No wonder everyone was checking on me.
I stayed at the hotel another night.
I figured Ashton would be waiting at my apartment.
That evening, I asked the building security guard to check.
Ashton was there, in the lobby, by the elevators.
He’d even mistaken the guard for me,
<
hugging him.
I was about to ask the guard to kick Ashton
out, but apparently, Ashton had played the
heartbroken lover card.
“Ms. Ellis, your boyfriend is really upset. You
should give him another chance. He’s been
out here all night, smoking like a chimney.
He’s going to get sick.”
The guard’s words proved prophetic.
A few days later, Chloe told me Ashton was in
the hospital.
He’d caught a cold after spending several
<
nights outside my building.
Apparently, he’d been calling my name in his
delirium.
I scoffed.
After all those times he’d messed with me, he
was playing the devoted lover?
Friends hinted that I should visit him.
I refused.
I could picture him in his hospital bed, sending everyone to guilt me into seeing him.
<
Now that Ashton was in the hospital, I could
go home.
As I checked out of the hotel, my phone
buzzed.
A text from Layla.
You think playing hard to get will make
Ashton love you?
He’s just not used to you being gone. Once
he gets over it, you’ll see how little you mean
to him!
I’d forgotten to block her.
<
I blocked her and went home.
My mom called as soon as I walked in.
She’d probably heard about Ashton from his
parents.
I admitted I hadn’t heard about him being sick.
My mom was shocked.
“Aren’t you two together? How could you not know?”
“We’re not together! I haven’t seen him in ages. And I plan on dating other people!”
<
There was a pause, then my mom’s voice
rose.
I spent the rest of the evening placating her.
I knew what Ashton was doing. Pressuring me through my family.
If my friends couldn’t convince me, maybe my mom could.
7
The next morning, my mom called again.
Ashton was apparently very ill, his parents were busy, and I, his childhood friend and
Join the bookshelf
<
were busy, and I, his childhood friend and
caretaker, was the only one who could help.
I refused.
“Mom, Ashton has a girlfriend. She can take
care of him. I’d just be in the way.”
“I’m busy. Gotta go.”
I hung up before she could argue.
I thought that would be the end of it.
But Ashton wasn’t giving up.
The hospital called.
<
Ashton’s doctor. He asked if I was family.
I said no, that I barely knew him.
Then, Ashton’s weak voice came on the line.
“El, I know it’s you. How can you say you
don’t know me? We were about to get
married! Why are you doing this?”
“I’m sick because of you! Don’t you care?”
His voice cracked.
“I’m having surgery. Can’t you just see me?
What if I die on the table…”
L
The nurses tried to calm him down.
It was a minor procedure. He wasn’t going to
die.
I stayed silent.
The doctor said they needed a family member
to sign the consent form.
“I’m not family. I have nothing to do with his
surgery. He has a girlfriend. Call her.
Ashton yelled in the background.
“I don’t! You’re my girlfriend!”
<
“We were just about to get married!”
“El, don’t you remember?”
Oh, I remembered.
Seven missed weddings. How could I forget?
I hung up.
Chloe called, praising me for my strength.
Then, Ashton’s mom called.
Her voice was shaky.
