Dancing on the balls of her feet, Ashley is driving wild with worry. She has spent the day letting the stress of the concert get the better of her. She has been unable to concentrate on her classes or finish any work. She is so worried that one of her friends will say something that she can barely keep food down.Now, she is going to have to run with Dante. Ashley silently curses herself any other day and this would be one of the most romantic dates. If I had the strength to know this would never work out, I could have stopped myself before it got out of hand. Shit!Ashley runs her hands down the back of her tight, velvety hot pants. She loved running in them and a sports bra, which gave her the sense of being prey against a monster running behind her. She is sure he did it for the view because he always outpaced her whenever they raced for a bet, like washing the other car."Are you okay?" Dante asks."What?" Ashley responds quisquotely.Dante walked forward confidently and took her hand, "Your shorts are wet.""Wait? What?" She asks as he takes her hand and looks it over while holding it. Shit! Ashley thinks. Please don't make me confess here. I don't want to be spanked in the quad... Ashley knows if she has done wrong, and when he finds out, he corrects it promptly. With Dante, there is no waiting until they get home."Your palms are pale, sweetie. Your hands are sticky. Are you feeling sick or coming down with the flu? It is too cool out to be sweating.""I am just nervous.""About the test on Friday?""Yeah, kind of..." Ashley says as she pulls her hand out of Dante's and begins to run down the road she taunts gently, "Catch me if you can."This lying and trying to sneak behind his back is far too much on her. She is barely able to concentrate on anything at school. Halfway through her economics course, Ashley had to stand up. Squeezing and grasping her hands she was pacing in the back of the room as she listened to the lecture. The ringing in her ears had only started moments ago, as she had first heard it softly in the distance.Someone trusted her based on her word alone for the first time since childhood. The fact that she has never purposely lied to her boyfriend, Dante, before had been eating away at her. He had asked what her plans were Thursday night, and her eyes had lit up with excitement. She was dying to let him know, but she couldn't.Dante would have insisted that she left halfway through the concert to make it home to be prepared for the test on Friday. The stress was gnawing at her since they sat down at lunch together. She could only transfer from her community college to a private university because he co-signed her loans and supported her and her dreams.Now she was starting to lie to him about a concert she never even the band existed until earlier this year. She was slipping back into behaviors she had promised herself she would never return to again. Even her parents were reaching out to her once more seeing the change she had made.Fuck, I hate my life. I hate that I always get myself into these kinds of messes. I always see if I can get more when everything is going well. To just get a little more out of everyone. Why do I always push everyone away in terrible ways? Fuck me, I need to just grow out of this. She hears the sounds of him coming up behind her and curses. She can't talk to him now, she doesn't want to, his concern. His desire to make her feel better twists the knife deeper. Pushing herself forward, she sprints, giving up the idea of him being near or comforting her. She hates this trail as it is a constant reminder of their dating, of running together of how he pushed her to get where she is now.She struggled with her confidence, weight, classes, and everything. He never gave up on her; he pushed to achieve her dreams, and there has never been a time that he said anything to put her down or to make her feel like she was nothing. He had been nothing but supportive even when they were only friends. She curses under her breath that she would even treat him this way.She is losing her understanding of herself. Is she going to throw all of this away? She stops coughing and has trouble breathing. She looks at him behind her, enjoying a leisurely jog. Of course, he isn't burning himself out; he has one of the most important games of the year coming up. Rather than doing my best to make him proud, I act like a spoiled brat lying to him. I don't deserve to have someone like him in my life. What the fuck is wrong with me? Ashley curses her ever-resented self-hatred and doubt."You got to learn to pace yourself..." Dante says with a smile. Only thirty seconds behind her, he sounds like he went for a stroll while every muscle in her body screams."Come on, let's go to the creek," Ashley says softly."The creek?" Dante asks, his eyes burrowed up in question."Yes, we need to have some privacy..." Ashley says as she takes his hand and walks into the first that appears outside the lake. They had swarmed in the creek, where it comes from this hidden watering hole. She had wanted to jump from the top of the cliff, but ever cautious, he threw a rock down and showed her it wasn't deep enough. It killed the mood, but she was thankful once her senses got the best of her."Okay, lead the way. Is this about your classes?""Yes, Sir..." Ashley admits.."Yes, Sir?" Dante asks, his tone serious.Holding his hand, she leads him further into the forest, knowing what little privacy it offers. But she needs to talk. She has come too far to lose the girl she has been becoming.