When Dusk Meets Dawn

Chapter 3

Asher

"Fine," I muttered. I started walking away. How could I explain it to her when I didn't even understand it myself? And why did I care about her? I didn't even know her at all. "You don't know how it feels!" She yelled after me. "You don't know what it's like to be me!" It was raining hard now. My stride halted and I turned back to face her. The way she looked at me - I thought she would actually start crying. "Really?" I moved closer to her. "Do you think I even like Candace? Do you think I care about her at all? Have you - No - has anyone ever wondered what it was like to live my life-" "Yes, we get it- everyone envies you!" She rolled her eyes. I chose to ignore her. "I hate Candace, I hate my reputation, and I hate the life I'm forced to live!" The words were spilling from my lips before I could stop them. "I don't want to be popular, I don't want to beat up people for no reason - I don't want anything I have now! I wish, just for one day I could be normal! Everyone else would kill for my life but..." My voice trailed away. All those emotions, everything I'd felt, I had let them all out to a person I didn't even know. But it was weird. I felt as if I could tell her these things and she'd still somehow get it. "Then why are you with her?" Her expression had softened. "I- You won't get it, okay? I'm sorry you had to hear that, I've just been kind of stressed and -" I turned around for the last time. "Just forget it," I stalked away before I could let anything else leave my stupid mouth. What had I been thinking? Why had I told her that? What if she told someone else? My parents would kill me... I let my feet guide me back to the cafe without really acknowledging anything. But that wasn't where they guided me. I couldn't go back now. Aaron had asked me to accompany him on a date and I had kind of just ditched him. My feet led me back to my house which wasn't that far. There were no people walking on the sodden streets. The sky was dark and the rain had stopped but it was still empty. It was dank and gloomy but that was how I preferred it. All I could do now was hope Kendall wouldn't tell anyone. Kendall. Hm. What a pretty name.

I stopped dead in my tracks. What was I thinking? She had just told me to get away from her, and she was right for it too... Suddenly, I was asking myself why I really did care about her that much. She was a complete stranger to me and yet I still felt a weird connection to her. Just then, my phone buzzed - I actually groaned when I saw the caller ID. It was Candace. What could she possibly want now? But I had to answer. My parents would not be happy with me if I didn't. "Hello?"

I heard her giggle in the most girlish way possible. "Hey babe," Her voice came out fake and high-pitched as she swooned. I almost gagged. I'm not lying. "I was wondering...We haven't really been able to spend time together lately, don't you think?" I think I'm gonna throw up if I hear your voice one more time! But I couldn't say that. "Er..No?" I knew she wouldn't put up with that but I couldn't stand another one of her cheesy dates. "What do you mean, 'no'?" she snapped. I struggled to think of an excuse. "I mean I'm busy - for the entire next week. No sorry, next month. Actually - next year-" "Do you not love me?" she sobbed. My fingers curled into fists. "I didn't say-" I began heatedly but she cut me off. "Fine! I'll just tell your parents then!" "No, don't do that-" she hung up. I wanted to throw the phone away. I was this close to screaming out in frustration. There was nothing I could do. I had never had the slightest feelings for her. In fact, I had hated her since the second I set eyes on her. But my parents - my horrible, inconsiderate, selfish parents arranged a stupid deal with hers. They wanted to expand their already multimillionaire company further by joining forces with Candace's parents' company which obviously meant I had to get with Candace. You think that's bad enough? No - they actually engaged me to her saying they would lose the deal if Candace and I hadn't promised to get married as soon as we could. I was probably the only teenager in the entire California who was engaged at such a young age. It was like I had lost my freedom. I had to be with her at school, at home - she lived close by and practically lived in my mansion - and was also expected to take her on dates. You'd think I was exaggerating. You'd think I was being overdramatic. But if you take her to a five star gourmet restaurant and listen to her complain about medium rare steak for an hour, you'd admire how well I was taking this.