Song suggestion: Night changes by One direction or Life of the party by Shawn Mendes :)
Enjoy!
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"What!? Tell me what is it?" I ask keeping my pen down and glare at Lina.
I and Lina are in our room. I am doing my homework and she is working on something. She is giving me these weird looks for a long time now, so I finally decided to question her about it.
"Nothing you just look a little overjoyed today." Lina looks at me over her laptop with her eyebrows raised.
"No,I don't," I say lifting my pen back.
I peek at her and she is still looking at me with amusement. My phone receives a notification and we both look at it. It lays on the table between our beds. She picks it up and outstretchs her hand to give it to me. Suddenly her eyes widen looking at my phone.
She retracts her hand before I could reach the phone and gives a surprised gasp,"You gave Asher your number. Wait... he asked you for your number!?"
She squeals and pinches my cheeks,"My baby is growing up. The first step is complete."
"What first step?" I am beyond confused.
What is she talking about? And what's so exciting about sharing numbers?
"Duh, the first step. He asked for your number and after some days he is going to ask you out," she says teasingly.
"It's nothing like that. He took my number to text me some project stuff. Nothing more-" my words are cut off by the sound of my phone.
"Right school stuff..... it also includes 'Hey Everlee what's up?'. Yay that is totally project stuff," she says playfully.
I snatch the phone from her and she laughs loudly,"He is just making conversation. We just became friends, it's normal to ask questions like that don't make not normal."
"Yeah and I believe you. But why is there this little something on your cheeks." She touches my cheek with a grin on her face
I had not realise that I am blushing so I slap her hand away,"Linaaaa, there's nothing. Stop teasing me."
"Admit it Lee, you finally have a crush on a guy." I firmly shake my head at her words.
She merely glances at her watch and continues,"I have to be somewhere but we will talk about this later. Till then keep texting your friend."
She winks at me picking up her purse and walks out of the door.
I sigh and look at my phone. Asher has texted me the project format and a text that Lina read earlier.
I decide to reply him with a simple,
Nothing much just some homework. What about you?
His text comes immediately.
Just chilling out in a park nearby. It's really nice, you should come with me someday.
My fingers hover over the keyboard trying to form a good reply.
Yeah sure. Someday ....
Shit no I shouldn't have said it that way!
I slam my hand on my forehead when another text comes.
Hope that someday comes soon :)
I stare at the screen reading those words again and again.
Why does he always have to make me feel so jittery!?
Okay gotta go. Bye, have a peaceful night.
I quickly reply with,
You too :)
I keep my phone aside and lay back on my bed breathing heavily. I stare at the ceiling thinking about Lina's words. Why would she say that though? I have told her about Blake, why didn't she say the same thing about him?
Also why do I feel this way only around Asher and not around the other guys?
Is this what we call a crush?
What even is a crush!?
I shake my head to clear my thoughts and briskly sit up. I continue doing my homework forgetting all about those wierd thoughts.
********
"I hope you don't mind me sitting here." I look up from my book on hearing Asher's voice.
He is wearing a white hoodie with a full sleeved denim jacket. He has a black jeans on with white sneakers. My eyes go up to his face, it is adorned with a beaming smile as always. His lips part to release a chuckle. It made me realise that I was staring at him for too long.
"Yes of course you-you can.... sit here." I smile nervously and gesture for him to take the seat.
He plops down on the seat and keeps his bag down. The bell rings and the teacher comes into the class. He gives us a free class for discussing the project. The project is to write a script for a scene created by us. We have to design a scene and also write the script for that. It is meant to enhance our communication and creative skills.
"So which genre do you choose?" Asher moves his body to face me.
I squirme in my seat at his direct attention towards me.
"We have two choices an action sequence or a romantic sequence? What do you say?" He looks excited for this.
"I don't know..... anything you want." I shrug and avert my eyes.
"No! I want to know what you want." I look at him in shock at the tone of his voice.
