~~Ashley's POV~~
Like an unwanted guest, the blue-eyed guy never left my mind; he was living in my head rent-free for the whole day. I knew I owed him a heartfelt thanks for what happened yesterday and eventually summoned the courage to give it. But guess what? Dude demanded I let him treat me to a meal if I was really thankful. I mean, who does that? Isn't he the one still piling up the favors? He claimed it was payback for flatly rejecting the gesture the last time, and somehow got me to do his bidding.
He was footing our bills when my cell phone chimed. It was a given that I picked up the phone to check what the notification was. But what I saw afterward dampened my spirit. Like I was expecting it to happen, my reaction was bland; I simply sunk my shoulders and took a deep breath.
"What are you looking at with such a sad expression?" Daniil asked, pulling the phone away from my grip. I didn't realize how lost I had been until I was forced to break free from the screen.
I didn't have the urge to fight back. "Give it back," I asked nicely.
"'Almighty Ashley finally crumbles,'" he read aloud the caption, being the insensitive jerk he was.
"Can I have my phone now?" I raised my hand to get it but he pulled it further away from my reach, flaunting his height.
"Is this what got you thinking?" he asked, staring down at me with avid eyes. For some reason, I lacked the energy to entertain his qualms. Or maybe it was the guilt? I probably felt too sorry to mete out any more harsh treatments. Otherwise, I knew just what to do to bring those lofty hands down. My eyes strolled down to his lower body then back up to him. I huffed with a lazy smile and just turned around to leave.
"Hey, wait up!" he hailed, trailing behind me as I was walking out.
Without sparing him a glance I pulled my phone away from him now that his guard was lowered together with his hands.
'Almighty Ashley finally crumbles.' Nothing about my phobia was mentioned.
Why?
Did she intend to put me on a leash with that? Threaten to expose it to the world if I should act up?
Now, we were on our way to class.
*Smack*
The sound of someone being slapped reechoed through the large hall, not leaving my ears unaffected as I took receding steps impulsively. 'The hell was that?!' It was as if the force that escaped the sound pushed me.
I scanned the room and spotted the root of the chaos. Archer, Hana, and Sakura were standing together. I could already tell what this was all about. But who slapped who? My thoughts were interrupted when Hana graced Sakura's cheek with a slap.
*Smack* *Smack*
"Ooohhh…" I heard from behind me and found this guy flinching and smiling slyly like he was solely responsible for this. 'Is this something fun to watch?' I wondered. Sometimes he seemed nice, at other times, evil, and some other times, mischievous. Which is the real one?
By the time I redirected my attention to the drama, Archer was already heading our way. If he continued on his path, we were sure to meet. One voice said to move away, the other said to stand still and face it head-on. The conflicting voices in my head kept me in disarray until he was standing paces away, staring right into my eyes.
Those eyes swirling with different emotions such as anger, pain, and sadness already said all I needed to hear. Whenever it involved me, Archer who was usually calm and collected, loses his cool and gets worked up. It'd actually been this way before Makayla's passing. He played the role of a big brother and now it was like I was all alone, he'd gotten even more protective. I instantly felt sorry for the way I lashed out yesterday. It wasn't his fault at all. I was the one being unreasonable.
It was decided. I was going to stand there and assure him I was okay. And indeed I was.
He took careful steps towards me.
"I'm sorry about what you had to go through yesterday, Ashley," he uttered inaudibly.
I nodded. "It's okay, Archer. Don't sweat it."
"Are you okay? The clip was uploaded." He sounded concerned and anxious too.
I nodded again with eyes closed briefly. "I'm okay." And truly, I was okay now. I had my contacts on, and the phobia wasn't exposed. Yet. If she tried anything funny later, we'd deal with it 'later.' For now, I was good.
"Umm. About that… The blue-eyed guy standing beside me the whole time voiced. "About that…" he took sequential glances at the two of us. "I can make the video go away."
My brows furrowed. How??!!
"Really???" Archer exclaimed saucer-eyed, gobbling some space between them.
"Hold on." He excused himself and took out his phone from his pocket. Would he really be able to pull it off? Take down the video?
I tilted to hold Archer's stare. He shrugged. We just stared while he dialed an unknown number.
"Hey Jason!"
…
"There's a clip uploaded almost an hour ago on my school's gossip blog. Take it down."
Our heads swung in each other's direction, pretty stunned.
