Chapter 9

When I got home, I dropped my bag off in my room then went to check on mom. She'd been in bed since getting back from the hospital the night before. I'd left her some food before I left for school, so she didn't have to get up, but she said she wasn't very hungry. When I went into her room, the tray of food was still sat on her bedside table, untouched.

"Hey mom, how are you?" I asked.

She smiled at me so I smiled back. "I'm good, thanks. How was school?"

"It was alright. I've got a math test on Friday, though. I went round to Charlie's after school and we did some revision."

We talked for a while and caught up a bit and then I went back to my room. I picked up the books Ashton picked out for me and put them on my shelf then flopped down onto my bed, thinking. There were quite a few books I already liked the look of, Ash has good taste. The evening was so much fun but I was exhausted now. I curled up in my own bed this time and fell asleep almost immediately.

Over the next week, mom started looking a lot better and happier and I felt better about leaving her every morning when I left for school.

After school on Wednesday, I was up in my room scrolling through my phone, when Austin burst in, panting.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up immediately. He never came running into my room like that, without knocking.

"Where's the f- Hayden, what's that on your phone?"

I quickly tried to shove it under my pillow but Austin was faster and grabbed it out of my hand.

"What's this?" He turned the screen around to show me with his eyebrows raised.

"I- I was just looking at Ashton's Instagram. That's not weird, he's just my friend. I'm getting to know him better."

"It's very weird, Hayden."

"Give it back!" I lunged at him and snatched it back off him.

"If you want to get to know him, you should hang out with him, not stalk him on social media."

"What did you want?" I snapped.

"Where's the first aid kit? Mom burned herself while making dinner."

I went and got the first aid kit from the bathroom and sent Austin back downstairs with it.

Over the next few days, I found myself frequently picking up my phone and refreshing Ashton's Instagram page to see if he'd posted. I noticed that he posted quite a lot, especially compared to my other friends and when he did post, I could always feel a smile forming on my face.

On Friday, at school, Ash managed to get me on my own, away from the rest of our group.

"Hey, I was thinking we could do something tomorrow," He said.

"Er yeah, sure. What were you thinking?"

"You know those books we got the other night, well I haven't got round to starting any of them yet because it's always so loud in my house so I can't focus. Would it be okay if I came round yours and we could read together?"

Before I could stop myself, my face lit up and I grinned stupidly. "Yeah, that sounds good!"

When I went home, I cleaned my room ready for the next day and then lay on my bed, thinking. I couldn't deny it anymore, I had a huge crush on Ashton. I'd tried convincing myself that I was making it up, or that it was just because I was spending so much time with him, but it was pretty obvious. I guess I'm not straight then. Maybe I'm bi, because I've liked girls in the past, I mean, I've had girlfriends before and I'm still interested in girls too. I just like guys as well. I think.

My heart dropped when I remembered how Ash had mentioned he was talking to a girl when we were at the burger place the other day. I wondered if he was still talking to her.