Ashton:... What's all this doing here?
It's the next day and I'm moving into the house I purchased.... and I'm trying my best to not think of yesterday's events. I open a spare room's door to find Leah setting up gym equipment in it. She turns to look at me while wiping sweat from her face (and unknowingly smudging grease on it). She smiles and starts to walk over to me. Hold it in, don't laugh. She opens her arms wide.
Leah: Well, this is your newwww- Ack!
Ashton: H-Hey!
She stumbles on a dumble and trips over.
Leah: I-I'm fine! Stupid thing.
She lifts the dumble with call her force and sets it aside.
Leah: Anyway! This is your new gym!
Ashton:... Why?
Leah: What do mean why? You think I'm gonna let you skip gym just because you've moved?
Ashton:...
Nothing gets past this brat, does it?
Leah: Oh, and I also got you protein shake mix!
Ashton: Ugh, that nasty stuff again?
Leah: Hm? You don't want it?
I shake my head.
Leah: Fine.
Ashton: Why? I hate-....
Wait, did she really agree to it?!
Ashton: Really?!
Leah: Yeah, let's go all natural! I'm thinking veggie smoothie with spinach, broccoli, oh, and kale....
Ashton:... You know what? I'd like to stick to the protein.
Leah: Good boy.
I cringe. Who're you calling a 'good boy'? I'm six years older than you.
Ashton: I'm going upstairs.
Leah: 'Kay.
I go to my bedroom and find a small box lying there along with my clothing boxes. I don't remember packing this. I open the box to see what I least expected to find. It has photos, keychains, phone charms and a sapphire bracelet. These are photos of me and Claire from when we were dating, I remember getting these matching keychains and phone charms with Claire and this bracelet.... I gave it to her on her 18th birthday. She was so flustered to accept it and then... She returned it to me when we broke up. I must've saved all this stuff somehow. There's no point keeping all this anymore; looking at all this makes my chest ache. However, I can't find the courage to throw it away. I place the box on my nightstand for the time being.
*Ding*
Ah, I just got a text. I look at my phone. 'High School Chums'? This must be the group for the reunion. I open the chat.
Louis: ''Do I have everyone added?"
Unkown: "No, you haven't added Drake, Vivian, Mitchell and Claire"
I'm just about to leave the chat when a familiar name catches my eye.
Louis: "Oh crap! Right, I'll do it rn"
Chat: *Louis added Unkown, Drake, Unkown and Unkown*
Louis: "There!"
Wait, what? I have Louis and Drake's contact info saved so their names are visible to me but, I also have Claire's contact saved, why doesn't it show her name then? I cross-check the numbers. This one is Claire's! Same as before! I quickly open my contact list in my phone and type her name. The number saved is completely different from her actual one. I fiddle through my wallet looking for her business card. Surely it won't be the same as number on my phone but, I'll check it just in case. There it is andddd, the numbers are different. Something's clearly wrong. I open my chats with Claire from eight years ago and scroll to the older chats. They're... not there. All of the texts present are from after our break-up. What's the meaning of this? I nervously click on her contact info. All these post- break-up texts were sent to this unkown number! These texts didn't go to Claire, but to the contact only says 'Claire'. This could mean only one thing, somebody tampered with the contacts after we broke up.
Wait a minute, so that day... I recall one very clear memory that shattered my heart...
Ashton: Why won't she reply to my texts or pick up my calls?! Sh- Should I try a different phone?!
I dial her number on a public telephone from my memory. Please don't let it be what I think it is!! The phone rings and rings. The longer it takes makes me feel relieved. Maybe she isn't really avoiding me, maybe she doesn't have her phone! But then...
Claire: Hello?
Ashton:...!!!
The phone receiver slips from my hand as I stand there frozen on the spot. I can still hear her muffled voice through the receiver. This, this can't be. She....
I don't even remember how many times I cried that day; for the person who gave me hope to live in my darkest times. I... I now know one thing for sure, even though Claire left me for nothing but a white lie, she never avoided me to play with my feelings. I was so panicked that day, I didn't even notice that our texts were missing and I only got through with her on the phone because I dialed the right number from my memory and not from my phone. This means, for almost a decade I've been accusing Claire for something she didn't do. But then, who is the one behind all this?