"This project is ours, so you have to tell me what you like. I want to know what are your choices. I don't know what you think, but I consider us friends. So, I wanna know more about you. I just don't want you to hesitate when you are talking to me. You don't have to tell me your life story. What I am saying is just dont be afraid to be you that's it", his voice grows softer with every word.
I gulp and take in his words. He is right, I am not my true self around people. Hell, I don't even know what my true self is. I have never been real because I fear people knowing the real me. I feel like they wouldn't like me, I am no kind of special. Once they realise I am a nobody they would leave me. Just like my parents did...
But there is something about Asher which makes me want to just let it out. He gives me a sense of comfort, the feeling of being wanted, the feeling of being a good person, of being right. He looks so sincere that I don't want to let him down. Him putting so much effort in being my friend warms my heart.
He sighs and looks down at his hands. He looks dejected and I don't want to see him like that. I want him to know who I really am, yes I want to take this chance. I want to live my life and not let my past control the present. I know my past is still my present, but I have to make it better.
"I think.... romance is kinda a good option. I mean, action is just not my cup of tea. You okay with that?" Asher looks up in surprise and stares at me for a good five seconds.
He recovers from the shock and smiles at me,"Yeah I feel the same way. We should read some books to get inspiration. We can meet up at the library in our free classes?"
"Yeah we could do that," I nod at him smiling slightly.
He stares back with a big smile. We look into each other's eyes just smiling. I lower my eyes feeling flustered by his gaze. He smirks and opens his notebook.
"Umm.... I will try to be- to be me." I murmur without looking at him.
He does not say anything back to me so I turn my head towards him. My lips pull up into a involuntary grin when I catch a glimpse of a smile on his face.
Yeah I will defenetily try to be me....
********
"Dude! I told you yesterday. Buy your own fucking food", Blake holds his chips close to his chest protecting it from Asher.
Asher pouts at him,"What! It was seriously just two fucking chips. Dramatic asshole."
"You can take mine." I slide my pack towards him.
He looks back and forth between me and the chips,"Okay if you say so."
I smile when he takes the pack and starts munching on it. He speaks with his mouth full,"Thank you."
"Guys eat fast, it's time." Evan says looking at his watch.
"Are you sure we should do this?" Amaya asks.
"Yes babe. It's been too long." Evan puts his hand around her shoulder.
Everyone packs their stuff and starts getting up. Fuck what am I supposed to do? I don't think I'm included in their plans.
Awkward.
"You done eating?" Asher asks picking up his bag. I nod at him,"So let's go."
Oh I'm included but I wasn't informed.
Everyone is already going out of the cafeteria. What are they even doing?,"Where though?"
He picks up my bag too with a smirk," You'll know when you get there, just trust me."
He takez my hand and makes me stand up. He leads me out the cafeteria with his hand still in mine. I am not able to concentrate on anything other than his hand. I stare at his head, he is walking casually and here I am not able to breath properly. His hand is not so big but it is big enough to make mine look tiny. It is giving me a weird feeling in my stomach.
"So, everyone ready?", Asher releases my hand which makes me come back to my senses.
We all are outside the chemistry lab. The door is open and Wesley is already inside. Everyone follows him inside. I go after them not knowing what is going to happen.
"What are we gonna do here?" I whisper to Asher once we are inside.
He gives me a mischievous smile,"We are gonna try some fun experiments."
I am confused at first but then I understand what he said. With my eyes wide I exclaim frantically,"Wait, what if some-someone catches us? What if someone comes in? What if there are cameras here?"
I look around the lab checking for cameras. He holds my shoulders to stop me from moving,"Look when we decide something like this, we make sure everything is checked. No one comes here around this time, there are no cameras in this area and whatever we are gonna do is 100% safe. I promise. So let all your worries go and live in the moment."
Asher gives me a heart warming smile which forces me to trust him. The look in his eyes make me do this crazy stuff with him. I gulp and give him a small smile which makes his stretch even more.
