CHAPTER EIGHT

Revisiting the past.

Asher’s grip on his phone tightened impulsively. The phone seemed heavier than usual, and his heart pounded so loud he swore Sean could hear it through the line.

“Hello.” Sean’s deep velvet voice called out again.

“H..hey Sean, it’s Asher,” he stammered nervously.

“I know,” Sean replied nonchalantly, as if irritated by the mere sound of Asher’s voice. Asher too wasn’t spared; he also felt hurt hearing the voice that used to call out to him lovingly and teasingly sound so cold and emotionless.

Asher was the reason they broke up. It was a messy one that left Asher in a very bad state—he even got a C for the first time. Sean was his first love and his first heartbreak too.

He had been too ashamed to admit their relationship and denied him countless times. The straw that broke the camel’s back occurred when he denied Sean openly and even avoided him after one of his church members asked if he was friends with Sean—knowing his nature—and Asher had replied with, “I don’t move around with such people.” Unfortunately, Sean got to hear it.

He lost his first love that day alongside his friends—the ones that truly knew who he was, accepted him for who he is, and supported him no matter what.

It didn’t take long for Sean to replace Asher with a new hot kid, and after the session, Asher moved without telling him. But he did tell the others.

“I need to ask you something…” he began.

“Oh! Please, Asher, you’ll never change! You only contact people when you’re in need of help or a favor… I had to come to terms with that.” There was a hint of mockery in his tone.

“It’s urgent, Sean. My whole life is at stake,” Asher pleaded.

“What is it?” he asked coldly.

“I need to ask you something.”

Sean scoffed softly on the other end of the phone; the sound sliced through Asher’s heart like a blade. He shut his eyes, swallowing hard.

“Sean… it isn’t like that,” he said, forcing the words out.

“Oh! Asher, it has always been like that with you,” he snapped. “I’m glad I left you, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.” His voice cracked a little, causing Asher’s heart to hurt.

“I’m glad you’re finally with someone that truly loves you. You deserve it,” Asher muttered, forcing back the tears gathered in his eyes.

“Don’t you ever call my line again—” Sean barked, and Asher, suspecting he was ready to cut the call, shouted.

“Wait… someone took pictures of us at the Sterlings’ last party and is using it to blackmail me,” Asher said, and Sean suddenly fell silent.

“Do you know or have an idea of who it could be?” he asked further. Sean snickered softly.

“Let me guess, you’re ashamed of your perfect image being stained. Typical Asher Miguel lifestyle,” Sean mocked.

“I’m very serious, Sean. It wasn’t an innocent picture… you were… uhmmm… it’s quite explicit,” Asher stuttered. Sean fell silent again, agitating Asher further. He quickly forwarded the picture to Sean.

“We made out drunkenly on the sofa, remember?” Asher stressed. He felt something crawl up his shoulder as he pictured everything that went down that night. If the sender had taken this picture, then imagine the rest he must have.

“We don’t take pictures at the Sterlings’ party. It’s forbidden. People don’t even come in with phones,” Sean responded calmly. He had seen the picture, and it wasn’t something that could be brushed under the rug.

“Do you know the people that attended the party?” Asher asked. Only a few of his schoolmates attended. The rest of the people were outsiders he had never seen before.

“No, but you can ask Jason, June, or Justin… you do have their numbers, right?” he suggested. I chuckled nervously, and Sean, knowing me too well, groaned in frustration.

“Don’t tell me you deleted their numbers after moving out!”

“I wanted to start afresh. I didn’t want to get tied to the past,” Asher said timidly. He had blocked most of his rainbow friends’ numbers when moving out of Tennessee.

“Well, say hello to the past now because it’s f*cking at your door,” Sean said dryly. I was tongue-tied, but just as I was about to speak, Sean spoke again.

“I just sent you Jane’s number. You can ask her,” he said, and I sighed in relief. Jane was one of the Sterling triplets, and she was a l*sbian. They all were gay and very proud and open. I really wanted that, but my head would be on a platter at the thought of coming out to my parents.

“Thank you so much…” I said calmly, and he cut the call abruptly. It was time for me to begin investigating this anonymous mail sender.