Life In Technicolor || Ashton Irwin

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Valerie's P.O.V.

"So it's been like, a month." Luke says.

"Yup. Only another one until we stop working in the library." I tell him with a laugh.

"Are you over him?" He asks, tilting his head to the side.

"Yeah." I tell him with a smile that takes every ounce of me to form.

"You just seem so much happier lately. It's weird." Luke says with a laugh. "You've been so sad lately. Like, two weeks ago, you wouldn't even talk. Now you're here, happy. Which is great. I'm just a little confused."

"Luke, I'm not gonna waste my time on something that's never going to happen. That's what I realized and that's why I'm happy. I got over it. I got over him. I'm great. So it's been a month. It's the amount of time I needed to realize what was happening and to process all of it and I'm great."

Luke takes a step forward and hugs me immediately. He pulls away and frowns down at me.

"What was that for?" I ask.

"I'm sorry I haven't been a good friend lately." He says.

"No, you've been amazing. I'm just really glad that Ashton's back to normal and you're all back to normal and-"

"You two are free to go." Ms. Lane says.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Luke." I tell him with a smile. I wave over my shoulder and I walk out of the building.

"Wait! Val, are you sure you're okay?" Luke asks.

"Yeah."

"Where's your car? You need a ride?"

"I decided to walk today so I could get some air."

"You don't want a ride?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks though."

"Alright. See you tomorrow, Val."

"Bye." I say with a smile as he gets in his car and drives away.

I walk across the school's green pasture. I walk around the school and head to the park. I kick rocks on the sidewalk as I keep my gaze focused on my feet. I look both ways before crossing the street and sit on the park bench. I set my backpack down and pull my knees up to my chest. The ice cream man's not here today.

"Fuck, Ashton, I'm so sorry." I mutter to myself.

I stay there for a while. A really long time, actually. Just thinking. Thinking about how the past month has been miserable. How I've been crying myself to sleep for the past two weeks. He won't even look at me. Not even is Ms. Jones class. At least he used to glare at me, but now, there's nothing. No emotion. He doesn't care. I've been miserable. So fucking miserable without him. Without his laugh, without his smile. His dimples, his beautiful eyes, his laugh. Fuck, his laugh.

It's dark when I decide to go home. I stand up and look up at the moon, which is shining brightly. My mom won't care if I'm out. She knows I've needed a lot of time to think lately. I've been getting home pretty late. I take a deep breath and run my hand through my hair before deciding I don't want to go home yet. I sit on an empty swing and let my feet drag back and forth pitifully.

"You've been here a long time, haven't you?"

"Fuck!" I scream, putting my hand over my heart.

"Did I scare you?" He asks.

"Yeah, you did." I tell him, trying to steady my heart rate.

He takes a seat on the empty swing next to mine, face downcast. "It's been a while."