Demi was off all week for someone's wedding in Vermont. I think it was her nephew or someone like that. She didn't say much about it.
Ethan tried to make my protein shake for the morning, but it didn't turn out too well. I went without it and made myself some breakfast instead. I knew this would end up making us late, but I didn't mind much.
We got to school just before ten. It was the middle of my third period.
"You're late again, Easton," Mr. Howell announced as I walked into the middle of his discussion.
"I'm aware," I stated and sat down.
This was a college credit class, so it didn't matter if I was late or not. Most of the work was online, but Mr. Howell likes to pretend he cares.
"Don't let it happen again," He looked at me. We both knew it would happen again. I knew he actually didn't give a shit and quite frankly neither did I.
The class was over in ten minutes. I just wanted to go to lunch. Today was not the day. Ash would kill me if I skipped more before Thanksgiving break. One more week.
Ash didn't see me this morning. If I skipped, she wouldn't even have known I was here. If I go back to the house, I'd have nothing to do to pass the time. I wouldn't be able to go on another run for a while and I didn't feel like cooking. It would be nice to see Ash. It would make my shitty day go a lot better.
So I stayed.
Fourth period went by so slowly. Then study hall seemed to slow time even more. All I wanted was to see my friends and eat food. Is that so hard?
Finally, it was lunch and I practically ran out of study hall and to the cafeteria.
I walked up to the table and to my surprise, Ash was already sitting there and she was talking to someone, to a guy. He made her laugh at something. I sat down in my normal seat and stared at the guy sitting next to Ash. He looked familiar, maybe I had him in a class or something.
"Hey Ash," I said cooly. "Who's your friend?" I asked and eyed him down. I could see a glint of fear in his eyes and smirked to myself. I turned my attention back to Ash she looked at me with the faint smile she always had after she laughed.
"Oh hey, East," She said as if she didn't even notice me sit down. "This is Isaac, he's in my French class."
"Hey man," He said casually. I glared at him. He gave off a bad vibe and I didn't like him.
"Isaac, this is my friend, Easton," She introduced me. The word friend sounded weird coming from her mouth. Normally, I'm her best friend, but now I'm just a friend. I don't understand.
What's with this guy anyway? She usually says something before bringing someone to the table or our hangouts. I glared at him.
"Well, I should get going. À plus tard!" He smiled at Ash.
She laughed. "Au revoir." She looked back at me. "So we still good for tonight?" She asked and ate her rice casually.
I didn't understand how she could be so casual about what just happened. I also didn't understand what had me so worked up about it. She had other friends and that had never bothered me before.
"Yeah, yeah we're good," I said.
"Are you okay? You seem a little distracted."
I looked at her worried-filled eyes. I was worrying for no fucking reason. God, what is wrong with me? I smiled at her. "I'm just fine, Ash."
"Hey, guys," Erin said as she and Ethan sat down. It was quite obvious they didn't come straight from study hall.
"What took you guys so long?" I teased with a wink in Ethan's direction. "I'm surprised you guys even show up to lunch anymore."
Erin's face flushed red and Ethan punched me in the arm. Ash kicked me under the table.
"You guys are rude," I whined and rubbed my arm and shin.
"That's what you get for being a jackass," Ethan said.
"And this is what you get for being an asshole," I said and ruffled up his hair forcefully. He swatted off my arms. The girls laughed and everything was normal.
It's crazy how fast something can become normal. Last month no one would sit with us and now it's unnatural for the girls to be gone.
The rest of the day went by slowly. I had to force myself to keep my eyes open. I didn't end up sleeping last night. I had too much energy that I couldn't burn. I was so close to falling asleep that Ash poked me with her pencil in Government to keep me awake.
"What's up with you today, Easton? You weren't here during first period, you were distracted during lunch, and you fell asleep during Gov." Ash worried as we walked to our last-period classes. We didn't have it together, but we walked almost all the way together.
I wish I knew the answer to her question. I think I'm sleep deprived.
"I don't know, Ash. I need a run," I answered. I debated leaving early and going on a run.
"I'll see you later, okay?" She said and entered her class.
I nodded and made my decision. I was going to leave right then.
I walked right out of the door and to my car. At least, I didn't have to come back to pick Ethan up after school was over. I drove straight to the house. I jogged upstairs and put on my running gear. Once I finished, I jogged back downstairs and out of the door. I had about an hour until Ethan would get back from school.
Instead of my normal five-mile run, I set a timer for an hour and ran slower than my normal pace. I stretched in the front yard for ten minutes before I started my run. I forced myself to go slower and keep my breathing in place.
Everything was at peace and in sync. I had control of my body, my legs, my arms, my heartbeat, and my breathing. I liked it that way. I knew in life I didn't have control of anything, but myself, and running gave me that control and peace of mind.
I turned down the street of the house and my timer rang, ending my hour run. I sprinted down to the house with the last energy I had. I nearly dropped in the front yard as I reached the house. I noticed Ethan had gotten there before me. I got inside and walked to the kitchen.
"Eth, I'm back," I called into the house that, not unlike usual, seemed virtually empty. I grabbed a Gatorade from the fridge and downed half the bottle in one gulp.
"I'm leaving," he said and walked past the kitchen.
