PAST
"Get off of me!" I tell the two men holding my arms and taking me out of the car. They don't listen. They never do. They think I'm stupid just because I'm a kid.
"Stay still, you runt." The short and fat one mutters. He's been there for almost all of my moves so he knows me well. He's probably sick of me now. That's okay. I'm just as sick of him.
"Make me, ugly." I scowl. I almost spit on him but last time that got me into the kind of trouble I couldn't handle. I know my limits. I've been in the system too long not to.
"You ungrateful little shit." He hisses. I rear back when his face gets close to mine. He always has bad breath. Hasn't he ever heard of toothpaste? I'm a poor foster child and even I know that. "Let's see how long this couple can handle you. I bet two weeks."
"That's way too generous." The tall and thin one laughs. "I bet two days. Have you met them? Asian people are all about manners and etiquette. This white tyke won't last an hour under their rules."
I breathe harshly through my nose so I don't cry. The last time I cried, the transport men laughed at me. It's what they wanted. They were just happy "ice boy" finally showed some weakness. That's what they call me. I don't care but sometimes it hurts. That's why I don't pay attention to them.
"And you would?" I snarl back, kicking his leg. He yelps at the unexpected hit and glares at me, tightening his hold on my arm so tightly I have to bite my tongue so I don't cry out. "Your manners are shit. They would whip you up into better shape than me."
"Don't be a smart-ass, kid." The fat one gets in my face again. I crinkle my nose against the smell coming out of his mouth. "You know what I do to smart-asses."
I keep my eyes on his, trying real hard not to look at the cane strapped to his hip. I know exactly what he does because he's done it before. I won't let him see my fear. I won't be weak.
"Worry about yourself, you fat-ass!" I kick him too and tug my arms out of their holds. I think it's a miracle that they actually let go and I take off running, away from the house that I'm supposed to go to. I don't want to go to another strange place. I don't want to sleep in another strange bed. I don't want to call more strange people my "parents." Nobody owns me. Why won't they leave me alone?
I don't make it very far before the bad men catch me again. They pick me up by my arm and I kick my legs in the air but it's no use. They're too strong for me. Hot tears burn my eyes and I put on a mean face so they won't come out. I won't be weak.
"Put him down!"
All three of us look up in surprise at the angry voice. There's an Asian man standing in front of the house and he looks pissed. He's pretty tall and in good shape and I think maybe he does karate. Maybe I should learn a few moves for him before I try to make a run for it.
The two men drop me and I fall on the grass, landing on my hands and knees. I make a noise in the back of my throat when I see the green stain on the knees of my jeans. This is my only clean pair! They did this on purpose!
Don't cry, Asher.
I pinch my arm real hard and focus on the pain of that instead. There's no time to focus on the pain in my chest. The pain there makes me weak.
"Is this how you treat children?" The angry man says in a loud voice. I jump in my skin and start to feel scared. Oh, no. What if he hits like some of the others? What if he gets mad when he drinks? I take a step back. I shouldn't have made a scene. I probably already pissed him off and I haven't even stepped inside the house. Why do I ruin everything?
"No, sir." The fat one says in a kind voice. It's so fake. "He was trying to make a run for it."
"And it's no wonder. He has red marks on his arms from how tightly you were holding him." The man reaches me and stares at my arms. I look down and see the marks he was talking about. It's not that big of a deal to me. This always happens. I don't know why he's getting mad about it. "What are your names? You put your hand on my foster child and I will be seeing you in court about it."
Court? I know that place. It's how I ended up in the foster system. Court ruined my life. This man is going to ruin my life.
"No." I whisper. The man looks at me. His face changes and he looks nice now. How did he do that so fast? Is he faking? Is he pretending to be good like the others during visitation?
"Don't worry, Asher. It's going to be okay." He says in a nice voice. I don't buy it. He's pretending. They all do. Nobody is ever nice. Everybody likes to hurt me and I won't fall for this guy's act.
"No!" I scream. I won't be weak.
His head goes back in surprise. Good. He should know now he can't mess with me. I won't let him!
I take off running again toward the house. I need a place to hide. I run faster when I hear voices behind me. I need to find a hiding spot right now or they'll catch me. I can't let that happen.
I run between the house in supposed to live in and the house next door. There's a big tree in the middle that I can climb. It's perfect.
I go up branch by branch. I'm really good at climbing trees so I get to the top real fast. There's even a balcony that I can reach if I jump from the highest branch. I leap and land on the small balcony, backing up until my back is against the glass doors. I take a peek through them. It looks like a room. There's a bed with Scooby-Doo bedsheets and I roll my eyes. I'm ten-years-old, not six. I like Iron Man much better.
There's even a TV in there! Is that mine? I've never had my own TV before. Is this part of their plan? To make me want to stay here? I turn my face away and ignore the room. That trick won't work on me, no matter how cool the TV is. It probably doesn't even get that many channels.
"Who are you?"
I gasp in surprise and feel my palms turn sweaty like they do when I'm scared. They found me already. How?
Except...it's not the bad men. It's just a girl.
Great. The view from my room is a girl with crazy red hair and nerdy glasses. That's just gross. Couldn't any boys live around here?
