"I hate him," he confessed through his clenched teeth. He hated him so much that he wished he was born an orphan. Life would have been so much easier then. For years he craved a little bit of attention from him, if not love. He never misbehaved, never threw tantrums like other kids only to impress his dad and let him know he was a good child. He worked tirelessly, studied hard to get perfect scores on his exams in the hope of gaining a morsel of his attention but he never even acknowledged his hard work, much less appreciated. The boy squashed his dreams and ambition, molding himself into his puppet only to get an affectionate smile from him but that man had nothing to offer except for deep biting loathing. Serena retracted her hand but her eyes never strayed from his. Her gaze warm and tender, unknowingly coaxing him to pour out everything. Everything that was hurting him for so long. "Today he sold off all my mom's belongings to punish me for talking back with his wife," he co

Asher didn't have to search too hard for the receipts. He found them crammed up in the drawer of his dad's work table. He read the buyer's name and realised his dad sold everything to one person. After taking a quick photo of the receipt, he put it back inside the drawer and left. Did you find out?The message was from Serena. He had just woken up and checked his phone in hope of finding a message from Shanice. But there was none except for Serena's. With disappointment, he typed a yes. She then told him to meet her at the bus stand. Asher sat up to type as it was going to be a long text. He tried to dissuade her from coming as he didn't want her to skip classes but Serena was adamant. Eventually, he had to give in. Serena was perched on the bench, looking fresh and bright like usual. A smile found its way on his lips at her sight. He pushed his glasses up and lengthened his strides. "What a beautiful morning, isn't it?" Serena sprung to her feet and chirped. Asher could see her e

Everyone's attention was centered on the gorgeous couple in the basketball courtyard. Reed was whirling a girl by holding up ass while the girl was laughing her melodious laughter with her arms locked around his neck. She was staring lovingly into Reed's eyes. Just like she used to stare into Asher's. Everything slowed down around Asher as he watched Shanice cuddling with another man. Denial was his first response until he couldn't deny it any longer. It was her. She was clearly enjoying herself wrapped inside his arms. The sight made his insides ache with a searing intensity and yet he couldn't tear his eyes away from them. As if sensing his gaze on her, Shanice suddenly looked in his direction. Their eyes locked and her smile faded instantly. She paled as if seen a ghost. Their stare-down stretched on for a long moment until Asher decided he had enough. Clenching the wooden heart tight, he spun and stormed off. "Ash....Ashe..please stop," Shanice implored him, running after him.

Serena was thinking about skipping school today. For one, her head was aching as she couldn't sleep whole night and secondly, she was nervous. Mind-numbing nervous. Today, he will either accept or reject her, and either way her life will take a drastic turn. It all happened at a super fast pace. She had no idea what came over her yesterday that she blurted it all out. She didn't mean to spring it on him, not when he was already stressed out. He must have felt attacked. What if he rejected her in his overwhelmed state? The possibility of him breaking off their friendship too was scaring her the most. She didn't want to lose their precious friendship. "Get a grip, Serena," she coached herself, feeling her anxiety shooting up. If it was some other situation she would have called Asher as he always knew how to pacify her but here he was the source of her anxiety. She decided to call Shanice. Maybe, talking to her would calm her down a bit. Shanice didn't answer her call. She then reach

"Why are you going alone? Where is Asher?" Shanice asked, feigning nonchalance. If not distracted by the question, Serena would have noticed implicit spite in Shanice's tone. Her smile dimmed for she didn't know where was Asher. He hadn't even said anything about their date. "He had some urgent work after school," Serena replied. Shanice hummed. "Bummer! I thought he would take you out on a date. I mean Boys usually want to be with their girls as much as possible. I wonder what could be more important than you?" Shanice remarked, staring ahead at the road. Serena was just as clueless. Asher hadn't told her why he left today earlier than usual. If she didn't know better she would think he was ignoring her. But why one would ignore someone right after asking them out. Makes no sense. She really was also expecting some together time after school. Even a walk to bus stand together would have meant a lot for her. So yeah, it had disappointed her a lot when he left school without eve