the thing about revenge

30 i r t y : shocking revelations

The pressure on my wrist tightened and I sighed. Who was pressing against my wrist? I opened my eyes a little and peeked out. Shit! I was still at the hospital. I looked at the clock, 3:09 am. I was having a little hyperventilation when I noticed Asher with his half-opened eyes, staring at my dishevelled hair.

"Nurse outfit, sexy as hell," Asher's hoarse voice struggled out. I laughed, effectively sounding more like a horse trying to give birth. My eyes were swollen, I could feel it.

"You're awake," I started tearing again. "Let me go get a doctor," I rushed, starting to stand up when he pulled me down. I slammed back down on the soft mattress.

"Love, just a while more," He whispered. "I heard everything you said last night," Wow, way to start a conversation. And oh, shit.

I attempted to run, successfully failing as I was pulled backwards again. Asher had regained his superhuman strength. I looked away, embarrassed.

I finally gathered up the courage to ask the questions that had been biting at me. I wanted to know why he stopped studying and purposely failed all his subjects. I wanted to know why he kept up with his laid back attitude even though I had seen him falter. I wanted to know why he had to stay away from me.

"What changed you? Asher, tell me something about you you'd never told anyone before. Tell me about your history."

He immediately stilled. This boy who was sitting here in front of me right now was a mystery I wanted to solve. No, needed to solve.

"You don't really have to tell me if you don't want to..." I said quickly as soon as I saw his expression change.

"No, no. You know what? I think I should tell someone." He closed his eyes, looking as though he couldn't believe he had just said that. "My mom died giving birth to me. And my dad was devastated. He buried himself with work and didn't make much time for me. Until a few years later when Amanda came along. It gets a little confusing here. Amanda was my first stepmother. She was amazing at first, never failing to make me laugh. She successfully earned my trust. And then suddenly, everything changed when her company failed. She became bankrupt overnight. and turned to alcohol to solve her problems. Amanda never told my dad about her situation and he never quite found out since he was never really home. Always busy with his work." I had a feeling this story would align with Cinderella.

"And then uh, one night, I got a call. It was from Amanda. I answered and asked her what was wrong. She screamed at me to get into the car and drive to pick her up. Get this, I was barely 13. I don't know why she didn't call a cab and I'm not sure why I didn't. No. I knew why I didn't. I was young and naive. I was deprived of my father's love and attention. I wanted those things and Amanda gave them to me. That's why I jumped at every opportunity to please her, to do things for her. So I took the keys and went to the garage to drive the car out. My dad was overseas at that time. I knew the basics of driving because my dad taught me how to. I drove to where she wanted me to, using an uh, GPS and fetched her from an out of town bar. She was dead drunk and crying and sobbing and wailing. I knew she was going crazy and I asked if she wanted me to drive her to the hospital or a clinic or whatever. I was afraid of her. She turned rabid. Screaming at me to shut my mouth and drive. I didn't listen and took the turn that led to a small clinic. The next thing I knew, she hurled the near-empty glass bottle across my face, from under my hairline to the back of my ear. "

He flipped his hair up to show me the scar I'd seen the other night without him knowing.

"Apparently after she hit me with the glass bottle, I swerved and hit a huge tree. The bottle had fallen mid-air when I got flung forward and hence another scar down my chest to my torso." He said quietly as he took my hand and ran it down the scar.