"None of your business." I tell her and make my voice extra mean. That should make her cry. Girls always cry so easily.
"Too bad!" She stomps her foot. She looks mad. Why isn't she crying? "I've never seen you before and you're this close to my room so you're my business whether you like it or not, jerk."
I blink my eyes. Did she just calls me a jerk? No kid calls me that. All the kids are scared of me.
"Keep your voice down, stupid." I hiss. "Or they'll find me."
Her eyes grow big and she looks around.
"Who's going to find you?" She whispers really loudly.
"The bad men." I answer but I don't know why. Didn't I just tell her I'm none of her business?
"There's bad men here?" Now she looks kind of scared. "That's not good. What makes them bad?"
Why should I tell her that? What if she uses it against me?
Except...she looks really innocent and I feel kind of bad for making her worried. That is so bizarre. I never feel guilty. I decide to answer her question so this weird feeling will go away.
"Do you see the fat one over there?" I point to him where he's standing on the front yard, arguing with the two other dudes. The girl nods and her glasses slip from her face. She pushes them back up, watching them carefully. I almost laugh. She's kind of funny. "He has horrible breath and says mean things to me."
"Does he know what a mint is?" She scrunches her nose. This time I do laugh before I can stop it. It's been a long time since I did that. It feels kind of good.
She giggles too and smiles at me. She has a nice smile, I guess. It makes her look kind of pretty.
Ugh! What is wrong with me? Why am I being so nice to her and noticing all these things? Why is she making me weak? That means I have to stay away from her. It's for the best, even if it kind of sucks because I was actually starting to like her.
"Whatever." I change the subject. "You don't need to know anything. I don't plan on staying here long especially not with the dude who lives here."
"Why not? Darren is the best." She frowns.
"You know him?" I sit up straighter. This is perfect. I can get information from her! "Does he know karate?"
"No. Why would you think that? Just because he's Korean? That is so racist."
"I'm not racist!" I growl. I take back all the nice things I said about her. This chick is annoying. "You don't know anything about me."
"Duh. We just met. I'll know more when we become best friends."
"Best friends?" My eyes go wide. Is she crazy? What makes her think she can be friends with me? Who says I even want to be her friend? "I don't think so."
"I know so." She shrugs. I clench my fists tightly. She is such a little know it all. "I'm Aria."
"And I don't care." I turn my face away from her to ignore her.
"What's your name?"
I stay quiet. I'm sure she'll go away eventually.
"If you don't tell me, I'll just ask Darren or Abigail. You can't hide it from me."
I squint my eyes at her in the scary way that makes other kids back off. Her smile just gets bigger. Seriously, what is wrong with her?
"I like the colour of your eyes."
I choke on my spit. How pushy can she get? And who cares what colour my eyes are? Girls are so weird.
"They remind me of glass. That's so cool."
"Will you shut up?" I tell her in my rudest voice.
"Not until you tell me your name."
I can feel myself getting angrier. I hate giving in and I'm about to lose to this chick but I know she won't leave until I give her what she wants and that pisses me off. Her annoying me is worse, though.
"Fine. It's Asher. Happy?"
"How old are you?"
"Are you for real? You said you'd be quiet if I told you my name. You're such a liar."
"No, I'm not. I crossed my fingers behind my back."
"So you're a cheater, too?"
"No. I'm smarter than you."
"Dream on." I huff. I've never met anyone more annoying in my life. It's a good thing I won't be sticking around for long. My life has no room for this crazy girl.
"How old are you?"
"Oh my God." I look up at the sky. This must be my punishment for all the bad things I did. It has to be. "I'm ten. Now shut it."
"I'm ten, too! So is my brother. We're twins."
"Brother?" I face her again. Finally. Some good news. "Where is he? Ask him if he can play."
"Why don't you want to play with me?" She puts her hands on her hips.
"Because you're annoying." I shake my head. "Never mind. I'll ask him myself."
"Go ahead but I'll play with you guys anyways. Nate always includes me with everything."
I slump against the doors. Great. The only boy around here is a total wuss. I could never be friends with someone like that. This place is a complete bust.
"Do you want friendship bracelets?" Aria asks after it gets quiet again. My head is starting to hurt. Does she ever shut up?
"No." I roll my eyes.
"I'm really good at making them. It won't take long."
"I can live without them. Please go." I never use the worse please but maybe asking her nicely will work.
She shrugs and actually goes back inside, just like I thought.
I lie down on the balcony and stare up at the sky. I'd never admit it out loud but it's actually pretty cool up here. I don't want to get used to it, though. I should leave.
I stand up and go inside of the room, taking a better look around. The bedsheets are stupid but the rest of the room is pretty sweet. Whoever these people are, they're good. They're tricks would work on me if I wasn't too smart for them. A cool room won't bribe me.
"Do you like it?"
I turn around fast at the sound of a new voice. It's an Asian woman, probably the wife of the dude I saw outside. She's smiling at me and somehow I know it isn't fake. She's really pretty.
I don't answer her question. I don't know these people so they shouldn't have to know anything about me. Too many strangers have my information already and I won't let more people take advantage of me.
