I really enjoyed trips to the bathroom at school.
Back at my old school at home, the bathrooms were usually either full of people who tried to be sneaky and smoke their Juuls, or they were too dirty to be used. Really, I dehydrated myself on purpose just to avoid having to go in there.
But the bathrooms here were too small for groups of boys, and they were always pretty clean, which was a welcomed change.
I opened the door to the boy's bathroom while whistling a song that had been stuck in my head all morning, not really thinking about anything. There was no one else in here, so I didn't stop whistling.
Just as I opened my fly in front of one of the urinals, the door opened behind me.
"Zip up," a firm voice said, and I briefly froze as I recognized it.
"Nah, bitch," I said, not moving. "You're not following me in here. Be weird somewhere else."
Sam groaned in annoyance. "I don't wanna see your dick, and I won't leave. So zip the fuck up."
I rolled my eyes, but did as she said before turning around. She was leaning against the door, making it impossible to be opened from the other side.
"I'm lowkey scared, and uncomfortable. I came in here for a reason, you know."
"So did I," she said with a shrug. "Asher made me come here."
I raised a brow. "He told you to follow me into the bathroom? Kinky."
"Shut the fuck up." She sighed. "Well, he told me to apologize, and I figured this would be a good place."
Even though I appreciated Asher's act of kindness, I really wished he would have told her to just stay away from me instead. I was still scared that she would dunk my head in the toilet.
"Okay. Got it. Can I pee now?"
Sam narrowed her eyes at me. "Sure. But I'm not gonna leave until we talked."
Bitch, dare me. I turned back around to the urinal, slowly lowering my hands to my fly, opening it ever so slightly. When Sam still didn't move, I zipped it back up and turned around in annoyance.
"Fine, oh my god. Talk," I gave in, slumping against the wall in defeat.
"Listen, this is as dumb for me as it is for you. Probably worse for me," she said, followed by a lazy shrug. "But I promised Asher to do it. And we keep promises, don't we, Kiri?"
I frowned. "Of course."
She nodded. "So, yeah. As you might have figured, or not, considering you're kinda slow, I haven't always lived here."
My cheeks slightly reddened. I hadn't once thought about her origin, to be honest. I just hadn't cared enough.
But now I was intrigued, and even though this situation was still uncomfortable, I listened closely.
"I was born in a huge city, pretty far away. We didn't have much, so it was tough. A lot of bad stuff. Bad people. Bad times." She shrugged again and looked away. "My aunt Amina got me out of there. She took me in, brought me to this safe place, you know. It's nice here. Quiet. Calm."
"Yeah, pretty fucking quiet," I mumbled.
"So, yeah. It was hard. Everything was hard. But I managed to hold on to the people I love." The faintest smile tugged at her lips. "Amina. Gill. Asher, too. He was the first at this school to accept me for me."
I smiled a little. Yeah, Asher liked people who didn't belong.
"Anyways," she said, clearing her throat. "You need to hold on to what you love is what I'm saying. I mean, if that's Ash for you, okay. But you gotta hold on. And you can't just let go when you feel like it."
"Of course," I repeated, slowly understanding the meaning behind her words.
Sam nodded again. "I guess it's just not that easy for me to accept that, uh, new people, you know. When Ash picks you, I guess you belong. I don't know. So yeah, I'm sorry. For yesterday."
I cracked a grin. "Aw, you're getting soft."
Her expression hardened, and she narrowed her eyes at me. "Say that again and I'll fucking make you drink your own pee."
"Yeah, no, let's not do that." I hesitated. "Thanks for telling me this."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Just don't ditch Ash as soon as you get the chance."
I smiled at her, trying to make it as honest as possible. "I won't. Promise."
She nodded, then moved to open the door.
"Hey, maybe we can be friends after all!" I said as she left the room, and she just flipped me off as a reply.
I turned back around to the urinal, smiling as I proceeded to do what I came here for. Sam just admitted that she'd try and accept me as part of their group, I could finally pee, and I still had the bathroom all to myself. Was there a better way to start this day?
Now all I had left to do was convince Asher that I really wasn't leaving him for good, and help him overcome his trust issues. Then, everything would finally fall into place.
*
My hands were buried in Asher's hair, pressing him closer as we kissed. We weren't careful and hesitant like when we shared our first kiss. I was a panting mess, comfortably laying on my mattress with Asher on top of me.
He used his one arm to hold himself up so not all of his weight was resting on me, and his other one was wandering from my cheek over my neck down to my shoulder. We were both shirtless, my door was locked even though Michael wouldn't be home for another hour or two, and the room had suddenly gotten unbelievably hot.
Maybe it was just Asher, though.
I let out a quiet moan as he pressed his lips against a soft spot right under my ear, and my cheeks turned an unhealthy shade of red. Asher stopped to grin down at me.
Instead of saying anything, he lowered his head again, kissing the spot a second time, now softer. At first I tried to hold in the following moan, but then I gave in and whispered a hoarse "fuck".
Asher quietly chuckled against my skin, and I rolled my eyes.
