Asher's Heart

Chapter 21

I relaxed.

That was my mistake. As soon as relaxed my hold on him he dropped me. I screamed as my body hit the surface of the water. It was like being hit by concrete. I flailed my arms as I tried to stay on the surface but it was of no use. I was too scared to try to swim. My limbs froze. The next thing I knew I was going under water.

I heard a loud curse and then another splash. Then I felt arms seizing me and I was brought up. Another pair lifted me off the pool. As soon as I realized who they belonged to, I scurried away, coughing out water. Ashton came beside me with a towel in hand.

"Ellie, are you alright?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

I nodded as he dried my hair.

"That wasn't funny, Asher! She could have drowned," Ashton yelled at his brother.

He shrugged.

"But she didn't," he said.

It made me so angry at how lightly he was taking it.

"That's not the point!" Ashton snapped. "You don't go on pushing people in water when they don't know how to swim," he said, annoyed at his brother.

"And that's my fault she can't swim?" Asher retorted.

I can swim, dumbasses, I wanted to scream at them, but the shivering made it difficult to form words. When I stopped shaking I stood up and walked towards him. I looked straight into his eyes.

"You know, I am not even mad at you. You know why? Because I don't expect anything else from you. Congrats Asher, you didn't let me down this time either," I said. I turned my back on him and went upstairs.

****

Everyone at the table was oddly silent, just eating and minding their business but inside everyone was laughing their asses off.

"Your hair looks pretty," Tyler, Asher's dad said and it broke the spell we all were under and all started laughing.

Asher who sat across from me and beside Linda bowed his head and muttered something under his breath.

"Pink suits you bro," Ashton said, he was sitting beside me and Asher threw him a glare. It was amazing really how fast they made up after fighting. They had a fight after I went upstairs. It looked pretty bad but they made up. Their fights usually never last more than a day.

"Yeah, it brings out your feminine side," Linda, Asher's mom said, her hazel eyes crinkling as she smiled.

"Mom," Asher groaned, his face as pink as his hair.

"Ellie did this?" Tyler asked in surprise. They were really shocked when Asher entered the room to eat and Ashton filled them in on whatever happened today except me nearly drowning part. Asher would surely have gotten in deep shit for that.

"Amazing right?" Ashton said and shot me a wink. I blushed and looked down at my plate.

"Indeed," Tyler nodded.

Linda took some stands of Asher hair between her fingers. His hair was a hot pink color. "You should stay this way for a few days," she said.

"Ellie how many days will this color last?" she asked me.

I swallowed before answering, "It's permanent."

Asher choked on his food. "What?" he said as his eyes shot to mine.

I nodded grimly.

"You..." he trailed off when he saw the look his parents were giving him.

"Well, I can live with that," Ashton piped up.