The Boys of Hawthorne by Ashtyn Short

Chapter Fifteen 

“Keeper? Wût sip,” one of the gas calls, which after the incessant notes all throughout Mrs. Atkinson’s class, the fact that one of them is now trying to catch up to me gets my hackles up. 

“screw you?” 1 growl, then ignore whichever guy is following me. Although, if I’m being honest, I have a pretty good ides which one it is. 1 keep my nose buried in the campus map that the office lady gave me this morning and quickly take a left and head up a flight of stairs to the school’s second floor. 

“Aspen Comes a grow from directly behind me. 

“No thanks, Pest,” I say between clenched teeth, not slowing down or sparing a glance at the nuisance behind me. 

As a matter of fact, I am livid that now he won’t leave me alone. 

How dare he treat me the way he has, the way they all have today, and then what? Pull a 180 and now suddenly I’m worth approaching and giving the time of day to? 

Hard pass. 

Finding that I’m in the right area, but needing to ditch Boston, I duck into the women’s bathroom that’s located just before my next class, hoping that he will be gone when I leave in a minute. 

The bathroom door opens as I’m locking the stall door. Once I’m done, I unlock the door and step out only to be shoved back against the piece of metal that divides the stall that I’ve exited and the one next to it, my bag falling from my shoulder and hitting the floor. 

Before I have a chance to even react other than close my eyes from my back hitting the cool metal, lips are pressed against mine, his tongue begging for entry as his hard body holds me in place. Boston’s scent surrounds me, bringing back memories of Friday night and how our bodies wrought pleasure from one another. 

Having been taken by surprise, it takes me a second to catch up to the fact that Boston has me pinned in the bathroom and, at least right now, I seriously hate him. 

Bringing my hands up to his bulging biceps, I shove, trying to get him off of me as I wrench my mouth away from his, turning my face away from his as I grit my teeth, “get the heck off of me!” I growl, trying and failing to even budge him “Let me go!” I demand, as anger, hurt (even though I haven’t wanted to accept it, it’s been there all day too), and confusion swirl around inside of me, mixing together. 

“Please…” I whisper when he pins my hands above my head, holding them with one hand as the other curls around. my neck, cradling the back of my head. 

Squeezing my eyes shut, trying to hide the angry tears that have suddenly sprung in them as he trails his nose along my jaw. The feel of his breath against my skin is almost my undoing, as I practically beg, “please, Boston…” but my voice comes out so quiet that I don’t even know if he heard me. “Haven’t you hurt me enough?” 

Just as quickly as he pinned me, he releases me, stepping back and bolting out the door. As soon as the door shuts 

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Chapter Fifteen 

behind him, the dam breaks, tears streaming down my cheeks. 

I hate him! 

God, do I hate him! 

Don’t I? 

There is such a thin line between hate and love, and although I know without a doubt that I don’t love him, I mean, how can I? I can’t help but question if it’s hate that I’m feeling, or if it’s more hurt and betrayal, after everything that we’d shared before today. 

Before he ruined everything. 

a glance at my watch, I figure that I now have about a minute to clean myself up and get to class. Shouldering my bag once more, I turn on the cold water, pump soap into my hands and wash them beneath the cool water, then splash some on my face. 

Using a paper towel, I wipe both my hands and my face, then check my reflection in the mirror. The person staring back at me has puffy red eyes, but there’s nothing that I can do about that. 

Opening the door and exiting the bathroom, I head towards Physics, making it through the door just as the tardy bell rings. 

“Can’l help you?” A tall man with long brown hair and a long beard, reminding me of a Hagrid from Harry Potter, asks me as the door shuts behind me. 

“Umm…sorry. My name is Aspen Clark.” I say, walking over to the man standing by his desk and handing him my 

schedule. 

“Hi, Aspen. I’m Mr. Coltrane. Go ahead and take a seat. I’ll have to get you a book but for today, you can share with someone.” Giving me a kind smile, he looks around me towards his students and asks, “Would anyone want to share their book with Aspen?” 

“I will,” calls a familiar voice. 

Of freaking course he would be in too. 

Why not? 

this clase 

He’s in all of the others except for one. 

But when I look at the person with their hand raised, it’s not Boston that I find, instead, it’s one of the others. Boston is sitting next to him, but he won’t even look up from whatever it is that has him so enthralled on the surface of his 

desk. 

Rolling my eyes, I huff and slowly make my way over to the empty desk sitting between two of the boys. After taking my seat, I make no move to bring my desk any closer to whichever brother it is. 

“Aspen…” He whispers, trying to get my attention but just as I did with Boston, I ignore him. 

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Chapter Fifteen 

“Aspen…hey…” he tries again. 

This time, with my pencil poised over a sheet of paper, I pretend like what Hagrid Jr is talking about is the most important thing in my life and I have to write down every single word that leaves his mouth, not leaving any room to entertain whatever it is that he and his brothers are up to. 

Heaving a sigh, he moves his desk closer to mine, placing his book on both desks, sharing as Hagrid Jr instructed but I continue to still ignore him. Maybe I’m being petty, but they really hurt me. 

1 may be putting up a tough front, or at least I think I am, but deep down, it still hurts. 

And as far as I know, I’ve not done anything to deserve it. 

“Will you just look at the book, so that you understand the material?” He asks after a few moments. 

“Oh, so now, suddenly, I’m worthy of your time?” I ask, glancing over at him, looking him up and down. Covering the hurt and anger, I look at him with disgust, “No thanks, Famine. I think I’d rather fail.” 

“Damnit, Aspen!” I hear someone mutter and I’m pretty sure it was Boston, but I’m ignoring all of them. So, instead of sharing as instructed, I scoot to the edge of my seat, trying to put as much distance between myself and the two boys on either side of me as possible and focus on what the teacher is saying, trying to take notes as best as I can so that I can hopefully complete the homework later. 

Once class is over, I don’t waste any time putting my stuff in my bag and rush from the classroom, rushing down the stairs and out of the building. As soon as I step outside, I collapse to the ground, deeply breathing in the fresh air and fighting off a tightness in my chest that’s been slowly building throughout the day. 

Just one more class and then you’re free of them. 

You can do this, Aspen. 

Only, in reality, I’m not free of them at all. But I can still lock myself in my room, where I don’t have to actually be around them or have to look at their faces. 

With a plan to hole up in my room for the whole evening in mind, I stand back up and make my way over to where the map says the gym is at, following several other students as they make their way towards the red brick building also.