Asher King's life has revolved around putting up an involuntary mask to hide his true self. With successful parents boasting about his 'pretend' success, Asher feels as though the life he is living was never his to begin with, and a home of happines...
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Three weeks ago...
"I honestly had so much fun, Mom. I wish I could just live at the beach forever," I sigh as my mom arranges the food on two dinner plates.
She gestures me over to the dinner table, and after she turns the oven off, she places food on the table and sits right next to me.
"I'm glad, honey. You deserve a break," she says, picking up a piece of asparagus to put in her mouth.
My mom and I sit in a comfortable silence as we start eating our supper. I am chowing down on her delicious roasted chicken when she starts laughing.
"Woah there, buddy. Slow down. The food's not going anywhere," she giggles, and I start eating slower.
"I just missed your homemade food," I say with a bright smile.
"Oh, so you didn't miss me?" She huffs and crosses her arms. "I'm offended."
"No!" I exclaim and try to wrap my arms around her, but she doesn't comply. "I never said that! Of course, I missed you."
"Well, good, you better. Also, I don't want a hug from you when your hands are covered in chicken."
"Hmph, now I'm offended," I remark, and she jokingly slaps me on the arm.
"Be quiet and eat your food," she jokes, and I dig right back in.
She rolls her eyes and starts calmly eating her asparagus again.
"Who was on the trip anyway?" she asks.
"Hmm...it was Sawyer, Vincent, Hayden, Ash, Felix, Sag—"
"Asher went with you guys?"
"Yeah," I say with a giddy smile, thinking about him for the millionth time today.
"Aw, good for him," my mom says, a fond expression present on her face. "He always talks about never being able to go on any of the field trips, so I'm glad he got to go this year."
"Me too."
"Have you two been getting along recently? I know I kind of forced you to be friends, but I just wanted him to have someone to talk to that was his age."
"Yep, there's nothing to worry about," I assure. "We instantly clicked."
My mom sighs in relief, "Thank goodness. I've been worried about him lately, but I guess there is no reason to be. Thanks for being such a good friend to him, Leo."
Yeah, but I don't want to be his friend.
I've recently thought about coming out to my mom. We always tell each other everything, so I feel like I owe it to her. I know I have nothing to worry about, considering that she is the sweetest person you will ever meet.
Now that I think about it, I don't know why I've put it off for so long. I just really miss being able to talk about my feelings with her, though.
Of course, I'm a little nervous, but as I said, I don't think I have anything to worry about.
