Almost a week has passed by since the night I slept with Ashton and he's practically gone out of his way to avoid me while I prepared for my first day at my new school. Today he didn't have much choice for being around me since he had to go to the school with me and get copies of almost everything and make sure the school knew what the situation was. As I made my way to the kitchen I noticed Ashton was already there with a piece of toast in his hand and his headphones on. Glancing up in my direction he motioned his head toward the door before walking out of the room, grabbing his car keys on his way out the door.
"This is going to be interesting," I muttered as I followed him out the door.
His headphones were off but the music was now blasting through the speakers, making the whole car vibrate.
"Ashton!" I shouted over the music. "Can I please talk to you?"
His eyes turned dark before he turned down the music. "What is it, Krystal?"
"I think we should talk about what happened and..."
"There's nothing to talk about," he snapped.
"How can you say that? Did what happened mean that little to you?"
"It didn't mean anything to me. What happened that night was nothing more than a mistake. We were both weak and went about it the wrong way; that's all there is to it."
"Ashton, I trusted you! I thought that meant something to you! Or at least that I meant something to you!"
The school building came into view just as Ashton looked over with a cold stare on his face.
"Then you can't exactly blame me, can you? It was your mistake."
"Ash..."
"You really shouldn't be so trusting," he sneered. "The world and is a dangerous place and so are the people in it. If you wanna live through all of this keep that in mind and forget about what happened that night. Now, let's go get the papers signed so you can go to class before you're late."
As much as I wanted to say something more, I couldn't manage to form a real thought; instead I focused on the school building in front of me and the hope that this morning would only get better. There were dozens of people making their way into the building while others stood around outside talking to their friends. There seemed to be the normal groups that were in every other high school. Beautiful girls dressed in their expensive outfits and cheerleading uniforms stood in one group along with the typical jock boys who thought they were the best thing since sliced bread. Another group contained the ones who didn't quite fit into the popular group and had formed their own thing.
Lastly was the gothic group. There were maybe five of them in total; two slim looking girls with black and red hair and three boys, one boy with piercing blue eyes and black hair swept to one side that went just below his cheek and cut short on the other side. Despite still being hurt by what Ashton had just said to me, I couldn't deny that this guy was absolutely stunning. He looked up from his group and our eyes met for a moment before he turned back to listen to one of the girls beside him; probably his girlfriend.
"Krystal, come on we need to move a little faster here," snapped Ashton, his voice breaking my thoughts.
"Right behind you," I muttered back.
He sighed. "Look, you're a good person and everything and I'm still here to help you, but anything more between us would be a mistake. Besides, you're still in high school and I'm twenty-five; something like that doesn't look very good. If you want someone to be with then I suggest someone closer to your age who you have more in common with. You don't wanna be with someone like me."
His pace quickened as we made our way down the hall.
"Ashton, you don't understand," I started. "I don't care what you think about age or anything like that! I..."
"Don't know what you're talking about," he whispered, his voice dangerously low. "You only think you like me right now just because we slept together. Trust me, Krystal, that feeling will go away as quickly as it came once you meet someone else."
"Why do you think you know how I feel? What gives you the right to even say something like that to me?"
"Because we both know it's the truth. I loved someone older than me when I was your age and it goes away quickly when you realize that you can never really be with them without someone pointing out the age difference or how it will never work because one of you will die before the other. You're still young, Krystal, you have a chance to be with someone who can give you what you deserve. Besides all that, after Veronica, I don't even wanna think about being with someone else for a long time."
We walked the rest of the way in silence with a tension so intense it wouldn't surprise me if everyone around us could feel it. Ashton was probably right one way or another. A relationship was the last thing either of us should be looking for in this situation. The only thing that should be on my mind during this should be school, work, and figuring out those damn emails that gave Axel all those directions.
"Good morning!" chimed and overly cheerful woman. "Is there something I can help you with? I don't think I've seen either of you here before; and I know just about everyone in this school."
Ashton shook his head. "My name is Ashton Hawthorne and this is Krystal Nightingale. We have a meeting this morning with Mr. Adler and Mrs. Beckett to discuss Krystal's enrollment in the school."
She nodded, the smile never leaving her face. "Of course. How on earth could I forget? I'll go and get Mr. Adler so just sit down and make yourselves comfortable."
"Thank you," he calmly replied.
The hall outside the office flooded with students going to their lockers. Some were still with their group while other just grabbed what they needed and carried on; one couple was even going so far as to make out against one of the lockers. I looked over at Ashton, seeing he was on his phone sending a message to someone while we waited. I still couldn't manage to push what he had said out of my mind...I know it was stupid on my end to even get involved with him hardly even knowing him, but something in me just didn't seem to really even care at that point. As for the age gap, it honestly wasn't even that big of a deal since I was already almost seventeen; and it's not like it's completely unheard of for a younger girl to date an older guy. That sort of thing happens every day.
But thinking about it from his perspective I could see why it would bother him more than it would me. Eight years is a big difference and I understood why he wouldn't want to really risk anything for someone like me. Hearing him say that it really meant nothing though still hurt. Maybe he was right and I'm just reading too much into a mistake that should never have happened to begin with.
"Excuse me," same a sharp voice. "Are you Mr. Hawthorne?"
Ashton stuck his hand out. "You must be Mr. Jason Adler, I've heard quite a bit about you. Where is Mrs. Beckett?"
"She'll be joining us in just a few minutes, Mr. Hawthorne. As for right now, why don't we get this meeting started?"
"Alright, let's get started then."
We followed the man to a smaller room behind the office desk. The room was plain white with two large windows and a metal desk in front of it with just a computer on top of it. The only other object in the room was a small round table with a few chairs around it. Just like most high school offices, Mr. Adler's office was as cold and uninviting as it gets. The room seemed to reflect his apparently bland personality.
"Miss Nightingale, I have been informed by Ashton here as well as his father of your current situation. I can assure you that no one will receive a copy of your schedule and we will do our best to keep you protected as we would any other student. That being said I need to make this perfectly clear. You may be a transfer student under a very difficult situation, but I do not intend on giving you any special treatment. You will be given the same planner with the rules that each student is obligated to follow; should any of the rules be broken you will be given the standard warning depending on the situation followed by the same punishment any other student would be dealt. I'm not sure yet what kind of person you are and seeing as how you're about to be a senior I won't be given much opportunity to know you, however, you may reach out to me with any concerns you may have. Are there any questions?"
As I shook my head the door to the office opened up to reveal a woman in her mid to late forties with the standard pencil skirt and white blouse you saw teachers in movies wear. Her steps over towards us were confident with her head held high like an entitled celebrity.
"You must be Krystal," she sighed. "Welcome to our school; I hope you'll fit in nicely. Now, skipping the formality and introductions I have with me your scheduled classes, planner, and a small directory of the school so you don't end up needing directions. You are expected to arrive on time to your classes as tardiness will not be accepted. Since the day is about to begin I suggest that you get a move on to your first class while we finish up this meeting. I'll be checking in on you from time to time as well as keeping a close eye on you. It was a pleasure making your acquaintance."
Trying my best, I gave her a small smile. "It was a pleasure meeting you as well ma'am. Thank you for all the information Mr. Adler, I really hope to get to know you better."
Taking my schedule from Mrs. Beckett I made my way out of the room as quickly as I could, not wanting to be around Aston longer than I needed to. The halls were getting more crowded as people went to their lockers and prepared to go to their first class. With so many people in the way, it made it impossible to not bump into someone and get the stare of death from whoever you bumped into. Large groups of people weren't ever really my thing, but this was just a whole new level of crowded. It was almost certain that everyone could tell I was a new face; a real fish out of water.