Deciding on You || a.i. (Book 2)

24 | Maddie

I regret yelling at Ashton before I even finish doing it. He's means well, he always does. But since he answered my phone for me, he's been making everything worse and more stressful. I should have never let him answer it.

How stupid could I be? One whole day without a text or call from Ethan, and I think that it's done. I thought maybe he listened to me for once and seized to contact me. Turns out I'm just an absolute idiot.

Now I'm stuck. He's either going to keep calling and keep bothering me, or he's going to fly here and show up on my doorstep. Knowing him, that wasn't an empty threat. He has the means, and he's not afraid to do it.

"Madeline Rose," Reagan sings like a Disney princess, taking a seat right where Ashton just was. She slides a tissue box in front of me and I use one to wipe my runny nose. "What's going on? And who the hell is Ethan?"

I look up at her, tissue still under my nose, and pout. So much for having one person on this entire planet who didn't know what happened.

"I dated him when I lived in-in California," I hiccup, "He was--he was like your last boyfriend, kind of."

Her eyes soften and she pouts right back at me. I guess Ashton must have said something to her, because it starts to look like something finally makes sense.

"Oh, Maddie..." She trails off, slumping her shoulders, "Ashton Irwin is truly a moron. He loves you, but he is a moron."

"Sorry I didn't mention it," I sniffle, "When you were telling me--"

"Girl, don't even apologize. I get it," she says. She rests her chin in one hand, still frowning. "Now, if you don't mind, tell me more about this Ethan asshole so I can hate him as much as Ashton does."

I try and smile, but my mouth only twitches a little. I'm still crying and I'm still terrified; I've only just begun to get my breathing back to normal.

"Um," I say, but my nose is so stuffed up. I blow into the tissue before going on. "He was a s-senior when I was a-a freshman. This junior," I stop to hiccup again, "in one of my electives, Jake, invited me to a H-Halloween bonfire and I-I met Ethan there."

Reagan purses her lips, "He already sounds like a creep."

"Yeah, but," I shudder, "He was cute and he was o-older and he was paying attention to me. He said all of this nice st-tuff that no one here ever did. So when he asked for my number, I wasn't going to say no."

"I get that," Reagan sighs, "I definitely get that."

"He was really, really nice. Almost too nice, considering how sarcastic and rude he was to everyone else," I go on. This part is somehow just as hard to tell as the ending. "And I mean, he'd coerce me into going to shows and parties with him, but it wasn't like...mean."

She nods and I worry that I'm bringing up awful memories for her, too, like she had accidentally done for me yesterday. She doesn't make any move to stop me, though.

"But then," I laugh, my nose getting stuffed again.

"Wait," Reagan says, pulling another tissue out of the box and plugging my nose with her thumb and forefinger over it. "Blow."

She is the only person I know who would do that. I give her a look and she rolls her eyes at me.

"I can sanitize later," she says, so I shrug and blow my nose. "Okay, go on."

"Okay, but then," I giggle as she pulls the tissue from my face, "Then he told me I'd look better with b-blonde hair, and he wouldn't shut up about it until I dyed it. And then, he started getting mad when I'd make plans without him. Even plans with my dad. Like, my dad hated him."