The Cure To My Pain ✔️

17. Ash's House

"Guess who?" A hand covers my eyes and a voice whispers in my ears.

I recognise the voice instantly. It is none other than Asher. The day's Wednesday and I am at my locker taking out my books.
I decide to mess with him a little.

"Ummm I don't know? Probably-" he removes his hand and comes in front of me.

"Okay quit it, I am not here for that." He opens his backpack and pulls out a plastic container.

"What is it?" I ask curiously.

He takes of the lid and smiles at me. There is a piece of plane vanilla cake with buttercream frosting. I look up at him in confusion.

He grins at me and says,"Yesterday you told me you can't cook, well I can't cook either but I can bake. So I made this for you."

My lips part in surprise. His thoughtfulness made my stomach flutter,"I- uh wha- wow."

He looks at me expectantly,"It's not bad, if you are wondering. I am a good baker."

I quickly exclaime,"No its not like that Ash! I- I just.... Thank you. You doing this means a lot to me."

He smiles,"Okay, now tell me how you like it?"

I let out a breath and take hold of the plastic spoon in the container. I dig the spoon in the cake and bring it to my mouth. The cake is so soft and fluffy, it literally melts in my mouth. The frosting is not too sweet, giving it the perfect flavour.

"So....?" Ash looks at me eagerly.

"It's delicious Ash." I grin and take another bite.

He gives a relieved chuckle,"Of course it is. I made it, what did you expect?"

I roll my eyes still smiling,"You are so childish sometimes."

He leans in towards me and whispers,"If it makes the people I like smile, then I'm up for it."

My smile flatters at the little distance between our faces. I gulp and look in his eyes. They are shining with elation. He smirks and leans back.

He closes the lid of the container and walks behind me,"You can have the rest later. Right now we need to get to class."

He keeps the container in the bag and zips up the chain. He starts walking and with a sigh of relief I follow him.

We walk for a minute and suddenly Ash speaks,"I'm free tommorow. Maybe we could finish our project then."

I shrug,"Yeah okay."

"We should do it at my house." Ash says causally.

I stop in my tracks at his words,"Uhm I don't know, uhh....."

He raises his eyebrows,"Is it because your parents dont know me? I mean Paulina met me so...?"

"No I- yeah I'll talk with Lina about it", I assure him so he won't dwell upon it anymore.

"Okay, tell me what she says tommorow morning." With that he continues walking.

I follow him and we part our ways at the corner to go to our separate classes. For the next few hours I keep thinking of the reasons to reject Ash. But I have no valid one, I mean I can't always use the excuse of my non existent family. Frankly I want to spend time with him at his house. I trust him there's no reason not too. But I can't  take the risk, I can't go to his house and not expect Percy or Declan to find out. The fact is, they don't trust me and me going to his house will add fuel to the fire.