Her Defective Secret - CURRENTLY NOT UPDATING

Label

Chapter 11

I wake up an hour before I have to go to work. Asher's still sleeping peacefully.

Time for payback.

Along with my bed materials, I had also brought macaroni and cheese instant packet (Hey, I'm a nineteen year old living alone, what do you expect?) an orange, water, knife, and a glass.

Revenge is sweet.

I pour the water in a glass and add in the Mac and Cheese power. It immediately makes it an orange shade. I slice apart the orange, and add one slice onto the glass.

A perfect orange juice prank.

I hide all the materials before raising my voice. "Asher!"

He wakes up grumbling. "This better be good. It's, like, 6:00."

I smile innocently. "Orange juice? Special treat, on the house."

Asher glares suspiciously at it. "Wow. I thought you guys were going to starve me." 

I shrug. "I was planning on it. But, uh, Bianca gave this. Being the nice person she is."

Asher sighs. I carefully pass it through the bars. I watch apprehensively as he takes a huge swig of the juice.

I wait for a few seconds.

Then a few more.

Then -

"Well, I didn't really expect that. I guess it's fine," Asher tells me, setting down the glass.

"Wh - what?" My mouth drops open.

"I've never had orange juice before," Asher says like it's obvious.

I face-palm. "So the prank didn't work."

Asher grins. "You tried pranking me?" 

I moan in embarrassment. "Ugh! I put mac and cheese powder into the drink. It's not orange juice. Damn, that failed spectacularly."

"Ooh, she curses," Asher teases.

"Shut up," I throw a pillow at him, momentarily forgetting that there were bars between us. The pillow clanged off the bars.

Asher's face turned reflective. "I am - uhm, was, a Lily. We could barely afford to get food every day. And orange, well, that would've been a luxury to us. I think my sister would've liked it, Mi - I meant, uh, yeah, I'd like to actually taste one. If I'm going to die soon, why not, right?"

I knew he was hiding something, but I decided to let it go.

"Well, I have an orange," I concede, handing him a few slices.

He makes a face as he eats them.

"I was expecting something better," he admits.

I chuckle at him unimpressed face. "You have high expectations."

He's about to reply when we hear someone upstairs, in the tiati court, yelling.

"I don't care! I only care that there are people trying to ruin my life, and you aren't around to help with it!... Of course I expect you to... It's not a threat, per say... I can't get eliminated, I'm too high in rank... you really believe that B.S.?... Well, that'll get you far... yeah, bye." Madison's voice echoes clearly down to us.

"Wow. What a mythic bi - " Asher comments.

"Don't finish that," I warn him.

Asher dismisses me. "You wanted to call her that, too."

I can't argue with that.

"More plans for my 'elimination'?" Asher asks, nonchalantly talking about his death.

"What if we threaten them?" I suddenly bizarrely say.

Asher actually gets up at that one. "That's actually tempting. One of your better suggestions."

"What would tiatis hate to be revealed?" I wonder, tracing patterns into the wall.

"How the hell would I know? You're the tiati," Asher sighs exasperatedly. "All of them are annoying and basically the same."

"Even me?" I pretend to pout.

"Sorta," Asher surveys me. His eyes seem to be contemplating something.

I laugh awkwardly. "Um, well, I wouldn't like it if people knew about what elimination actually was," I say, furrowing my eyebrows. "But how would we - "

"We don't need to actually do it. Just hint it," Asher says.

"Of course we won't actually do it. I wouldn't - "

"Why not?" Asher questions, leaning forward. His eyes are hard.

I stop short at that question.

Why not?

Why shouldn't we expose how our society really works?

"My friends," I mumble, looking down. We both know it's a stupid excuse.

Asher looks like he wants to say more, but an alarm goes off on my phone. Fifteen minutes till I had to go up.

"Looks like you've got to go to your 'friends'," Asher tells me, bitterly.

I stare at him, aghast. How did we go from bickering playfully to this so fast?

For the first time, I realize that how much he actually hates our society, and would do anything to get rid of it.

Asher notices me staring at him, and a flash of regret goes through his eyes. "Um, maybe, um," he mutters.

"Um?" I echo, curious to what he wants to say.

"Nothing, it's stupid, you wouldn't do it anyways," Asher mumbles, turning away quickly, flushing.

"No, no, I want to know," I insist, angling myself to look at him.

"It involves, like, breaking the law, sorta," Asher awkwardly says.

"Like?" I ask, despite my inner voice screaming that this was a horrible idea.

"There's this section in the forest I like going to," Asher tells me, twisting something on his hand. "I was wondering if, well, we could sneak out and go."

"Sneak out?" I avoided his eyes. "I mean, Ash - Mr. Everett - uh - "

"No, no, no, it was a stupid idea anyhow. No tiati would go along with it," Asher continues to fidget with something on his finger.

"All of them are annoying and basically the same."

"Even me?"

"Sorta."

"I want to do it," I decide, stupidly.

Asher raises an eyebrow, like he's contemplating something again. "Okay. The lock is a simple deadbolt. Guess they aren't worried about break-outs. Then we just walk out."

"What?"

"It's going to be in the middle of the night," Asher says in amusement.

"It is?" I ask, my eyes wide. "I mean, of course. What else? I do stuff like that all the time." I attempt to lean casually back against my stack of pillows. The pillow stack breaks under my weight, and I tumble down onto the hard ground.

"Right," Asher shakes with laughter.

I try throwing another pillow at him, but I forget again that there are bars. "Ugh. I'm just going to leave."

"Don't miss me too much!" Asher calls after me.

"That's not going to be hard," I mutter.

Asher's chuckles echo through the cold hallway. 

Hope you enjoyed!

Word Of The Day: caesura - a pause in a line of verse, usually in poetry

- Angelica and Eliza