Ashley POV
I buried myself deeper into my blankets on my bed as Paige turned up her music.
"Paige, stop! This is not necessary, okay? I'm totally fine." I said.
"Ash, you are not fine. You just broke up with your boyfriend, the one that you are still in love with. No one is fine after that." Paige said.
I turned off the music.
"I have to go talk to Craig." I said.
I grabbed my jacket off of my chair and headed towards the door. Paige wheeled me around and sat me on my bed.
"Ash, you were practically his mother. I'm not letting you go back to him." She said.
"Paige, I have to go. I don't know what's going to come out of it, but I need to see him." I replied.
I stood up and left my room. As soon as I approached Craig's, I paused at the door.
"Manny, do you want to sit?" I heard Craig ask.
"Um, I don't know if I want to sit there for this Craig." Manny said.
"Oh. Right. The couch." Craig said softly.
"Craig." I heard Manny sob.
I heard a soft cry as I'm sure they hugged.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Craig asked.
"It's just that—You hurt me Craig. More than I think you know. And after Spinner, I just don't know what to do." Manny cried.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about what I said to you last year. And the year before that. And the year before that." Craig said.
Manny gave a little laugh at this.
"But you were right. It was a mistake." She said.
"It happened for a reason. I even wrote a song about it." Craig said.
"Really?" Manny asked.
"Yep." He replied.
"Will you play it for me?" she asked, her voice becoming breathy and soft.
"Um, sure." He said.
At this point I decided it would be best if I walked in. I slowly opened the door and stepped inside. Manny and Craig both jumped in unison at the sight of me. Manny wrapped her arms around herself.
"Craig, I think we should talk." I said.
"Oh, now you want to talk?" Craig asked, throwing himself on the couch.
"I should go." Manny said, running for the door.
The door slammed behind her, leaving us in total silence.
"So…Manny?" I asked coldly.
"Oh, I so hope it's okay that I see Manny, Ash!" Craig said sarcastically.
I sighed and sat next to him.
"Craig, listen. I am so sorry. I acted horribly. You waited all summer to see me, and I do this to you." I said.
"I'll get over it." He said, standing up.
"But Craig—"
Craig held the door open for me.
"You better go. Joey's gonna be home soon." He said.
I stood up and walked over to him.
"Good bye, Craig." I whispered.
I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and left. It was until I got back home that I broke down completely. Tears streaming down my face, I went straight into bed. My cell rang and I saw that it was Paige.
"Paige. This was such a mistake. Craig was with Manny when I got there." I cried.
"I told you Ash. What a jerk!" she said.
"Craig wouldn't even talk to me." I sobbed.
"Ashley…" Paige sighed.
"I thought that I was over him. I lost him, Paige." I said.
"Hun, You did not lose him. You just have to win him back." Paige said.
"But after what I did to him…I mean, he might be seeing Manny or something." I said.
Paige laughed.
"Hun, I'll take care of Manny. All you have to do is show up looking gorgeous at school tomorrow." She said.
Paige said goodbye and hung up. I dropped the phone on my bed and stood up. I opened my closet door and pulled out a box on the top shelf. I fingered the black material as I pulled it out.
"Here goes nothing." I muttered under my breath.