Being Ashlyn

Chapter 39

"I'm surprise you still need to ask that." Max chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Levi mentioned that my feelings were kind of obvious."

So it's true then? "You shouldn't like me, Johnson." Ashlyn sighed. "I'm not a very nice person."

"I know right." He said, looking at a faraway distant. "I'm not sure why I even like you either." A small smile played on his bruised

lips.

Ashlyn grinned as the school bell rang signalling the end of lunch break. Looks like she won't be getting her dose of sugar. "I should head back to class now." She said, standing up from the bench. "You should go home and apply some ointment to your wounds. I don't think going to the school's nurse would be wise. The nurse would definitely ask you where you've got your wounds."

"Ashlyn," Max grabbed her hand before she could start walking. "I know my confession today would probably make things different between us but I want you to know that I'm not expecting anything from you. I won't pressure you to like me back so please, can we just act normally like how we used to? You won't avoid me right?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I won't, Max" She answered honestly. He had fought with Levi because of her and turning her back on him now would just be unfair for him.

"Good." He nodded. "And one more thing before you go." Max said. "How are you doing? With the break up and all."

His question made her tensed. She took a deep breath in. "I'm good." Ashlyn answered as she exhaled. She even gave him a smile just to convince him.

"I don't want you to blame yourself for what happened between me and Levi." Max said as if reading her mind. She felt his grip tightened around her hand. "It was his own fault. Not yours."

Ashlyn didn't believe that one bit. She knew deep down that she was the root of all the problems between them. She caused a friendship to end. And for that she hated herself even more. This was one of the reasons why she built up walls around herself. It causes people to stay clear of her. It causes less drama. Levi had managed to let her guard down and that was why she's facing the consequences now. "I get it." She lied.

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The torturous school hours finally ended. Ashlyn slammed her locker shut after she finished putting all her books into it and then started making her way to the girl's locker room.

"Hey Ashlyn!" Becky called from behind. "Where are you heading to?"

Ashlyn stopped and turned to her friend. "I've got track and field training. Why?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to..." Becky hesitated. "You know...maybe talk about what happened just now?"

"I don't." She sighed. "It's not something that I want to remember."

"I understand." Becky gave her a sympathetic smile. "It must be tough for you with the whole school knowing about your personal life."

"Yeah." Ashlyn nodded. She still found it suspicious how the whole school could know about it just a day after her break up. And then she remembered what the group of giggling girls had told her this morning. "Hey, Becky. You're in the journalist team right?"

"Not officially yet but yeah, you can say that." She furrowed her eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"A few girls told me that they found out about my break up from a post in the school's news website. And I know that all posts has an anonymous user ID but do you think can help me find out who posted it?"