the thing about revenge

8 i g h t : art supply rooms and annoying dates

I walked to school with the widest smile on my face. I wonder if Asher would finally start to be nice to me too. And maybe fall for me so I could finally get my plan into action. I recounted the entire dog-finding session with Asher to Reese as soon as I spotted her. She squealed at all the right places and to be very honest I was kinda surprised.

We saw Asher and Thomas and the rest of the gang walking toward us and Reese waggled her eyebrow at me. Asher just went on smirking at all the other girls in the hallway. And then they walked right past us.

"Nothing changed," I whispered. I should have known. Asher would never change for a girl. Especially not me. Reese looked angry all of a sudden.

"That son of a-" She started as she moved forward and pushed him down.

"What the fu-" Asher yelled as Thomas put an arm on his shoulder.

By now, it felt as though the entire school population was staring at us. He glared at Reese but nonetheless still gestured to his other friends to go on without him. Thomas stayed behind Asher. Asher didn't seem to mind. His glare then shifted to me.

"What are you all staring at?" He growled at the other students. They scurried off like mice. I've got to admit though, other than Asher's and Thomas's assholeness (okay, fine. This was my own personal opinion), they were almost two ends of the spectrum in the same bad boy category. Thomas was nicer and more easy going while Asher was mean and well, just everything but nice. But still, both had their own charm and attractiveness. I guess girls were just attracted to Asher's bad boyness and Thomas's ability to be the bad boy's best friend. He was, let's just say, the milder bad boy. It was amazing, really, to see how Thomas had the ability to calm Asher down and stop him from making rash and impulsive decisions. With Thomas's charisma, I was so sure he had stopped teachers from reporting Asher to Principal Bobby before.

With Asher full-on glaring at me, I was starting to feel very uneasy. Like what the hell, Reese was the one who pushed him, like seriously what even. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the art supply room, closing the door behind. Reese was outside cursing at him. Whoa, first time hearing my best friend curse got me snapping to attention again.

"I'm fine Reese, give me awhile." I croaked. The proximity and the dust made me sneeze again. This time, Asher was quick enough to move back.

"What happened yesterday was an accident. I shouldn't have tried to find the dog with you and I should've done it myself. And, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have given you Chocdog too," he said and I feigned hurt, even though really, I have never felt so sick before. "But...I won't go back on my word though. Chocdog will still be yours. I'm sorry if I gave you any wrong ideas. We are not friends, Emily, we can never be friends." Asher turned around and studied the labels on the boxes as if they were the most interesting things in the world.

Was he waiting for my reply?

"Fuck off," I muttered before attempting to unlock the door. I cursed in my head. Because the art supply room wasn't exactly always used, the lock had become jammed. Asher reached forward and bumped it with his knee. I stalked off. Well, that was embarrassing. I walked off to class, completely ignoring Reese behind me. I hate to admit but his words stung and my eyes did too.

And it was that moment, really, that I realised he was never actually going to fall for me. Real or fake. It was then I decided to change the mission. Perhaps I was just going to avoid him at all costs and go back to being the invisible girl, all till graduation. Because the longer I played this game, the more I will get hurt. The more I... I realised that sort of accidentally liking someone who hated your guts may as well be the worst feeling in the world. I was afraid, that while getting Asher to like me (so my wonderful and genius plan could be put into place), I may start to feel something real blossom in my heart.

My heart broke a little then.

To hell with hormones.

++++++

I slipped on my bright yellow wedges and a forced smile appeared on my phone's reflective screen. I, however, wasn't quite looking forward to this date as I had imagined myself to be. My mind buzzed with thoughts on what Asher had said to me this very afternoon. I was so confused. I desperately needed-

The bell sounded. Even though I wasn't quite looking forward to the date, I still had to be grateful that I was able to take my mind off the unbelievably impossible to break Asher. I needed a little distraction. And also it has kind of been too long since I went on a date. Taking a deep breath and shoving all my useless thoughts down to the deepest depths of my heart, I opened the door with a wide grin.

"Hey man," I put out my hand for a high five. Mason continues gawking at me, probably at the ridiculousness of my outfit. I wore a yellows sundress (to match my yellow shoes.) Heh, probably not the best outfit for the movies. My hand still dangled midair. Awkward...I slapped my still hanging midair hand onto his chest. Ooh, hard. He jerked to concentration, slightly shaking his head and smiling at me.

"You look hot," He commented. I particularly hated that word but made no comment.

"Hey, don't you have a sister? Heard she was cute." He said, poking his head slightly into the house. That was such an asshole question to ask. I scowled, inching the door close behind me. Was this guy for real? Disgust for Mason suddenly overwhelmed me. Who asked that kind of question on his first date?

"Let's just go. You drove?" I asked Mason. He stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"No, don't you see the private jet I have right here?" He rolled his eyes, smiling a little. I cracked up. At least this guy had some sarcasm.

"I planned French cuisine today, fine with you?" Mason asked, glancing at me. I nodded, flashing him a grin.

"So, tell me about you, what do you like to do, or tell me about your siblings?"

"Uh I absolutely hate Chemistry, but the rest are good. Oh, I absolutely love reading. I have two sisters and a brother. Leanne, Anne, and Clint."

"Anne," He drawled, as though tasting her name on his lips. What the-

"Yes, she is in university, why?" I glared at my pouch, what is wrong with this dude?

I really, really couldn't wait for this night to end. The rest of the night went by in a blur with Mason doing most of the talking.

Finally, we were in the car driving back. The restaurant was good, the movie was good, just that the company was not like I had expected. I looked out of the window the entire car ride back. A familiar figure stood by the roadside walking a big black and white border collie.

I honestly don't even know how I feel anymore.

"I'd text you again." He said as I opened the door to get out.

"Okay," I'd give him one last chance to redeem himself on our next date.

hEy tHerE! Super short filler chapter, but hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!
Asher's mean, eh? 😵