Chapter 42 - I Am Not Fine

Ashton's POV

The party continued, and I knew Lauren and some of our classmates and friends would be at the party since we belong to the same circle. Still, I avoided them, especially the girls, because I hate what they have done with Megan at Lauren's party, where they laughed and ridiculed her.

"Hey!" Isabelle approached me, and I smiled at her.

"Hello, beautiful! You looked so lovely tonight, Isabelle." I said to my sister, looking at her beautiful face. Her long red velvet gown emphasized my sister's hourglass figure that made the boys looked at her full of admiration. And I am aware my sister's alluring beauty could capture anyone's heart, and I wonder why she needs to fall in love with Megan's brother.

"Thank you, brother, and you looked dashing too; that is why girls are looking at you most of the time. Even older women have to take a second glance." She declared, and I laughed.

"It is true, Ashton, anyway. How are you?" She asked, and I looked at my sister.

"I am fine. Can I dance with you?" I asked.

"Of course, " She responded, and I took my sister's hand as we went to the dance floor, and we joined my parents and grandparents, who were already dancing. They all looked adorable, and I wondered if they experienced being broken-hearted in their younger years. 

"Tell me honestly, Ashton, are you okay? Your eyes are telling me you are not fine. Is it because of Megan again?" She asked, and I think I don't need to hide Isabelle the truth.

"Yes, I am not fine, and it was because of Megan," I said.

"I saw the video, and I realized Megan is beautiful, just like her brother, Dexter is handsome and has a body that a woman could die for, and he used to be so sweet to me until the day he broke my heart. And I couldn't believe he could hurt me, that until now I couldn't move on with him." She said, and I could see my sister's sadness on her beautiful face, and I felt her pain once again.

"Of course, I am aware your ex-boyfriend is handsome, Isabelle; I hate to say that I can feel he is still in love with you because he got so pissed when I told him he played with your heart. And I don't know what happened between you two, but I can tell Dexter has loved you. And I think it is about time you need to forget about him, Isabelle." I declared while I let her turn around as we continued dancing with the slow music in the background.

"I wish it could be that easy, Ashton, I tried my best, but no matter what I do, I can't stop myself from loving Dexter." She replied.

"I understand what you mean, Isabelle," I replied, and she weakly smiled at me.

"So, how are you and Megan?" She asked me.

"I am sorry, Isabelle, I couldn't stop myself from loving her, and the more I become separated from her, the more I become so drawn to Megan. I know you warned me not to get involved, but like what I had told you the last time we talked, it is late already. I can't stay away from her.

"You don't need to apologize, you are in love with her, and there is nothing I can do about it, and since you are hurting now, I think you should follow what your heart wants, Ashton. I want you to be happy, and maybe if you will get miserable after father finds out everything, at least you have beautiful memories with Megan that will keep you sane." My sister said.

"I know it may sound absurd, but the beautiful memories I shared with Dexter are what keeps me going. And even if I am still hurting, but every time I looked back at the things we did together, it made me smile." Isabelle added.

"I am sure that dad will intervene with your relationship with Megan when he finds out about it, but at least I already warned you, you already have ideas what dad could do, unlike me, I hated him when he asked me to break up with Dexter, and then, later on, I found out he hired bodyguards so I can't date Dexter anymore." My sister said, and I can feel the sadness in the tone of her voice, and I pity my sister, and I wonder what our father did to Dexter as well.

"Can I have this dance with Ashton, Isabelle?" I heard Lauren's voice, and when I looked at her, I could see her pleading eyes, and even if I didn't want to dance with her, I couldn't embarrass her in front of all the guests.

"Sure!" My sister said, and I released Isabelle from my hold, and I turned to Lauren, and I slowly put my hands on her tiny waist. And I can't deny she looked so lovely tonight, but as we started dancing, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about Megan's angelic face and her beautiful smile that always makes my heart swells with happiness every time she smiles at me.

"Ashton, I know you are avoiding me lately, please, don't do this to me, we used to hang out together, and you always find time to visit me at my house every after practice, but why you suddenly changed after you started dating Megan. Am I no longer your friend?" She asked, and I could tell she was hurting.

"Lauren, we are still friends, but I can't allow you to embarrass and hurt Megan every chance you can get. I don't like the way you treat her, and if you still consider me as your friend, I hope you are happy for me." I said as I looked at her face.

"I am sorry, I admit I only did those things because I am still in love with you, and I couldn't accept you will only replace me with someone like her." She responded.

"Why? What is wrong with Megan, Lauren?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well, I am aware she is beautiful and hot, but you can't deny it, Ashton, she will never fit in our society, and you can never be proud of her." She said, and I could feel the pain right away.

"Look, Lauren, I don't want to hurt you, but I just want you to know I am so proud of Megan being my girlfriend, and every time I am with her, I felt so happy, and I can be myself when I am around her, she is different from any girl I know, and her uniqueness fascinated me, and I love her just the way she is, and I hope you can accept that by now, and if you want us to be friends please accept Megan as my girlfriend and that is the only way I can be friends with you again," I said. Her face fell, but she recovered right away.

"Okay, I will try to make friends with Megan if this is the only way I can have you back as my friend." She responded.

"Are you sure about this, Lauren?" I asked her, and she nodded her head.

"I couldn't sacrifice our friendship, Ashton, and I realized if I couldn't have you as my boyfriend, at least we can still be friends. It is hard to be separated from you when all my life we have known each other, and even if I have been crushing you for a long time, and you didn't notice me, I remain your friend even if I get hurt every time you dated different girls in one month." She said, and I am shocked with Lauren's confession that I felt so guilty, and I know how many times Zach told me about it, but I never listened to him.

"When you became my boyfriend for a short time, it was the happiest one month of my entire life. But now, I realized our friendship matters more, so I am asking you to be friends with me again, and I promise to help you to win back Megan's heart." She said, and I couldn't contain my smile, and I was hoping everything between us would be alright, and I wish she would no longer bother Megan ever again, and I am also hoping Lauren would be faithful to her words.

The party ended well, and even if I felt guilty that I wasn't able to meet Megan tonight, but after I talked with Isabelle, I felt better. My conversation with Lauren went very well that I felt more energetic, and I no longer worry too much about my meeting with Megan tomorrow night. We said goodbye to our grandparents, and when we took off, I couldn't stop the wide grin that spread across my face.

Thursday came, and I followed my brother's advice, I bought flowers for Megan, and I felt so nervous and excited as I waited for her to go inside our classroom. I noticed ever since the incident at Lauren's place, she never got inside of our room ahead of time, and I understand, my girlfriend wanted to avoid everyone.

My heart skipped a beat when she entered the room looking smoking hot than ever, but I could tell her waves of anger towards me intensified. I just felt glad I brought the bouquet, and the moment I gave it to her, I could tell she was holding back her smile, and Lennon was right. I could never go wrong with a bouquet.. And I felt so happy when she mumbled her thanks, and as usual, I never bothered to look at our teacher discussing our lesson because I was looking at Megan's beautiful face during the entire class.