Heavy Rain

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After the last bell rang, I directly headed to the library, wishing that Ashton would turn up to our first tutoring lesson like he was supposed to. He was avoiding me all day but I hopelessly wanted to see him. If he didn’t want me to find out why he was skipping school for two weeks, then so be it. I just wanted to see his face.

I took a seat at an empty table and put my head in my hands, sighing and closing my eyes. Just a few minutes later, I felt someone taking a seat next to me. Looking up, I noticed that it was Ashton with a sheepish look on his face.

“Hey, Ashton,” I smiled at him. “Let’s start with lesson fourteen, which is the first one that you’ve missed.” A relieved look crossed his face for the fact that I didn’t mention him avoiding me or his absence.

We stayed in the library for an hour, and fortunately, Ashton was one of the smartest students in biology class, so he understood everything quickly. I noticed that he flashed me a couple of smiles several times, but nothing really special. That was a start.

After finishing, we packed our books and stuff and went to my car. He still rode in my car since his parents aren’t nice enough to get him one, but I didn’t really mind. We actually talked during the ride, and it wasn’t awkward at all. The more I got to know Ashton, the more that I got attracted to him.

 I easily got lost in his mesmerizing green eyes whenever I looked at them, and with time, I have noticed that they changed color depending to his mood. That made him much easier to read. They turned dark when he was sad, angry, or annoyed, and they remained neutral with only golden specks when he had a poker face on, and they held a spark when he was happy. They showed his emotions, even when his face didn’t.

I stopped the car near his house and waited for him to get out of the car, but he seemed hesitant to go, so I asked him, “Is something wrong?”

He grimaced and nodded his head. “I don’t want to see my parents.”

I nodded understandingly. “Want to come to my house?My parents aren’t there.” Of course they’re not, I thought bitterly.

“Um, sure,” he said, “If I’m not bothering you or anything.” I smiled at that. He was really sweet. If only he socialized more often...

“No, its okay,” I assured him. That was more than okay. I would have done anything to spend more time with him! When I reached my house, I noticed two cars in the garage, which I rarely saw. My eyes widened as I thought about my parents seeing Ashton. Hell no!

“Ashton, I don’t think you can stay here,” I nodded towards my parent’s cars. “Why don’t we go to a nearby restaurant?” I asked and looked at him. He nodded his head and I started driving. When I reached the place, I parked my car and entered the place with Ashton following closely behind me.

The place was small and cosy, and was almost empty. I usually went there whenever I wanted my space and time to think, and I’ve never really taken anybody here with me before, but I guess Ashton was a little different than all the other people.

We sat down and a waitress gave us our menus. While I was checking the menu, I heard a familiar laugh from behind me.

“Wow, Ashton has friends? I never thought I’d see the day when he is out with a girl!” I looked behind me and saw Melissa, our school's head cheerleader, smirking at us.

“Leave us alone, Melissa. I’m not in the mood for dealing with you,” I replied, hoping that she’d just get the message and leave us now.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said sarcastically, “Did I just ruin your date?” She asked with fake sweetness. I got up to her face and lifted my hand to punch her, but Ashton caught it from behind me.

“Let’s just leave,” he told me. I nodded and composed myself, fixing me clothes and followed Ashton back to my car. I really hated Melissa, and I promised myself to get back at her later.

“Ashton, where do you want to go?” I asked him. He previously said that he didn’t want to see his parents, and I definitely couldn’t let my parents see him.

“Home,” he replied flatly. Aw! I was wishing that he could stay in his good mood like before. Stupid Melissa. She had to ruin his good mood.

“But you said-” I started, but he cut me off. “I don’t care.”

I sighed, giving up, and drove towards his house. I felt kind of bad that he had to see his parents when he made it clear that his relationship with them was rocky at the moment. The ride was silent and awkward as it used to be when I first started driving him home. I was furious that all the progress that we’ve made has been crushed by stupid Melissa. Of course he wouldn’t want to talk to me after she made fun of his loneliness.

When I reached his house, I said:

“Ashton, I’m sorry for what Melissa said. Just don’t listen to her. It’s your choice that you didn’t want friends in the first place. You know that you are cool and can have many true friends, unlike Mel,” I told him. He looked at me and sighed.

“Thank you, but I’m not mad because of what Melissa said. It’s not the first time that I’ve heard that,” he replied,

“Then why are you mad?” His eyes hardened and he got out of the car without even replying. I watched his figure as he went to his house, and then drove away to my house, thinking of ways to get back at Melissa.

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Song to the side is "Stray Heart" by Green Day! It's kind of what Rose thinks of Ashton.