A New Chapter

Chapter 4

E T H A N

After I stormed out of Ashley's house, leaving behind a very confused Sebastian with a freshly baked sponge cake in hand. I got into my black Chevrolet Camaro and swiftly drove off.

I slowly put my foot down further and further on the accelerator; going faster over the speed limit by each passing second.

Driving makes me feel free. No worries, problems or responsibilities.

Responsibilities.

Something no eighteen year old should have to deal with. I should just be worrying about choking on my own vomit while I'm passed out drunk. Not taking care of my younger twin brother and sister.

The shrill ringing of my cell phone breaks me out of my daze. I slow the car down and pull over to a stop at the side of the road.

Sebby's horrendous selfie shines up from the screen.

I huff and answer the call, knowing he won't stop calling until I did.

"What?" I snap, not interested to listen to his bitching.

"Jesus dude. What's up your ass? Where the hell did you go?! Ashley came back inside all pale and shit. The fuck did you say to the girl?" Sebastian's loud voice forces me to move my phone away from my ears; before they start to bleed.

"I didn't do anything! I was joking around with her and she freaked the fuck out for no reason!" I scream back at him, breathing heavily.

"Joking around?! She didn't look like she was having a barrel of laughs Ethan, she looked like she was about to vomit. What the fuck did you say to her? 'Cause your joking around is just another one of your ways to charm your weekly bimbos into your pants!" Sebby's pissed off tone is giving me a migraine, so I mumble a 'whatever' and hang up, against his protests and curses of course.

A S H L E Y

After Ethan stormed out of my house yesterday I stayed in the garden to calm my breathing.

Any normal girl would have taken advantage of being close to Ethan. He is an attractive guy after all. But I'm just too scared.

To fucking scared. Jesus. I hate this. I hate myself, so much.

After I composed myself I made my way to the kitchen, Amelia was sat on the tiles rambling on and on to her teddy bear; Eli, while Sebby was leaning against the counter; furiously texting on his phone with a frown etched on his forehead.

"Hey...are you alright?" Sebastian asked me with a sympathetic smile, gesturing to the garden.

I slowly nodded, forcing a tight smile.

"I should go find him. Look Ash I don't know what he did or said but he has a lot on his plate. I get that it's no excuse for being a dick, but he didn't mean it." Sebby squeezed my shoulder reassuringly before he gave me a tight smile and left.

~~

A loud knocking on my front door wakes me from my slumber the next morning.

With a yawn I reluctantly get out from my comfy cocoon of blankets and make my way to the door.

As I open it I'm greeted by a friendly smile and a mop of brown hair; Sebastian.

"Morning Ash. Get dressed, we're going out for breakfast." He exclaims while he makes himself at home on my couch.

"Erm, alright." I mumble and run upstairs to get dressed.

Don't ask me why I'm listening to Sebastian, but I don't have anything better to do since Mom took Amelia out for some bonding time.

Plus free food.

"Where are we off to today Wallace?" I ask Sebby with a forced smile as we drive out of town in his red Ford Mustang.

Don't get me wrong, it's nice that Sebby cares enough to take me out for breakfast. But honestly I just want to sleep and maybe eat my body weight in ice cream.

What Ethan said yesterday; brought back some....unhappy memories.

Let's just say that when word got out in school that I was pregnant, people weren't very supportive of a fourteen year old girl about to give birth to a kid when she was still one herself.

The rude remarks in the halls, the muffled laughs and furious whispers everywhere I went. Every classroom, hallway, even in the bathrooms. Things got a bit much for me, so I suggested homeschool to my mom and that's where I stayed for four years.

"There's this little diner, just outside of town. They have the best pancakes!" His smile is wide and his voice enthusiastic.

"Cool." I lay my head against the window; watching the trees whipping by, blurring into a mixture of greens and browns.

~~

We pull up outside a small diner with a neon 'open' sign glowing brightly over the glass door.

"Here we are." Sebby smiles as he turns off the ignition.

I nod and hop out; heading straight towards the smell of food, just beyond the transparent doors.

We order our stacks of chocolate chip pancakes while we sit in the torn up red and white retro booth seats.

"Look Ashley. About Ethan..."

I raise my hand to stop him mid sentence.

"Let me stop you right there Wallace. I'm here to eat some good fucking pancakes, not talk about Ethan." I'm not even ashamed to admit that I just used my 'mom' voice on an eighteen year old.

"I know....but just let me say something." I don't protest, so he takes this as his opportunity to continue; "Ethan. He has a lot of shit going on in his life. He doesn't really know how to handle it all and he takes it out on people."

"Are you done?" I ask when he finishes up his little speech.

He nods, probably confused as to why I'm not feeling bad for his dear friend.

"Well, listen here Sebastian. I completely understand that 'shit' goes on in life. You know what it was like for me when I got pregnant and don't act like you didn't believe some of those rumours too Wallace. If Ethan was sorry about what he said yesterday then where is he? Why are you being his messenger." I my little rant with a frustrated huff and rake a hand through my tangled blonde hair.

Sebastian sighs; "Ashley. I'm so sorry. I was a fourteen year old idiot that would believe cheese was fucking purple if you told me. Jesus Christ. Ethan he just... he's shit at this kind of thing. He came to our school awhile after you left and he's my best friend. He has shit going on Ash and he can't handle it, even if he pretends he can. He can't. His mom is always working to get money for bills so he has to take care of his little brother and sister."

"Why are you even telling me this Sebby? Huh? Why are you feeding me his sob story of a life? I don't fucking care! Jesus. Look... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that he has to go through that, I completely understand what it's like to raise a kid and it's hard, but what he said about me; He had no right and frankly, I don't think he's even sorry about it."

The waitress interrupts our conversation as she lays our pancakes and coffee in front of us; covering most of the small table.

"If he's sorry. He can apologise to me and not have you doing his dirty work for him." I finish before I take a sip of my coffee.

Our conversation ends as we dig into our mouth watering pancakes. Savouring their immaculate flavour.

Hats off to Sebastian. These are some good pancakes.