Forever & Always

Chapter 7 - Asher

"I'm telling you," said Will, "Fridays are the best days of the week."

"No they're not," I argued. "Saturdays are."

"Are you fucking stupid?" Will asked. "Fridays indicate the beginning of the weekend. On Fridays you are finally free to think Ah. No school for two consecutive days."

"But can you sleep in on Fridays?" I countered. "Fuck no. You have to get up and go to school. Saturday is the first day after five days of school that you finally get to sleep however long you want. Plus, you get a whole day to plan a party. On Friday, you have to go to school, so there's no time for planning, which means your party is going to suck ass."

"Oh come on. How many Friday night parties have you gone to that suck ass?"

I pretended to think. "A lot, actually."

Will punched my arm. "Shut up." Then, he let out a small laugh. "I can't remember the last time we had a spat like this."

Neither could I. Ever since Clare's diagnosis, I've been sleepwalking. People kept telling me how I hadn't been myself lately l, how much I'd changed since then. Even Clare noticed a difference. But something changed. I don't really understand why, but it had.

I could have explained this to Will-- I knew he'd understand-- but instead I said, "Me either."

Will laughed as we pulled into the parking lot of the school. "Thanks for the lift," I said.

"Dude, you thank me every time," Will said. "Lay off."

I just laughed and walked away. As I walked to the next row of cars, I saw Mason and Al together. Mason began to hand her a cup, but it fell to the ground. Mason said something and Al laughed. I hadn't known Al for that long, but I knew her enough to know she doesn't smile easily, or often. To see her laughing was unusual, but captivating.

Mason handed Al another cup, probably his. She took a drink, and I felt an unfamiliar twist in my gut. I shook my head as they started to walk. I followed them toward the school. They continued to talk until Mason stuck out his hand. Al shook it and they parted ways.

I found Al at her locker and walked up behind her. I checked her out for a moment. She was hot, really hot. She had the perfect amount of curves in her body, and was pretty tall for a girl. Five foot seven or eight, maybe.

She turned around and let out a gasp. "Oh my God," she said, breathless.

I laughed and she glared at me. "Morning, gorgeous," I flirted.

"Morning, hideous," she said sarcastically.

I mockingly gasped. "Hideous? I am a lot of things. Brilliant, amazing, charming, awesome. But hideous is not one."

"Do you need a mirror? Because you clearly have the wrong image of yourself in your head," she said and grinned.

"Ah, sarcasm," I said. "It's not very attractive on you, love." I lied. It was fucking hot.

"Really?" She narrowed her perfect chocolate eyes at me. "That's not what other guys have said."

I felt the unfamiliar twist in my stomach again. What was it? "Huh," I said. "They should probably lift their standards a bit."

Al slapped me on the shoulder. "Dick," she muttered.

"Hey now, Lessie," I said. "No need for such profanities."

"Don't call me that," she said.

She had told me this before, but I was relentless. I continued to call her it. I could see that she was afraid of it, but I didn't know why. And I was going to figure it out. "Why not?" I asked, completely serious.

"Because," she said. She wouldn't look at me.

I put two fingers under her chin and lifted it so she looked into my eyes. "Why not?" I asked, softer this time.

She averted her eyes, but said, "Only one person is allowed to call me that."

This time when my gut twisted, I knew what it was. Raw jealously. I was jealous of whoever got to call her Lessie, because the name obviously meant a lot to her. "Who?" I demanded.

"My brother," she said, still not looking at me.

"Who's your brother?" I asked. "Does he go here?"

Suddenly, Al jerked away from me. She began to run, before I could process what was happening. When I finally realized, I chased after her. She ran all the way down the hallway, to the parking lot. I found her against the side of the brick school building crouched down with her head in her hands.

I sat beside her and grabbed her hand. We sat there not moving, not talking, with only the sound of her heavy breathing cutting through the silence. She held onto my hand as if it were the only thing keeping her from breaking.

When she finally brought her head up, she locked her eyes onto mine. "Thank you," she whispered.

I nodded. "Always."

She leaned her head against my shoulder and I tensed. A gesture this small had never felt so intimate. Al must have noticed my posture because she lifted her head and looked me in the eye. "Are you okay?" she asked.

I smiled genuinely at her. "I'm okay," I said honestly.

She returned my smile and put her head back on my shoulder. I looked at our entwined fingers and let out a breath. "You wanna talk about it?" I asked.

Her breathing quickened. "I can't," she said.

I nodded and laid my head on top of hers. "Let's take a day off," I said. "We'll call it a personal day."

Al laughed. It was small, but it was there. "Okay," she said. "What are we supposed to do on a personal day, Mr. Jordan?" she asked.

I grinned at her. "It's a surprise."

She fake pouted and I almost kissed her right there. What was happening to me? I had barely known this girl for a day. I needed to calm down. "I don't like surprises," she said.

I laughed. "You'll like this one."

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Asher's point of view again! I really like writing in both their points of view because it lets y'all know what each of them are thinking.

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