Confiding in You ϟ a.i.

Chapter 32

The rest of the day goes by in a blur, filled with speed-walking through the hallway and near panic attacks when I even so much as feel someone brush up against me. I arrive in all of my classes feeling like I'm going to pass out because, by the time I get there, my breathing is constricted. I'm tired of feeling this way and I would give anything to turn back time so I could be a regular girl again.

Getting to study hall from Painting and Drawing is the worst, too. There is no longer a safety gap between the present moment and being forced to face Luke again, and my mind wanders from one worst case scenario to the next. I luck out, though, and he doesn't even show up to tenth period.

I hope Michael's offer to sit with him and his friends wasn't just for one day. At least that half hour of lunch gave me a chance to calm down and not be on edge every second. Plus, his friends proved to be kind once they stopped gossiping about everyone I knew. It would be good to be around people who aren't friends with Luke or connected to an incident in the past that I have no knowledge of, but is still affecting me somehow.

When I get to my locker at the end of the day, I heave out a big sigh. It's been a horribly long day with such anxiety and I can't wait to go home and curl up for an equally long nap. Ashton waltzes over to me with a grin on his face just as I shut the locker door and, despite everything, I can't help but smile back.

"You alright?" He asks as he nears me, protectively wrapping his arm around my shoulder. Even though I was happy around him, he could probably see it in my face that this day has taken a toll on me.

"Yeah," I sigh. Ashton doesn't say anything, only tightening his grip on me a little in support. He hasn't said anything about Luke since he threatened to kill him in Chemistry, and for that I'm grateful. I definitely don't want to think about it or the chance of it happening again. I glance up at Ashton as we walk down the hall and he looks lost in thought. "Do you guys have practice today?"

"Huh?" he double-takes before focusing down on me and forcing another smile, "No, tomorrow. Before the game. Did you get detention for tomorrow too?"

"Yes," I groan and Ashton pushes the door to the school open with his free hand. Somehow his arm remains on my shoulder as we exit the building and walk toward his car. I lean into him a little and sigh, "We need to stop skipping school."

"But I like corrupting you," he smirks, finally letting go of me when he unlocks the car. I head to the passangers side and, once I'm out of his sight, roll my eyes. I certainly don't like him corrupting me. In the short period of time I've come back, I've skipped school twice, failed a test, and smoked weed. It doesn't seem like much, but just a few months ago I would have never considered doing that.

Cooper is already glaring at me from the passangers seat, to my surprise, so I have to sit in the back once again. The two boys don't seem to be at odds at all anymore and it's amazing how guys can do that. To just talk about eating garbage and suddenly be okay again, even after Ashton claimed he wanted nothing to do with Cooper anymore. If I was as mad as he was over what happened, I don't think it would be that easy for me to forgive and forget.

I try not to rethink my decision to let the whole bet thing go regarding Ashton for what seems like the billionth time already. Just because he can forgive Cooper for abusing me so quickly doesn't mean he doesn't care. They've been best friends for forever and I just don't understand that kind of relationship. Right?

Ashton plugs his phone in and evidently starts to look through his music for a variation of what he normally plays. When he decides on a song, Sex by the 1975 starts to play louder than usual throughout the car. My breath hitches at the first chord, the memory of Luke's drunk voice quoting the lyrics forces itself back into my conscious. I cover my mouth for a second and try to think of anything except that night, but it's no use. I want to lie and say I hate this song and make Ashton change it, but nothing comes out when I try to speak. I'm left to dread the very line he just had to use when trying to get me to sleep with him.