⚜Guardian⚜

Chapter Nine

Soon she was back at Stratfield, although she was in a wheelchair. To her dismay, it was infuriatingly embarrassing. She didn't get to use the crutches for a couple of weeks. She was currently at lunch, picking at her meal.

"What’s wrong, chipmunk?" Calvin inquired.

"I’m handicapped, for God's sakes," Lacey snapped. Calvin raised his hands, palms forward.

"Back, monster! I was just asking," he diffused. She resisted the urge to throw a French fry at him. He could be so infuriatingly annoying sometimes. Lacey eyed Greg and Alyssa with a unbridled disgust. They were making out, gorging on each other's faces openly.

"You two are nasty," Calvin declared, following Lacey's gaze. Lacey nodded, munching on a French fry thoughtfully.

"My thoughts exactly," she agreed. Greg and Alyssa didn't separate, and Lacey sighed. She couldn't help but search the cafeteria for the hundredth time that day. There was still no blond crown of hair. She couldn't help but wonder if her bad mood emanated from the fact that Asher and her hadn't spoke in a couple weeks. She wish she knew his phone number, or what his schedule was. She shoved those thoughts away quickly. Since when did I become a stalker? Lacey wondered to herself.

"Can we talk?" A voice called over to her shoulder. Surprised, Lacey looked up. Asher was there, looking carefully emotionless. It was as if just thinking about him had brought him over to her. She felt herself blush bright red.

"Er, sure. But I'm kind of slow these days," Lacey said. She wanted to smack herself for how embarrassing she sounded.

"Not a problem," Asher declared. He dipped and lifted her out of the chair, broken leg and all.

"Asher!" Lacey squealed. She looked around, checking if people were staring. It seemed like every single person in the cafeteria had their eyes on them. He grinned widely, clearly enjoying this.

"Oh my God. Put me down!" she choked out.

"My way is faster," Asher said simply. He began walking out of the cafeteria, carrying her like a doll. One of his hands went underneath her knees, and the other went around her upper back.

"You're insane!" she muttered, although she knew that in her heart, she didn't actually feel that way. She could never bring herself to be mad at him. His eyes fell on her cast, before narrowing slightly.

"Don't I get to sign it?" Asher questioned begrudgingly. She glanced down to where Alyssa and Calvin had doodled relentlessly on her cast.

"If you want," Lacey shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant. To be honest, she hadn't thought he would care about something as trivial as that. In her eyes, he was like an immortal god.

"I didn't think you would care," Lacey admitted. His eyes moved to her face.

"Why wouldn't I care?" Asher asked. She swallowed loudly, trying to formulate an answer without offending him.

"Well we haven't talked in weeks." Lacey stated.

"It hasn't been that long. Only 17 days," Asher rebutted. Her head snapped upwards so she could look at his face. He had been counting? She gathered her courage and spoke.

"Where were you?" Lacey asked in a voice as quiet as the sound of snow falling. He looked away from her, lifting his eyes so he was staring forward. Lacey felt her heart sink. She prayed that he would answer.

"Why do you feel like that?" Asher asked then, stopping short. She stared into his eyes, not expecting him to say that.

"Like what?"