My Paper Heart Will Bleed

Over Christmas break, Ashley tried desperately to get into contact with Andy. He couldn't bear knowing it was over forever. Unfortunately, Andy wasn't lying. He deleted Ashley's contact, he deleted all their pictures, he deleted anything that linked back to Ashley. Hayley was starting to become Ashley's best friend again, though. That was a good thing that came out of all this. His parents trusted her more than anyone, which meant she could come over any time she pleased.
She would show up randomly sometimes, just to check in on Ashley and cheer him up. It was the holidays, after all.
"People are supposed to be cheery over Christmas! Celebrate with family, recieve presents, sing carols... whats there to not be happy about?" Hayley would tell him. Ashley remained silent and continued writing in his notebook. There was nothing to be happy about in his world. Maybe he was just being selfish, but everything seemed dark and gloomy from where he was standing. To him, the holidays were all about forcing a smile and thanking people even though what they got you wasn't what you had hoped for. Now it wasn't so much that. It was seeing everyone else happy with a significant other, and he was alone because he was so stupid that he let his go. Andy's probably moved on...

The crowd of people in the hallways hid Ashley from what he was hiding from. Rather, who he was hiding from. Hayley was in her classroom already like she always was, whereas Ashley was stuck trying to avoid the beginning of the school day. The last thing he wanted was to sit in a seat and pretend like he was fine.
"How was your christmas, baby doll?" Ashley stopped dead in his tracks. Who was Andy talking to...?
"It was great. I wish I could have spent it with you though." Scout. Fucking Scout. Ashley looked up, horrified when he saw Scout in Andy's arms, snuggled against him. His hair... it was chopped off completely. There was no more crazy lions mane, now he looked like everybody else. "Maybe we could make up for it later..." She giggled and kissed him softly. From what Ashley could tell, Andy kissed back. He was smiling...
Ashley slowly continued walking past them, flinching when Scout giggled 'I love you, Batman'. Tears stung his eyes as he immediately, pushed people out of his way to get to his class. He sat down, throwing his stuff to the ground and burying his face in his arms. He pitied Scout for falling in love with such an asshole, but he also hated her guts for stealing Andy away. Or... did Ashley push him away first? He felt a hand on his back and looked up to see Hayley. Her hair wasn't fiery red anymore. She had dyed it over the break so now it was a mix of orange and pale pink. Her face was twisted into a concerened but knowing expression.
"I saw..." She whispered and hugged him tight. Ashley didn't react or move a muscle. His heart was too broken to even think about taking another breath, but he knew he had to.
"I'll see you later, babe." Andys low voice echoed to the back where Ashley was sitting. He lifted his head in time to make eye contact with Andy. He frowned, looking almost guilty, and left the classroom.
"I hate him." Ashley hissed through gritted teeth.
"What? Ash, where are you going?" Hayley frowned and followed him out of the room. He stormed to his locker and pulled out the hat Andy had given him, the small sheets of paper that spelled out 'I love you' and his good luck charm. He slammed his locker shut and marched to Andy's class room boldly, gently setting the items on the desk.
"Take them." He mumbled and left before he could answer. He stopped and looked at him from the doorway. Andy had put the things back into his backpack, and went back to laughing with his friends. He didn't care? He walked silently to class again, sitting down by himself. Hayley was back in her class room already. Why did he even care that Andy was with someone else... Not like Ashley had any chance of gaining him back. If anything, he had more of a chance of losing him more than he already had.
Time flew by faster than he hoped when he noticed that the tickets for the Valentines day dance were being sold. It was already over a month since he got a girlfriend. Why did it still sting? Ashley decided to skip the dance, telling Hayley he just wasn't up to it. She respected his decision to stay home and decided to not go too. Instead she set up a movie night with some of Ashley's other friends, where all four brought their own movie. Ashley brought Batman Begins, earning a concerned look from Hayley. He rolled his eyes and set it down. He loved the movie long before Andy came along. Hayley went next, setting her movie in the pile along with CC's and Jake's.
"Where's Jinxx?" Ashley frowned. Jake sighed and shook his head.
"At the dance with Sammi."
CC laughed. "Relationships, man. They must suck ass."
"Yeah. They do." Ashley mumbled under his breath. Luckily, no one else heard as Jake and CC had begun to fight over who's movie would go first. Hayley rolled her eyes and put hers in while they were distracted, sitting back with Ashley and waited for them to notice. Halfway into the movie, Ashley's phone lit up with a notification from snapchat. He looked at it and frowned. Andy sent him a snapchat? He was at the dance, why would he do that?
He opened it and his heart dropped. Scout was kissing Andy, and Andy was kissing back.
"Ash? You okay?" CC whispered, glancing at the picture. "Oh..."
Ashley got up and ran to the bathroom, locking himself in as he sunk to the floor in tears. He texted Andy, angry and heart broken as he informed him of everything he had been feeling over the past few months and that he hated him, that he was such a god damn dick. Somewhere deep down, however, he was hoping for sympathy and for Andy to come to his rescue even though he was the reason he needed saving. He hoped Andy would realize what he was doing to him. His phone finally buzzed with a new text from Andy. It took every last ounce of strength to open, and when he finally did, he wished he hadn't.
"Ash! Open up!" Hayley banged on the door. He unlocked it and stood before them, swaying side to side, completely dazed with tears still spilling. "Shit, what happened?" she grabbed his phone, Jake and CC reading over her shoulder. Ashley tried to find the courage to speak but he was afraid of his own voice. Just as they were nearing the end of the text, and he could tell by the change of expression on their faces, he found his voice. It came out as a whisper, broken and raspy.
"He wants nothing to do with me."