"Just wait until I find your spot. Bet you won't laugh then, bitch."
He leaned down for a quick kiss on my lips. "I like you better moaning than mad."
With my cheeks reddening again, he moved to pick up where he left when suddenly, the shrill sound of my ringing phone broke the silence.
I groaned in annoyance, but Asher didn't move. "Let it ring."
"What if it's important?" I asked, raising a brow.
"More important than this?" he replied, copying my facial expression. I rolled my eyes and pushed him away a little.
"I'll answer it real quick, and then I'll suck your dick."
Asher moved away so I could get up. "Wait, really?"
I shrugged, heading over to where my phone was laying. "If you shut up now. Hello?"
"Stupid ass boy," Ruby's voice appeared as I answered the call. "I haven't heard from you in like, forever. I thought you ran off in the sunset with some hillbilly chick. Or cowboy. I don't even know at this point."
I raised a brow, glancing at Asher. "Ruby. Well, he hasn't run off in the sunset with me yet, but he's laying half naked on my bed and looking kind of mad."
Ruby chuckled. "Ah, I'm the cockblock. In that case, let's have a long ass conversation."
"What about no," I replied. "I'll call you back. Bye."
I ended the call and tossed the phone back on the floor, where our shirts were laying. Asher raised a brow as I came back to the mattress.
"Ruby?"
"Yup. He's like, my only friend back at home. Hey, didn't you think I had plenty of them in my exciting city?" I grinned and sat down next to him. "Well, I don't. As you can see, not much there keeps me from coming back to you."
I leant in to kiss him, but he pulled away after a second.
"No joke, I used to think you had a girlfriend for some time."
I stared at him in surprise before starting to laugh. "Honestly, what about me doesn't scream gay?"
He rolled his eyes, a faint grin tugging at his lips. I calmed down again and moved into a more comfortable sitting position, taking his hand in mine.
"I actually don't know if I'm gay. I mean, I've never kissed a girl, but I also don't really feel attracted to them, you know." I shrugged. "To be honest, I've only kissed one person before you."
Asher looked down at our touching hands. "Who?"
"Ruby."
"Should I be jealous now?" Asher asked, raising a brow. "I'm not really a jealous kind of guy, but if you want me to be, I could try."
I cracked a grin. "Nah. It was just once, when we were both drunk. I don't even know why we did it. Neither of us liked it, so, nothing to worry about here." I briefly paused. "Also, Ruby's straight, even though he doesn't really pay attention to anyone like that. Hey, do you think he's asexual?"
Asher tilted his head. "He's your friend, I don't even know him."
"Right. You should meet him."
He leant forward to kiss me, then pulled away again. "Whose scarf is it, then? The one over there."
I briefly glanced over my shoulder just to see that Lana's scarf was still laying in the corner, probably all dusty and creased now.
"Wow, I forgot about that," I admitted. "It belongs to Michael's ex-girlfriend. He had like, a suitcase full of the stuff she left here that I made him throw out. I never bothered to throw it away."
Asher grinned and kissed me again, this time longer. When he pulled away again, I groaned in annoyance.
"Can't we postpone the questions to later and just kiss now? I can't do both."
"Just one last thing," he said, his face still close to mine, his breath brushing over my skin. "Can I trust you?"
"Yes."
He smiled against my lips before locking them in a kiss, and I moved to pull him closer. I hadn't hesitated with my reply because I knew he could trust me. I wouldn't hurt him. I wouldn't betray him. And most of all, I wouldn't just leave him.
We left my room about two hours later to grab some food. It was raining so there wasn't practice today, and Asher agreed to stay over for dinner.
Michael was sitting in the kitchen, eating a banana with the newspaper spread out in front of him. He looked up as we came in, showing us his usual faint smile.
"Hi, Asher. I didn't know you were here."
"Kiri invited me over for dinner," Asher replied, leaning against the counter as I made my way to the fridge. "I hope that's not a problem."
"Of course not. That is actually quite convenient," Michael said, his eyes falling on me. "I'm going out with Anna later."
I almost dropped the cheese I had just taken out of the fridge, and turned to Michael with a surprised expression.
"Do not mess with me, my fragile heart can't take that."
Michael smiled nervously, fidgeting with his banana peel. "I'm not. I'm picking her up in half an hour."
"Congrats," Asher said with a smile. I turned to him, then back to Michael.
"Pff, congrats. That should earn a whole fucking party," I said, cracking a grin. "How did it happen? Who asked who? Did you call her? Did you go to her house? Oh my god, what are you gonna wear?"
"Jesus, shut up," Asher said, rolling his eyes.
Michael laughed hesitantly. "She asked me to help her reorganize her garden, and I just asked her while I was there. Just like that. It was... yeah." He cleared his throat. "It went well."
I shot him a smile, a genuine one, and leant against the counter right next to Asher.
"They grow up so fast, right, honey?"
Asher cleared his throat, and I just laughed and turned my attention back to the fridge. Things were finally going right, not only for me, but also for the people here, and it was great to see.
Good things were coming, I could just tell.