"ASAP." He hung up. Raising his head from his phone, he rolled his eyeballs sideways, staring at our moping selves. "What?"
"Can you really take down the…"
"Shhh…" he rushed to put his forefinger across his lips as Archer's voice was gradually gaining volume. "No questions." He smiled, settling his hands in his pockets. I scoffed in disbelief.
Let's see how this goes. I looked around to see we still had prying eyes all over us. The drama was over but it was gonna take some time for the viewers to back off. I walked out their midst to spare us any more attention. How could so much happen in so little time?
Some time on…
He actually did it. It was the umpteenth time refreshing the page and it was real – the video was gone! Was it really him? Or was it sheer coincidence? I knew the gossip blog was managed by students and things like students' reputation and safety mattered less. I mean, it's called a 'gossip blog' for a reason. Only if an influential party reported to the appropriate authorities could they be able to take down the video. No one except Archer had my back. And he wasn't influential. No one would listen no matter how much he rambled. It had to be him. But how?
I swayed my eyes a little to the left to him. Staring at the back of his head, many thoughts flooded in. What did he do? How did he do it?
'Oops!' my inner voice yelped when he suddenly turned around to stare back. I swiftly averted my gaze but I was busted already. Using the corner of my eye, I caught him smiling, amused. I knew he caught me staring. Sigh.
Jordan walked in and stood close to the podium. "Lecture has been canceled," he announced. Before he could even leave the podium's proximity, the chatters in the room became louder as indistinct voices emerged in every area. This was the last class and it'd just been canceled. Everyone was leaving now.
Usually, I'd be the first to hop on my feet but this time, I remained seated. I needed to speak to him. I needed to tender heartfelt gratitude for all he did. I was still confused as to his actual nature. But that wouldn't change the fact he'd helped me. Twice. I didn't ask him to wait behind but he did. Like he knew I had a lot to say, he also remained glued to his seat.
It took a while but eventually, a reasonable crowd dispersed. The time was now.
I exhaled with pouted lips and pushed forward to him. And before long I was standing beside his seat.
"Umm…hey." He kept his head down like no one was there. He was still a total jerk. "The clip's gone," I blurted. Don't blame me, I didn't know where to start or what to say. And his remaining unaware of my presence wasn't helping at all. "Thank you," I whispered.
He finally tilted his head backward, raising his teasing eyes to me. "Pardon?"
"Name your price. I'm willing to pay." Shit! That wasn't supposed to come out. I was only going to say thank you and walk away. But deep down in my heart was an intense desire to pay back this 'debt.' A desire I wanted to keep hurled inside because I could not begin to imagine what absurd requests he'd make of me. Now it was out in the open. 'Oh, good lord!'
"You're willing to pay?" His eyes darkened, and he raised an eyebrow. 'Only God knows what is going on in his head.' He stood up and sat on his desk instead bringing our faces closer. "You're willing to pay?" he reechoed.
My head nodded. That wasn't me, I promise. I didn't like the direction it was going but the damage had already been done. I just needed to brace up and wait for it. I lowered my lids, hiding my eyes from him.
He chuckled darkly. "I want you to treat me as a friend." I raised my eyelids again. That's easy, I thought. If that was all, then it was gonna be a free ride. Lately, the monster that invaded my head when I was anywhere around him appeared less frequently. I think it was just my subconsciousness seeking for it now it was gone.
"Is that all?" Did I want more? 'The hell is wrong with me?' I already concluded it was going to be easy treating him as a friend and here I was boldly asking for more.
"No." My heart skipped.
"I want something else," he drawled, getting on his feet. I was so close, I needed to raise my head if I wanted to look him in the eye.
I made to move slightly away when he stopped me with a steel grip around my left arm. If my heart was beating fast before, now it was wild. I always sensed this dark aura around him that kept me at bay. Why else would a stranger trigger my ugly memories if there wasn't something off about him? Or was it my imagination again? My imagination that defied its owner whenever it got the chance. Or maybe it was because he bore a striking resemblance to Makayla's killer.
"Here's the most important part, Ashley. You need to hear it correctly," he mumbled in a spine-chilling tone. I could tell his expression was serious now. "Date night." I heard faintly and pushed my head up.
"'Date night?'" I resounded, not thinking straight. The way he uttered suddenly didn't give me the time to process what his request may be.
"Be my date."