Getting Out
Page 28
I took a quick shower and threw on some sweat pants. Tess would be here soon and we would figure it all out.
Once she arrived I got in the car with her, found the closet drug store and bought several different kinds of tests. We went back to the dorms where I snuck her in a side door.
“Okay I hope you have to pee.”
I peed on three of the tests and sat them on the bathroom counter while Tess timed them.
“It says they can take three to five minutes for the results to show up.” One of the tests was already showing some sort of design on it and I couldn’t stomach to look at it.
“Tess, I can’t, you read it.” I was chewing on my nails like a maniac, something I had never done but the situation had me going into full blown panic attack. Picking up the stick she eyed it and then the others. She turned and looked at me.
“Ash, they are all positive.” And with those five words, my entire world came crashing down literally as my sight got blurry and the last thing I remember was crumpling to the floor as I passed out.
TESS SAID I was only out for maybe twenty seconds but it still freaked her out enough that she insisted that we go to the free clinic and get a quick exam. When they confirmed my pregnancy, I completely broke down. I cried like a small child while Tess held me, I am pretty sure the nurse thought I was crazy. When it was all over, we had found out I was roughly five weeks along and would be due sometime in January. I would be a mother next year and Charlie would be a father… and he was never going to forgive me. After the whole Jaimie pregnancy debacle we went through, I knew for a fact that this was the last thing Charlie wanted in his life.
He had returned home shortly after we had left the clinic and was now on his way to come pick me up. I looked in the mirror at myself and cringed. I had large dark circles under my eyes and my hair was a mess. Quickly running a brush through it and splashing some water on my face I walked out to the front to meet him.
THE MEETING in Portland had gone well and everything was falling into place. I was excited to see my girl but when I pulled up in front of the dorms and saw her, I instantly got worried. She slowly climbed in the truck but didn’t scoot over to me like she normally did. She had on baggy sweats and a hoodie. Her hair was pulled up out of her face and what alarmed me most was her skin. Ashton had pale skin but right now it looked almost ghostly. She had bags under her eyes and she looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks.
“How was your meeting?”
I put my truck in drive and pulled onto the road heading to my house. “It was good, everything’s all set. How are you? You look like you are still sick.”
She swallowed and looked out the window. “Yeah, I am still pretty sick.”
I reached over and laced her hand with mine. “Ash you could have stayed in and got some rest or something. I didn’t know you were this sick still, I just wanted to see you is all.” She didn’t say anything else for the remainder of the ride to my house. When we got inside she asked for some water before excusing herself to the bathroom. I sat on my bed and waited for her to be done. When she finally came out she looked like she had been crying.
“Ash what’s wrong?” I stood up but she told me to sit back down.
“So you know the whole Jaimie being pregnant thing?” I was caught off guard by the direction the conversation was headed.
“You know how you said you didn’t want the baby and how it was going to ruin your life?” I nodded. “Yeah it would have, the last thing I wanted to do was have a kid with her.”
“So you don’t ever want kids?”
I frowned and cast my eyes to the floor. “Where is all this coming from Ash?”
“Maybe moving in together right now is a mistake. I think we need to slow down.” Slow down? We had been together almost all school year, we were in love, what had happened in the last twenty-four hours for her to go from being so excited and happy to her trying to run away again?
“What happened while I was gone? I don’t get where all this is coming from.”
“I just don’t want to ruin your life Charlie. You have already changed so many of your plans that you had.”
I tightly hugged her. “You are not ruining anything, I love you. I want you in my life. You make it so much better.”
“But I just think…”
I cut her off. She was being ridiculous and thinking too much. “Listen, you are sick and you look like you haven’t slept. Let’s just lay down and if you still feel like having this conversation in the morning, we can. But right now I just want to lay with my girlfriend who I adore, is that okay?” I smiled at her but didn’t get one in return. Instead she lay down and soon she was asleep. I was awake half the night, worried about why she was talking the way she was. Was she getting scared about us living together? I thought she had loved the apartment. She was always going to have that little voice in her head telling her to get out and run whenever something got too hard. But after everything we had been through, I had really hoped I would be the one thing she wouldn’t be able to run away from.
