Perspective

5-Famous Last Words

"Where the heck were you yesterday?" I ask as Asher pops open his locker.

"Home, Harper got sick on Sunday night and he was still sick yesterday," Asher replies, fighting a yawn back.

"What does his sickness have to do with you missing school?"

"Uh...everything? I mean, he is my son which means he's my responsibility," He says with a "duh" expression.

Hold up. What? Since when was Harper his son? I've heard that Asher had a son, but I thought it was just a rumor.

Now that he confirmed it, I have so many questions.

How old was Asher when Harper was born? Who did he knock up? Why is he a single father? What happened to the mother? What happened between Asher and Harper's mother?

"Wait a minute. If he's your son then two weeks ago when I picked you up, why did you refer to your mom as 'Mama'?" I ask, closing my locker door.

"Harper calls everyone who is older and a girl that," Asher says.

Wow, and I thought I was special when he called me that.

"Anyways," Asher closes his locker. "You're babysitting tonight, right?"

"Yup," I nod.

"Sweet. I'll make sure to tell Rose that I can come over."

I roll my eyes before heading to my first period.

"Hey, Chase," Aspen greets me as I plop down in my chair.

"Did you know that Asher has a son?" I question.

"Yeah," Jess looks up from her phone. "Everyone knows that."

Not me.

"Hold up," Aspen studys me. "You didn't know that?"

I shake my head. "I though it was a rumor."

"Well, it's true," She says, glancing up at the clock. "Weren't you at his house on Friday night? How did you not realize?"

"Yeah, but no one mentioned that Harper was his son," I defend myself.

Jess slides her phone over to me. "This was how everyone found out."

Asher's Instagram page is pulled up on her phone. The post is a picture of a baby in Asher's arms. The caption says, "Harper Park Bradley."

The picture is from nearly two years ago.

"Who's the mom?" I ask, handing Jess her phone.

She shrugs. "No one really knows. Not even Carter and Dylan. All they know is that something happened and Asher got full custody of Harper."

I know I shouldn't care, but I'm curious.

The bell rings pulling me out of my thoughts.

:::

"Reagan! Teagan! Let's go, kiddos!" Jennifer calls up the stairs while shifting through her handbag.

The twins run downstairs and stop in front of Jennifer and I.

"Hi, Chase!" They greet me with huge smiles.

"Hi, guys," I reply and give them a smile back.

"Again, thank you so much, Chase. It's just a busy time of year with their dance recitals and then my work," Jennifer says. She glances down at her phone and curses under her breath. "Asher's going to head home in a few minutes and he might leave again. If you need help with anything, you can call him and he'll come back."