Changing The Future

CHAPTER V

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The next day in a local park in the middle of the city, Asher is sitting on a tree branch, in one of the many trees planted in that park. He is nervous. He wants to know if he passed the exam. But only one day has passed since the exam and it will take a few weeks before they'll send out the results so he'll have to wait for a while. He closes his eyes and leans against the tree. He's listening to his surroundings. Everything is so peaceful. You can hear birds chirping, people talking, children's laughter, and dogs barking in the distance. It helps him calm down. This is his escape place. His place to think, to relax, to get away. Suddenly he hears a girl's scream in the distance. Asher opens his eyes and sees a girl running away from two people. 'Wait!? She's running from Joshua and Rose?' Rose has bandages around her head and arm. It must have been where the stone that Joshua had levitated hit her. Asher cringes. He would have looked like that if Alice didn't save him. "Come back here b*tch! How dare you spill the drink on my sister!" Joshua says looking angry. "Brother, wait!" Rose says, trying to catch up with the two. The girl is running towards the tree Asher is sitting in. He has to do something to help the girl. He isn't going to sit there and watch how Joshua bullies someone else. 'Think Asher, think. She's coming closer and Joshua is... Lifting a big rock from the ground?! He's going to throw it at the girl.' Joshua levitates the rock towards the girl at a high speed and Rose screams. Without thinking Asher throws cards at the rock, slicing the rock into tiny pieces. The girl trips and falls onto the ground. Was he too late? Did a piece of the rock hit her? "There is nowhere you can run now." Joshua says walking up to her dismissing the fact that the rock was now in pieces. Asher could see the look of terror in the girl's eyes as Joshua walks toward the girl and makes his hands into a fist lifting his hand ready to hit the girl. The girl closes her eyes waiting for the impact of Joshua's fist, but nothing happens. She opens her eyes and sees Rose holding Joshua's hand, holding him back from hitting the girl. "Joshua, think about this. There are too many people watching." Rose says with pleading eyes. Joshua huffs as he notices a crowd forming and forces his arm away from Rose's grasp. "Fine let's go." Joshua walks away. Rose shakes her head and then looks at the girl and places her hand on her hip. "Amber, you should learn to stand up for yourself." The girl rolls her eyes and says "Take your own advice." "Hmph." Rose flips her hair and walks away.

Amber stands up and dusts herself off. "Thank you for saving me Asher." She says looking straight at him. Asher couldn't hide his shock. "How do you know my name?" He asks, looking at the girl in suspicion. He jumps down from the tree as Amber takes a step back to avoid being jumped on. "Well, they talk a lot about you." She says as if it's obvious. He looks at her confused. "You mean Joshua and Rose?" "Yup, I live with them." She picks up the cards that Asher had thrown and gives them to him. "I knew it was you because of the cards. Joshua didn't see the cards because he was too angry at me for spilling his drink on Rose." She offers her hand to Asher. "I'm Amber." Asher shakes her hand "I'm Asher." Asher and Amber spent the rest of the day hanging out in the park. They quickly formed a connection as they are both victims of the twins' bullying. After a few hours, it was time for Amber to go. "I have to go home before Joshua will get even madder than he already is at me for being late." "I understand. I'll see you another time." After saying goodbye, they both go their separate ways.

Asher continues to walk through the park when he feels his phone buzzing in his pocket. He looks at his phone and sees he got a text message from his father.

Dinner is ready.

Okay, I'll be home soon.

Okay, get home safe.

Asher puts his phone away and walks home. On a bench in the park, a guy is sitting reading a newspaper. Is he reading the newspaper or watching Asher? The man stands up, folds the newspaper and puts it away, and begins to follow Asher from a distance. Asher is on his way back home when he suddenly starts to feel paranoid. He turns around but he doesn't see anything unusual. Asher shrugs it off and continues walking. Maybe he's just paranoid because it's getting dark and he's never really been out this late. The guy that was following Asher is sitting in a nearby tree watching Asher walk away. He jumps on the roof of the house next to the tree. And runs away on the rooftops.

Asher arrives home and walks straight to the kitchen. He sees takeout pizza on the kitchen counter. Of course, his father bought takeout food. His father is too lazy to cook but Asher doesn't mind it because who doesn't love pizza? "Asher is that you?" His father shouts from the living room. Asher walks to the living room and looks around. His father is sitting on the couch looking under the weather. It's probably because his mother still hasn't woken up. "Hi dad." Asher sits down next to his father. "Are you okay?" His father lets out a deep sigh. "Yeah, it's just your grandparents coming back that brings up a lot of bad memories." He lets out a shaky laugh and shakes his head. "Enough about me. How was the park?" "It was nice and relaxing and... oh I met a girl and talked to her for a while." His father looks at him with a smug look. "What?" "It's just that in these two days you've already seemed to be making friends. And girls even." "So what, It's a coincidence." Asher says quickly, blushing. His father laughs. "Okay, I believe you." He pats Asher on the shoulder and stands up. "Now let's eat some pizza."

Three days have passed since the encounter with Amber. Asher is in his parent's bedroom sitting on a chair beside the bed his mother is laying on. Asher's mother still hasn't woken up. His father walks into the bedroom. "Dad, is this normal?" "I don't know." He doesn't know? "What do you mean you don't know?!" Asher yells at his father and immediately regrets it. "Asher, listen to me." His father places his hand on Asher's shoulder trying to calm him down. "This normally doesn't happen but because she used up a lot of energy after so many years she has to rest. I just don't know for how long." Asher looks at his mother. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm just worried." Asher says, hanging his head. His father sighs. "Asher, I'm also worried but she'll wake up soon." Both of them are now silent. Not saying a word. They don't need to say anything. The house is so silent now. He never knew silence could be so deafening. Asher fidgets "Why do you have to wait for mom to wake up before you can answer my question?" "What question?" "About the sword." "Well, I have to discuss it with your mother first." "What is there to discuss?!" Asher says getting the wind up again. "Yeah, what is there to discuss?'' His mother asks yawning, just having woken up. "See, even mom agrees...wait, mom?!"