A Certain Romance (Reimagined)

Confessions

"You and Ashton?" Samantha batted her lashes and leaned in closer to get more information.

I was sitting at lunch alone because Luke and Michael had a last minute mandatory football meeting, probably regarding the photo that was sent in that email. Lunch by myself was nice, it allowed me to scan the cafeteria and recall exactly who I hated and why I hated them. One of my favorite past times. It wasn't until Samantha took a seat across from me that I snapped out of my daze. There was harmless flirting between her and I, even while she dated Michael and even continuing after her and Michael broke up. Michael sometimes felt threatened and thought Samantha would leave him for me, but it didn't happen that way. As much as I admired her confidence and her beauty and her way of handling things, I wouldn't break bro code, even if it didn't include me in it.

"Ashton and I are nothing." I snorted, taking a sip of my drink.

"I know." She laughed. "I just like to give you a hard time. How's cheer life treating you?"

"It's nice, I can't complain." There really wasn't much to it. I showed up for practice, listened to Elizabeth and Veronica argue over routines, and then left feeling better about myself because I wasn't Elizabeth who had to deal with Calum and the load of drama he brought and I wasn't Veronica living in Elizabeth's shadow.

"We enjoy having you on the team." She smiled as she rested her chin in her hand. "Where's Mikey and Luke?"

"Football meeting. Something couldn't wait until after school, I guess."

"Do you know why Mikey hates me so much?" Samantha questioned.

I had always assumed there was more to the story than Michael told Luke and I, but he wasn't ready to share that stuff with us and he was still coping with the breakup. Samantha was everything to him. If I thought I was Michael's best friend, then I was very wrong. Samantha out-beat me by a lot when it came to Michael. Totally inseparable. Their relationship almost made Luke and I consider dating so we could double-date and experience whatever lust Samantha and Michael experienced. But Luke was too beautiful for me and I was too stubborn for Luke, and dating your friends never ended pretty anyway.

"Not a clue, but if I was him I'd still be in love with you." I lightly joke so Sammy didn't feel any tension.

"You say all the right things to make my heart happy." She reached over the table and quickly planted her index finger on the tip of my nose and giggling, making me giggle too. "But really, I think you should know the truth if we are spending so much time together with cheer and stuff..."

"It can't be that bad. Michael would never keep a secret either." I insisted only because I wasn't ready to sit here and have a tell-all revelation about things that occurred two years ago. To me, it was over and done with and Michael was holding onto his hurt and anger for the sake of being able to say he was hurt and angry. I couldn't imagine a valid reason being behind his hatred for Samantha besides something small causing him to overreact. Michael overreacted a lot. All of The Trifecta did, that was why we got along so well.

"Michael is pretty damn good at keeping secrets when it comes to his own reputation." She looked over both her shoulders, maybe to make sure no one was nearby listening. Students were started to clear out of the cafeteria anyway because lunch ended in five minutes. Whatever she was going to say was safe with me. "I cheated on Michael with Calum."

With wide eyes and a quickly beating heart, I grabbed my backpack and quickly shuffled out of the cafeteria. I loved surprises, even the odd ones, but never in my life was I caught so off-guard by something.

"Everything okay?" I collided with Ashton when I reached the art wing of the school. For someone who spent most of the day ignoring me and not even making eye contact with me, he sure was concerned for me.

"I just feel...sick..." I had the back of my hand touching my forehead because I really wanted to feel feverish and think of my whole conversation with Sammy as a fever dream. Unfortunately, I didn't have a fever. Maybe I would spontaneously die instead. God please be on my side for this.

"Do you want me to walk you to the nurse?" He held my shoulders, trying to get a good look into my eyes, but I had my eyes flickering every inch of the building because I was so bothered by what I just found out.

I clasped my hands together and held them under my chin, looking to the floor with wide eyes. Total shock was hitting me now"Like...I just want to throw up."

"Pregnant?" Ashton asked.

I gagged. "Absolutely not."

"Let's walk to your room." I nodded and let him guide me to my room. My last three classes of the day wouldn't be much to miss. I could make them up another time or Cassie could mark me present and Michael could tweak the grading book. "I know it was you." It took every ounce of will power to not roll my eyes or sigh out of annoyance when he said that. I couldn't let him know I knew what he was talking about.

"What was me?" I played stupid. I was starting to think I actually was stupid. Oh my god, Elizabeth 3.0. Not 2.0 because that was Veronica.

"The email." He said. "Or it was Michael."

"What makes you so positive that it was one of us?" We reached my room and I let us in.

"Gut feeling."

"I'm not even capable of getting into an email account like that or grabbing hold of someone's nudes." I scoffed, kicking off my Converse and throwing myself on my bed. Today was too much for me. "It wasn't me."

So, Ashton and I lied in the double bed together. He took up most of it, but I didn't mind. His warmth next to me relaxed me and made my heart stop racing. His hand found its way into mine, holding it gently as if I would break or as if he was afraid I wouldn't like the gesture and would want to pull my hand back. We breathed in sync as we both stared up at the ceiling.

"If it was you I won't be mad." He said softly. "I was messaging Margarita the other day, telling her I was cutting things off with her because it wasn't right to keep her around anymore. I found someone better."

"That's harsh." I remarked as a joke. "You're such a heartbreaker."

Ashton turned his head to face me and I turned mine to look at him. If my heart was in the right place, this would've been a beautiful moment. I hated myself so much for what I was doing to him and I hated myself even more as I felt myself falling for him. "I'm taking the next steps to show you how serious I am about you, Sage. I'm just following your lead now."

Hello sisters three updates in one day? Wow who am I????????????