Perspective

61- You lied

"Hey, babe?" I call, opening his bedroom door.

"I'm taking a shower!" He tells me from the bathroom. "I'm almost done."

I step inside his room and close the door behind me.

"I'll wait," I tell my boyfriend.

"Okay, babe."

I smile to myself as I notice that he added more pictures to the wall.

His desk has his laptop, his phone, and a stack of papers.

Peering closer, I see that there is a letter addressed to him from Rice.

I pick it up and slip out the paper.

Mr. Bradley,

We are so glad to have you as a part of our university.

I stop reading. That one sentence was enough to change everything.

The bathroom door opens but I can't move.

Asher greets me by throwing his arms around me and kissing my shoulder.

"Morning, beautiful," He says.

"What is this, Asher," I ask, turning around so we're face to face.

"What is—oh. It was supposed to be a surprise."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Asher?" I snap. "This isn't something to hide. Birthday surprises, totally understandable. Dates? I get it. But college? Really? I asked you so many times and you told me that you didn't apply to anything or that you didn't want to even go to college. But this shows that you fucking lied. What else did you lie about, Asher?"

"Babe," He reaches out to touch my wrist.

I yank my hand away from him. "I'm leaving tomorrow."

"I was trying to surprise you."

"You lied, Asher."

"Baby, please."

I shake my head, feeling my throat starting to close up. "I need to go."

"Baby, please don't break up with me," Asher pleads and I see the regret and pain in his eyes.

I wrap my arms around his body. "I need some time," I tell him and let go.

"Chase, I-"

"Bye, I...have to go."

I slip out of the room and quickly walk downstairs.

I overreacted again.

It's really not that big of a deal. I should be happy that Asher is going to Rice with me, but I'm not. Instead, I'm so upset that he lied that I lashed out at him. The last thing I said to him was definitely too far.

Seems like I fucked up. Again. What's new?

I leave Asher's house and drive myself home.

"Mom and Dad went put and they told us to order pizza for lunch," Chandler says.

"Okay," I push past him and go up to my room.

I'm so stupid. What was I even trying to achieve by yelling and screaming at Asher?

Not long after, there's a knock on my bedroom door.

I lift my head up from my pillows. "Come in," I say thinking that it's my mom.

Asher steps in and I immediately sit up.

"What are you doing in here?" I ask as he closes the door behind him.

"Explaining myself to you," He says.

"You don't need to."

"Well, I want to. I'm going to get this shit done with so we can go back to being us."

"What if I don't want to go back to being us?"

Asher snorts and a slow smile creeps across his face. "I guess we'll find out after a few minutes."

"Alright then. Mr. Bradley, you have the floor."

Asher pulls my chair closer to the bed and sits down in it. He reaches for my hand and I let him hold it.

"Does this mean you're not mad at me?" He asks, gesturing to our hands.

"I'm definitely mad."

Asher's smile drops. "Yay."

•••

Thanks for reading:)

~M