The Baby And Marriage Project

Chapter 27-- Liar, Liar

"So you're telling me that Mark, captain of the Lacrosse team..., punched a hole in the wall?" My mom asked.

"Yes"

I felt incredibly guilty for blaming Mark since he didn't actually do anything but if there's someone I have to blame-- it's him. It's kind of like revenge for dumping Amy except without her actually knowing.

It turns out my mom was in the middle of a very important meeting when I interrupted and the superintendent wasn't impressed with my barging in and shouting.

"Maggie, are you sure?" She asked, resting her forehead against her palm, "that's a large accusation you're making. I'll have to take things into measures and get the school district involved"

Maybe saying his name wasn't such a good idea after all. Chances are he'll get expelled, in his last month of high school too-- all because of me and my stupidity to protect my boyfriend.

If I say yes then I'm pretty much wrecking his life. If I say no then my mom will want to know who it actually was. I'm not ready to give up Ashton yet-- not with everything that he's been going through lately.

"Yes, I'm sure" I muttered, unable to meet her eyes.

"Great" she responded, clapping her hands together, "go back to class-- I need to make a call"

"Don't you want to see the damage?"

"I trust your word. I don't know why you'd lie"

Her words stung. She trusted me and here I am letting her down. This had to be one of the worst things I've ever done before and the guilt was already starting to eat me alive.

As I stood up, about to leave her office, she paged Mark. I felt my insides twist and turn as I shakily made my way back into the hallway.

As I walked through the hall, I started to feel sick to my stomach. It didn't help seeing Mark walk pass me-- he even gave me a small smile and here I was, just finished ratting him out for something he didn't do.

On the verge of throwing up because of this, I turned around and ran back into my mom's office. Just because Mark hurt Amy doesn't mean I can ruin his life all to save Ashton's. That's not fair to anyone.

"Ms. Martin, you can't go in there!" The secretary shouted as I ran past her.

Nearly out of breath, I opened her office door and collapsed onto one of the chairs beside Mark. Maybe I should take Amy up on her offers for spin class.

"Maggie, you can't be in here!" My mom snapped, "what do you want?"

"Mark didn't do it" I breathed out.

My mom glanced at Mark then back to me before letting out a sigh, "I know he didn't"

"What?"

"I watched it happen. The superintendent I was with pointed it out to me"

"I can't believe you blamed me" Mark suddenly said, looking hurt.

"I'm sorry Mark, I really am. I have no excuse for why I blamed it on you"

I felt my eye start to twitch as I sat looking at the ground, meanwhile, I could feel both sets of eyes on me. I already said I was sorry, what more did they want from me?

"Why did you call Mark down if you knew he didn't do it?" I asked.

"For one thing, I wanted to scare you into confessing the truth and secondly, I wanted to ask Mark about how to approach Ashton"

"Why not ask me?"

"Ashton isn't himself and I don't want to get him angry because from what I've seen cocaine users---"

"Cocaine? Why are you implying that he's on that?" I frantically shouted, standing up from my chair.

Ashton doesn't have the cleanest background but cocaine? He'd never do something like that, I know he smokes cigarettes but doing cocaine is completely different and I wouldn't be with him if he does do that.

"He's been a frequent user in the past and I'm afraid he's started using again" Mark added.

"Why do you even care?" I snapped at him.

"Maggie!" My mom shrieked.

Mark has no right to say anything or be concerned about Ashton. From what Amy's told me, Mark hated him and I'm pretty sure Ashton wasn't a fan of him either. Even Cory would've been a better person to ask.

"You know what? I'm not sorry for blaming it on you. You deserve it" I shouted at Mark before storming out of the office.

"Maggie! Maggie!" My mom called out, "come back here!"

I wanted to find Ashton, get him to tell me that no-- he doesn't do drugs. I needed to hear it from him, not anyone else.

The hallway was empty as I walked back to History class. I passed by the hole which the janitor was already trying to fix and sighed. I will admit that Ashton wasn't himself today or at least in the moment but that doesn't mean my mom should be jumping to conclusions on anything.

I tried to focus the remainder of class but my mind was to far gone. All I wanted to do was text Ashton and talk to him. Tell them that everything will be ok and that we'll make things work between us but I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to text him, what he did hurt on so many levels but it wasn't enough for me to rat him out.

****

"Maggie, you can't just act like that at school!" My mom shouted the moment she walked through the door.

I had ditched my family carpool ride and opted to walk home instead. It was better than talking to my mom or sitting in an uncomfortable silence.

I felt bad about what I had said to Mark but not bad enough to actually apologize. He's just being a suck up because he knows my mom will somehow return the favor.

"Mom, stop" I groaned, flopping down on my pillow.

"Maggie, that was unacceptable behavior from you. I know you're upset but you can't lash out like that. I'm just trying to help him" she softly said while taking
a seat on my bed.

"You don't even like him so don't bother saying that you're trying to help him!"

"That's not true in the slightest. I actually really like Ashton, I think he's a good person who's been through a lot. Yes, he's made some mistakes-- one reason why he had to transfer here, but overall I think very highly of him and I don't appreciate you saying otherwise"

"Ok, I'm sorry. How do you even know that it was cocaine? It could be anything"

"Maggie" she sighed, "I have a video of him in the parking lot snorting up a white powder substance"

"Well, maybe it's salt!"

"Honey..."

Ok, maybe I was being a bit naive but... but.. but nothing! My mom was right, she's been around a lot longer then I have and knows these types of things. It's just extremely hard to listen to something that you don't want to hear.

"Tomorrow why don't you come down to my office and we'll watch the video.. does that sound ok?" She asked after noticing how quiet I had gone.

"No" I mumbled, "it's ok, I believe you"

After she left my room, I started to cry. I couldn't help it, all the tears were just flooding out of me and before I could realize it, I was crying. I felt so pathetic that I was crying over some guy.

Some guy that I liked. A lot.

Sitting up in bed and rubbing my eyes, I grabbed my tv remote and turned on a random movie. I watched it for a few minutes until getting restless. Peeking over at my phone, I checked to see if I had any messages from him.

I didn't.

Maybe I should text him first. To see if he's alright, I mean if I were in his shoes I'd appreciate the kind gesture from my partner.

As I grabbed my phone and my fingers hovered over his number, I stopped myself. This wasn't a good idea. I need to give him time, he can call me first-- no matter how painfully long it may take.