August…..
FOUR AND a half months is a long time. That’s how long it had been since I heard his voice or looked into his green eyes. Four and a half months of missing him every single day. I knew eventually I would have to get in contact with him, I just didn’t know when I would have the strength to. After graduation, I had left without telling Charlie about the baby. I knew it was cowardly and that I may regret it but at the time, I felt like it was the right thing to do. He could move into the apartment and play hockey in Portland or he could go play in college, he could do whatever he wanted. I wasn’t about to be the one that was going to stop him from pursuing his dreams. He had a real shot at making it, that was always his plan and no matter how much I loved him, I just couldn’t be the one to crush his dreams when he was so close. Maybe in time he would forgive me and see that I was only trying to do what I thought was best… for everyone.
After making a fresh pot of coffee, I made my rounds, trying to push Charlie out of my thoughts. The Café was semi slow, it being the beginning of autumn, most of the summer tourism had died down and it was just the regular locals. My feet hurt and I was exhausted but that was nothing new. Dee had decided to stop working, so nowadays she mostly spent her time relaxing and gardening. She said she had been thinking about retiring anyway but I knew she quit just to give me more hours. I had trained a new girl named Krissy. She was two grades bellow me and still in high school but she was a fast learner and had all the energy I was lacking lately, so it worked out well.
“How’s the house coming along Ashton?” Fred asked from behind me. Life had thrown me a curveball. I had found myself back here, completely remodeling my family home and falling back into my old life that I had so desperately tried to get away from.
“It’s going really good actually.”
“If you need any more help, just give me a holler.”
“I will.” Turning, I went to the kitchen window grabbing the last of my food orders. I was filling a coffee mug when I heard the screen door shut, letting me know a customer had walked in. “Just sit anywhere you...” I trailed off and just stood there motionless.
“Hi beautiful girl.” He stood in the doorway with his hands in his jean pockets, looking more handsome than ever. A small smile was on his lips and his forest green eyes were glued to mine… and then they fell down to the small bump that was showing under my t-shirt. His eyes darted to my face and back to the bump several times. I swallowed the huge lump that had formed in my throat. “I been meaning to call you.” I said quietly, placing a hand over the baby that was growing inside me. Our baby.
My husband Bill- This never would have been a possibility without you. Thank you.
Amy-Thank you for being there when I needed to vent. Or when I needed to bounce ideas off someone.
Desiree Wallin- Thank you for polishing it and making this book so much better!
Also a big thank you to the fellow authors that I
reached out to. You all are so welcoming and answered any questions I had.
Getting Out
Written By: Afton Brinkman Copyright © 2014 Afton Brinkman All Rights Reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead are entirely coincidental.
The use of artist and song titles throughout are done for storytelling purposes and should in no way be seen as advertisement.
Cover Art Design By: Sarah Hansen of okay creations
Editing By: Desiree Wallin of The Book Bar
Interior Formatting By: Emily Tippetts of E.M.TippettsBookDesigns
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
1: Ashton
2: Charlie
3: Ashton
4: Ashton
5: Charlie
6: Ashton
7: Charlie
8: Ashton
9: Charlie
10: Ashton
11: Ashton
12: Ashton
13: Charlie
14: Ashton
15: Charlie
16: Ashton
17: Charlie
18: Ashton
19: Charlie
20: Ashton
21: Charlie
22: Ashton
23: Charlie
24: Ashton
25: Charlie
26: Ashton
27: Ashton
28: Charlie
29: Ashton
30: Ashton
31: Ashton
32: Charlie
33: Ashton
34: Ashton
35: Ashton
36: Jaimie
37: Ashton
38: Ashton
39: Charlie
40: Jaimie
41: Ashton
42: Charlie
43: Ashton
44: Ashton
45: Charlie
46: Ashton
47: Charlie
48: Ashton
49: Charlie
50: Ashton
51: Charlie
52: Ashton
53: Charlie
54: Ashton
55: Charlie
56: Ashton
57: Charlie
58: Ashton
59: Charlie
60: Ashton
61: Charlie
Epilogue
Acknowledgements & Thank you
Copyright Notice
About the Book Designer