Bittersweet

Being Understood (Ch. 4)

~Clementine's POV~
-Tuesday

I wake up and get dressed. I'm putting on my makeup when I feel a pair of arms wrap around me.

I smile into the mirror, but soon pull away remembering what had happened yesterday.

I walk out of the bathroom, not making a sound. Ashton follows.

"Clem, you still can't be mad about yesterday." He gives me saddened eyes.

I keep quiet.

"Clem, please." He pleads.

Still keeping quiet.

"At least say something." He begs.

I grab my books and my phone.

"Bye." I scowl at him. I slam the door behind me.

I take a deep breath when I find myself face to face with Annette.

I look at her. She's about to speak when I put my head down, and walk away.

Throughout the day Annette tries to talk to me but I ignore her.

When I get back to the room I find a peach dress on my bed, along with a necklace that my parents gave me. The same ones I wore on graduation. I feel tears coming out.

I miss Nicole, Katelyn, everyone. I grab the dress and necklace and throw them towards the wall in frustration.

Ashton comes into the room and restrains me.

"Woah. What's wrong?!" He asks.

I just keep on crying, trying to get out of his hold. He picks me up and carries me to his bed.

I calm down and he asks me again.

"What's wrong?" He says once more.

"Looking at that dress, that necklace. It just brings too many memories." I sigh.

"It's okay. It's okay." He says softly. We sit there for a while, and I fall asleep, I wake up when we hear a knock on the door.

Ashton gets up to answer. He thinks I'm still asleep. It's Annette.

Ashton's talks to her. He looks towards me to see my eyes flutter open.

"I'll leave you two to it then." He leaves the room.

We just stare at each other for which felt like a solid two minutes. She finally speaks.

"I um, wanted to apologize for everything I did on the first day." She walks to me and sits down on the bed.

"Yeah, thanks." I reply shyly.

"Um, so he's really your boyfriend?" She asks.

"This again?" I ask.

"Yeah, will you...?" she blushes.

"Okay. Um well, I when I moved..."

I tell her about my history with Tristan and Ashton. I stop when I get to explaining the incident. I close my eyes, I try to ignore it and move on but she stops me.

"Why are you skipping over th-"

"Can we not talk about it? I never really got over it." I chuckle.

"I wouldn't expect you too." She looks down.

"Enough about me. I want to hear some things about you." I give her a weak smile.

She sighs and takes a deep breath.

"There's too much to tell." She laughs. She gives me a smile but I can tell she's upset and on the verge of crying.

"W-what's wrong?" I place a hand on her shoulder.

"Um. Well... I was an unwanted, misunderstood child. I remember my mom driving me to the orphanage. She said that she couldn't handle it anymore. She couldn't handle me." A tear rolls down her face.

"She held my hand and said she loved me. That this was for my own good. She left me there and..." She chokes on her words.

"I was moved from foster home to foster home. I was finally at the age when I could get emancipated. But the judge denied it. After another year, I was accepted for emancipation. I lived on my own with the state providing with me money. I worked hard, and now I'm here." She does sarcastic jazz hands. She cries and I hug her.

"I'm so sorry." I mention.

"She never loved me. I've always hated her. I want to get the image of her out of my head." She mumbles and plays with the blanket on the bed.

"If you don't mind. What does she look like?" I ask her in a soft voice.

"She has wavy dirty blonde hair, like yours. She wears somewhat alot of makeup, and last time I saw, she has a trashy, grudge like style." She explains

Soon, she calms down. And immediately pulls away and looks at me.

"If you don't mind me asking..." she sniffles.

"I'll tell you." I answer.

"Um, well, Ashton and I hadn't really been on great terms. He called me and said my mom had... she had gotten hit by a car. I ran to my house to see an ambulance. I jumped into it. When we got to the hospital they had told me she had brain damage and that she didn't have much longer. She died about a month later. I... I still blame myself. My dad had died when I was younger by a stroke. So I had no one. I lived with my best friend. And the rest you already know." I sigh crying.

"I'm sorry." She hugs me.

"We all have a past right?" I chuckle. She laughs.

Annette soon leaves and Ashton comes back in.

He looks at me. My eyes bloodshot.

"What did you two talk about?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Heh, our pasts." I laugh at myself and hug him.

"What?" He asks.

"It's a thing you wouldn't understand." I hug him harder.

He chuckles. I smile into his chest.

"It felt good to talk to someone who understands."

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Hey! Hoped you liked the back stories! I really do strive for at least 1000 words or more. Anyway, I comment any errors and ideas, vote if you liked this chapter and yeah, bye!

♢Alabama♢