The Populars

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Deal

                  

++Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Deal++

"Be yourself, everyone else is already taken" -Oscar Wilde

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Asher slams the car door closed, and I take the liberty of opening my door by myself. I guess that's a nice thing about dating Asher, I actually get to do things for myself.  I push the door open, and slide out of the seat of his car. Asher walks around the back of the car, and pops the trunk open.

"What are you doing?" I ask chuckling.

Asher smirks, and lifts the trunk up. I hear things shuffling under the trunk, and Asher slams the trunk closed, to reveal him standing there with three different ice cream containers and a pizza box. There is a blanket tucked under one of his arms and he smiles widely at me.

I wish I could take a picture of this, since it's so perfect. I walk over to him, chuckling slightly. I snatch two containers of ice cream, one mint chocolate chip, and the other Neapolitan. Asher is left holding the straight chocolate one, and he gives me a grin.

"I love you," he says quietly.

I shake my head at him and giggle nervously, "Only the first date and you are already telling me this?" I ask, smirking at him.

Asher shoots me a fake glare, and readjusts his grip on the pizza and ice cream, "I think I have told you earlier than that,"

I nod my head, "I think I love you too, but it's too soon to tell, " I say, throwing a wink at him, teasing him.

He rolls his eyes at me, and starts to walk towards the small park. I glance around at a couple people walking through the green meadows, and a couple sitting on a bench on the far side, my eyes land on a blonde haired boy and I gasp.

The blonde haired boy turns around, and his eyes instantly lock with mine. He moves his gaze to Asher, who is trying to balance the blanket, pizza box, and ice cream at the same time. The boy's frown curls up into a smirk and he walks over to us.

"On a date?" he asks, only a few meters away from us.

I glance away from the blonde haired boy, and at Asher whose jaw is clenched. Aren't they friends? Why does Asher look so nervous?

"Yes," Asher says quietly, not making eye contact with the blonde haired boy.

I frown, and wrinkle my forehead together, "Why are you here Storm?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at the suspicious boy.

He shrugs his shoulders, "You know the usual, picking up my weed and all that. I take it you told her?" Storm asks, glancing at Asher.

Asher slowly nods his head, and brings his gaze up to meet mine, "Yeah, I did," he says quietly.

I frown, and purse my lips together, "Told me what?" I ask the two boys who aren't giving me straight answers.

Asher and Storm make eye contact, and Asher quickly breaks it to look at me. He sizes heavily, and taps his foot against the tall green grass that is slightly damp.

"Storm knows I don't do drugs, he covers for me, well he did. I quit pretending once we started whatever this is, when we went to that ice cream shop I decided to stop pretending to smoke," he says quietly.

Storm knows? I thought nobody knew! I also think Storm can't be trusted! Sure sometimes he seems nice, but there is an edge to him that I don't necessarily like.

"You covered for him?" I ask Storm, my jaw dropped.

He slowly nods his head, and his smirk quickly fades, "I can be a nice person, sometimes. Don't forget that, Clara," he says, shifting his position.

I stare at Storm, wide eyed. What does he mean by that? Why did he say that he's a nice person sometimes, and I shouldn't forget it? Is he implying I will need his help sometime? A shiver runs down my spine, but I quickly shake the feeling away.

"Alright," I say, my voice coming out dry.

Storm gives us a small smile, "Have a good date," he says, turning on his heels and walking off into the woods.

I exchange looks with Asher, and he looks just as confused as I feel. I have a billion questions I want to ask Asher, but then I remember this is a date. I shake all my thoughts away, and grin at Asher.

"Where should we set up?" I ask, hugging my chest to keep my warmth in.

Sadly it's October, and probably nod the ideal time of the year for a picnic. The autumn wind gets stronger, and the winter rainy day's start to approach. Today is a rare nice day though, the sun is shining and  I can't even see a cloud in the sky.

"What about on that patch of green grass over there?" Asher asks, pointing to an area by a big oak tree.

I nod my head, and clutch onto the cold ice cream containers, "Of course!" I say enthusiastically.

We walk to the patch of green grass and Asher puts down the pizza and ice cream. He lays out the large blanket, and places the food on top of it. I place the two ice cream containers I was holding near the rest of the food.

Asher opens the pizza box, and pulls out some spoons and napkins. I glance down at the pizza to see it is pepperoni, my favourite. I take a slice, and Asher takes one too.

"So you quit pretending to be a stoner?" I ask, taking a huge bite of the gooey pizza.

Asher nods his head, "I haven't gone to the stoner pit in days, I haven't denied smoking or told people the truth, but I haven't made them think I was one in ages," he says quietly, taking a bite of his pizza too.

"You are going to stop pretending?" I ask, raising an eyebrow up at the boy.

Asher hesitates, and takes another bite of pizza. He chews the pizza and nods his head slowly, "I'll make a deal with you, Clara," he says quietly.

I raise an eyebrow at his sentence and chew my pizza. I am intrigued with this deal. What does he want in return for him revealing his true self? I would love Asher to be his real self, but I am not sure. I feel like we have this bond over being fake, we are basically fake together.

"If you stop being the fake you, I will too," he says, his tone of voice low as if he is challenging me.

It might have to do with the fact I am with Asher, and this is the best date ever. Or it might just be that today is beautiful, but I am content, and I want to feel like this every day.

I feel my lips curl up into a smirk, and before I can think too much about it, I nod my head slowly, "Let's do it,"

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Only a couple chapters left! Hope you enjoyed!

-Misaxx