stared at Ashton, who was getting in his car. “I was just trying to wish you a Happy Birthday, but obviously you don’t care. Your act at my birthday was just that! An act! You were probably forced to go weren’t you? You probably would have been just as happy anywhere else than at my birthday a few months ago, huh? Well you know what then? Don’t just have a good birthday Ashton Fletcher Irwin! Have a horrible one! Happy Tuesday!”

I turned around and walked back inside, even more upset than earlier. I thought we had been on good terms. I thought we could at least have a civil conversation even when no one else was around.

But apparently not.

Whatever. I don’t care. It’s not like I need him or anything.

Oh who am I kidding? I at least need closure! Even if we aren’t ever friends again, I don’t want it to be because he won’t listen to me. It will hurt, knowing that he doesn’t want to see me again once we graduate later this year, but even if that is the case, I’ll have some peace knowing he knows the whole story.

“Please Ashton, just be the boy I once knew for even just a little while. Just long enough to listen, then you can ignore me and forget about me all you want.” I whispered to myself.

“Ready to go Nora?” I looked up at the sound of my dad’s voice.

“Yeah. I guess.” We headed to the car.

“How’d it go?”

“How’d what go?”

“Wishing Ashton Happy Birthday.”

“Oh. Horribly.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“So, you know how Ashton came to my birthday?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I thought we were okay, that we were getting somewhere you know?”

“Naturally. I thought you were too. But you aren’t?”

“Apparently not. I went to say happy birthday and he said he didn’t care and that he didn’t need me ruining his eighteenth birthday. It hurt-”

“Of course.”

“But I didn’t show it. I got angry and ended up telling him to have a horrible birthday.”

“Hahaha! Oh Nora, you sound like me.”

“What?”

“I did the same thing once. It was to someone I thought was my friend though.” He trailed off as we pulled up to the school. “Bye darling. Try to have a good day.”

I smiled. “At least it’s not snowing!” I joked. In Norway, it would be summer, but here, it was mid-winter. It was cooler than usual, but not by much. And, as usual, no snow.

Dad laughed and waved goodbye. I waved back and headed into school.

 

I couldn’t focus. At all. I couldn’dt put Ashton’s actions out of my head, I couldn’t stop thinking about how wrong I’d been, and most of all, I couldn’t help but wonder why.

Why won’t Ashton listen?

Why does he ignore me at lunch?

Why can’t he notice how much he’s hurting me?

Of Love and Lanterns || 5SOSWhere stories live. Discover now