No.
No, no, no.
This is not real. I am just dreaming. This can't be happening. Calm down, Ellie. Just take a deep breath and go back to sleep.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Who was I kidding? No one could sleep in the middle of the hallway. This wasn't a dream. He was really here.
Be optimistic Ellie. Look at him. He is just Ashton trying a new look. Yeah, that must be it. Ashton getting bored and trying out a new look.
But that didn't explain the crowd around him. I should stop kidding myself. I could tell them apart even in my sleep. But I wouldn't deny that they look identical. It's just that I could tell them apart with the way they act, walk and talk. After all, I had spent my entire life with them, literally.
What is he doing here? Why? He was supposed to be in L.A. and do....whatever celebrities like him do.
I was losing it. God, I should stop talking to myself.
"Yeah, you should."
"It's creepy right?"
"Pretty." I looked beside me and a girl with red-rimmed glasses was staring at the scene in front of us. I didn't know her name, but I had seen her around.
Was I talking aloud this entire time?
Cue to be embarrassed.
Asher was walking in all his glory through the double glass doors with girls fawning and drooling over him. The entrance was so crowded you could literally see every female of Illinois Academy waiting for their Prince Charming to notice them. Well, except for me and the girl beside me.
"How can they let him come to school?" The girl beside me muttered.
"Yeah right?" I replied. I guess I was not the only one who hated his guts.
"I gotta do something," the girl muttered under her breath and walked away. I should better leave before he noticed me.
I was a bit late for that as he had already seen me. He threw me one of his dazzling smirks which can make any girl's feet turn into a puddle. I shot him a deadly glare and walked away.
****
It was the hour before lunch and I was taking out my books from my locker for the next class. Someone wrapped their arms around me from behind and twirled me. I was giggling by the time they put me down.
"Hey Ashton, you look happy today," I said to him smiling. See, that's how good friends we were. Now, this was Ashton. Always well dressed. His dark brown hair perfectly styled. Kind of a perfectionist if you asked me. This wasn't our usual greeting.
"You bet," he said grinning, his blue eyes shining.
It was always like this, us fooling around and laughing. It felt so comfortable to be with him. To talk to him. To see his blue eyes shine whenever he was happy.
"May I know the reason?" I asked as he walked me to my next class.
"I think you already do," he said.
Do I?
No, I don't.
Then it hit me. He was happy because his brother came back to town. Of course, he was. He loved Asher to pieces. Sometimes I thought why can't they hate each other? Why didn't they have that competition between them that siblings with similar ages do? They were the same age. But then again they both loved each other far too much to have that kind of a relationship. Those two could die for each other.
I felt like such a bitch to even think that. But really, I would never want them to fight.
"I think so too," I said.
"So when did he get here?" I asked, nonchalantly after a while.
"Who?" he asked with a confused expression.
I looked at him, my brows furrowed. Did he not know his brother was in town? What kind of a brother was he?
"Kidding!" he said, chuckling.
"You look so cute when you are confused," he said with a cheeky smile.
I was one hundred percent sure I was blushing. Oh my God! Ashton McArdle thought I look cute. Well, at least we were getting somewhere. I didn't dare look at him. I couldn't let him see me blushing.
Then he started telling me about his summer vacations with his family which consisted of the twins and their parents. How they went to different places and returned just yesterday night. Listening to him talking about his family was making me smile as well as feel a little jealous at the same time. He had a perfect family. But then again, what family would be perfect with a member like Asher? But it was.
Now that I thought of it that way, Asher was one lucky ass. He'd got everything. A loving family, great friends, good looks. Eww! I shouldn't have said the last part. I mean, he was on the cover of every popular magazine at just the age of eighteen. His career was over the top and here I didn't even know what I wanna become.
Dad and I went to vacations too and they were awesome. But it wasn't the same. I also wanted a family like his. I also wanted a mom with whom I could share my secrets, with whom I could talk about the boy I liked. Hell, she could even ground me for being late or difficult, but at least she would be there.
"You okay?" Ashton asked me. I must have zoned out.
I nodded.
"See you around then," he said and went the other way.
I looked out the window the entire period. Thinking about her always made me sad. I never showed it to anyone. I liked to keep it to myself. It was like a secret between me and my mom. Even though I didn't remember her I was sure she was awesome. My dad still loved her just as much. That's why he was still single after fifteen years of her death.
