Dear Neighbor Boy,

Sneaky Little Rats Coming Up With Lies and Plans

Pointing at Jason, she said,"You can go, just be back by midnight."

Pointing at me,"You can go, but same thing as Jason. Midnight."

Pointing at my dad,"You can go cause it's really sweet what you're doing." I glared, well knowing that he wasn't going to night classes for Leo, but rather having an affair. I glared even harder when he pulled her into a quick kiss. The same lips that were inhaling Claire's were now on my mother's again.

Pointing at Alan,"You can go. But can I just say, out of all the things you could be out doing at midnight... You weirdo." I pointed at Alan and mouthed a mocking laugh.

We all walked outside going our separate ways. Except, my dad and I were going the same way, I just couldn't let him know that. So, I hid behind a bush until he was farther away, and I was sneaky about following him.

~~~~~~~

Why was my dad in front of a house instead of the diner? I wondered. On the way over there, I noticed how we weren't going the way to the diner, but I just assumed he was going a different route.

The house was made of yellow painted wood and stretched to two stories. I hid behind one of the bushes lining the short, white fence.

He pulled out his phone and texted someone. Almost immediately, it beeped, signalling a reply.

About thirty seconds later, an old, beat up Chevy sped to the front of the house and stopped abruptly. Whoever was driving it parked half of the car onto the sidewalk. The blue paint was so chipped and rusty that it was fading into a muddy, brownish green.

The driver got out of the car and ran up to my dad wheezing out,"Sorry I'm late! My shift was longer than I thought!" It was Claire. Of course.

I wondered if this was her house. I got my answer when they both walked inside and slammed the door behind them.

Well it's not like I could just go in there. What could I do??

I crouched behind the bush and sighed. I couldn't do much, but I did know one thing. I needed comfort. I took out my phone and called the only person I felt could provide it.

~~~~~~~

I sat hugging my knees to my chest with my head down. Counting to one hundred in my head, I waited.

I kept my position behind the bush as I heard a car pull up and someone rushing out of it. They came up next to me and crouched down.

"Princess?"

I looked up to see Asher with a look of concern.

"Oh, Princess. Are you okay? What's wrong?" Asher asked after seeing my face and wrapping his arms around me. I realized that tears were forming in my eyes.

Hey, you couldn't blame me for getting emotional over my dad being a scumbag.

I let those forming tears fall down my cheeks as I hugged Asher back. He hugged tighter when I choked on a sob.

His shirt was getting wet from my crying face being buried into his chest, but he didn't seem to mind.

We stayed that way for a while. Him holding me. We didn't say a word. Maybe it was a few minutes, maybe it was a few hours. Either way, it felt like an eternity to me.

Finally, when I was calming down, he asked me a question. "Princess, what's wrong?"

I half-heartedly smiled at the sweet nickname, though it didn't quite reach my eyes. "My dad's in there with Claire doing who knows what. It's been a while... Just, this whole thing really. He came back and not even a week into being back with my mom, he cheats. I know he's just using us as a place to live. I don't know how to tell my mom. She loves him. At some point, I did, too. Ugh."

He looked at me sympathetically and pulled me closer. I was actually glad he didn't say anything after that. There was nothing he could've said. His presence and warmth made me feel a bit better.

I found my head nodding and my eyes fluttering. I was really sleepy. I hadn't been getting much sleep lately because I was going to the diner late and stressing. Pretty soon, I felt myself completely drifting off in his arms.

~~~~~~~

My eyes fluttered open and I felt motion. I wasn't moving, but I was in something moving. I rubbed my eyes and realized I was in Asher's car. We were getting close to our street.

"Oh, you're awake." Asher said softly after glancing at me and smiling. Whenever he spoke softly, his deep voice made it sound kind of like a husky grumble and to say it made me flustered was an understatement.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I stretched in the confined space of the passenger seat.

"The diner." I was surprised by this reply, especially since we were already so close to our homes.

I cocked my head to the side. "Why?"

"I'm gonna get us some ice cream sundaes to cheer you up." He turned to me and the corners of his mouth curled up. Naturally, it started a tornado of frantic butterflies in my stomach.

"Thanks." I said softly and looked at the road ahead of me.

The bell on the door rang as we entered. We sat inside a booth and a waitress came up to us with a notepad and pen.

"Hey, Athena!" I chirped. For a pessimist, I sounded pretty optimistic there.

"Hey, Hazel! What do you guys want to drink?" Athena replied as she tapped the notepad with her pen.

"Oh, actually we're not getting drinks. But we're ready to order. Two ice cream sundaes, please." Asher said in a sing-song voice.

She nodded while scribbling and walked away into the kitchen. Pretty soon, she walked back out with two ice cream sundaes on a tray and stood in front of us.

And we had just started discussing my dad, again.

"What did you see at Claire's house?" Asher asked as Athena was taking the ice cream sundaes off the tray and placing them on the table.

Her eyes turned sharply to me and her smile quickly faded. "Oh, sweetie. Is it your dad?" I nodded. "He went to her house. There's only one reason Claire would take one of her guys to her house." She whispered the last part to herself but I could still hear it. She sat down next to me in the booth.

"Uh, you two know each other?" Asher asked with a cocked eyebrow as he took a spoonful of ice cream.

We both nodded and turned back to each other. "I just saw my dad walk in with Claire. I obviously couldn't go in."

Athena nodded grimly.

"But what if you could?" Asher interjected.

I snapped my head up. "Huh?"

"What if you had some sort of excuse or reason to go in? Or even, just doing it secretly, somehow."

"Like what?" Athena and I asked in unison.

Asher shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat his ice cream. We brainstormed for a few minutes when all of a sudden, Athena slapped the table, making Asher and I jolt in surprise.

"What is it?" Asher asked in alarm.

"Don't scare us like that!" I was clutching my chest and breathing heavily.

"Sorry." She scrunched her face up.

"It's fine. But why'd you do that?" Asher asked with knitted eyebrows.

Athena grinned and leaned forward. "I have a plan."

A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry for taking so long to update. We didn't have WiFi for about two weeks. I've also been super busy with school ending but it's over now so hopefully I can update more often. I'm sorry you had to wait but I'm finally back. What do you think the plan is? What do you think about Athena? Poor Hazel. She has to go through so much with her crappy dad. At least Asher's there to comfort her. I hope you liked this chapter! Make sure to follow for notifications and announcements! Please keep reading and vote! Thank you!! By my lovelies!!!❤❤❤

---Your Smøl Bean, Gen