ANMELDENAsher's pov.I pushed open the front door and headed straight up the stairs to my room as evening settled over the house. I was supposed to hang out with Trevor and Brady after our last lecture, but Trevor had bailed at the last minute to take Emma on a date. Brady and I had agreed to grab something to eat just the two of us, but right as we were leaving campus, his mother called to say she was in the city and wanted to meet up.Life over the past few days had gone back to its usual, dull rhythm. Trevor and Brady had cleared up their weird tension and were back to normal but I hadn't set foot anywhere near the café since that day.Whenever class ended, I either hung out with them or came straight home. I'd tried finding a new quiet spot to clear my head, but none of the places felt right. I even tried a few other coffee shops, but the coffee everywhere else just tasted flat.In my room, I took off my shoes and unzipped my hoodie. My eyes drifted to the silver bracelet sitting on th
Asher's pov.Trevor paced back and forth across the hardwood floor of my room, his sneakers squeaking every time he turned sharply. He ran both hands through his messy blonde hair, breathing heavily.“I am so pissed right now,” Trevor muttered, stopping to look at me. “Leonard has completely lost his mind! I told you, Ash. I literally told you not to mess around with him. Why? Because these insanely rich people are all full of shit! He probably never even considered you a friend in the first place.”I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the floor between my feet. Leonard’s voice from the café was still stuck in my head.Brady had been sitting quietly in the corner chair, scrolling through his phone. Suddenly, he stopped.“Guys...” he said.Trevor glanced at him. “What?”Brady stared at his screen for a moment before looking up at me.“It looks like that girl wasn't just some random date.” He hesitated. “She's his fiancée.”Trevor let out a short, disbelieving laugh.“A fiancée? Not
Leonard's pov.I lay back on my bed, staring up at the white ceiling as the silence of my bedroom settled around me. After nearly two weeks trapped in a hospital room, the quiet felt suffocating. I rolled onto my side and unlocked my phone, my thumb hovering over Asher’s name. The screen glowed with unread messages sent days ago, questions asking where I was, if I was okay.My chest tightened. How was I even supposed to respond now? Sending a casual reply to a message from two weeks ago felt completely absurd, but leaving him with nothing felt worse.A sharp, double knock at the door broke the quiet.I sat up on the edge of the mattress and cleared my throat. "Come in."The brass knob turned, and the heavy door swung open. Liam stepped into the room.My hands instinctively gathered the fabric of the duvet, my knuckles turning white as I squeezed it tightly. I kept my face blank, forcing myself to sit upright. I couldn't let him catch even a trace of my nervousness."It's been two we
Asher's pov.The three of us sat around a round table in the crowded university cafeteria, our hands linked together in a tight circle over the smooth tabletop.“Should we check it now?” Trevor asked, his fingers twitching slightly against mine.“Wait a second.” I stared blankly at the dark screen of my laptop. “Just... give me a minute to get ready.”Brady let out a quiet breath and squeezed my left hand. “Ash, we've been sitting here getting ready for the last twenty minutes.”“I’m scared, okay?” I muttered.I looked down at our joined hands. My fingers were trembling slightly, and there was no point pretending they weren't.Trevor sighed and shifted in his chair. “Let's just pull the band-aid off. Whatever it is, it is.”“Easy for you to say.” I looked at him. “You're a genius. Your grades are going to be fine.”“Being good at school doesn't mean I don't get nervous, man.” His brow pulled together. “I still don't know what I got.”Brady released our hands and pulled his laptop clos
Asher's pov.I walked down the sidewalk, the morning air brisk against my face as I held my phone against my ear.Trevor’s voice came through the speaker, loud and energetic. "Hey, since you're heading over anyway, can you get me a caramel macchiato and cake on your way?""Get it yourself," I said, shifting my backpack straps."Come on, man. You're literally passing by there. Be nice."I let out a breath. "Fine. I'll get it."I heard Trevor call away from the phone, "Hey, Brady! You want anything from the cafe?" A moment later, he came back on the line. "Brady says he's good. Thanks, Ash. You're the best!"The line went dead before I could even reply.I shook my head and slipped my phone into my pocket.A few minutes later, I stopped in front of the usual cafe and pushed the heavy glass door open. The familiar scent of roasted coffee beans drifted through the room as I walked up to the counter and glanced at the board."Hi. I'd like one caramel macchiato, one iced Americano, and a sli
Asher's pov.We sat side by side on the floor of Trevor’s room, heavy gaming headsets clamped over our ears. The only light came from the bright glow of the monitor mounted on the wall.“Ash, go left! Cover the flank!” Trevor yelled into his mic, his thumbs flying across the controller. “What are you doing? They’re coming from the ridge!”“I’ve got it,” I mumbled, pulling the joystick back, but my hands were barely keeping up with what was happening on the screen.My character sprinted straight into an open corridor without checking the corners. A burst of gunfire exploded through my headphones, followed by the harsh red flash of the defeat screen.“No, man! Are you serious?” Trevor groaned, yanking his headset off and tossing it onto the beanbag behind him. “We just lost the whole match!”Brady slowly lowered one side of his headset around his neck and set his controller on the carpet. I stared at the glowing red DEFEAT across the screen for a moment before pulling my headset off and
Asher's pov.I swallowed hard, my throat feeling completely dry as Leonard’s gaze remained locked onto mine. The silence between us stretched until it felt almost suffocating. Slowly, his dark eyes moved away from my face, shifting back down to trace the charcoal lines on the paper.I let out a ner
Asher's pov.The red ink at the top of the paper felt like a slap in the face. I stared down at the terrible grade on my quiz, the numbers blurring together as I gripped the edges of the page until the corners crumpled in my hands.It was a total mess. During the whole test, my mind wasn't on the e
Asher's pov.The professor’s voice faded into the background, mixing with the scratching of pens against paper.Everyone around me was hunched over their desks, desperate to capture every word. I leaned back, my own notebook open, but my pen wasn't tracing chemical bonds or reaction formulas.Inste
Leonard's pov.The evening air hit me as I stepped out of the gallery, heavier than I expected. I walked down the marble stairs, my shoes clicking against the stone. The staircase stretched endlessly beneath me, polished marble designed to make people feel insignificant before they even stepped in







