18 (Ashton Irwin Love Story)

The Aftermath

Veronica
May 29th 8:07 am

        I bit my lip lightly, taking in a deep breath and shutting my eyes. Goddamn. I really don't wanna be here. I looked over at Ashton, who was looking down at the floor with a shameful expression on his face. I hope he doesn't regret what happened last night. Ugg. How did principal Opal find out anyway? Maybe another student overheard about it in the hall? But I never told anyone. Maybe a student overheard him invite me over to study for the SATs. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, taking in a deep and hesitant breath.
        I felt a hand on mine. I opened my eyes slowly and looked down at my hand. Ashton was holding it comfortingly. "Don't worry Veronica." He said in a hushed tone. "Everything's going to work out perfectly fine." Ashton rubbed his thumb on the back of my hand lightly.
        I looked over at him. "You're kidding, right?" I asked him, matching his hushed tone. "You're going to lose your job, I'm missing the SATs, and you think everything's fine. Please." I said, taking my hand away from Ashton's.
        He looked at me with sympathetic eyes. "That doesn't matter to me. Losing my job, I mean." He said, taking my hand again. I didn't pull away. His hand was so comforting and I just couldn't pull away. "I just wanna be with you Veronica." He smiled. "You've already been accepted into Emory University." He rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb again. "You're going to be okay."
        I smiled lightly. Ashton was right. I wanted to go to Emory because it was the best college for aspiring authors in the states. And if he didn't mind losing his job over all of this (which I still think is unfair because I wasn't one of his students at the time), that just proves what an amazing guy he is.
        I smiled at him, his eyes meeting mine. His fingers intertwined with mine and he squeezed my hand lightly. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but he was cut off when principal Opal opened his office door. Ashton's hand tightened around mine as we both darted our heads to Mr. Opal's office. He gave us a glare. "Mr. Irwin, Miss. Lynn." He said, opening his office door up.
        I swallowed hard and stood up, Ashton following suit behind me. We began to walk over to Mr. Opal's office, our hands still locked together. I took a deep breath as I entered his office. "Please, take a seat." Mr. Opal said, walking over to his desk and sitting in his chair.
        Ashton and I both sat down, our hands drifting apart. Suddenly, I felt alone. I wanted to relive last night again. I wanted to fix whatever mistake got me here. I wanted to redo everything. To go back to the beginning to see where I messed up.
        "So, I'm guessing you guys know why I called you in here, correct?" Mr. Opal asked, clicking a pen on his desk and setting it down. Ashton and I both nodded as Mr. Opal got out a pad of paper from his desk. "Well." He said, looking back and forth between Ashton and I. "Miss. Lynn, would you care to tell me how this all happened?" Mr. Opal asked, clicking his pen again and hovering it over his pad of paper.
        I bit my lip, glancing quickly at Ashton. I returned my gaze to Mr. Opal and sat up some in my chair. "Um. It's kind of a long story." I said, playing with my fingers in my lap.
        Mr. Opal looked up at the time, and then brought his gaze back to me. "I've got time." He said, leaning slightly over his desk.
        I swallowed hard and looked down at the ground. "Okay." I said, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. I straightened up a little more in my seat and looked up at Mr. Opal. "It all started in November."