Chapter Three: Reasons to Fall

Ashley had managed to pull herself together… eventually. She had spent the first hour in the hallway, tears streaming down her face. Her brain had stopped working the very moment she realized that the girl had been her Spencer. Yes, hers. Months apart hadn’t changed that. Not for her. She’d never loved anyone like she loved the other girl. Maybe it was arrogant, but she had really thought she’d just be able to walk back in, and smile. That it would be that easy and Spencer would fall into her arms, where she belonged. That’s all Spencer would have had to do to get her back. Simply be there, with open arms beckoning her. But now Ashley had seen her… had seen the stranger she had weirdly morphed into. It broke her heart, finally having to face the pain her girlfriend had been stewing in. She hadn’t been there to make it all okay. She hadn’t held her when the darkness had descended. Spencer had clung to Ashley when her dad had died, no matter how hard the brunette had pushed her away. She’d stayed… she’d loved her. And all Ashley had done to her was walk away, falling into darkness herself. She’d disappeared… probably leaving the the girl to assume she’d chosen Aiden. Ugh, she wanted to throw up as the tears became more abundant and her chest threatened to collapse under the sudden weight there. She hadn’t even thought of Aiden… or more importantly, thought about what Spencer had probably assumed about Aiden… Where the hell was he, anyway?

After her meltdown, Ashley had made it to her second hour class. And her third. Even her fourth. No Spencer, which wasn’t surprising. She was a grade a ahead of the other girl, and the only classes they could have together were electives. Ashely’s first four classes had been grade specific. Madison had been in one, but she hadn’t said a word. They sat across the room from on another, and Ashley could feel the heat from the girl’s glare the entire time. She wanted to die. Madison was only adding to her misery… mostly because she had no idea what was going on with her and her girlfriend. Ashely still thought of Spencer as her girlfriend, and she was determined to get the girl to think that too.