After finishing my dinner, I got up and went to the kitchen.

I was cleaning my plate when I heard footsteps and peeked out from the kitchen door to find Aunt Jenna coming in my direction.

"Hey, I brought cupcakes," She informed me cheerfully as she placed the brown bag on the counter, turning towards me with a smile on her face.

"Thanks," I replied, drying the dishes.

"So, how was your day?" She asked hesitantly, leaning towards the counter.

"It was better than most other days." I washed my hands and wiped them on a towel. "Thank you for allowing me go for coffee," I added and smiled softly.

She nodded, her face brightening in surprise. "You kept your promise. Let's eat these yummy cupcakes now."

I nodded. "You can freshen up. I'll fix us a plate and coffee."

"That would be awesome," she grinned and quickly went upstairs before I could change my mind.

I shook my head and opened the packages, thinking about my aunt. She was my mother's younger sister. I didn't know exactly but she wasn't more than 30 years old. Sometimes, I wondered why she never got married. My mother told me that Aunt Jenna never thought about settling down. She always preferred her career over being in a relationship. She didn't even have time for anything other than her job and I could see that clearly.

Mostly, she came home only after 8 and had dinner at her office, but she never left me without food.

Today, she ordered a pepperoni pizza for me, which I knew from the delivery boy only.

Maybe that's why my parents were so confident about sending me here. They knew Aunt Jenna could take care of me.

I let out a yawn and noticed it was 9 p.m already. That explained, why I was feeling tired. My bed was calling me.

I went outside, holding the tray of coffee with cupcakes and noticed Aunt was already in the living room, watching TV.

She straightened up as I placed the tray on the table. "I was started to wonder what was taking you so long."

I smiled sheepishly in response and adjusted myself on the couch besides her.

"Do you want to watch anything?" she asked.

"Nah. I just want to go to the bed after finishing this," I replied and took a bite from a chocolate cupcake. "This is delicious, thank you so much!" I mumbled with my mouth full.

She chuckled, shaking her head. "You're still a baby Ash. I mean, Ashley," she corrected herself and glanced at me from the corner of her eyes.

"Thank you," I whispered and played with the hem of my shirt.

"You don't need to thank me for the cupcake..."

"No," I interrupted her and turned to face her. "For earlier... You allowed me to hang out..." I trailed off, not knowing how to express my gratitude.

"No problem! You can go out again but don't forget the rules. You've got to be home before five." She gave me a stern look.

"I don't think I'm gonna do that again," I said and leaned into the couch, closing my eyes.

"Why? What happened? And also you didn't tell me about this new boy."

My eyes snapped open and I turned to Aunt Jenna. "Which boy?" I asked, confused.

"With whom you went to the coffee?" She raised her eyebrows, hiding a smile. "You didn't mention anything specifically." She added when I gave her a pointed look.

"And you thought the worst," I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I'm living with a teenager. What can I expect?" She winked and I let out a laugh, before taking a deep breath.

"Well, after whatever happened with... Brandon... I don't think I'll ever date someone again," I replied, letting out my emotions. The thing was, I didn't have to try. With Aunt Jenna, it felt natural. It was so easy to talk to her and it made me wonder, why hadn't I tried this before? "Brandon broke me completely. I'm not going to trust anyone. I'm still facing the results of my stupid decisions and what he is doing? Must be partying somewhere." I exhaled a breath and added bitterly, "All boys are the same. They want sex only and when they get it, they throw the girls away like trash."

I was thankful that Aunt didn't interrupt my little speech and it helped me a lot. I felt better. After few minutes, her warm hand captured mine.

"Sweetie, I know you're hurt but don't feel like that. I don't know about fairy tales or perfect boys because of my non-existent love life but it was partially my fault. I never gave anyone importance, but you're too young to take such a decision. You never know what life is going to show you tomorrow," she smiled and I could see a mischievous glint in her eyes.

I opened my mouth to protest but then decided against it. It was the first time we were having good time, I didn't want to spoil it. "Let see. Anyways," I paused, changing the topic. "Today I went out with Melissa and had a really great time.”

My face expressions must have told her something so she raised her eyebrows, "But?"

I hesitated, wondering if I should tell her about the pranks or not but then I looked in her eyes and made the decision. She would surely understand. "There were a few students who were playing pranks on me and I too stupid to even realise it. I met Melissa for the first time in girl's bathroom where she found me crying," I paused, looking at Aunt Jenna’s shocked face. She was about to say something but I stopped her and continued, "After that I met her twice and we decided to hang outside. So, today she confessed that she has been a part of that group and apologized to me. She even saved me today. Now, I don't know..."

"You should give her a chance," She answered my unspoken question. "She could have tried to hide it from you but decided to be honest. That is a sign of a good heart. You know, it's not a sin to do bad things but it is to not realise and never apologize. We all deserve a second chance." She patted my shoulder.