****
"And I told them I would never do that. I mean, who in their right mind would do that..."
Cue to zone out. If you were wondering who was I talking to it's my BFF Brooke. We were both waiting for our food in the cafeteria. She was going on and on about some incident that happened to her when she was in Spain this summer to live with her father. And trust me I had heard this story hundred times. Both on the cell phone, just after it happened and so many other times in person, it was difficult to keep an account. She never got tired of telling it again and again.
After taking our lunch we went to sit at our table.
As soon as Brooke sat down she remembered something and her hazel eyes shone.
"I told you Ashton looks just like Asher Hart and today he looked like his clone. I saw him in my trig class," she chirped. So, I should probably clear this up. Brooke joined the school last year when she moved here with her mom after her parents got divorced. She didn't know that Asher was Ashton's twin and that he used to go here before he moved to L.A. She couldn't make the family connection as Asher used her mother's maiden name as his stage name. So, the pompous jerk Asher McArdle was Asher Hart for the world.
Now, why didn't I let my best friend out of this confusion? Honestly, I couldn't care less about what people thought about Asher and I had definitely no desire to go on correcting them. It was hard enough listening to her fangirling about his latest songs and who he was getting cozy with.
I guess it was time, I let her out of her misery.
"Brooke, the guy you saw today at trig was not Ashton. He was Asher," I told her.
Her change in expressions almost made me laugh. It went from confusion to astonishment to disbelief.
"As in Asher Hart? The teen sensation? The Hottie? The -"
"Yes, The whatever," I replied before she could add another effin' word.
"Oh. My. God!" She was literally on the verge of having a panic attack.
"Calm down Brooke," I told her, concerned. She might actually get a panic attack.
"Asher freakin' Hart is on our campus and you are telling me to calm down?" she asked, exasperated.
I gave her my bottle of water. She took it and gulped it down. All of it.
If this piece of information was having this effect I didn't know what would happen to her if I told her he was Ashton's twin.
"What?" she asked.
Did I say that aloud too? Gosh, I should stop talking in my head.
"Nothing," I said, smiling. Maybe next time. Shouldn't play with her fragile heart.
A very important thing dawned on me. I had to print an assignment for the next class. I couldn't it do at home because my printer didn't work properly and left ink blotches on the paper. I stood up and told Brooke that I would see her after school.
No one would be at the library at this time. Except for the nerds or anyone who was in dire need of printing their assignment due next period. I entered the library which was almost empty. Illinois Academy had a library worth bragging about. After all, it was a private school. They gotta use the money somewhere.
"Good Afternoon Ms. Reed," I greeted our Librarian. She was a young lady in her late twenties.
She looked up from her computer and nodded at me.
"Can I use a computer?" I asked politely.
"Yeah you can use the one at the end of the room," she said.
I nodded and walked towards the said computer.
"Ms. Anderson?"
"Yeah," I looked back at her.
"I got some urgent work. Can you please be here until I return? It will only take awhile," she requested.
"Of course, I'll be doing my work anyway," I told her.
After printing my assignment I waited for Ms. Reed to return. She had said awhile. What was taking her so long? I started skimming my assignment just to pass time.
"Finally we meet," came a voice I could recognize even in my sleep. It still held the same cockiness I remembered. Some people never changed and Asher was one of them. I didn't realize until then that I was dreading to meet him. I'd been avoiding any chance to meet him without even realizing it.
I looked up and there he was. Lazily leaning against the doorframe and still managing to look as if posing for a photoshoot. He had grown since the last time I saw him. It was two years ago. He looked manlier now but still had a boyish aura. His cheekbones were well defined and he had grown taller.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer. Oh, wait! You already have it, don't you?"
I sighed inwardly. Some people never change.
"Are you done?" I asked, bored. He had already done enough damage by making an appearance, I didn't want it to become worse. I made a move to exit the library. I wouldn't take any of his shit anymore. I was sure Ms. Reed wouldn't mind me leaving.
"Not so fast, Anderson. I am barely started," he said, amused.
Then he did something that I wouldn't have expected in my wildest dreams. He wrapped his arms around me and crushed me against his body.
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-K