Mr. Hemmings |l.h.|

chapter 10

Luke

I absolutely cannot think of a more awkward situation than the one I'm in. Here I am eating dinner with my old mate, my ex-girlfriend, and one of my students. There is nothing on Earth that could make this more uncomfortable. I wish it could just be Ashton and I talking. Having Cassi here already makes it feel weird, at least to me. Adding Layla in the mix is almost too much to bear. I haven't seen or heard from Layla in months. We began dating earlier this year before graduation, after Ashton and I stopped talking. There is no way he could have known we dated or the fact that I proposed to her. I thought she was the love of my life. Six months in, and I knew that I couldn't live without her. But she obviously felt differently, because when I proposed, she said no.

I keep trying to talk to Ashton to see how he's doing, but then I start to feel bad for Cassi. She doesn't know Ashton or Layla, so she has no one to talk to. She has been quiet for most of the dinner, which is unusual as she is typically good at holding a conversation. Cassi seems deep in thought. Something must be on her mind. I really shouldn't have invited her here.

"Are you okay?" I ask Cassi. She has been staring at her plate for almost a minute now without moving. Either she's not hungry, or she is concentrating on something. I hope that she isn't have a terrible time.

"Yeah." She nods her head and stares off into space to think again.

Everyone else has finished eating, except Cassi still has lots of fries left on her plate. Our waitress comes by with our checks, and I cover Cassi's meal. I'm the one who dragged her along on this wacky meeting, so I at least owe her a free dinner.

"Well mate, it was a great dinner." Ashton says. Both him and Layla begin standing up.

"For sure." I say as I also get out of the booth. "C'mon." I tap Cassi's shoulder, and she jumps. She quickly grabs her purse and gets out of the booth.

"We'll have to meet up again." Ashton says with a smile. At least he still wants to hang out. I miss getting to see him so often, and I'm disappointed that we lost contact. Hopefully, this will rekindle our friendship.

"Yeah we will." I reply and nod my head.

"And this time without our girlfriends." Ashton leans in and whispers into my ear.

"Oh she's not. We're not. She's-"

"Oh okay." Ashton says, looking confused. I know I brought Cassi with me, so that's already suspicious, but did he see something that I'm missing?

"Well, mate, I'll just see you later." I say as I shake Ashton's hand. Everyone walks out into the parking lot together. Ashton and Layla say goodbye and walk towards their car.

"That was fun." Cassi says with no happiness in her voice. She seems pissed off, and I don't blame her. This dinner was a lousy way to spend her night.

"Yeah." I mutter as I kick a small pebble off the sidewalk. "Where's your car?"

"Oh, I didn't take it." Cassi responds. She is just staring at the ground.

"So you took a cab?" Cassi just nods her head and continues staring at the cracked sidewalk. "I told you that I could have picked you up. You shouldn't have taken a cab."

"I know I just didn't want you to go through the trouble of picking me up. Plus, I don't mind cab rides."

"It wouldn't have been any trouble." I tell her. I wouldn't have minded driving her to Davey's. I feel bad that she spent money on a cab to come to dinner with me. Maybe I should pay her back for that as well.

"Whatever. I just didn't want you to pick me up."

"And why's that?" I raise my voice slightly. Cassi's pissiness is starting to rub off on me. This conversation is only irritating me. Why do women have to be so complicated?