Chapter 56

It was hard to keep a straight face the rest of class. Ava telling Ashton she wanted to punch him in the face played over and over in my mind. I had to cover my mouth a few times and look down so Mr. King wouldn't get mad at me. Ava blocked Ashton from trying to approach me after class. She stood by my desk, glaring as if she was daring him to try and speak to me. I knew he wanted to talk to me, but I no longer wanted to listen to his lame-ass excuses. I knew what I saw, and no one would convince me otherwise. I was able to stay focused in English, which was nice because I didn't have Ashton sitting close behind me, making it difficult to remain firm in my decision. I knew what I saw, but part of me kept questioning if he was actually telling me the truth.

"You coming, Gemma?" Ava asked, motioning in the direction of the library.

"Yeah, I just have to go to my locker first and swap out my books. Go ahead, and I'll meet you there." Ava paused for a minute and took a few steps toward me. "Ava, I'm fine." I pasted on a fake smile, then turned and headed in the opposite direction to my locker. I guess she was afraid I'd run around the school in search of Ashton, who was the last person I wanted to speak to. I didn't want to hear his excuses; I needed time to think and process the cold, hard truth that I was meant to go to the dance alone.

"Gemma..."

I dropped my head at the sound of her voice behind me. "What the fuck do you want, Claudia?" I blurted out. "I have nothing to say to you. You got what you wanted. You got Ashton back, so leave me the hell alone!" I slammed my locker door and stormed past her, not giving her a chance to say anything else. I clutched my books close to my chest as I walked down the hall, smiling and saying the occasional hi to kids I knew around school. I'm sure they had all heard the news that Ashton was just like Jude, Noah, and Rhys. I figured if I plastered on a fake smile, then maybe, just maybe, it would let them think I was all right and not hurt.

Ava's eyes met mine the second I walked into class. I couldn't tell her what happened because Ms. Clark was hot on my heels, flying through the door, announcing for us to be quiet. She told me to hurry up and take my seat, or she would mark me tardy, even though I was in the classroom before she barged in. I slid in my chair and opened my books. I kept my eyes forward throughout most of the class, not giving Ms. Clark a reason to yell. At least I wasn't the only one having a shitty day. However, I couldn't direct my anger toward students by yelling at them or handing out detentions.

"What happened before class?" Ava asked me as we walked to my locker. "You looked pissed when you came flying in the room."

"Claudia walked up to me before class."

"What the fuck did she want? To rub it in?" Ava rolled her eyes in disgust.

"I don't know. I didn't give her a chance to speak. Can we not talk about her or Ashton?" I sighed, spinning the dial on my lock. "How could I have been so stupid to think he actually liked me?"

"Maybe..." She sighed, dropping her shoulders.

"What?" I peeked at her from around my locker door. "Don't say maybe he was telling the truth. I know what I saw."

"Maybe, that's just it. What we see isn't always what's really going on."

"You're sticking up for him?" I closed my locker door, frowning. I couldn't believe one of my best friends was sticking up for him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I raised an eyebrow, twisting my mouth while Ava texted on her phone. I told her to tell Caleb that I said, "Hey." She glanced up wide-eyed, apologized, and then put her phone away.  She wrapped her arm around mine and led me down the hall toward the library. She told me that I needed coffee after school. I didn't need coffee after school because, more than likely, Ashton would be there with Claudia and her troublesome friends.

Ava and I walked into the library while she was still trying to convince me to go to Sweet Escape with her after school. I shook my head while emphasizing the word no, and that's when Ava stopped and grabbed my arm. Her eyes widened, and her mouth parted, then snapped shut just as fast as it had opened. My brows furrowed at her reaction, and I followed her gaze. Chloe and Ashton were at the back of the library. They were sitting next to each other, laughing. Claudia was one thing, but Chloe was supposed to be my friend. I ripped my arm out of Ava's grasp and stomped across the library, slamming my books on the table.

