Ranked

Chapter 8

ELLIE

I found Asher at a table in the corner of the library. I walked up casually, trying to act as if I didn't jog all the way across the parking lot and the school to get here. I set my backpack down on the table, blowing a few tendrils of hair off my face.

"Hey, I thought you weren't going to show," he greeted, looking relieved. I smiled apologetically, greeting him back.

He wasted no time as he quickly took his calculus book out of his bag, along with a notebook and a pen. Finally, he pulled out a box of milk duds.

"Here, this is for you. As a small thanks for tutoring a dud like me," he said, smiling as he handed them to me.

I giggled as I accepted them. "Thanks, but you'll have to help me eat these," I said, opening them up. He shrugged, not going to deny my request.

For the next hour, I taught him concepts and we reviewed some homework problems together. He learned quickly, which surprised me. In the middle of a problem, he dropped his pen and turned towards me.

"Hey, I realized that I don't know you that well," he said, looking at me as if trying to study me.

"Well, there's not much to know about me," I said, shrugging lamely. That was the truth; I wasn't very interesting. I was just... Me.

"Hm ok, let's see... I'll start off easy," Asher said, a sparkle in his eye. I raised an eyebrow, interested to hear what he was going to say.

"How'd your friend group become friends?" He asked, clicking his pen.

"Well, Skye and Sedona... Their dads are businesses partners. So they've known each other forever. Then all of us met and became friends in kindergarten. Nothing exciting. How about you and your friends?" I asked, shifting the attention to him.

"Well, you become friends with people you grow up playing football with. Actually, Brock and I were always a bit of competition for each other. We didn't like each other at first, but now... Well he's like a brother to me," Asher said, smiling fondly.

"But Hunter doesn't play football. Or Reid," I added curiously.

"Hunter tried football," Asher said, laughing slightly. I wondered why he was laughing, waiting for him to continue.

"Hunter has always been this scrawny kid. Got tackled really hard by Brock in practice one day when we were younger and broke his arm. So he took up cheer and track instead," Asher said, shrugging.

"Poor Hunter," I said laughing as Asher's grin died down.

"Yeah, poor Hunter. But he forgave Brock.. Eventually. But as for Reid... I actually can't remember how we became friends with him because he never tried football," Asher said, a frown on his face as he tried to recall the details.

"Okay don't strain yourself too hard before the big game, superstar," I said, chuckling slightly as he stuck his tongue out in retaliation.

"Ok, now you ask me a question," Asher said, straightening up.

"Ok.. Favorite movie?" I asked, kicking myself for choosing such a simple question.

"Easy. The Blind Side," Asher said without missing a beat. I rolled my eyes.

"What?" He questioned, not missing the eye roll.

"Well it's just that you're a football player and your favorite movie is The Blind Side..." I trailed off.

"Ok fine. What's yours? Some book adaptation?" Asher said teasingly.