Love Me Later

Who Is Ashton Greene?

Once I reached university, I headed to my college cafeteria and searched for my friends. I saw them waving at me at one of the tables.

I sat beside Timothy Clarkson, a campus heartthrob, though I don't exactly see why. Tim has rare green eyes that suit his reddish-brown hair. Though it was cut short, his hair got bangs that covered parts of his forehead. Tim is muscular but he only stands 5'9". Shorter than what I would actually call a hunk. On him is a plain blue tee over his denim pants that runs above the length of his ankle. He partnered it with a pair of black slip-on loafers.

Ashton is 6'3" and dresses more handsomely and neatly than Tim.

Memories from earlier flooded my thoughts. I shut my eyes tightly and hushed my brain.

"So, spill!" Vea giggled.

"Did you two share a bed together?" Camille asked, a playful smile on her lips.

I gasped and threw a crumpled table napkin at my friends. I have known Vea Montgomery and Camille Vasquez since we were in middle school.

Vea stood at 5'3". She held her copper brown hair that ran to her shoulders into a loose bun, some of it fell on the sides of her small, round face. She has got thick lashes and winged liners that accentuate her big, honey-brown eyes, small and high-bridged nose, and thin lips that sometimes show her upper canines. Coupled with fair skin that is almost pale, Tim nicknamed her the vampire chick or the vamp.

Her family owns the Montgomery General Hospital. Everyone in her family expected her to pursue medicine, just like her parents who were both surgeons. To her family's dismay, she took Creative Arts. Growing up, Vea has always been the creative one. But to us, Vea's career choice wasn't a surprise.

Vea used to give us greeting cards that she designed herself for our birthdays and other occasions. When we were 13, Vea gifted me with a charcoal portrait drawing of myself and it still hangs on my bedroom wall.

I noticed that she was wearing one of her denim jumper pants over a white shirt again. Vea has a lot of them and wears them even if some have paint stains on them. On her wrists are layers of black and brown leather bracelets.

My eyes followed Vea's hands as she handed Camille a clean sheet of table napkin to wipe off the mayo that spilled in the corner of her mouth.

Camille Vasquez is a 5'5" Mexican-American whose family runs a small law firm. Her father also works as a Legal Consultant for my family's furniture business. Though she never told us directly, I think Camille wanted to follow in her father's footsteps. She said before that she took the Business Administration course to become a business lawyer later on.

Camille tied her naturally black and curly hair into a half pony. She has got a square-jawed face, that has dark, bushy brows, and round eyes that are surrounded by thick, curly lashes. Camille got a small, but round nose with a bulbous tip and naturally full lips.

Camille smacked her lips and then said, "Hey, you, chica. Are you gonna tell us anything, or are you just gonna stare at my lips?"

"Please! Can we just eat? I have nothing to spill!" I pulled out the food container from my bag and put it on the table. Vea threw me a doubting look.

"Wow! Looks like the dashing Mr. Greene does not want our girl to starve."

I rolled my eyes. Tim glanced at us as if he was watching a tennis match. From the confused look on his face, I knew he was having a hard time trying to figure out what was going on.

"Okay. So your parents left for abroad and they'll be gone for at least half of the year." He said, facing me. "Then they left you under the care of this Mr. Greene, who you said is a family friend?"

I nodded my head.

"I'm sorry. But how old is Mr. Greene again? And why are they teasing you about him? Do you guys have a history or something?"

Unlike Vea and Camille, who have been my friends since third grade, I met Tim at the university. He used to be my classmate in one of the subjects during our freshman year. We became close when we worked on a project together. I introduced Tim to Vea and Camille later on, and surprisingly, his personality also clicked with them. Tim is a varsity athlete and only hangs out with us whenever he's not busy with training.

Whenever Tim hangs out with us, we always do random things together. We play video games or go out to see the latest movies. All of us like Marvel movies. And whenever a new one comes out, we know we all have to schedule it and go. Tim also does some exercise with us, like jogging or going to the gym, or hiking. Sometimes, he also invites us out of town with a couple of his other friends.

But we seldom talk about the past or any previous relationships around him. We don't talk about girly stuff or anything that Tim would find boring. That's like one of the unspoken rules of our friendship. If we ever have to mention it, we talk about it in passing. So it's natural for Tim to be clueless about Ashton Greene. After all, Ashton was supposed to be a thing of the past.

"Ashton was his first love." Camille interrupted my thoughts.

"Wow! So you're not a lesbian, after all!" Tim exclaimed.

I hit him in his arms.

"Really, Tim? You thought I was a lesbian? Well, not that I have a problem with them or with any members of the LGBT. But really?!" I slapped his arms after every sentence that I finished.

"You know I was kidding. But then, hey! Look at you!" he gestured his hand toward me, trying to emphasize how I look.

I do not have classes that require me to be in business attire today. So this morning, I chose to wear a dark gray tee, faded jeans, and a pair of high-cut sneakers. I decided to let my hair down as it was still wet from the shower earlier. Now I am sure that my hair is everywhere. I grabbed the pony on my wrist, combed my hair with my hand, and tied it in a messy bun.

"Why don't you just say that I am not as attractive as the other girls?" I moved my hand from Vea to Camille to stress that I don't look cute like my friends.

Tim snorted, "You know that's not what I mean." He took a bite from my plate. "Is it just me or are you just being too sensitive?" He nodded with his brows and then nudged my arm.

Vea and Camille continued chatting about 'the great' Ashton Greene while I decided to finish my meal. I allowed the girls to tell Tim about my embarrassing love confession to Ashton Greene. I cut them once in a while to react, until my own thoughts drifted back to that day, six years ago.