"Gemma, it's not what it looks like." Ashton reached out to touch my hand resting on the top of my books. I yanked it away right as his fingertips brushed against my skin. "Gemma, let me explain."

I held my hand up. "You're supposed to be my friend!" I yelled, glaring at Chloe.

"Shh..." The media center aide placed a finger to her lips.

"Follow me." I started to walk away. "Now." I glanced over my shoulder. I stood there and waited for them to get up. I marched out of the library. "What the hell is going on?" I crossed my arms, shifting my weight to the right. "I'm waiting..." drumming my fingers on my arm.

"Gemma, it's not what you think. I was talking to Chloe about how I could get you to believe me that what you saw with Claudia and me wasn't what you thought." He took a step closer, and my hand flew up, blocking him from getting any closer.

"You honestly expect me to believe that bullshit?" I dropped my arms, turning to the left and shaking my head in disbelief. "You must think I'm an idiot? I know what I saw. Too many guys in this school have hurt me. And you thought you'd join in the fun?" I threw my hands up.

"He's telling the truth."

"Great..." I mumbled, covering my face with my right hand. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say to me." I lowered my hand, glaring at Claudia.

"You need to because It's no secret I don't like you. So, if you're going to believe anything, believe that. The main reason why you need to listen to what I have to say." She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she moved closer to me. "It's true. I stopped when I saw Ashton walking out of his house. I wanted to tell him that I felt bad for defending Rhys."

"What?" My brows furrowed as I stared at her. "You expect me to believe that bullshit?"

"It's true. I knew you wouldn't accept my apology, and I thought maybe you'd believe it coming from Ashton. He hugged me, and I guess that's when you walked out and saw us. We aren't back together. He wants to be with you, Gemma. Don't throw that away because of something you thought you saw. Okay, he did hug me, but it wasn't like that." She tilted her head to the side, then turned and walked away without another word.

I watched her walk down the hall, wondering what had just happened and if I should believe anything that came out of her mouth. I glanced over at Ava and Chloe, looking as confused as I felt. They swapped shocked looks, then turned toward me. Chloe stood there speechless, which never happened. She had a comment for everything, which told me Claudia must have been telling the truth, or Chloe would have been caught off guard.

I didn't know what to believe, nor did I have the energy to try and figure it out. I turned and headed back into the library, hoping to clear my head before trying to get some work done so I wouldn't have to do it all tonight. Chloe and Ava sat down across from me, not saying a word and only swapping a look with one another here and there.  I opened my books and stared at the Math problems as if the answers would fly off the page.

I managed to get some of the problems done before my mind started wandering again. After a few minutes of staring at the pages, I peeked up at Chloe, sitting straight across from me with her English book open, working on her homework. I reached my pencil across the table and tapped it on her book. Her eyes peeked at me through the tops of her lashes. I mouthed I was sorry for getting mad. She smiled and went back to working on her English. I looked down at my book for a second; then my eyes wandered around the library at the full tables around us of kids working on their homework.

"Are you still mad at me?"

His hot breath sent shivers over my body as it hit the back of my neck. I lowered my pencil and turned to my right. He moved the chair as close to me as possible, his right knee hitting my leg and his left one hitting the back of my chair. "What, Ashton?"

"Do you believe me, now? I don't want anyone else, Gemma. I want to be with you." He placed his hand on my right leg.

"Can we talk about this later?" I motioned my eyes to Chloe and Ava, who were sitting across from us. His eyes flashed in their direction, then back to me, and he nodded. I really didn't feel like discussing this in front of an audience. They were my best friends, and I would eventually tell them what was said between Ashton and me, but I didn't want them to have front-row seating.

Ashton leaned close to my ear as he got up. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

I turned, gazing up at his blue eyes, not able to say anything in response. I didn't know what to say. I had never had a guy apologize for hurting me. The other three dumped me without a second thought, not giving a damn about my feelings. Then again, they were all part of a bet.