After Andy (#6 in the 'Outcast' Series)

Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

-6 Years Later- Present -

Ashley's Point of View:

I looked up as the door opened a slight bit; Corey hadn't bothered to knock, as it was the end of the day and he probably figured I wouldn't have anyone in here with me.

"Thought I'd stop by for the passes..." he said awkwardly as he stood in the doorway and I turned my attention back onto what I'd been doing on my laptop.

I currently didn't really feel like going out tonight with Matt but I knew I didn't have much choice now that I'd already told him I would; I hated cancelling on people last minute.

I indicated to where the passes were sitting on the edge of my desk, Corey coming in and carefully taking them, putting them away in his bag.

"You um...you ok?" he asked, sounding a bit unsure about asking.

"I'm fine Corey; thanks," I responded, my focus still on my laptop as I had a lot of stuff to get done before I went out tonight.

"You just look a bit upset is all," Corey tried, making me sigh and stop what I was doing; this shit could wait.

I looked at him, feeling a bit worn down today.

"I'm fine; just a long day is all," I said, deciding to call it quits early today and do this stuff at home. "I should go home and you should too; it's the weekend tomorrow."

"So that presentation today," Corey began, making me sigh internally as I shut my laptop down and grabbed a few things off my desk that I needed to take home. "You knew Andy?"

"Yes," I said, beginning to put things into my bag, waiting for my laptop to shut down so I could take that too.

"You went to school with him?"

"Corey, I don't wanna talk about it right now," I said seriously. "So I'd appreciate it if you stopped; please."

"Sorry," Corey mumbled, making me sigh.

I looked to him, knowing that my laptop was stalling so I had to wait around.

"Andy was my best friend for about a year," I said, Corey looking at me sadly. "He's dead because of what people did to him; what he did to himself because of everything. That's why I got into this line of work; if I can stop people ending up like that then that's good enough for me."

"I'm sorry Ashley," Corey said sincerely as my laptop finally shut down; it timed itself badly. "I shouldn't've asked."

"It's fine," I said. "Like I said, you can always ask even if you don't get the answers you were after."

Corey gave a nod and I could see that he still had something he wanted to say, but the look on his face was showing that he was a bit hesitant about asking.

"Something's on your mind," I stated, indicating for him to leave the room, as I had everything and I wanted to get home. "Walk and talk."

Corey did as asked, double-checking to make sure the passes were in his bag before he left. I followed, shutting and locking the door once I was outside. Corey followed along as I headed to my car.

"I know it's not my business," he began. "But how did Andy die?"

"Killed himself."

"Well...I know that," Corey said as I reached the car, unlocking it and putting my things on the backseat, shutting the door. "But like...how?"

"Why does it matter?" I asked seriously, looking to him. "The fact remains that Andy's gone because of a bunch of fucking immature pricks who thought it was a really great fucking idea to make him feel worthless every single day of his life. Andy hated himself because of what those kids did to him; he fucking hated who he was and now look. He's gone and he's not coming back."