What Doesn't Break You (Ashton Irwin Fanfic)

Chapter 4

A.J.'s POV:

Don’t walk too fast, don’t walk too fast, don’t walk too fast… I thought to myself as a zipped back across the street. I didn’t want to make it so obvious that I was embarrassed about my encounter with the rude boy and getting a drink poured down my front, but as I was still dripping in soda I decided there wasn’t much I could do about that.

I hurried away at a pace that was one step slower than being chased by an axe murderer. Once I got back to the other side of the street where I had left my Aunt and Uncle I stopped and looked around. Crap! Where am I supposed to meet them?!

I decided to walk in the same direction they had left and hopefully spot the bank they were going to. Oh God that was awful, I thought as I walked quickly down the sidewalk keeping my head down. I didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone. I’m pretty sure I looked strange with my hair all sticky with soda and my shirt was drenched in it. That could not have gone any smoother. Uhg!

I couldn’t stop dwelling on what happened. Why did I have to run into someone? Why did it have to be that guy, who took the demise of his soda so personally? Geez, I said I was sorry. He must really love his Pepsi. I chuckled without any humor.

I didn’t even know his name, but I’m pretty sure I will never forget the icy look he gave me after I bumped into him. I felt like those greenish eyes were literal pools of frozen ice, ready to burst and the shards would go flying at my face. I shuddered and kept walking down the sidewalk.

I stopped after making it to another street and quickly glanced around. I saw a building right across from me that looked like a bank and I started making my way over to it. When I got to the door I paused. I didn’t want to just walk inside like this.

I peeked through the tinted door instead and eventually spotted my Aunt and Uncle standing at the counter speaking to a clerk. I sighed and stepped away from the door. I’ll just wait until they come out. I thought. I don’t want to drip soda all over the floor.

I occupied myself by staring at my sneakers while I waited, leaning up against the side of the building. I still wore my old maroon sneakers, but I had changed out of my comfy jeans into another pair I owned and I was now wearing a black and white stripped t-shirt.

At least I wasn’t wearing a solid white t-shirt. That would have been awkward. I sighed at how much worse it could have been, but continued to brood about how I wish I could rewind back to right before I walked in and not run into that boy. I could be chilling over to the side of the room listening to good music waiting on my Aunt and Uncle to finish their errands.

A lot of things could be different if I could just rewind time, I thought to myself.

“What on earth happened to you!?!” I was jerked out of my quiet reverie by the sound of my Aunt’s voice. “I thought we were going to pick you up outside that bar place? You shouldn’t walk around by yourself yet A.J.” My Aunt practically started jumping down my throat the moment she saw me outside the bank. She stopped short once she looked at my face though. “Are you okay?” she asked a little calmer than before.

“I ran into someone and they spilt their drink. Don’t worry I kept most of it off the floor. The bar tender wasn’t mad, but I thought I’d leave anyway,” I said rather coldly. I’m not usually so smart with my Aunt, but right now I was still feeling the sting of embarrassment and I just snapped a little. My Uncle cleared his throat and chuckled a little. “Hey now, we know it wasn’t a bar. Are you okay?”

I looked at my Aunt as she was pursing her lips at my smart aleck comments. “Yes, I’m sorry Aunt B. Can we please go home now?”

She looked a little pacified. “Okay. We got the important stuff taken care of today anyway. We can always come back tomorrow.” She smiled a little at my messy shirt and hair. “Did you at least meet some people your age? Do any of them go to school with you?”

I cringed at her questions. Yes, I met some people my age alright. Thanks to my clumsiness I now only know one guy’s name, Calum, and I know what the angry boy looks like up close. Everyone else was just a blur of faces and I had no idea if any of them were my classmates.

Come to think of it, I can’t even remember the name of the school I’m attending. Calum didn’t mention the name of their school, so I have nothing to look up once I get home.

Oh well. Fingers crossed I won’t see any of them come Monday.

“I don’t know. I don’t remember the name of the school I’m going to.” I just left it at that. No need to go into detail about the fact that I didn’t chat it up with anyone. “Can we please get going; I look like a wet rat here.”

My Aunt laughed a little, but gave me a little smile that said she wasn’t laughing at me necessarily. Just my luck. We made it back to the car and I sat on my jacket to save the seat from getting sticky. I then plugged my headphones in my ears and attempted to block the world out for the ride home.

So far I’ve managed to completely humiliate myself in front of a room full of strangers in a foreign country, where I can’t even understand what anyone is saying. On top of that, I seem to have pissed at least one person off already. Awesome. I sighed, and tried to let the loud music consume my frustration as we made our way back home.

AN: This was a filler chapter. I'm trying to do some editing to make this story a little easier to read so bare with me here. :)

-Gracie