The Nerd and The Bully

052. Grumplestilskin

~ Gracie's POV ~

Serena and Gwen offered to sit with me at lunch. We sat at the table in the back so I could avoid Ash. That's not what I want, of course, but I don't wanna start getting sad again. I ate my food silently.

"You want half of my Twix, CiCi?" Gwen asks, holding up the half.

I shake my head. "No thanks." I say softly. I take a bite out of my celery stick. "Thank you guys for sitting with me. I appreciate it." I tell them with a smile.

Rena smiles and rubs my arm. "No problem, girl." She says.

I sigh. "Don't hate Ashton, okay." I say. "He lost his father that day and he acted that way because of it. So, please don't hate him." I tell them. "I still love him a lot."

"We know you do and we don't hate him." Gwen says. "I visited him a couple of times this summer. He wasn't so great at first but he ended up getting to be." She tells me. I smile at the fact that he's happy. "He still loves you too."

"How do you know?" I ask her.

"Girl, every time we hung out, he always said how he wished you were there and always asking about you. He loves you, CiCi. Trust me." Rena says. "I spoke with him after our first class. He was glad to hear your voice."

"I was glad to hear his too." I say with a smile.

"If he asked you out again, would you take him back?" Gwen asks.

I smile softly. "Of course I would." I say. "I'm just scared of getting hurt again. I don't want us one day to have this huge fight and then us break up again." I say. "This summer has been horrible for me. I don't wanna have to relive it in the future."

Gwen nods. "We understand. Fully." She says. I smile.

We had had two more classes left. After our fifth class, our final class was science. Turns out we have assigned seats. "Find your name on a sticky note! You'll be sitting near until after winter break!" She announces.

I walk around until I find my name. It was a middle desk. I don't care who sits by me, as long as I focus on my education. I'm fine. "Okay, right here." A familiar voice says. Ashton. He sits by me? I turn around and he's already looking at me. "Hi, CiCi." He says.

"H-Hi, Ash." I say back. Why him? Out of everybody in this class, him? I mean, I get to smell his attracting cologne and see his face but still.

"Um... I was-," he starts to tell me but soon stops by a banging.

"No talking!" Mrs. Grumplestilskin shouts. That's her new nickname. "While in my class, you're not allowed to speak. As soon as class starts, your mouths are closed. Am I clear?" She speaks but she acts like she doesn't wanna be here.

"Whatever, Grumplestilskin." I mumble quietly. I hear a chuckle beside me. I look and Ash is quietly laughing. I smile.

"Grumplestilskin?" He asks and I nod. "Never fail to impress me." He tells me and I smile. He's acting as if we've been friends our whole lives. I don't mind it. I'm actually mentally freaking out to be honest.

She starts taking attendance. She soon gets to me. "Gracia O'Connor?" She asks. I raise my hand. "Hmm, your sister is Calliope, huh?" She asks and I nod. "Yeah, figured. Look at how you're carrying yourself." She rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me?" I ask. I'm fed up with her attitude.

She puts on a fake smile. "How is she now? Working a job at a fast food restaurant?" She asks. This lady doesn't know me nor my family so she best shut her mouth.

"Look, my sister is a manager at a shoe department, first thing. And second, we're totally different people so please don't do that thing where teachers recognize you from your siblings so they automatically don't like you. As a teacher, it's your job to be professional and educate us. Not ask us personal and quite rude questions regarding our family members. My sister and I are and will be very successful in the future." I tell her. I hate when teachers do that.

It was quiet. I heard some snickering and some whispering. I look at the teacher and she looks as if she's unbothered but her eyes say something else. "Quite the speech, Ms. O'Connor." She says and carries on with the attendance.

Soon, that was over. Callie texted and said she and Chloe will pick me up. Says we're going for ice cream later. I go to my locker. Serena comes up beside me. "So, you handed it to her." She says and starts laughing.

I chuckle. "I didn't wanna be disrespectful if that's how I came off as, I just hate when people don't get the chance to know you and automatically assume things." I tell her. "Oh, Callie is picking me up. You can drive me tomorrow if I'm not busy." I say.

She nods. "Okay, for sure." She says.

She walks off and I'm about to walk out. A hand touches my shoulder. I already know who it is. I turn around and met with my still cute ex boyfriends green eyes. "Hey." He says.

I chuckle. "This is your third greeting towards me today. Hi, Ash." I say.

He smiles. "Um, I really want us to talk. About everything that happened. Can we?" He asks.

I sigh. "I wanna talk. Trust me I do but Callie and Chloe are outside and we're going for ice cream and it's Chloe so I can't pass it up. And tomorrow, Serena's dropping me so maybe later on tomorrow?" I ask him.

He smiles and nods. "For sure." He says. He leans down and kisses my cheek. Butterflies are in my stomach. How much I missed that. He walks away, smirking.

I stand for a bit until AJ notices and nudges me. He laughs, which means he saw the whole thing. I walk outside. I walk to my sister and my beautiful niece. "Hi, guys." I say.

"Hi, CiCi!" Chloe waves. She looks. "That's a lot of people." She says and I chuckle. "Uncle Ash! Uncle Ash is here, Mommy!" She says and runs. I watch as she runs to Ash and he doesn't hesitate to pick her up and hug her.

I walk closer to them. "How are you, little one?" He asks her.

"I'm good. CiCi, Mommy and I are going for ice cream!" She tells him excitedly.

He chuckles. "I heard. You missed me?" He asks her.

"I miss you too lot. CiCi was always sad. I think she miss you too lot too." She tells him. Oh my gosh, Chloe. I mentally slap my forehead.

He smiles for a bit. His eyes look sad. He looks at her and kisses her cheek. "I gotta go home, little one. I'll see you sometime, alright?" He says. I take that as my chance to walk up to them.

"There you are." I say. "Chloe, you can't be running off like that." I tell her. I chuckle and play with her little side braids.

"But I missed Uncle Ash." She says with a frown.

"I missed Ash too but you at least have to let me hold your hand." I say. Ash looks at me and gives her to me. "Thank you. She missed you a lot, as you can see." I tell him.

"Yeah, I missed her too." He smiles and kisses her cheek again. "Alright, see you guys later."

"Bye." I tell him. I walk back to Callie. She's smiling. "Shut up." I tell her before she says anything.

"You still love him!" She squeals as I place Chloe in her car seat.

"Of course I do. He's all I think about." I say. She smiles and we start riding out of the school's parking lot.

Ash 🥰: I missed you too. Too much.

Me: ❤️❤️

Shoot! I admitted in front of him that I missed him s lot. I smile. He unblocked and texted me. Maybe things will actually be alright.

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A/N: Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Stay tuned for the next chapter! Comment your thoughts and vote! Thanks for reading!