Photographs

Chapter 8

Asher

"Hey, Casey. How tall are you?" I ask him, chuckling as he rolls his eyes. We're lying on the grass in a field by my apartment building. We've been meeting up under the guise of a media project for the past week so that his parents wouldn't be suspicious.

"If this is your idea of flirting, it's not working."  He quips, turning his head to look at me. 

"Well, I was teasing, but now I'm actually curious,"  I admit.  He's obviously shorter than me, but I'm not sure by how much.  "I'm six feet tall and you barely come up to my chin." 

"I'm 5'6." He finally answers, brushing his hair off of his face. 

"Really?  I thought you were taller than that." 

"Yeah, yeah.  I know I'm short."

"If it makes you feel any better, you're definitely taller than my abuela."  I tease him, receiving a well-deserved unimpressed look. 

"Asher."  He says, maintaining eye contact. 

"Yeah?"

"You're not funny."  Ironically, this makes us both laugh. 

"And you're adorable," I tell him, running my hand through his hair, watching as it makes him blush. He rolls over and kisses me, putting his hand on my chest.

"Get a room you two!"  Damion shouts, having appeared from around the corner of the building.  Casey lifts himself off of me and we sit up.  My boyfriend looks at the ground, avoiding making eye contact with my best friend. 

"Gracias, Damion, for ruining an otherwise lovely moment,"  I say, putting my arm around Casey as Damion comes closer and sits down with us. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"I won't stay if you don't want me to, but my parents haven't come home yet and-"   

"It's okay, I understand." I cut him off, knowing that if I didn't, he would continue to ramble. I look over at Casey. "Do you mind?" He shakes his head in response.

"What were you two doing back here anyway?" Damion asks, adding on:  "Besides the obvious"

"We were just hanging out,"  I insist, shrugging as Casey readjusts himself, extending his injured leg before leaning back against my chest. 

"Asher was teasing me about my height."  He interjects, looking up at me with a playful smile.

"I was not teasing you."  I protest, playfully rolling my eyes. 

"Really?" He challenges. "Your exact words were 'if it makes you feel any better, you're definitely taller than my abuela'."

"Okay fine, I may have been teasing you a bit."

"Wow Ash, you really know how to charm a guy." Damion chimes in. I lightly shove him in retaliation.

We stay in the field, talking until it gets dark and Casey's sister has arrived to take him home.  After he's gone, Damion and I go back up to his apartment and spend the night watching movies.