Life's A Pain

Chapter 17

Kaitlyn woke up that morning to discover that she had slept through her alarm and that Ashton was supposed to pick her up in 15 minutes. She did not have much time to dwell on anything as she had to rush to get ready. In a record time, Kaitlyn made her way downstairs and was about to make herself a quick bowl of cereal when she heard a ding, signaling that she got a text.

"I'm in your driveway :)"

'Crap,' Kaitlyn thought. 'I guess I'm not going to eat until lunch. I hope my body doesn't punish me too much.'

She quickly grabbed her backpack and rushed out the front door. Seeing Ashton made her smile, and the cute little wave he gave made that smile grow even wider. She got in the passenger side door, and as she was about to say something, her stomach decided to make itself known. Kaitlyn was so embarrassed that she wanted to melt into the seat.

Ashton kindly laughed and asked if she had eaten anything yet today. Bashfully Kaitlyn admitted, "I overslept and didn't have time for breakfast. I guess I was a little exhausted from last night."

"Well, we can't have that," Ashton said adamantly.

"We will be late for school if we stop somewhere! I don't want you to be late because of me!" Kaitlyn refuted.

"Trust me. I would rather be spending my morning with you than sitting in my Calculus class. And I researched migraines, and I know that low blood sugar can be a trigger. I do not want you to hurt any more than you are."

That last sentence stopped Kaitlyn in her tracks, and any comeback she had died on her lips while the butterflies seemingly made their way back to her now empty stomach.

"Okay," was all she could stutter out with her face now bright pink.

Ashton shot her a victorious smile and backed out of the driveway heading to some unknown location. Kaitlyn thought that they would just go to some drive-through fast food place, so she was confused when Ashton pulled into Eat N' Park.

"What are we doing here, Ashton? We have school! I understand missing first period, but at this rate, we will miss all of first and second, and maybe even part of third. But this – this is too much. You shouldn't be missing school for me."

Ashton could tell that Kaitlyn was working herself up and grabbed both of her shoulders, and turned her to face him.

"Kaitlyn, deep breaths. You are a literal genius, and I also have a 4.0 GPA. Trust me, missing one day won't hurt anything. After all, you just went through, you can use a mental health day. We can email our professors inside and have them send us the work. We can have a study date later to make it all up. I just don't want you putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation before you are ready to handle it."

Kaitlyn knew that Ashton's words made sense and that she absolutely did NOT want to have to face her ex-friends today, but the guilt was still there, so she meekly squeaked out, "you sure?"

Ashton smiled and said one word that finally eased away her guilt.

"Positive."

The two got out of the car, and Ashton rushed ahead to hold the door open for Kaitlyn, causing her blush to return full force. When the two walked up to the hostess, she gave them a funny look but just asked them how many and took them to their table.

True to his word, Ashton started to draft emails to his teachers saying he was unable to attend class today, and could they please send the work they missed. Kaitlyn, taking Ashton's lead, did the same while they were waiting for the waitress to come over.

After the emails were sent, the waitress came over and took their drink orders. She was an older lady who had an era of joy around her. She had a genuine smile, and her eyes crinkled with delight.