Half Hearted

Chapter Seven

| Ash |

He was having an internal conflict. One that seemed to last as long as she stayed in his mind. And since he'd now met Oria, who was Cheryl's lookalike, he had no way to get her off his mind.

Staring at the digital clock on the microwave, Ash grunted into his pillow. His first night at a place with warmth, and he couldn't sleep. The irony pierced through his skin.

Her eyes were so lively. Her smile was so breathtaking. And he found the exact same personality in Oria. Was this some kind of joke? Did they pay her again to mess with his life and act like some kind of twin?

Suddenly he got up. It looked like he wouldn't be getting any sleep.

Grabbing his jacket, Ash headed out the door, making sure not to make any noise. He didn't know the neighborhood yet, but he needed to get away for a while. Sort his messed up thoughts just a little bit, enough so that he could feel his sanity crawling back to him again.

The air was chilly when he was out of the apartment building, and his cheeks turned pink in about a minute or so. This didn't bother him, because the cold felt like needles, and pain became a distraction from his thoughts.

The city wasn't busy, but there were still people driving to and fro. He pulled the navy blue hood over his head due to worry that someone would notice him. No one did, and that held some sadness in its reality.

When he walked past a bar, the smell of cigarette smoke filled his nose up fast. His addiction - drastically increased by stress, and in this case the thoughts of Cheryl again -  could not have been stopped. Turning around, he looked for the source and saw that it was an old woman, maybe about twice his age. He walked towards her, and the thought of her recognizing him was overshadowed by his need to smoke. "Mind if I join in?"

"How old are you kid?" She asked, her voice husky as she exhaled smoke through her nose.

"Old enough," Ash replied, shrugging. The woman nodded, satisfied enough at his answer, and proceeded to take out her packet and hand him one. She then went on to light his cigarette as he shielded the flame from the wind. "Thanks."

The inhalation felt like heaven to him. He hadn't had a smoke in a week, and his craving had finally been satisfied. The woman spoke up after throwing her butt on the ground and stomping on it with her plastic stilettos. "So what's a boy like you doing out here at this time?"

"Same reason as you. I've got nowhere else to be."

She didn't take offense. The woman simply smiled and looked at the street in front of her. In a sadly longing way, she drew out another puff of smoke, "couldn't be further from the truth; we've all got places to be."

| Teresa |

The morning after, I woke up early and noticed that Ash was gone from the kitchen. Strange, I thought, did he runaway from us already?

Preparing breakfast, I toasted some bread and prepared some coffee. Oria followed shortly after, also noticing his absence from our apartment. "Where's Ash?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

I shrugged, handing her a plate full of toast. "Beats me. Maybe he got sick of us on the first day."

"No," Oria laughed, bringing the cup of coffee to her mouth. "He wouldn't get sick of me. He told me I looked just like the girl he loves."

I was about to comment on that, when the door swung open. Ash walked through. "You left the door unlocked?"

He stared at me blankly, "I didn't have keys."

Grunting, I finished my breakfast in silence as the two of them proceeded to eat together. Oria even shared her coffee with him. I felt disgusted; the idea of being able to transmit diseases through bodily fluids horrified me. The idea of kissing itself, horrified me.

After the two of us got ready, Oria gave Ash some cash in case he wanted something to eat. "The Chinese place has great spring rolls, and we know his daughter, but we only get discount on some food. Not on delivery and tax. Their number's on the table over there, and feel free to use our phone."

He smiled at her and nodded, and I squinted at him to see if that smile was actually genuine or not. Either way, he was back to his usual self when I spoke up. "Don't do anything stupid while we're gone."

He muttered something, quiet enough so that I wouldn't hear, and then Oria and I left the apartment building. During the drive to the school, she finally sat beside the driver's seat again. "I think you should be a little nicer to him," she suggested, playing with her hair.

I raised an eyebrow, "who says I haven't? It's his douchebag attitude that needs some fixing."

"He's perfectly fine," she defended her future boyfriend. And future ex. "You're just hard on him. Which is why he's not comfortable around you."

"Well, if he's not comfortable around me then he can go ahead and leave my apartment."

Oria huffed, giving up on the thought of me and Ash being nice to each other. Hell, I was nice to him. Until he decided that I was Satan's spawn. I'd say if that were the case, he were Satan himself.

I pulled up at the school parkade in less than an hour. Oria bounced happily to class, while I had to drag my ass to the seat.

From the look on Steven's face I could already tell that Oria had told him everything about Ash.

He quickly pulled out his phone, and shortly after I felt a buzz at my pocket.

I need to talk to you, his text read. It's about Ash.