COSMOS | Complete

CHAPTER 1: A & A

ASHER

First day. Biology.

An unfamiliar man, with balding brown hair and giant, round glasses, stares next to an open door. He smiles at me, showing a bit of aged, yellow teeth.

I dash a glance at the nametag on his chest. "Mr. Riley. Hello."

I have had this man as my teacher for the past two years.

"Asher, it's good to see you." He sticks out a hand, voice drowned in interest. I'm sure he would read my grocery receipts with vigor. "How was your summer?"

"Great," I deadpan. "And you?"

"Low-key," he laughs. "Please, have a seat."

I breeze past him into the room, making a beeline for the seat farthest from the front. Pulling out my phone, I settle in for the long wait. I'm always the first in the class because I don't loiter in the hall - there's no one to loiter with.

A few minutes later, people begin to trickle in. The others are seating themselves as far away as possible from me, stealing glances at my sweatpants, at the pimple on my left temple.

I enjoy the silence. I enjoy the isolation. The less irritations, the better.

That is, until Aaron Blakely waltzes down the aisle towards me.

AARON

First day. Biology.

"Shit," Chris curses, taking one last swig of vodka from his water bottle. "We're gonna be late."

"It's the first day," I muse nonchalantly, waiting for him as he hurriedly closes his locker. He smirks, racing down the hallway. I follow. "I knew that Riley always liked us best."

Chris's entire being is built on sarcasm. Old Mr. Riley has only had one 'star' in his classroom - Asher Thomas.

When I think of Asher, I think of some worm in her brain, tunneling around and extending its home. It probably looks like a slab of Swiss cheese, pocked with little holes and frayed nerve endings. Perhaps that's why she's untouchable. Give her a compliment, and she'll shoot you a suspicious glare. Hold open a door for her, and she'll breeze past you without a word.

At least, that's what she does to me.

I'm not sure what I've done to make Asher Thomas hate my guts, when in reality, she should be paying to kiss my shoes. Every girl in Portland Private dreams of being my girl - writes it in their diaries, wishes upon stars for it. If anything, that worm is doing one hell of a job.

Chris and I dash to class, left with two minutes to spare. We look around, finding no seats side-by-side. He shrugs, but his eyes have a gleam.

"Let's start this school year off with a bang." He looks around the class, pausing when he catches the sight of an empty seat in the far back. We could just as easily force someone out of a chair to claim a table for ourselves, but Chris is in for a laugh, and so am I. He rubs his hands together, turning back to me with a smirk. "Dare you to sit next to Ass-her for the entire class." Leaning in, he adds: "Free water bottle of vodka."

If I wanted, I could buy gallons of vodka myself, but I'm in for the challenge. "Easy," I scoff, already making my way towards her. She's got her button nose in a ratty book, and doesn't look up when I approach her. "Waste of vodka, if you ask me."

Chris snorts, finding a seat a few rows up. "You won't be saying that by the end of class."

Asher suspiciously peers at me over the pages as I drop my bag and pull out the chair. Her eyes are lasers as I sit down comfortably, leaning back and putting my feet on the table. Across the classroom, Chris guffaws.

"There are plenty of other seats," Asher snaps, looking extremely annoyed. I shrug. "I'd rather stay as far away from Riley as I can."

She stares at me, eyebrows furrowed. Her eyes are calculating, like she's working out some sort of math equation that can miraculously make me vanish, or at least, put me on a different planet. Moments of silence pass before she lets out a huff, standing up. I follow her movements. "You're just going to go get me a worksheet, aren't you?" I snark, but she's not having it. She glares at me, picks up her bag and book, and begins walking to a different table.

Chris looks like he's going to drown in his own tears.

"Hey, hey," I say, grabbing my bag and following her. "You have a problem?"

"Yes, I do have a problem," Asher shoots back, irritated. "If your dime-sized brain can't tell, I prefer sitting alone."

Asher stomps to a table closer to the front, where there's an empty chair next to a scrawny, big-headed four-eyes. I flick my head up once, and he gets the message. As soon as she gets to the seat, he's up in a flash, scurrying away to claim our forgotten seats in the back. She clears her throat, thoroughly annoyed. "Alone." she spits. "Away from other people. Surrounded by-"

"I know what 'alone' means," I interrupt, getting comfy in the now-empty chair. "Lucky for you, though, I'm going to change that."

"Oh, I am not sitting with the boy who broke my best friend's heart," she laughs coldly, already beginning to search for a different table. I stand up too, and she flattens a palm towards me. Her face wrinkles, as if she's smelled something horrid. "No. Stay where you are."

I smirk, relaxing back into my seat. "Can't keep me away forever, princess."

"Yes, I can, serf," and she begins marching towards Mr. Riley. I call out to ask what 'serf' means, but she flashes me the finger behind her back. The classroom titters with amusement.

At that moment, the bell rings, and she stops midway. Riley strolls into the classroom, standing behind his desk. "Asher, can you please sit?" He gives her a kind smile, one reserved only for her, and my head swims with nausea. Asher opens her mouth, but the old man interrupts. "Later, Asher. Please."

She looks like she's going to throw a fit. With a huff, she spins on her heel and stalks back to me, brown eyes murderous. Asher makes sure to scoot her chair as far from me as possible, and all but pivots 180 degrees away from me. I stare at her back, wondering if she's just going to stare at the wall for fifty minutes.

"I get free vodka for this," I say as Mr. Riley begins the same first-day-speech that he's said for the past two years. "You might as well help a friend out."

"I don't think you know what the term 'friend' means," she mutters.

Asher doesn't turn back in her seat for the rest of the class period, just watches Mr. Riley go through first-day guidelines with a craned neck. When the bell rings, she's out of her seat like a bullet. Anywhere with me is the last place she'd be.

Cosmos Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/user/ellencheng4/playlist/02429LGkj9FCbJ86TObD2B (All songs included in each chapter are listed in the playlist)

Thank you for reading! I will be posting updates once a week on Sundays at 8 PM. I hope to see you next week! :) X