"I'm not sure what kind of things you prefer so I did my best." She shrugs. She doesn't seem offended that I'm not talking.
I cross my arms and stare. Adults usually get uncomfortable when I do that and leave me alone. For some reason, this lady doesn't. She just smiles wider.
"I hate the bed sheets by the way." She points to the Scooby-Doo disaster. "I told Darren you're too grown up for that but he's a huge fan of the cartoon and got offended. Apparently you're never too old for Scooby-Doo but between you and me, he's got problems."
I accidentally laugh and quickly cover my mouth. I didn't mean to do that but she's funny.
"I'm Abigail." She holds her hand out. I don't want to shake it because I don't want her to think we're friends. I don't want anything to do with these people. But...she's pretty cool for an old lady and she's the only one that hasn't annoyed me all day.
I shake her hand and quietly say my name. "Asher."
"Cool name." She grins. "Are you hungry? You're pretty big for your age so I'm going to guess you have a large appetite."
She's right about that. I'm taller, stronger, and faster than all the boys my age. Plus, I haven't eaten all day and food sounds really good.
"What do you have?" I ask. "The food they give in the system tastes like shoe so I'll pretty much eat anything."
Abigail bursts out laughing and for some reason, it makes me feel good that I made her laugh. I'm so used to making adults mad or disappointed so this feels kind of nice.
"Well, I won't feed you shoes. Spaghetti and meatballs?"
"My favourite." I admit.
"I know. I've looked over your file."
Oh. So she thinks she knows everything about me?
"My favourite food is steak, by the way." She crosses her arms and looks pretty tough doing it. "Tell you what — for every piece of information I know about you, I'll tell you the exact same thing about myself. You seem like the kind of kid that likes to know things so I won't keep you in the dark. I can tell you're smarter than that."
Man, she's good. She just gets cooler and cooler and I actually don't hate her. I've never met an adult I don't hate.
"Whatever." I say. She can't know what a good job she's doing or she's bound to take advantage, right?
"Come downstairs. The boy from next door stopped by."
She doesn't have to tell me twice.
"Awesome." I run out of the room and go down the stairs, skipping two steps. I pass Darren but he doesn't say anything to stop me, just waves. That's a good sign, I guess. Some of the foster families would never let me leave the house especially without permission even if it was just to play.
"Are you Nate?" I ask the kid with brown hair who's kicking a ball on the front yard.
"Yeah. Aria told me about you." He waves. He's just as tall as me and he looks pretty strong too. Maybe he's not a wuss after all. "Wanna play?"
"Yeah."
He kicks the ball to me and I stop it with my foot.
"Are you here for good?" Nate asks
"I don't know." I shrug. "Probably not. I never stay in the same place for long. I'm sure this family will get sick of me eventually so don't get comfortable with having me around."
"Abigail and Darren are too nice for that."
"There's no such thing as too nice. There's no such thing as nice, either."
"You'll see." He says confidently.
I look back at "my" house. I can see those two through the window and they're talking to each other. They're laughing. They look happy which I hardly ever see. Most families who foster are miserable and messed up. Are these people actually decent? I shouldn't feel hopeful. I know better than that.
"Nate!"
"Aw, man." I groan when I see Aria walking toward us. "Does she have to play with us?"
"She's good at soccer. She's pretty cool for a girl and I'm not just saying that because she's my twin."
"Still." I huff, kicking the ball back to him.
"Just give it a shot. If you still don't want her around then I'll ask her to go inside."
"Fine."
"Don't start without me." Her eyes are wide behind her glasses. "By the way Nate, Mom is calling you."
"What now?" He groans and jogs away.
Aria looks at me and smiles when he's gone. "They're ready. I told you I was fast."
"What's ready?"
"The friendship bracelets."
"You actually made them? That's so lame."
"Are not!" She glares. "These ones are special."
"What's so special about them?"
"They bring you good luck. Trust me."
"If you really believe that then you're still just a kid." I pick up the ball and start walking away. Just because I'm waiting for Nate doesn't mean I have to wait with her. She's too annoying.
"Just take it. You never know when it'll come in handy." She puts it in my jeans pocket and smacks my hand away when I try to take it out. "Would you stop being so rude? I'm just trying to be your friend. You look like you need one."
"What?" I scowl. What does she know about me? But she walks away before I can say anything else and I reach inside my pocket, feeling the bracelet and taking it out.
It looks like it was twisted into a design that she made herself. It's black so at least it won't look girly if I wear it. There's also an infinity piece in the middle.
"Hey!" I call after her. She turns around. "What's with the infinity symbol?"
"It means we're going to be best friends forever!" She calls back.
My eyes bug out. This girl is crazy! Best friends forever? I stuff the bracelet back inside my pocket and roll my eyes. Yeah, right.
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A/N
Um, cuteness overload! These two!!!
Little Ash is a total firecracker for sure. Writing about him is cracking me up and saddening me all at the same time. He's had such a tough life at such a young age and this side of him will hopefully help you guys understand his character better. I'm excited to do more flashback chapters!
Please VOTE, comment and share if you liked this chapter!
Happy Reading :)