Hide & Seek

I. Janitor's Closet

I walked down the halls of Oakfield High, a heavy teal bag weighing down my shoulders and a pair of sneakers on my feet that should have been thrown out months ago. Truth be told, they were my favourite—there was a small silhouette of a bird on the ankle amidst a white background. Simplicity is key, I would always say.

As I approached my locker to rid myself of the thick textbooks and colourful binders, Micah came jumping excitedly.

"Eden, Eden, you gotta come with me to watch a horror movie on Saturday! Please, please, pretty please!" He begged, clasping his hands together and shaking then back and forth.

My eyes widened. "No, no way. You know I much I hate them!"

"It's for a girl, Eden, a beautiful girl!" He bat his eyelashes.

"Wouldn't it be more effective if you actually went with said girl?" I scoffed, yanking open my locker and replacing my books.

"It's a jealousy thing, okay? You wouldn't understand, miss I-don't-have-any-relationship-experience." He pursed his lips and crossed his arms. "Say yes or else I'll have to resort to something horrible."

"Micah, fuck off." I slammed my locker door shut, knowing fully well that he would not give mercy.

"Fine," he said lightly. "I guess I'll just have to... make you say yes." He cackled, wiggling his fingers before dashing at me.

"Wah-" I screeched, jerking away from him and his tickling ways. "Stop it, Micah!" I screamed, running down the halls and making a big scene.

"Say yes!" he yelled back, speeding up.

"Fuck you Micah Jenson!" My breath began to come in short puffs. I would never be able to outrun him and his long legs, so I decided to enter a random, dark room and shut the door and fast as I could, locking it.

I panted, putting my hands on my knees and looking out window on the door, where Micah popped up to start banging it open. "Eden Hills, you are going to be the death of my love life!" he huffed, stomping away.

I burst out in a fit of giggles, turning around and sliding down the door. It was hard to see in the dark, but the smell of cleaning supplies gave away the fact that I had escaped into the janitor's closet. Along with the closet was a mysterious figure, slightly illuminated by the light from the hallway.

I heard sniffling, my laughter immediately dying. "Hey, are you okay?" I reached out to touch their knee gently, concern peeking through my voice.

"Why the fuck are you here?" he snapped, lifting his bloodshot eyes to meet mine.

I quietly gasped in surprise. The mystery figure was Asher Cole, popular at Oakridge for being insanely hot, perfect, and fortunate.

Very fortunate.

Yet here he was, bawling his eyes out in a cramped closet. Maybe his life wasn't as perfect as everyone had thought, despite having looks like that.

His brown hair was tousled in an effortless way, supporting his chocolate brown eyes with gold flecks in them and sharp jawline. His lips were a light pink, not too thin and not too thick. According to the Evolutionary Advantage theory, Asher would win at life because his face was extremely symmetrical.

"I was running away from my friend," I laughed. "What's wrong?"

He rolled his eyes. "As if I'm going to pour my heart out to some random chick. Can you leave? This closet is taken."

I rolled my eyes back at him. "Hey, I see a sad person and I help them. It's called compassion, if you've ever heard of it. So, what's up?" I tried again.

"Who even are you? I've never seen you here before." He sniffed, using his sleeve to wipe away the dripping snot. Even sobbing, he was angelic.

"You must be kidding me. I'm in your English class. Ms. Harper?" Of course he wouldn't know who I was—he was Mr. Popular and I was miss I-don't-have-any-relationship-experience.

He thought about it, his previous worries fading away. "Uh, nope." He shook his head.

I sighed, putting a hand out for him to shake. "Hi, I'm Eden Hills. Nice to meet you."

He smirked, instantly forgetting about his earlier breakdown and composed himself. He took my hand and delicately shook it, as if it were going to detach at the wrist if he shook harder. "Hi, Eden Hills. I'm- I don't think I have to introduce myself, actually. You're very pretty, you know."

Talk about mood swings.

I rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time in the short five minutes I had been with him. "Thank you, I know." I jokingly flipped my hair.

I wasn't the type to blush at everything a hot guy said—I wasn't the type to blush at all. If I did, it was more of a tomato face instead, usually when I was embarrassed.

Asher raised an eyebrow, amused at my reaction. "Okay," he drawled. Suddenly he stood up, pulling me with him. "Don't tell anyone, okay? If you do, I will find out and I will kill you." He grinned boyishly, opening the door and gesturing like a gentleman.

"Wait!" I yelped, slamming the door shut. "Someone might see is leaving and assume that we hooked up!" I whispered loudly.

"And that's bad because...?" He trailed off, genuinely confused as to why any girl would not want to be seen with the Asher Cole.

I snickered at his ego. "I hope you know you're not as desirable as you think." I wasn't necessarily lying. He was indeed desirable, but maybe his big head exaggerated it.

Then again, maybe not.

"Just go! We need to leave some time." He huffed and crossed his arms, looking at me.

"Fine," I said, exasperated. "I'll go first, then after a few seconds you go." He nodded as confirmation, gesturing once again.

I sighed and opened the door, beginning to slip out before Asher shoved me roughly, closely following behind. I screamed as I fell and prepared myself for a faceplant when he grabbed my waist and pulled me close, my back against his chest.

"You should be more careful next time," he murmured in my ear.

I huffed and turned around to face him, still in his warm grip. "Maybe I wouldn't need to be if someone didn't push me!" I refused to allow his antics to work on me, but the close proximity of our faces made me uncomfortable. The view wasn't bad, though.

He snickered, looking into my boring dark brown eyes. "We're going to be late." With that, he let me go and strolled down the hallway, hands in his pockets.

I stood there, my mouth wide open. With a quick Facebook search on my phone, I typed out a message to him.

Your eyes are still red.