"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.
What am I supposed to do?
********
The next morning I wake up and get ready. I have no idea what I am going to say to Ash but I guess I can manage. Lina is already up and is watching tv in the living room. I eat some fruit and head towards the door.
"Lee?" my hand halts on the door knob and I turn around.
"Yeah?" I see Lina coming out the living room.
"Percy headed out a while ago and he told me to inform you that you are not supposed to go to the tracks tonight. They are having something private so only a few people are allowed. That also means you can stay up late in school, have some fun with your friends you know." She winks at the last part.
"Really?" I awk adjusting my bag strap.
"Yeah.... you have something in mind?" She asks raising her eyebrows.
"Actually.. Ash asked me if we could finish the project at his house and so I......" I shrug my shoulders and wait for her answer.
"You should, defenetily," she says with a smile.
I smile at her permission but there is this thing nagging thought in the back of my mind,"But what if Percy or someone else finds out-"
She cuts me off, "Don't worry about that, he will be at the private thing tonight. And even if he comes home before you do, I'll take care of it. I promise. Go enjoy yourself."
I exhale a relieved breath and smile,"Thanks Lina."
"You don't have to thank me and yes I want details." Shee teases.
I roll my eyes and turn around to open the door. I go outside and her laughter fades in the back. I walk faster than usual beacuse I really am excited to tell Ash that I can come to his house. I finally reach school and walk to my locker, doging some people in between.
My eyes fall on Ash, who is leaning against my locker. He is looking at his phone, with the tip of his tongue out at the corner of his lips. He is wearing a plane white t-shirt with black jeans.
He looks so damn... wait hold on Lee.
I shake my head to clear up my thoughts and make my way to him,"Hey, good morning."
He looks up and his face lits up with a breathtaking grin,"Good morning. How was your walk to school?"
He moves out of my way and I open my locker,"As usual, but I saw a boy dribbling a basketball in front of his house and he instantly reminded me of you."
He frowns and says,"Oh...is he more attractive than me?"
With my eyes wide I quickly exclaime,"Ash, he was probably eleven or twelve and I don't want to think about him like that."
"Oh.... um I thought he was a guy our age. Well you did not specify," he says accusingly.
I laugh at his face and say,"By the way, Lina said I could go to your house today for the project."
"Really? That's great, I'll meet you right here after school and then we'll go from there." He smiles.
We both walk to the class and go through it till the bell rings. We go to our separate classes after that and my excitement soon turns to nervousness as school is slowly coming to an end.
********
The bell rings, finally ending school. I get up from the seat and shove my books in my bag. I am out of the class in a minute. I fast walk towards my locker, trying to get there as fast as possible. I don't know why but I am way too excited to spend time with Ash. Is it weird to feel that way? Well, I don't care right now beacuse I just want to enjoy my freedom.
I turn the corner and my face falls at the empty sight. Ash isn't there as promised. I reach the locker and search for Ash in the hallway. Maybe I'm too early, he will get here soon.
I was wrong. It's almost ten minutes, since I came here. The hallway is empty, except the two girls lurking around the notice board. Ash would be here soon, I know it. I wring my fingers together and start chewing at my lips due to the anticipation. I sigh and give up.
There's no use Lee. There must be something important for him to take care of.
I walk out of school, feeling dejected. The moment I step out, drops of rain hit me. I quickly move below the extended roof of our school. It starts raining probably twenty minutes ago. Now, I have to wait till the rain stops. Great.
I look around and see people walking with either umbrellas, or sitting in their cars. Unfortunately, I have neither. The wind is blowing wilder than usual. My hands subconsciously lift to rub my arms.
"Lee!" a voice shouts from behind.
I turn and see Ash coming out of the school doors. He runs towards me,"I- I am so sorry. I was talking to my physics teacher and I totally lost track of time."
"It's okay Ash." I smile and assure him.
He sighs in relief, "Thanks for understanding. Okay so we have to make a run towards my car."
He points towards his car which is near enough to still be visible. I nod at him and he extends his hand towards me. My heart warms at his action and I slowly place my hand in his.
Ash takes a step forward and looks back at me,"1....2....3."
We both start running with our hand still in each other's. I raise my other hand to cover my head from the rain.
We are at the middle of running when suddenly Ash's step flatters and he trips. My eyes widen and I hold onto his hand tight to prevent him from falling,"Ash!"
He catches himself before he could fall down completely. I don't know why but I start laughing loudly at his clumsiness. He glares at me but his lips betray him which are twitching to release a laugh. Soon he joins me and I am sure we look like maniacs laughing in the middle of the road under the rain.
He runs his fingers through his wet hair and says,"Come on we need to go before we get more wet."
He starts jogging up to his car and I follow him. We both settle in the car and give out a breath.
"Damn, why do I keep falling around you?" I turn my head towards him and see him smiling at me.
I shrug with my on smile,"I don't know."
We gaze at each other with our smiles intact. Unexpectedly, Ash's hand lifts and tucks my wet lock of hair behind my ear. My breath hitched at the gesture and my eyes averts from his. His hand doesn't move so I lift my gaze up. He is still looking at me, something unusual shining in his eyes.
The emotion quickly fades and he swiftly licks his lips. He retracts his hand and looks away. We both face away from each other, avoiding each other's eyes.
To avoid more awkwardness I say,"We should get going, it's getting late."
"Yeah, ... yeah" He starts the car and drives out the parking.
The ride to his house is silent but no more awkward. It is peaceful and I think we both needed that after...... after whatever happened.
We reache his house and quickly get inside beacuse of the rain. His house is simple and elegant. There is not even a single thing out of place which seems a little wierd.
"Ash, you home?" a women's voice calls out from somewhere inside.
"Yes Eli!" Ash replies.
A women comes into view. She is short and looks just a little older than Mrs Porter,"Oh, you got company?"
Ash looks at me,"Yeah, this is Everlee. Lee, Elizabeth."
I smile at her and she smiles back. She looks at our wet clothes and exclaimes,"It seems rain got you guys. Wait here, I'll bring towels."
She goes to fetch the towels. I rub my hands together to warm myself,"Umm.. is she your mom?"
Ash chuckles and shakes his head,"No, she is actually my mom's caregiver."
My mouth opens wide at his words. Caregiver? But before I could say anything else Elizabeth comesback and hands us the towels. We quickly dry up and give her the towels back.
"If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen." She smiles and goes to the kitchen.
"Lee if you don't mind, I would like you to meet my mom before we go upstairs." Ash asks me anxiously.
I give him a soft smile,"Of course not. I would love to meet your mom."
He leads me to a hallway and stops at a door. He opens the door and steps inside. I follow him and peek in front of him. It feels like my heart stops for a second at the sight. Ash is the exact copy of his mother. Same eyes, same hair, same nose literally nothing different. She is lying on the bed yet looks so beautiful. My hands start sweating due to the nervousness and I release a breath. Finally, I brace myself and step beside him coming into her view.
Okay..... here it goes.
********
Guys we are getting deeper into Ash's life. Are you ready for more?
I am trying to portray scenes I haven't ever experienced in my life. So spare me if I don't succeed enough🤗
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