savior

twenty two

DAY EIGHTEEN; THIRTEEN DAYS TO GO

Hanging out with Ashton was probably one of the best decisions I had ever made. He knew exactly what to do to keep my mind off of my problems at home. Before we left, he suggested that we change our clothes, considering we had worn them all day yesterday and slept in them last night.

I helped him tidy up the roof, clearing the blankets and pillows from it, holding them in my arms. Together, we fled to his apartment; floor thirteen, room T. Lauren and Harry were gone—probably at school—and I couldn't help but think that they possibly had no clue where Ashton was. What if he always left them in suspense, wondering where he could be? That's how I felt about Kaitlynn. I had no idea where she was.

Ashton invited me to sit on the couch as he found something to wear. When he came out, he was dressed in something totally different. In his hands was an another jacket. I didn't expect it to get super cold out. Why would he need extra?

"Here," he said, handing the jacket to me. "When we get to your place, and you change, I want you to wear this over your clothes. It's really warm. It'll keep you from freezing to death."

I took the coat from his hands and thanked him. Then we started our journey to my own apartment. When we entered, I told him to be quiet, because I had no clue if my mother was there or not, and if she was, she would scold me for being with a boy instead of at school. He actually led the way to my home, and I had no idea how he knew which one it was. The thought never came to me when he had picked me up at my house yesterday.

Ashton sat on my bed while I picked out something to wear. Whenever I pulled something out, he would look at it, and if he didn't like it, he'd say, "Maybe you should choose something else," and then let out a giggle. Sometimes I even let him come look and see for himself what I had to choose from. He would pick out a few things, but if I didn't like it, I'd put it back and watch him pout.

Eventually, we had gotten through almost everything in my closet, and nothing was warm enough to wear. The only thing we had actually gotten out was a nice pair of jeans, and the boots I was going to walk around in. Ashton pulled something out from behind his back. It was a black long-sleeved shirt with letters on it, like a sports jersey. He handed it to me.

"It's one of mine. I brought it just in case you couldn't find anything," he said all of a sudden. His cheeks tinted a bright pink color.

I looked at him suspiciously. Ashton's eyes kept darting from one side of the room to another, waiting for me to take the piece of clothing from him. "Do you always carry around random shirts behind your back?"

Ashton laughed at me. He started shaking his head. "Not always," he said. "But it's my warmest one. I don't want you to get cold." He shrugged and put a large grin on his face.

I stole the shirt from his hands and brought it close to my chest, showing it off to him. It looked really big. On the inside, it had a sort of fluffy material. It felt comfortable, and I knew that by just holding it.

"If it's the warmest, then why don't you wear it?" I asked, handing it back to him.

Ashton gave me a dumbfounded look. I had plenty of clothes in my closet. I was going to cover up any shirt I wore with the jacket he gave me anyways. It shouldn't matter which one I picked. But still, Ashton held the shirt out to me.

"I just want you to be comfortable, okay? Just wear it, please?" he asked. "If we're going to be hanging out today, I want to not hear you complain about how cold you are."

"But I'm fine in something of mine."

"Please?"

"I'm okay."

"C'mon. Please?"

"No, Ashton. Stop."

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"Because I want to wear my own clothes—"

"Just put the damn shirt on!"

I snatched the shirt away from him, and didn't bother to exit to the bathroom before I undressed my torso and pulled his shirt over my head. If he wanted me to wear it so bad, I was going to let him watch me put it on. He was being so aggravating. It was just a shirt. When it was on my body, I took a look at Ashton's face. His mouth was parted, and his eyes were as large as saucers.

"There. Are you happy?" I said, rolling my eyes. Ashton didn't answer me. With that, I exited my room, and made my way to the bathroom to pull my jeans on. He wasn't going to get a full show.

Fifteen minutes later, after we grabbed a snack, Ashton and I left my apartment, flew down the stairs, and entered the cool October air outside. I was still a little annoyed with him, because he was being stupid about me wearing his shirt. Why does he all of a sudden want me to wear his clothes? And not even one layer, but two.

He led me to the Diamond, and down the sloped streets. We passed the school yard, and almost burst out laughing, but we contained our giggles until we were far enough away from it to not get caught for skipping. I didn't care what the attendance lady would say when we showed up the next day. She might as well have steam coming out of her red ears.

Ashton and I ended up just taking a train around town together. We looked at the different sights as we passed them. As long as I lived in Pennsylvania, I hadn't seen all the sights, like the Coke Ovens, which were tiny cubbies carved in the hills, where people cooked coal and it turned into coke. I was surprised when the man giving us all of the information said that the ovens had nothing to do with drugs.

There were many precious artifacts underneath the train station. Many archeologists came around and tried to dig up those things. Police tape surrounded the site, not giving anyone access to see what was there.

We passed by many farms on our ride. Some held families that were all outside, milking cows, feeding ducks, planting flowers, or diving in their ponds. It kind of reminded me of when I was a kid, when my mom came home with a baby duck. We tried to raise it together, but it ended up getting lost. I think it might have run away, or waddled.

"Hey, look over there," Ashton said, pointing to a very tall, cylindrical building. "A man just climbed up the top of that—what is that thing called again?"

"It's a silo," a woman said behind us. We whipped our heads around. My breath got caught in my throat. "They're like a very large storage room for farmers. Everything they gain from this farm goes in there, and ends up being saved for when it's needed."

Fate came closer to us. She winked at me. Ashton continued to look out the train window, staring at each silo at every farm we passed. "You're doing a great job, Regan Armel," she whispered to me. I don't think anyone else heard her but me. I guess she had the power to do that. "I believe in you, okay? Keep doing what you're doing."

I nodded at her. I had some questions for her, like why she kept appearing at the most random moments, and why she always looked so beautiful in that purple dress. But my words were stuck, and wouldn't come out. Fate patted on my hand before turning around, and walking towards the caboose of the train. She didn't even have to open the doors, because they slid away from each other at her approach. She disappeared.

Ashton turned to me. "I think I want to be farmer when I grow up," he said, with excitement in his tone. A big grin appeared on his lips.

When he grows up.

Maybe I was getting too ahead of myself, but by those words, it sounded like Ashton was completely forgetting that he wanted to kill himself. Suddenly, my heart began to pump very fast, and I was super happy.

I pulled Ashton into a hug. He was confused at first, because like normal, he didn't hug back. But then he got comfortable and reciprocated, wrapping his arms around my neck. He was way too tall, which made it awkward, but I didn't mind.

I was way too happy being here with him right now, and by the way his heart was beating, I figured he was happy being here with me, too.