Blake, Eveleine and Wesley are standing beside a working station. Blake takes some white powder and puts it into a thick test tube. Wesley attaches that test tube to a stand and starts heating it with a lighter.
"What is going to happen?" I ask in a low voice because of the silence.
"Just wait and watch." Asher replies calmly
Blake closes the blinds of the windows making the room a little dim.
"Okay done. Babe be careful." Wesley steps back from the station.
Eveleine nods at him and takes a gummy bear and holds it with a test tube holder. Wesley and Blake come and stand beside us.
"Ready", Eveleine gives us a thumbs up. She pops the gummy bear in the test tube and swiftly runs to the other side.
The test tube starts burning with a magnificent orange flame. Everyone starts cheering and smiling at the spectacular view. The fire illuminates the whole room and it actually looks beautiful. My lips automatically curl up at everyone's enthusiasm and the amazing sight. After a minute the flame dies.
"Okay, our turn." Evan takes Amaya's hand and walks towards the working station.
They take some potassium permanganet which I recognized due to its colour and add glycerol to it. They come towards us and everyone waits in anticipation for the results. We wait for a while and suddenly white smoke starts coming out of the bowl. Then it starts making popping sounds and finally burns with a blue blazing flame. Everyone laughs at the noises, including me. I don't even know what's so funny in this but it feels so good.
"Okay the last one. Let's go Lee." Asher takes my hand smiling.
"What me!?" I ask frenzily.
"Of course you, silly," Asher saus blankly.
I start shaking my head and pulling my hand from his hold.
"Lee just do it. This one doesn't even have fire. You'll have fun seriously," Eveleine says encouragingly.
Seeing I am not saying no to this anymore Asher pulls me towards the working station. He takes a large container and fills it with hydrogen peroxide. He adds liquid detergent and a few drops of pink food colour to it.
He gives me a test tube which has light yellowish coloured powder,"You have to add this in the mixture. The moment you add this, we have to take a few steps back. But walk backwards, if you turn around you'll miss the fun. Okay?"
I take in a deep breath and nod,"Okay 1.....2.....3."
The second I add the powder Asher pulls me back with him. What happens next amazed me. There is eruption of pink coloured foam all around the working station. Everyone hoots and holler at the mess. I start laughing with amusement and look at Asher whose eyes are already on me. We grin at each other enjoying this moment.
The screeching sound of the bell reaches our ears and everyone starts going out of the lab.
Asher pushes me towards the door and he is right behind following me. I see him leaving a note and a few dollars at the table adjacent to the door.
I look closely at the note and see the words written on it ; 'Sorry'. "What is this?"
"We are not exactly the good guys but we are also not the bad guys so; compensating for the destruction. Now let's go before we get caught." He winks and moves me out the door.
This is what makes them so special...
We reach my locker without any suspicion. I opene the locker and take my history book out.
Asher leans on the locker beside me facing forward,"So, how was the experience?"
I look at him and smile gratefully,"It was the most adventurous thing I have ever done in my life. Thank you so much. I had loads of fun."
"I think I should do these things regularly. So I could see you laugh like that," He says playfully.
I close my locker and bit my lip smiling shyly.
He waves at me and started walking backwards,"Gotta go to class. Bye."
Suddenly a girl opens her locker behind him and I gasp,"Ash stop! Look behind."
Asher halts and slowly turns around. He comes face to face with the open door. He looks back at me and grimices.
I giggle,"I think you should stop walking backwards."
He nods and smirks at me,"Yeah, you are right. Also, I think you should start calling me Ash."
He finally turns around and walks away. I shake my head chuckling at his silliness. I have never been so happy in my life.
I wish I could stay like this forever....
********
Phew... this was a big chapter but I wasn't getting a good point to end it. So here it is...
Guys we are getting somewhere😉
There is so much more planned for Ash and Lee. I cant wait to share it with you guys😊
If you liked the chapter please vote!!
-Love❤