The Nerd and The Bully

025. Stressed

-Ashton's POV-

I feel so bad. Gracie's been so stressed out about school, I feel like I'm the one who has caused her to fall behind. I noticed in class that she was struggling to do it, which had me very surprised.

She then stayed behind in our last class. I still can't forget her tears falling down when she had got in my car.

-Flashback-

I notice Gracie coming to my car with tears streaming down her face. Immediately my smile turns to a frown. I hate when she's sad.

She gets in and shuts the door. "Can you just take me straight home?" She asks.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." She says.

"Did someone say something to you?" I ask balling up my fist. If someone had fucked with her, they're getting fucked up.

She chuckles. "No, Ash. Don't worry about it. I just need to get home." She says and I nod.

We were driving and I notice she just stared out of the window. I grabbed her hand in mine and she interlaced them. Soon, we were in front of her driveway.

"I love you." She says and is about to get out but I tighten my grip on her hand and pull her back inside. "What?" She asks.

I lean over and kiss her sweet lips. She kisses me back and smiles once we pull away. I trace her lip with my thumb.

"I love you, baby." I tell her and she smiles and pecks my lips once more. I need to call Serena and ask about this.

She picks up her phone at four rings. "-What's up?" She asks.

"Serena, what's wrong with Gracie?" I pop the question.

"-Oh um. Our language and literature teacher had kinda gotten rough on her about her school work." She says.

"What? But Gracie has been doing everything." I say, getting out of my car. Austin waves to me and I wave back.

"-Yeah but she's been having a hard time getting her ELA work done so he had a problem with it." She says.

"Damn, okay. Thank you." I say and we say our byes and hung up.

I lay down on my bed, just thinking about how I could help her with her work but knowing Gracie, she'll just pass it off and say she's fine.

-Flashback ends-

I sigh and get up from my bed. I walk downstairs where my douche brother is. He's eating an orange and smoking a cigarette.

"That must be the most terrible combinations ever." I told him, scrunching my face up.

"Shut up." He says and I laugh. "How was school?" He asks and throws the orange in the trash bin.

"It was alright." I told him. "Still hate these stupid ass classes, though."

"You have one last high school year. You'll get through it." He says. "I did."

"Just wish that senior year could come now instead of next year." I groan just thinking about it. "Or maybe I can drop out of school."

"You're not dropping out of school." He says. "I won't allow it so don't even think about it."

I laugh. "Whatever." I say. I grab an apple and walk back upstairs.

I sit on the balcony and lean back in my chair and hit into my apple. I don't know why but I had soon gotten this bad feeling in my gut. Is something wrong with Gracie?

I hopped up and walked back into my room. I grabbed my keys and my jacket. I texted Gracie to see if she's okay.

Me: r u okay, baby?
read just now

Something's definitely going on. Gracie always respond to my text messages. I walk downstairs and inform Austin on where I was going. He just nods.

I get in my car and drive quickly to Gracie's house. I'm going above the speed limit but I don't even care right now. I need to see what's going on with my girlfriend.

I stop in her driveway and her sister must not be home yet. I knock but there's no answer. I then turn the doorknob and it just opens. She just left the door unlocked?

I walk upstairs slowly to her room. I hear her but it sounds like she's crying. I walk and her door is wide open. What I see breaks my heart to the core.

She's sitting on the floor, leaning on her knees and is crying. Sounds like she's having trouble breathing as well. I look around her and papers are scattered.

I slowly walk inside and bent down to rub her back. She looks up at me and tears are covering her face and her eyes are swollen and bright red from her crying.

"Ash." She whispers and leans into my shoulder. "I'm sorry, I look a mess." She sniffs.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't cry, baby. It breaks my heart." I tell her. "Why didn't you tell me you were struggling, I would've helped you."

"I didn't think it was that bad." She says. "My grade has dropped to a C and if my parents were home, which they're not, they would've been disappointed."

"No, they wouldn't. I'm sure they'll understand." I told her. "Come on, stand up."

I grab her hands and help her stand on her feet. When she's up, I pull her into a hug. She wraps her arms around my waist and put her head in my chest.

"I know sometimes things get stressful. But I'm here, okay?" I tell her and she nods.

"How about you and I pick up these papers and when we're done, I'll fix you something to eat and we can do this work." I tell her and she nods.

She looks up at me, tears were still streaming down her face. I wipe them off and stare into her eyes. I cup her face in my hands and lean down, kissing her lips gently. She places her hand on mine and kisses back.

Once I pull away, she smiles at me. "Thank you for being here. How did you know something was wrong?" She asked.

"I could feel it in my gut." I told her. I kiss her head. "I love you."

"I love you." She says.

After a little minute of hugging, we picked up the papers from the floor, making sure they were organized. Then after, I walk downstairs and made a turkey and cheese sandwich because I know she likes it.

I walk back upstairs and give it to her and she smiles. I sit on her bed while she was sitting at her desk, working on her work.

I love this girl so much.

~~
A/N: Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for it being short, I'm on my 🩸and trust me, it's painful. Next update on Tuesday. Comment your thoughts and vote. Thanks for reading!