I nodded, "I know and that's why I'm not angry with her. It's just... after such a long time... I was about to start to trust someone, but now I don't know if I'll be able to do it without getting suspicious or not."

"That's completely fine. If she can pursue you enough to hang out with her then I think she can handle this situation also," she grinned.

I rolled my eyes, "Don't remind me about that."

She chuckled, "Tell me more about her."

And I did.

It was when my phone beeped, reminding me about the time, that we stopped talking and decided to call it a night.

I really had fun with her, maybe because we didn't talk about my parents or my past. That was still a sore topic for me and I wasn't ready to talk about it. But I was glad that Aunt Jenna understood this.

After brushing my teeth, I snuggled under the sheets and drifted off to sleep quickly.

**

The next day, when I entered my class, Melissa was already there. She immediately noticed and walked towards me.

"Hey," she greeted me with a smile.

"Hello," I responded, glanced around to avoid looking at her.

"So, how are you?"

Her concerned voice snapped something inside me, making me very angry.

"Drop the formalities, Melissa. I need some time." Without waiting for her reply, I walked towards my seat, taking my stuff out of my bag.

I felt bad when I heard her mumbling, "Okay," but decided to ignore it.

I wasn't being hard on her. I was trying to test her.

If she really wanted to be my friend then she wouldn't stop trying.

**

After class, Melissa approached me and asked me to eat lunch with her. I was about to reply negatively but she made a puppy dog face and I agreed, remembering my aunt's words.

Now, I was standing in the cafeteria line, waiting for my turn so I could get something to eat.

I ordered a double cheeseburger with a milkshake and looked around to find Melissa.

"Ashley, I'm here." Melissa waved at me from the corner of cafeteria and I groaned, realising she wasn't alone.

Mentally, I said a prayer and walked towards her.

"Hey," she smiled sheepishly, glancing towards her devil brother who was sitting there with a bored expression.

In response, I shot daggers at her and sat on the other chair.

Melissa swallowed hard and started playing with the strands of her hair. "Um, nice weather, right?"

We both glared at her and she chuckled nervously, taking a sip of her coffee. Speaking of Ashton, he wasn't happy being here with us, so what the hell he was doing here? I mean, it wasn't like Melissa forced him to sit with us.

Or did she?

Maybe I had a suspicion what he was doing here, but I should see the whole thing from different angle.

I should actually enjoy this situation. Melissa must have something solid against him, to control be able to control him like that.

I chewed my burger, glancing at both of them often.

After wasting ten minutes glaring, I decided to break the ice. It's not like I wasn't curious to know what was happening?

"Melissa, what he is doing here?" I tilted my head in Ashton's direction.

She was clearly not expecting that question, as her eyes widened and she let out a chuckle. "Nothing, he just wants to meet you, right Ashton?"

"Not willingly," he grumbled quietly but I heard it. And for that, he earned a solid kick from Melissa under the table.

"You wanted to say something to her, remember?" She asked Ashton, but I could sense there was something else going on between them.

Like, she was really saying- 'say it otherwise I'll kill you.'

Then after few seconds, it happened.

Ashton took a deep breath and turned to face me. He was trying to appear relaxed but his body language was betraying him as his clenched jaw was fairly visible. "Look, I'm sorry for whatever happened. It was kind of childish so just let it go." He quickly rambled.

That was pretty fast.

But it wasn't unexpected.

I mean, Melissa promised me to sort out everything and this was necessary in order to do that but I didn't expect him to apologise so quickly.

I thought for a moment. What should I do now? Should I laugh and make him embarrassed? Or should I gave him a solid speech against bullying?

But that would be a waste of time as well as energy.

Aunt Jenna was right. I shouldn't have given them a hard time as I know how it feels to be in their shoes.

"It's okay," I shrugged, checking my watch to notice we had ten minutes left.

Damn! I wanted this to end right now.

I lifted my face and found them staring at me, dumbfounded.

"What?" I frowned.

"You're not mad?" Melissa questioned.

I shook my head. "I was but the moment you apologized, I forgot everything. We all make mistakes but it's not like everyone has the guts to accept it. You did your job and apologized and now it's my duty to forgive you."

I wish I could say the same to my parents but what I did wasn't a mistake and a little sorry couldn't wipe it away. I needed to show them how truly sorry I was. Then, they would surely forgive me.

"Ashley?" A soft husky voice broke the chain of my thoughts and I found myself staring at Ashton’s deep eyes. His facial expression changed into a concerned one when he apologized again. "Sorry for making you cry that day."

He stared at me, calculating my every movement and I stared back. I knew this time he was being genuinely sorry.

"Guys?" Melissa broke our staring contest and Ashton quickly looked away, but I caught him gritting his teeth.

What is wrong with him?

I put on a fake smile and got up. "We have five minutes left and I need to go to my locker. So see you guys later."

I smiled again to reassure a confused Melissa and almost ran outside, afraid that Ashton might be stop me.

But he didn't.

And I sent my gratitude to heaven, letting out a breath of relief.