Behind the mask

Chapter 5

 That Monday, Asher went back to school. April tried staying as far away from him as possible. Whenever he tried to approach her, she quickly went off to somewhere else.

"April," Asher said during break time.

"What," she replied coldly.

"How are you?" he asked smiling awkwardly. April just ignored his question and walked away. Asher scratched the back of his head. Why was April acting like this? This went on for days. One evening, Asher asked Liam.

"Liam, does April act... different?" he asked.

"What do you mean? I haven't noticed anything," Liam replied.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just April has been acting really coldly lately."

"Oh, yeah. That's her normal behaviour. She acts like that around everyone," Liam replied shrugging.

"Not around you," Asher commented, with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

It was hard for April to act coldly to Asher, even though this was how she always was.

'Can't he just leave me alone already,' she thought. Surprisingly, next week Asher did leave her alone. He didn't even turn to look at her once. April was shocked by this fact, but she told herself that it was better this way. As the days went past, and as Asher seemed to have forgotten all about her, April couldn't help but glance at him every now and then. The tables have turned.

'Is he ignoring me on purpose?' April wondered. One afternoon, while April was walking home, she heard someone calling her.

"April." Asher called. She turned around surprised and waited. Asher walked closer.

"April, why have you been acting like this?" he asked tilting his head. April opened her mouth to reply, but Asher talked again.

"Did I do something wrong?" Asher asked. April looked up at him. Why would he think he'd done something wrong?

"No, no you didn't do anything wrong Asher," she replied. Asher didn't talk, as if he was waiting for something. April sigh.

"What is it that you want to hear?" she asked.

"I just want to know the reason why you were acting so coldly. Are you mad at me?" Asher said.

'Aw, why does he look so sad? Maybe I'm being too mean to him,' April thought.

"Asher, I'm not mad at you, and you haven't done anything wrong. This is just my normal behaviour. I'm cold, and I'm emotionless." April replied trying to make her voice toneless. Asher was quiet for a little, and then spoke.

"But April, your behaviour only changed after the incident." he paused, and then spoke more gently.

"You can tell me the truth," he said.

"But I can't, I can't tell you the truth." April burst out with her voice cracking.

'How can I explain to him that I'm doing this to protect him? But maybe my assumptions were wrong, maybe I'll sound stupid.' she thought.

Suddenly, April looked up alarmed. She had heard a sound coming from the nearby bushes.

"Watch out!" she shouted and ran towards Asher. She pushed him to the floor, and fell on top of him. Only when she sat up, Asher realised that April had a sharp object pocked deep in her shoulder. She had a blank look on her face, as if she could not feel the pain or the blood dripping.

"This is why," she whispered without making eye contact with him. Asher was shocked, but recovered soon.

"April, April! Are you alright? Should I ca-" he said slightly panicking but she interrupted him.