Broken

• Chapter 61 •

"What's going on with you and Ashton?" Aya grabs a hold of my arm as I step into the cafeteria.

I had avoided her for this exact reason as soon as our class was dismissed and ran to my next period, which luckily wasn't with her. But now it's lunchtime... I suppose I can't avoid her forever.

I release an annoyed breath and groan, "Nothing, for God's sake."

"Yeah, oookay," she mocks.

I roll my eyes at her and step in line, looking over the sandwich choices. Protein bars are not enough to fill me up.

"I'm serious! You both weren't in school for the past week! Which I didn't think much of because neither was Eric, but then. You show up on the same day and he can't keep his eyes off of you the entire lesson! Bitch. Spill the tea," she bumps my shoulder and I glare at her.

My heart sinks into my stomach, "Wait, what? What do you mean Eric wasn't in school for the past week?"

She rolls her eyes, "Don't change the topic! And ha. You're not commenting on Ashton skipping school, which means it's not a surprise to you! Which means! You guys probably fucked this week! Oh my God are you pregnant? Is that what's going on?" her eyes are lit up like a Christmas tree.

I take a step back and stare at her in stupefaction. How the fuck did she come to that conclusion? I blow out a laugh at her ridiculous scenario.

"Aya, honestly. You're reading into shit. Nothing's going on. Nothing happened. I told you, I was sick the past week. Ashton and I are strictly partners on this project. Maybe friends, even. But nothing more. I'm with Adrien, for fuck's sake!" she's stupid for even considering this while I'm in a relationship.

She frowns in disappointment, "Aw, damn. That would've been some drama and entertainment at this lame ass high school."

I laugh and shake my head at her, "You indulge in teenage drama?"

She rolls her eyes and whines, "Noooo, but I love watching it."

I'm laughing again, she grins. "Anyway, good. Cause I mean if he tried hitting on you, you wouldn't stop him. He's beautiful, and that's bad because he'd break your heart," she sighs as she gazes at Ashton, who looks like he's in a heated conversation with Kate at the other end of the cafeteria.

He catches us watching him and his face stills, he maintains eye-contact with me. Kate snaps her head at us, and even when pissed off she looks hot. The blood rushes to my cheeks as I look away from them. I hope he doesn't think I'm talking about him, or them. I wonder if he'll tell Kate anything. Oh, God. I hope not.

Something in me tells me he's not the type. Especially knowing that he hasn't even had her over to his place. I know I would get mad if my boyfriend brought another girl to stay at his place for almost a week and didn't tell me about it. Unless I knew the circumstances. Which I doubt he would tell her. I hope.

I shake my head and return my focus to Aya, who's still blabbering about Ashton.

"I mean face it. He is a God," she whines as she stuffs her face in a red velvet cupcake.

Same.

I snort and hand her a napkin, picking out a turkey sandwich and moving up in line. "How does anyone look like that?" she says through a full mouth, still staring at Ashton and Kate with a distressed look on her face.

"Probably by stuffing their face in red velvet cupcakes just like you. Can you stop staring? Why are you like this?" I can't help but laugh at her idiocy.

"Those eyes," Hana adds as she joins us in line.

Aya nods her head in agreement. "And that jawline," she sounds like she's about to cry.

I shake my head at them and turn back to look at the people in front of me. Why is everyone so damn slow? I just wanna pay so I can sit down and eat my turkey sandwich in peace.

"Why aren't you agreeing?" Aya gives me a weird look.

My eyebrows knit together. "What? I—I have a boyfriend," I settle, and cringe internally.

Aya rolls her eyes. "So? You can still look at the menu... Just eat at home," she shrugs.

I snort. "Classy. But I'd rather not think of Ashton that way, now shut up. I'm starving and you're annoying me. Do you know where Eric is?" my stomach tangles up as I check my phone.

Still no messages from him.

She shrugs, "Nope. Isabella probably knows."

My eyes roam the cafeteria and land on her. I bite my lip nervously and pay the lunch lady, making my way towards Eric's girl.

"Hey, Isabella..."

She seems surprised that I'm speaking to her, her light eyes widen slightly. Is she scared of me? I instantly feel bad. I'm not gonna beat you up! I want to tell her.

"Um, listen I'm sorry for the first time we met. I was in a really bad mood, but that's not an excuse. I shouldn't have been so rude to you," I tell her sheepishly.

She studies me and nods slowly, giving me a warm smile, "Don't worry about it."

I sigh in relief, "That was easy."

Her smile brightens, and I want to bash her head in for how pretty she is. "I'm not really one to hold grudges," she shrugs.

"I can see that... I can tell why Eric likes you so much," I admit whole-heartedly. Her eyes widen at the heartfelt compliment, a small blush spreads across her cheeks.

She stammers a laugh and tries to hide a shy smile. "Thanks, Clementine... That means a lot coming from you," even her voice is so sweet it makes me want to throw up.

I give her a small smile, "Speaking of Eric, have you seen him?"

Her face falls, she looks so sad and confused that it makes my guts twist, "You don't know..? I figured you were with him. He's in New York... His grandfather is really sick."