Rejects | | a.u

2.3

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

(November 30th, 2014)

124 days before

15 days until Luke is home

 

  Watching Luke walk away was more painful than I ever imagined it to be. I didn’t think I’d feel my heart shatter into a million pieces. It may only be for s short period of time this time around but everything I love seems to be taken from me in some way.

  As I walked back to where the four of us were sitting minutes before I completely lost it when Asami got up to hug me. We stood like that for a few moments until Michael awkwardly got up and said we should probably get going. Asami wouldn’t let me go until we got into Michael’s car. The only comforting thing I had was Luke’s flannel.

  Sitting cross legged in the living room of Cassie and Ashton’s apartment, Asami, Cassie, and I discuss how we are possibly going to break the news to Janet about Cassie being pregnant.

  “So are you sure?” Asami asks.

  “Yes I’m sure, Asami. I peed on a damn stick twice. I don’t think I could get any surer.”

  “Is that even a word?” Asami replies.

  “Yes, but that’s not the point.” Cassie sighs and picks at the end of her long straw colored blonde hair.

  “Have you told Ashton?” Cassie’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink and she grins.

  “Yeah, I’ve him,” Asami and I give her the “and” face and she continues talking. “He was just really, really, really excited.”

  “What’s he going to do about school?” I ask, taking a bite out of an apple I’ve been holding for a little bit.

  “He said he’s going to finish the year because the baby won’t be due until the end of July, start of August. I basically had a debate with him that he was going to graduate because there is no way in hell I’m taking that away from him.”

  “Are you going to continue working?”

  “As long as I can work, yes.”

  Cassie’s has a job working at some clothing store in the mall for the last couple years. She’s been promoted to manager so she’s been making her way pretty well. During school hours when the stores a ghost town is when she mainly works on her college courses online. She and Ashton have had this whole apartment thing worked out pretty well. Janet had her doubts when they first moved in together but as soon as she realized how serious the two of them were her opinions started to change.

  “How did you even tell Ashton?” Asami asks curiously.

  “I was just like “hey babe there’s a kid inside me, what do you want to name it”, he kind of laughed at first but then he realized I was dead serious. In all honesty, I thought he’d want to leave me but his eyes light up and it was just something else.”

  Cassie continues telling Asami and I about how Ashton reacted. He said he was scared, but he was more than ready to be there for her one-hundred percent. She then brings up the topic of telling Janet. Cassie and I have both been warned about the whole teen pregnancy growing up and Janet’s always been pretty strict about boys. Not like either of us were trying to get pregnant as a teenager.

  “How do I tell her?”

  “Cass, you’re like what? Twenty-two? You and Ashton are practically married minus the whole rings and wedding and all the shit that comes along with it. Surely to god she’ll be fine!”