Like You Do

Truth or Dare

Ashton left the room and went back to his dorm. How can Gail be upset with him? How is it his fault this isn't easy? He feels portrayed, he feels outed. Phoenix comes into the room without warning, he saw him leave suddenly and grew concerned. "Hey Ash, it's just me, what happened?" Ashton was startled but then recognized the voice and calmed down. "They know... they saw!"

"Who knows and saw what?" Phoenix asked.

"My stupid friends saw me and you that night on the bench, now they're pissed."

Ashton was panicking and Phoenix saw that clearly. He put his hands on his shoulders. "It will be ok, just relax." Ashton nodded and closes his eyes. "They all hate me..."

"No, they don't, I promise, they just don't understand and care enough to react this way," Phoenix replies. 

"I can't do this."

"Do what?" Phoenix is confused
" I just... I don't think we can be together, it's too complicated and I really can't afford to lose anyone."
Phoenix felt his body go numb and his facial expression was dull. "You are going to let some people that you call your friends, dictate how you should feel?"

"Please...I really just can't do this." Ashton left the room. 

"Fuck!" Phoenix was frustrated, he nearly felt like he was going to punch the wall but didn't. He just left the room as well. He was thinking about following Ashton, but he didn't want to cause any more distress, so he didn't.

Later that day there were rumors going around that there was going to be another party but this time at someone's house. Some people live off-campus, so they sometimes throw parties there. Anyone can show up, it didn't matter if you were looked upon or if you were a star in the school.

After classes that day, Ashton was definitely not in the mood to go anywhere, but Trenton stopped by and said that he should get out and do something. "You can't just lay around in your dorm all day, that's not good for your brain," Trenton claims. "I don't care, I don't wanna be seen near anyone or with anyone," Ashton whined. "Is this really how you were going to handle this situation? Who cares? Gail is an immature fuck and he couldn't care less about what you do with anyone, he just needs some time to process. Plus Dustin and Kayden don't care at all either, they just were upset at the fact that you couldn't come to them to talk about this and you know how I feel, so there's no reason to feel stressed. Also only we saw, it's fine."

Ashton took a deep breath and thought about what he said, it was a hard decision but she decided to go out. "You're right, I should stop caring so much." Trenton nodded and adjusted his glasses. "Good, so get ready, and let's go."

When they arrived Ashton felt a little better, he didn't see any signs of Gail, but he knows he'll probably run into him eventually and he'll have to face it. "I'm right here ok? No one else even knows nor cares." Ashton nodded and reassured himself and went to go get a drink and relax. "Hey, I'll be right back alright? Dustin and Kayden arrived." Trenton walked away and went to go say hi to his friends. They were looking over at Ashton but Ashton tried to look like he was noticing. That is when Phoenix walks over. "Hey it's nice to see you here, sorry about earlier, I understand if this is something that you struggle with." Ashton didn't know what to say, he was tapping his cup anxiously. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, let me know what you want to do." Phoenix then disappears into the crowd. Ashton didn't say anything, he didn't even want people to know that he was interacting with him.

His friends come up to him. "Dude, ya'll are so cute, we don't care who you like." Dustin says. "Yeah it's not a big deal, plus it's the 21st-century! Who's going to give a shit, and if people do give a shit then that's their problem, not yours." Kayden added. "See? You have nothing to worry about." Trenton says. Ashton smiled, "Thanks, guys."