The Baby And Marriage Project

Chapter 3-- Baby on Fire

The thought of Ashton being my partner made me want to cry. How did I, out of everyone in my class, end up being partners with him? Is this the universes way of punishing me for all the years I lied to the dentist saying that I flossed every night? Or, the time when I accidentally put gum in Amy's hair and blamed it on somebody else?

I think Mr V could have chosen a better partner for Ashton, one more suiting than me. From the rumors I've heard about him, he's the complete opposite of me. 

As Mr V went back to his desk and began shuffling some papers around, Ashton walked over to our table and sat down. My hands were practically shaking with him being so close to me, I've never been in this position before where I've felt this uncomfortable around somebody. 

"Do you have any smokes?" He whispered to me.

I nervously gulped as I sat there, staring at the board-- trying my best to ignore him. Clearly, he must be blind because I, in no way, look like someone who has cigarettes on them. Or for that matter, even smoke them. I mean, I'm wearing a sweater with a cat on it for one thing-- that doesn't really scream 'badass'. 

Luckily, before I was forced to respond, Mr V started coming around handing out the fake babies. I guess technically they're fake but they still can do the same functions that normal babies do, so basically I'm a teen mom.  

He came to our table last and instead of chatting with us like he did for everyone else, he dropped off our baby and left. Neither of us actually moved or at least did anything for our baby as it laid on the table. It wasn't activated yet, so couldn't we just spend our last few minutes of silence in peace?

I noticed Ashton out of the corner of my eye, studying our baby. I've heard all about his rep and yes, it scared me but what scared me more was the thought of him potently hurting our baby because of his rep. 

Ashton pulled our baby's diaper down and glanced at what was underneath, watching him do this made me sick. Is he actually that messed up in the head, that he feels the need to pray on innocent little babies?

"It's a girl" He stated.

I guess it never actually occurred to me that he was checking out the gender. It made sense since neither of us knew and now I can't help but feel terrible for thinking so horribly of him. Doing the best thing possible in this awkward situation, I kept my mouth shut. 

As the minutes passed by slowly, I realized how screwed I was in the whole taking care of babies department. When Ben was really young, Angela still lived at home so she was the babysitter but since she's gone-- I'm stuck with my baby and Ashton. And, I seriously doubt he knows anything about kids. 

"I'm Ashton, by the way," He suddenly said. 

I was definitely shocked, to say the least. In no way was I expecting him to be nice, let alone actually introduce himself. In that moment, I realized I didn't know what to do; do I continue this possible conversation? Or, should I just ignore him and go on with my day?

I rooted for the second option but knew it was the wrong choice because we're going to be partners for a few months and like it or not, we need to somewhat get along for the sake of my grade. And, of course, our baby. 

"I know who you are, and I don't want anything to do with you... but I'm Maggie" 

He looked at me from the corner of his eye and shot me a taunting smile, "well sorry Maggie, but we're married and we have a baby together so I guess you're kinda stuck with me"

I immediately scoffed at him, he's just so infuriating. Like, who does he think he is-- walking into class and telling me that we're stuck together. When my mom hears about this she'll put a stop to this before I lose my mind. 

"Why are you even in this class?" I asked him.

He looked over at me and crossed his arms over his chest, "only class they had in this block, plus its mandatory"

My emotions were taking over, something that should never happen. I'm usually such a calm and collected person, but in the small time I've known Ashton-- he's making my blood boil. What I don't understand, is how popular this guy is. I mean, he's rude, lazy, and sleeps around with innocent girls. What about that makes people think he's some kind of legend?

My mom is going to hear all about this and when she does she'll have no choice but to remove him from this course. Otherwise, I'd drop it but that's not an option. 

****

After class was over, I quickly packed up all my things and ran to my mom's office. Luckily for the rest of the class, Ashton didn't say anything. Except for when the babies got activated and ours started to cry right away. 

Neither of us really handled the situation properly, instead of caring for our crying infant-- we went the more aggressive route and that was to shout at each other. So, while we argued over who was going to help our baby first, Mr V took the liberty and calmed our baby down. 

I know that this class isn't focused on grades per say but to gain parenting and life skills but the entire time our baby cried-- all I could think about was how my grade was getting lower and lower by the second. 

"Maggie, your mom is busy with a student right now!" The secretary shouted after me. 

I didn't bother to say anything to her because my mom's biggest thing in life is family comes first. So, sorry to the person she's dealing with right now but my problem is slightly bigger than there's. Ok, that's probably not true but I like to think it is.

I swung open the door to my mom's office, which totally scared her and the student, and proceeded to walk in. I recognized the girl, she was about a year younger than me and was quite an oddball from what Amy has said.  

"Maggie, what are you doing?" My mom hissed. 

"I've come to talk to you"

"I'm a little busy at the moment if you couldn't tell" she responded while motioning towards the student, who looked confused.

"Your motto in life is 'family comes first' well here I am. Your family member"

My mom released a sigh while she rubbed her temple, "Zoey please go back to class, I'll come find you later"

We waited until Zoey left the office before I took a seat and began rambling on about how much I  hated Ashton. Throughout the entire time I talked, I could tell my mom was getting fed up with my complaining. 

"Maggie, I cant just remove him from the class for an unlegitimt reason--"

"But he makes me uncomfortable!" I shouted, waving my arms in the air to get my point across, "plus he's dangerous and that violates our safety rule here"

My mom sighed, rubbing her temples, "he's not dangerous from what I've heard and seen. He also doesn't pack any weapons on him either. And, I cant change the rule for one person-- if more people felt uncomfortable around him then that would be a different story"

"But I'm your daughter!"

"And that would show favoritism. I'll talk to Will and see what I can do about you possibly switching partners, now get back to class before I lose my mind"

I grabbed my bag and marched out of her office, still very worked up about that conversation. Isn't my mom supposed to be my biggest supporter in life? It sure doesn't feel that way. 

As I walked to my history class, I saw a familiar person up ahead. Thé one person I've been desperately trying to avoid all along. 

Letting out a sigh, I kept walking, hoping that Ashton wouldn't  try and talk to me when we passed. I mean, he shouldn't since he's clearly very popular and I'm not.  

We were just about to pass without talking to each other when he looked up and noticed me. 

"Did you lose our baby already" He asked with a taunting smile.