the third person

14

ASHER

Art snores in his sleep. It's not much, but it's audible. I'd know since I sleep right beneath him on the bunk bed. He wasn't snoring yesterday night, which means he wasn't sleeping. If he wasn't sleeping, there's no way he can be this energetic in the morning, which means he's pretending. If he's pretending, it means he has something to hide. I assume that something has everything to do with his new boyfriend.

"Art?" He looks up and flashes me a smile that I would've called 'smug' any other day, but today the only adjective I could associate was 'fake'. 

"Dad didn't come home yesterday night." He stated calmly, over-applying peanut butter on his bread. 

With a pause, I quietly asked him, "Are you alright?"

He looked up in surprise. "Why, what happened?"

"No, nothing happened. I'm asking you if you're alright."

"Why?"

"Answer the frickin' question, bro."

"Um... yeah."

Oh yeah, he was definitely pretending because he wasn't making eye contact. I watched him practically stuff the peanut butter bread in his mouth, chug down a glass of milk, grab his bag, and run out with a hasty goodbye. All this within less than 5 minutes. 

I sighed as I got up to shut the door behind him, and then I saw her. 

Hannah. 

Three years ago, we'd been in love. Her family didn't like me, and my father didn't like her. But we sneaked out and wild our whole freshman year. I haven't gone to school for the past year and a few months. And I haven't talked to her in two. 

She dumped me. And believe me, I'm not the sort of guy who looks for revenge from a girl who probably deserved better than him. But she didn't have to cut me off so deeply. She ignored, neglected, and avoided. But today I approached her, neglecting every fibre in my being.

I walked down the stairs quickly, turned, and stood in front of the staircase, blocking her way. Art had already left with Kai and Mei- their father dropped them in his car every morning. 

"Asher."  She muttered.

"Hannah-"

"The audacity you have to show your face."

"What? You see my face every day, Art-"

"You know what I mean."

"...right. Is he fine?" I gulped. "Art."

"You're asking me?"

"He doesn't exactly open up to me now, does he?"

"And whose fault is that?"

"Hannah, please just answer the question."

"No, he's not, Ash. Have you ever seen his wrists?"

"His.... what?"

"...yes."

"No way."

"Yes way, and I'm kinda getting late."

"He- but why?"

"Why do you think?" She frustratingly tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and tightened her ponytail. "Ash, that boy has been having suicidal thoughts ever since..."

She paused abruptly, hesitated, and looked up at me. I raised an eyebrow in question. 

"....it isn't Blaze's fault-"

"Okay, that's it, you can go now." I turned around to walk away but she grabbed my arm.

"No, Ash. Don't do it."

"Don't do what? You just told me he's been having suicidal thoughts ever since he started dating that guy, which means what?"

"Blaze didn't do anything!"

"You're telling me it's Art's fault he's having thoughts like that?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't! Why don't you ask the guy himself before throwing punches!"

"He won't answer me, and you know that."

"Then that's on you, not on Blaze or Art. Fix yourself first." With that, she walked around me and went down the staircase. I stared at the place she'd been, clenched and unclenched my fists. 

With a deep breath, I walked up back to my apartment and shut the door. Before I could do anything stupid like punch the wall, the phone rang. I jolted in surprise and walked towards it, silently hoping it was Dad.

It wasn't. It was the hospital. The medicines had been working well and I was improving at a quick rate. The chemotherapy had left me exhausted even after a day of practically no physical activity. It had worked though, the cancer hadn't grown. The doctor now wanted to remove the cancer cells through surgery, which was scheduled for this weekend.

The weekend was in 5 days, Dad would definitely be home by then. With that thought, I rang Delilah's number. She picked up on the first ring.

"Heya!" She said cheerfully, bringing a smile to my face. 

"Hey."

There must've been something in my voice because I was met with silence from the other end of the line. After a few moments, she quietly asked, "Ash, did anything happen?"

"No, just my surgery is scheduled this weekend and Dad wasn't home yesterday night."

"Right."

After a few moments of hesitation, I thought what could be the worst that could happen and muttered, "Del, Art does self-harm."

"Art does what....oh. What?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No."

"....do you want to meet me at the coffee shop?"

"That would be nice."

"Just us, yeah?"

I hummed in reply.

"Hey, it will be alright."

"I hope so."

"Ash?"

"Del?"

"I... care for you, I really do. Just, believe me when I say it will be alright, okay?"

"Okay, Delilah. See you after school."

"Okay, Joy."

With that, she hung up.