Unconditionally

Chapter Eighteen

"With that kiss, whatever was left of that box around my heart fell to pieces. My heart was free, and it belonged to him."

The tongue, watering smell of chicken wafts into Ashton's room and my stomach grumbles loudly. Ashton chuckles and flips through his sports magazine. I throw the remaining of his clothes into his hamper before heading over to his desk. Where could those pens be?

How does a person have the ability to lose over ten pens? I shake my head, beginning to search around his desk for the damn pens. I groan when there isn't a single pen on the carpeted floor. I turn my body to face Ashton.

"Where are the pens?" I ask him.

Ashton smiles and lowers the magazine. He raises an eyebrow, watching me. "Sorry, I didn't hear you."

I grind my teeth. I know he heard me, and I definitely know he's watching me clean his room. I gesture to the cup.

"I know you had more than two pens in that cup." I tell him. Ashton shrugs his shoulders in a nonchalant way. He lifts up the magazine, making it cover his face.

Rolling my eyes, I look at the different papers that are on his desk. I internally chuckle at what's in my hands. It's his AP Biology paper that we all had to do. Fortunately, I aced the thing, but looking at Ashton's it seems as if he struggled. In the red ink, the grade 53 is written boldly right beside his first and last name. After putting the paper to the side, I pick up the next item without looking at it fully. My eyes zero in on the bear's head that's printed on the envelope's right handed corner. I quickly flip it over, checking to see if it's already been opened. It's still sealed.

With the UCLA envelope in my hand, I turn around to face Ashton.

"Did you leave this unopened just for me to find?" I ask him, raising the mail so he'll see it when he looks up from his sports magazine. Ashton lowers the magazine, widens his eyes, and gives me a look of guilt.

"Mom said it came in the mail last week. I haven't gotten the time to open it yet." He tells me.

Heaving a sigh, I sit on the edge of his bed and hand him the envelope. Ashton doesn't take it from my hand. He stares at it.

"Well, are you going to open it now?" I ask.

Ashton snaps his green eyes to meet mine, and something about the way he looks at me makes me feel sorry for him. His future is typed on a piece of paper that is in this white envelope. It's unknown and he looks so scared. What if they don't accept him? Where will he go for baseball then?

It seems as if those same questions that I'm wondering is also what Ashton's thinking about, but he's the one that says them out loud.

"They'd be stupid not to accept you, Ashton."

Ashton gives me a look, but takes the envelope from my hand. He sighs loudly and glances at me for a split second before tearing it open. I watch his expression as he reads the folded piece of paper. Ashton doesn't show a sign of happiness nor grief. He's just blank. When he re-folds the paper, I squirm, wanting to know what it said.

"Well?" I ask him.

He hands it to me. I snatch it from his hands, scanning the paper.

Dear Ashton,

For the past two years, you have been on our list of an upcoming UCLA's baseball players. Not every small town guy that gives us an application is being accepted, but after watching and recording your strong work, we are giving you the thumbs.

The fans-

I don't care what the rest says. My mouth drops, and I look up at Ashton. His once emotionless face is now bright with excitement after finding out that he's accepted. He's going to college.