Amy stepped forward and questioned, “Since when were close to someone like him?”Louis felt offended being addressed in this manner, but one glare from Amy was enough for him to keep his mouth shut. The intimidating aura radiating off of Amy made Louis instantly go to his friends for support.“Today,” Esther softly answered.Luke raised an eyebrow and said, “It took you few hours to be this close to a waste and flirt. How easily beguiled are you, Esther! Makes me worried for you.”Louis was baffled by those accusation and looked at his friends to defend him. Julia shrugged her shoulders and expressed, “I disagree with him usually, but today he ain’t wrong.”Louis flipped his middle finger at him.Esther was upset by the impression they had of Louis. Sure, Louis did come off as a hedonistic and frivolous individual, but that was merely a small part of the large picture. Moreover, Esther th
Esther’s days had been bumpy for a while before they went back to being usual. She didn’t spot Asher much at the school although her ears were full of gossips on him. Apparently, he had beaten up two of school’s teachers the other day.Luke and Julia didn’t approach her either. That was slightly disappointing, but at this point, Esther was used to it. Even her siblings went back to barely acknowledging her presence.Esther felt lonely but not enough to cry over it. After making a purchase at the local bookstore, she was carrying the books home when she heard a soft cry. At that, she looked down to see a bird’s nest.There were three baby birds inside.Esther bent down and grabbed the bird’s nest. Some naughty person must have brought it down. Esther shook her head and decided to place it up, knowing how dangerous it will be for the baby birds.Although Esther wasn’t athletic, she wasn’t particularly b
"The thing is that the photo of the winner will be published online, and now with there being very high chances of me winning— not bragging, simply being honest— I don’t want to have my identity exposed.” “Why?” With Louis’ attention seeking personality, she thought he would want to shout out to the entire world about his achievement. “One, it would ruin my reputation. The entire school, especially the guys, would be laughing at me. And most importantly, my family wouldn’t approve of this. That’s why, it should be a secret.” That sounded reasonable. “But still shouldn’t you be owning up what you do? It’s not that you’re doing anything shameful,” Esther said. He smirked at her. “You saying that Esther when you can hardly talk. You get bullied for it all the time, Esther,” he teased. She scrunched up her nose. “That’s irrelevant,” she commented. “Sure, it is,” he mocked before staring at her with desperati
Esther didn’t expect to hear knocks on the door of her balcony as the dead hours of the night. She had to admit that frightened her. Hugging her blanket, she stared at her balcony and could vaguely see a figure moving behind the curtains.Born with very much little courage, that frightened Esther, and a scream escaped from her lips. Getting down from the bed, she was about to rush out of the room when the familiarity made her stop in her steps.Taking in a deep breath, Esther mustered every bit of bravery inside her as she slowly walked over to the balcony door and, closing her eyes, pulled open the curtain.Then, she slowly lifted her eyelids as her heart beat rapidly inside her chest, and genuinely surprise crossed through her face when she saw Asher standing there.Did he accidentally get the wrong balcony?Nevertheless, understanding how low the temperature can be, she opened the balcony door for him and stared at him in confusion. The wi
In the library, Esther read through the book before her. Seated beside her was Louis. Laying his head on the table, he stared at Esther and invited, “Come over to watch our match with Highlight this weekend. I will save you a VIP seat. This made her shake her head. “I can’t,” she responded regretfully. This made him sit up straight and look at her questioningly. Everyone was eager to watch the basketball games and VIP seats were hard to get yet Esther so bluntly refused without thinking twice. “Why? You dislike basketball?” “Nothing like that,” she answered. “I broke my nose the last time I went to one of these matches. You know how terribly clumsy I can be.” Esther’s self-awareness made Louis sigh. He couldn’t argue against that. During this short period of time he had gotten along with her, he learned how easily she got injured. No wonder she lived so carefully. “That’s a pity. This game was going to be grand, and I wanted yo
Esther was on the verge of tears as she sat on top of the brick wall. Compared to her fear of height, she felt more afraid about the creature down, occasionally barking for her.The fear she had for dogs prompted her to get up on the brick wall. Her position was embarrassing, and that’s why, Esther considered herself lucky that no one passed through the streets here now.“Shoo. Shoo. Go away, good Doggy. Be a good boy please. Or are you a girl? No, that’s irrelevant. Please go away. I don’t have anything delicious with me. See.”Esther carefully waved her hands around.“Woof!” The dog barked loudly, startling her. She was almost about to fall off the brick wall at the sound.“Please spare me,” Esther desperately begged.However, her tear-filled pleads were not conveyed to the dog, and it stared at her with excitement.That’s when, she noticed the figure driving through. That
Esther never expected being ambushed at her own house. She heard the footsteps when she was about to climb up the stairs, and upon looking back, she had a clothing being pressed on to her face. Before she could even panic, she was out.The perpetrators stared at the sleeping girl. They were dressed in black and had their face covered up. One of them leaned over to pick up the unconscious girl.“Erase the tracks,” another one ordered.°°°The next time Esther opened her eyes, she was met with never-ending darkness. The sensation told her that she was blindfolded. Her limbs were bound tightly— the material biting into her skin. This restricted her movements.Esther was most likely seated on a chair.Losing all sense of security, Esther began to panic. She loathed the darkness, and now that was what she had all around her. This had her heart beating rapidly in her chest.Anxiety overwhelmed her, and a nausea
“Bitch! I was being kind to you! Is this how you repay me?”He stomped over to her. His loud footsteps made dread arise at the pit of her stomach. Bowing down, he grabbed her by her collar and raised her. Bruises started to form on Esther’s face.He sneered.“Since you do not prefer the nice way, I have to go rough on you. Whores like you do not deserve to be treated with mercy after all.”Esther had a low pain tolerance to begin with. That’s why, this much was enough for her to break down and hope for this to end. She hated how she couldn’t lose her consciousness. At least at an unaware state, she wouldn’t have to suffer.She did want to hope that someone would save her. But that was highly improbable. Her siblings were not home for two days. Her parents hardly cared about her. And then that image that flashed in her mind.Would Asher even know that she was abducted? No, even if he was aware,