Ashton’s POV

The moment I arrived at Megan’s driveway, I felt so restless because I am so excited to see her today, but the moment she got out of her house, I can see that she is not happy to see me, and I realize Cole was right there is always a first time of everything. And I admit this is the first time I have seen a girl so angry to see me, and it seems like she doesn’t want to see me at all.

I can tell that Megan wanted me to leave right away when she told me to go because she is busy and they are in a hurry, and I am just glad that her sister insisted on riding in my car, so she has no option but to ride with me. I kept silent the entire ride in going to the school. After all, I am so afraid I will say something that will upset her more because I am so confused about what to do with her because I want to know her, but it seems more complicated than I thought. Last night I was very confident that I can easily win her over, but I was wrong.

I can tell Megan tensed up when we arrived at the school grounds, especially the moment her sister got out of my car. And I understand that she doesn’t like to be the center of attention. Still, once she dates me, she will always be the center of attention because I am not bragging. Still, I see many girls are always waiting for me in the hallways giving me gifts, and some of them are giving me love letters even though cheerleaders are throwing themselves at me.

I don’t want to hurt anyone. That is why I tried my best to avoid girls, and I always decline since I don’t want to use them because I have an elder sister. I don’t want her to be a victim of some love game. That is why I don’t want to play games with girls. There are moments I can’t say no, like what happened between Lauren and me, and I am just glad we remain friends.

I know from the very beginning that we should not be romantically involved, but she begged me. I wouldn’t say I liked it when she cried in front of me, and since Lauren is beautiful, hot, I couldn’t say no, but I realized I don’t feel something towards her, like how I felt towards Megan. That is why I broke up with her telling her I’m not too fond of commitment, and since then, everyone always believes that we are a couple. Still, we only dated a month.

I tried dating again, but the same things happened, so I chose to stick with Lauren, no commitment because I want the girls to stay away from me. They always see me with Lauren, but we are only friends. Still, I allow her sometimes to kiss me in public to tell the girls to back off because I don’t want to hurt them anymore, but even so, I keep receiving love letters in my locker room and love messages on my phone from an unknown number.

There are times during practice a girl will approach me and ask to talk to me even for a while. Then when I spoke with her, I realized she only wants to confess her feelings for me, and it is not cool to turn down a girl, and it took a lot of my willpower to say no because I don’t want to hurt anyone. But I can’t make anyone, just my girlfriend, because I need someone who will make my heart flutters against my chest, and I couldn’t believe that for the first time I feel this way, and when this is happening, I couldn’t believe she is saying no to me.

And for the first time, I experienced a sleepless night because I kept thinking of one simple girl. Megan Corteza made me wide awake at night, and now that we are walking going to the library. I want to make it right, and I only waved my hand to my teammates even though I know they have been waiting for me, and I only texted Zach that I would go after them; I need to send Megan to the library. I know she felt shy, but I am just glad she allowed me to walk with her, and for the first time, I felt excited and worried at the same time if she will push me away again like what happened this morning in the driveway of their house.

I sprinted to the school’s ground for practice, and I know I am so late. And the coach gave me a warning, but I know he will let it slide since I have never been late before; I have always been a dedicated athlete. During the entire practice, I couldn’t stop thinking about Megan, and I felt happy and more inspired to play football.

“Ashton, are you dating Megan Corteza?” Drake asked after our practice; he is one of my close friends, and we always spend time together after our training exercises because we are also neighbors, and I could tell a lot of my neighbors are studying here because our academy is the most expensive school in the entire country. Most of the students here are sons and daughters of prominent families all around the country. We have classmates that came from different cities, who are children of millionaires and billionaires.

“That is my plan, and why?” I asked him, but I am grinning at him.

“Well, I am not saying you don’t look good together because I know Megan has her beauty, but she always hides her body by covering it with long dresses and pants. I haven’t seen her wearing shorts or miniskirts, and they said maybe she was hiding something awful behind those long dresses. Still, I am not saying this to discourage you, Ashton. I am just shocked that you want to date someone like her, and I could tell the way you looked at Megan is different from the way you looked at the girls you dated before, and I think you are serious with her.” Drake said as we walk fast to our locker while Zachary remained silent as he walked beside me.

“Thanks for your concern, Drake, and yes, I am serious with Megan. She is different, and please tell the entire team no one is allowed to date, Megan.” I said, and he laughed.

“Of course, Ashton, we respect you, man,” Drake said, and I patted his shoulder.

We ran going to our first class, and I am excited to see Megan; and I know right away that something was wrong because she avoided me and ignored me, and when I asked her why she was upset, she snarled at me and told me to leave her in peace.

“What?” I am shocked when Zach told me what happened to Megan’s locker.

“Yeah, that is why she was upset with you. I already told you once you will show interest in Megan, her life will never be the same again, your fans will bring her down, and worst, they will make Megan lost her scholarship.” Zach said, and I suddenly felt cold.

“I will make sure that it will never happen again because I will do everything to protect her, and once she will become my girlfriend. I know they will back off because they respect me, and those girls will respect her as well.” I replied, and he shook his head.

“I don’t think so, Ashton. You know those girls are crazy, and they will do everything or anything to make Megan hate you.” He answered.

“Whatever, Zach, what is important right now is to help her remove the paint,” I said. We didn’t go to the cafeteria during lunch since we only eat sandwiches and walk to the maintenance department and talked with the head. And I explained what happened, and I asked some lacquer thinner to remove the vandalism on Megan’s locker. And I hate whoever did it, and the moment I saw the bold letters BITCH on her locker, I realized she has all the right to be upset, and I felt guilty.

“What should I do, Zach?” I asked my best friend as I wiped the paint away.

“Well, for me, it is better you leave Megan alone.” He honestly said to me, and I couldn’t stop my heart from feeling sad.

“Do you think that is the best solution for all this?” I asked again.

“If you want Megan to have a peaceful senior life, then you should stay away from her,” Zach replied.

“But I don’t want to, Zach,” I responded.

“Then, you should protect her the moment she will become your girlfriend, Ashton. She is vulnerable because of her scholarship, Megan needs to maintain her grades so she will become our class valedictorian, and most of all, so she can proceed with her studies. She wanted to become a chemist in the future, Ashton.” He responded, and I couldn’t believe Zach will know about Megan’s dream of becoming a chemist someday, and I gave him a hard stare.

“Come on, Ashton, I already told you I am Megan’s secret admirer. That is why I am asking you to please don’t date her if you will only break her heart in the end.” Zach said.

“I am sorry, Zachary, but I am serious with Megan, and you don’t need to worry because I promise you I will never hurt her,” I said as I continue cleaning the mess. He fell silent, and I feel guilty that I asked my best friend not to court Megan. And I know I am selfish, but this is the first time I felt something like this, and I think I am falling for her.. I can’t stop the rapid beating of my heart when I saw Megan standing not so far away from us, and I realized she took my breath away, and I couldn’t stop myself from walking towards her, and what happens in her locker today only made me realized that I want to date her more.