CHAPTER 25

Ashley's POV

"Are you seriously holding my hand?" I ask Oliver calmly. He immediately lets go like a hot potato and apologizes.

"Why do you hate me?" he asks, curious.

"Why do you want to behave like a typical high school bully?" I retort.

"You see, kiddo, there's more to things than behaving like a cringe-y kid, like a cringe-y movie you want to sleep through," he says, trying to be profound.

"And you talk like an old lady," he scoffs.

"And you wonder why I don't want to have anything to do with you," I answer dully. Conversing with someone who makes my IQ duller is both dampening and stressful.

Done with the conversation, I pull Katya along with me, who was outside the room listening in.

"You just like messing with fire," Katya says, still in awe of the interaction.

"Does it look like I'm messing with fire?" I ask her, shrugging.

"Does it not look like it to you?" she asks, looking at me in disbelief.

"Look," she starts, holding my arm to stop me from walking. "I love that you're b