"Pause. Turn. Tell." I ordered. I didn't like not knowing where he was going. I was a worried older brother, so what?
"I'm going to Erin's house," He shrugged.
A smirk fell on my lips. "Okay go," I nodded my head to the door. He turned on his heels and walked away. I waited until he was a little bit away before yelling, "Have fun lover boy!"
I could almost feel his eyes roll from ten feet away. I laughed and chugged the remaining bit of my Gatorade. I tossed it in the trash can and dragged my body upstairs for my post-run routine. Shower, change, and food.
After I got out of the shower, I changed but I didn't put on a shirt. My muscles already felt a lot better. It was time for food and I was starving.
I went downstairs and looked through the fridge and cabinets. I decided to make an omelet. I grabbed a frying pan and whistled to myself while cooking.
Soon, I heard the front door open and close. I figured it was Ethan and he forgot something or was back for some other reason. I decided to ignore it.
"East?" Ashtyn's voice called out into the house.
"Kitchen," I called back.
I turned as she walked in. She paused for a second and I couldn't help but notice she was staring at my abs. I almost forgot I didn't have a shirt on. I smirked at her facial expression.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her.
She tried to ignore the fact that she was checking me out and held up a stack of papers. "Homework, remember? East we were talking about this. I reminded you at lunch," she sighed.
"Sorry I forgot," I apologized and turned back to the stove.
I heard a gasp from behind me. I turned around worriedly just to find Ashtyn with a hand over her mouth with wide eyes.
"Ash, what's wrong?" I asked with an arched brow.
"East, your back," she slowly took a step closer to me as she carefully set the papers on the island as if they were made of glass. As if I was made of glass and any big movement would make me shatter all over the floor.
It took me a second to realize that she had never seen my scars before. The scars put there from the deadbeat, abusive, drunk, horrible excuse of a father.
Her eyes were still wide, but the rest of her face showed little emotion. She was worried about me and probably terrified.
Now she'll really leave me, I thought. She'll realize just how fucked up my life was and she'll back away just like everyone else. She'll slowly separate herself from me and soon enough she'll disappear from my life. She definitely wouldn't be the first one or the last.
"Oh," I said. I was at a loss for words. I didn't know what else to say. It's not like there's a book on how to tell people that your drunk father abused you after your mom left and he blamed you for it. "Do you want an omelet? I was going to make myself one," I tried to derail the subject.
"Don't do that to me, Easton, not now. Don't change the conversation. What happened?" She asked with worry-laced eyes.
"My dad happened," I snapped at her. A wave of guilt rushed over me. I didn't mean to snap at her.
She looked at me softly and spoke just as soft. "Easton," she took my shoulder and turned my back to face her. My breath hitched in my throat as I felt her presence so close behind me. I thought she was just going to look at them. I felt her hand lightly graze one of the scars. I snapped out of my trance and turned quickly to grab her wrist.
"Don't please," I begged her calmly and firmly. I instantly let go of her wrist once I realized what I had done. I put some space between the two of us.
My hands began to shake and I lost all feelings of control I had before.
Fuck.
"Easton?" She asked worriedly and took a step towards me. She took a step back once she realized something was wrong and I didn't want her near me. "Easton, what should I do?" She asked calmly, but I could tell she was scared.
This was really gonna scare her away.
"Please, just leave," I asked in between deep breaths. I sat on the ground and leaned against the cold metal fridge.
"I'm not leaving you like this," she argued. She left my line of sight and I could faintly hear the sink running.
Maybe she was different from everyone else.
Flashbacks from two years ago popped into my head like short movie clips before going dark again.
"Easton, drink this," I heard a voice say and something round was placed in my hand. I realized it was Ash handing me a glass of water.
I took slow sips.
What felt like hours later, my vision cleared and my hands stopped shaking. I knew it had passed. I looked up and there was no sign of Ashtyn.
She left.
Anger bubbled inside. How could I think for one second that this was gonna be different?
I heard hushed tones coming from another room and I slowly stood up. I followed the sound of the voices. I found Ash standing in the dining room on the phone. Her back was facing me. Her hair was now tied up in a bun on top of her head.
She turned around and saw me leaning against the wall.
"He's up. I gotta go, bye," she rushed out and hung up the phone.
"Who was that?" I asked.
"It doesn't matter," she waved me off and put the phone in her back pocket. "You shouldn't be standing up right now," She said, "You need to go lay down and take a nap."
"I'm fine, Ash. You don't have to worry about me," I pushed myself off the wall and tried to take a step. I almost fell because my legs were so weak. I ran almost seven miles a little bit ago.
"You're not fine. I finished your omelet. Eat it and you're going to bed." She ordered me.
I did what she said and ate the omelet she made me. I was never more thankful for food before then. I ate all of it in five minutes.
"Come on, you're going to at least take a nap," she nodded her head in the direction of the stairs.
"Is all of this just for you to get me in bed? You know all you had to do was ask, Ash," I laughed as she all but dragged me up the stairs. Since my legs were unstable, I had to lean on her for support.
She smacked my arm. "Now is not the time for your inappropriate remarks, Easton," She chastised me.
We walked into my room and she helped me to my bed.
Suddenly a nap didn't sound so bad. I felt something soft press against my temple before the dark took over me completely.