Rainbows after Hurricane

28. |p r e s e n t|

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Zach and Asher were eight when they had their first fight, but they solved it within five minutes. Since then, they hadn't had a fight that ever lasted more than five minutes or maximum, ten minutes.

When they were seventeen, they had their first ever big fight that lasted more than five minutes and more than ten minutes. It was Asher's birthday where Zach had thrown a surprise party for him at Asher's place since he was always at Zach's place.

Zach had been planning for the party two weeks prior to his birthday since he wanted Asher to remember his seventeenth birthday for many years to come. He wanted to make it especial for both of them and for their friendship which he didn't want to admit, but was going through insecurity phase. Zach had never been fond of changes in his life, especially with those who were close to him and Asher was one of the closest people in his life.

Asher was on the school's basketball team—the star player—and this year, a new student had joined the team with the talent as equal to Asher. Other people might get insecure to have competitor on the team, but Asher was different. Instead of getting threatened, he befriended the guy, and spent a hell of a lot of time with him, hanging out with him even after the practice was over, irking Zach a lot.

Of, course he never voiced out his thoughts aloud, but it really peeved him to see Asher hanging out with someone who wasn't him. It's not like he didn't try to get along with the guy, but whenever he tried he would feel like a stranger intriguing someone's privacy, especially when they shared some inside jokes he wasn't part of.

He never told anyone about what he was feeling and how he was feeling, but Dianna saw right through him. She had seen the effect Asher's friendship with the other guy was having on him, and she desperately hoped for it to be over as soon as possible. She couldn't see them drift apart, at least not in this life.

As she sat on the stool near the kitchen counter, watching Zach running here and there to check everything was ready for the party, she wondered if Ashley knew anything about Zach's current condition. She turned her head away from Zach to look at Ashley who was busy making dinner for the party. "Hey, do you know what's going on with Zach and Asher?"

Ashley paused from chopping the onions enough to give her a slightly confused look before resuming the task in her hand. "What do you mean?"

Dianna shifted slightly. "I mean, look at Zach—the way he is preparing for Asher's party. Don't you think he is putting too much effort than usual?"

                 "They are best friends, and you know how Zach's mind works. Maybe he just wanted to make this year especial for him."

                 "No, I think it has to do something with Asher's new friend, what's his name again...uh, yeah, Alan." Putting aside the chicken on the counter, Ashley turned to face Dianna completely. "Ever since he started hanging out with Alan two weeks ago, Zach has been behaving weirdly. Don't you think?"

Ashley remained silent, processing her words through her mind, trying to match it with Zach's behavior for the past two weeks, then, looked up at her. "You're right. He is behaving weirdly. I wondered about it once but never connected with Alan. Do you think I should talk to him?"

                   "I don't know." Dianna shrugged. "I thought about it too but I don't think he is ready to talk. He pretends as if everything is fine."