Broken

• Chapter 37 •

I find myself at the shoreline on the beach, I take a deep breath to try and calm myself. What else did they lie about? I can feel my body temperature rising with the rage boiling up inside of me.

- ASHTON -

Clementine is pacing. And hyperventilating. And rambling in an angry fit to herself. She looks like a fucking crazy person.

I feel the corners of my lips twitching upward.

Okay, it's taking me all my willpower not to laugh right now.

- CLEMENTINE -

My heart drops when I finally regain my focus and realize Ashton's standing a few feet away from me. A strange expression is plastered on his face.

"Ashton," I clear my throat in embarrassment. How long has he been standing here staring at me like a creep? "What're you doing here?" I hiss.

He just saw me throwing a tantrum to myself.

"You left your phone at the diner. Kinda thought you'd need it."

Oh. I pat my pockets and dig through my bag, realizing that I indeed do not have my phone with me.

"Cool, thanks... So um, you saw that?" I'm going to die of embarrassment.

"Yeh," he shrugs.

I press my lips into a thin line as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out my phone, "Um. Your dad keeps calling? But his contact picture is Brandon Charmant."

My heart sinks into my stomach, shit. How could I forget to fucking change that? Quick, make something up.

"Oh, um yeah. It's just this inside joke we've got," I force a half-laugh and try to be as nonchalant as possible while failing to keep eye-contact and grabbing my phone from him.

He stays quiet for a moment, "Your mom called too. Hers is a picture of Aurora Charmant."

I finally look up to meet his eyes, and it takes less than a moment to know he knows. "Family thing?"

My heart is hammering inside my ribcage, it's going to split apart. He knows. He fucking knows. What if he tells everyone? All these years of hiding from the public eye would be for nothing. Play dumb.

"Yeah... It's a family joke thing," I explain lamely, knowing he has already caught me red-handed but too stubborn to admit it.

He sighs, "I would believe that if I didn't know they had a daughter. Clementine Charmant," he raises his eyebrows at me. "Far stretch from Noodlemort, tell me who decided to make that your fake last name?"

I can't read his expression, I don't know if he's making fun of me, threatening me, or what.

"Ashton..." I plead.

His eyebrows knit together as if he's confused as to why I'm pleading with him. He frowns, "Relax, I'm not going to tell anyone."

My body half-relaxes, but my mind is still skeptical. I give him a doubtful look, he rolls his eyes at me.

"I don't care enough to tell anyone. Wanna tell me why you freaked out back there?" he nods his head towards the diner across the beach.

I shake my head. Um, hell no?

He stares at me, "Want me to guess?"

"Please don't..."

It's quickly becoming clear to me that Ashton is insightful, and knows a lot more than he lets on.

He steps forward, and I take a step back. "You freaked out when I told you about Byrnes and Evangeline. Aurora works for Byrnes, and he walked her down the aisle at her wedding. You said you knew every pizzeria in New York, which is where you are supposed to be, LA, which is where you were as a kid, and Ojai. Where Aurora Charmant and Evangeline Starling are from," he starts.

Shit. Slip up.

"Conclusion, Evangeline is your grandmother and you just found out," he shrugs. I frown, how the fuck did he come to that conclusion and how was he so spot on? "So much for not caring enough? How do you know so much?" I snap.

"I'm a perceptive person. I was just connecting the dots," he tells me with a cocky grin.

I remain quiet, not really knowing what to say to that. Is it that easy to come to that conclusion? Maybe I'm just stupid if it took me this long.

"Ashton please, you can't tell anyone."

His face softens at my distressed one. "I won't. But why are you keeping your identity a secret?"

I look him in the eyes and give him a look that says off-limits, "I can't talk about it."

He nods his head in comprehension, "Understandable."

I stare at him, and curiosity dawns over me. "So what's your secret?"

He frowns, "What secret?"

I shrug, "Come on. You're so mysterious, when you're not being a dick that is. I know nothing about you. And since you know one of my secrets, you owe me one for leverage. Out with it."

He clenches his jaw and shrugs, "I don't have any secrets." I raise my eyebrows at him mockingly, and he ignores it.

"I have to go," he says after he checks his phone.

My eyebrows knit together, "That's so unfair, dude."

He rolls his eyes at me, "No it's not. This isn't some therapy group where we sit around and tell each other our life stories. I guessed yours, you would've never told me otherwise," he snaps.

... True. No need to be so sassy about it, though.

His face relaxes and he sighs, "I'll text you later."

I purse my lips, does this mean he doesn't hate me anymore? I realize that I don't have his number, "HOW ARE YOU GONNA TEXT ME? YOU DON'T HAVE MY NUMBER!" I call out after him after realizing that he's halfway to the diner already.

How does he move so fast? Maybe his secret is that he's the flash.

"Check your phone!" he yells back with a smug grin, then turns back and continues walking.

I frown and check my contacts, snorting when I see his number under Derek (jk it's just Ashton).

Very funny. I sigh, delete their contact pictures and put a new password on my phone.

I have to go home and confront them.