*Hazel's pov*
I put on my glasses and looked out of my bedroom window after waking up. It was still snowing. That was the only thing I liked about my life, currently.
Letting out a sigh, I got up to get dressed for school. I wore a pastel blue t shirt with dark jeans and black vans. I threw a black crew neck over my shirt and put my hair into a bun.
Walking downstairs, I saw my dad at the kitchen table in a robe. Oh my gosh, he was wearing Alan's Star Wars robe. He was going to be extremely upset.
I rolled my eyes and turned for the door when his voice stopped me. "Hazel, let me give you a ride."
I cringed and turned back around to face him. "It's okay. I already have a ride." I had been getting a ride from Asher for a few weeks. I quickly walked out of the house before my dad could say more.
When I got to the sidewalk, I was going to make my way over to Asher's front door until I remembered: We weren't on good terms right now. Actually, we weren't really on terms at all.
I pursed my lips and sighed heavily. I shoved my hands in my pockets as I passed his house on my way to school. His car was missing so I was pretty sure he left already.
~~~~~
Walking to school took so much more time and energy than I remembered. Especially in the snow. I was taking those rides for granted. By the time I got to school, the bell rang and I was rushing in the sea of kids to class.
While Mr. Belmonte rambled on about the subject, I doodled little faces-most of which were sad-on Anikah's hand as she tried to write her notes. She kept fussing that I was distracting her. I mean I was drawing on her right hand and she's left handed so I didn't see the big deal.
I went through the first four periods very slowly and agonizingly. Usually, I was great in school, but I kinda just wanted to walk out the double doors right now.
I dismissed that thought and walked towards the cafeteria for lunch. I searched in the sea of students for my friends and found them at the table we usually sat at. I smiled and made my way over to them until I realized who they were sitting with. Asher and his friends. I stopped in my tracks and somehow locked eyes with Asher.
I tried my best to give him a blank expression that only a completely broken person would give to someone that they just gave up on. Except, it was a bluff. I wasn't completely broken and I definitely didn't give up on him. Was I mad as heck? Yeah. But that didn't mean I could stop caring, I just needed time.
In that moment, I remembered my thought from a few seconds before and decided to follow through with it. Holding eye contact with Asher, I pushed open the doors of the cafeteria until I completely lost his gaze. Walking down the halls, I made sure to avoid teachers, and walked right out the double doors. It's not something I would have ever done in a million years, but I just had. All because of one person: Asher.
I felt pretty good. It was exhilarating doing something so rebellious! I felt the glory for all of two seconds until there were two hands on my shoulders turning me around and holding me in place. My eyes were wide from being startled. I found myself face to face with Asher. How the frick did he catch up so quickly.
"Hazel." He sounded breathless, but not as if he was running, just breathless.
I rolled my eyes and tried turning back around but his hands were still on my shoulders, so he just pulled me back.
"Asher, I have nothing to say to you." I shrugged out of his grasp and tried to leave once more, but this time when he turned me around, he lifted me up from my waist. I tried to wiggle out of his arms but he was really strong. He carried me over to the side of the school and set me down.
"Asher, what the heck?!" I tried to move out from either side of him, but then he did something that made my heart skip a beat. He pinned me against the brick wall and moved several inches closer to me.
"Hazel, calm down. I need to talk to you." He said desperately.
If it weren't for the given situation, I might've felt flustered. . "What could you possibly say to fix this?" I narrowed my eyes.
"Hazel... I'm really sorry about what I said. I didn't mean that thing about your dad leaving you. You probably weren't the reason he left. I'm sure it was something else!"
He was really pushing my buttons. I burned holes through him with my eyes and clenched my jaw. There was something about the way he said it. Something else was the reason my dad left.
"Listen, Asher. There was nothing me or the rest of my family did to make my dad leave. We weren't that "something else" reason. My dad made the choice to leave to chase after another woman. We did nothing to make him leave. So don't go saying that there was a reason for him to leave because there wasn't. We were kinda fine the way we were. Sure he was still an a-hole, but he was there. Then he wasn't. He left for no reason and didn't come back until that woman finally realized how worthless he actually is. So no there wasn't some other reason or any reason at all." I said with venom.
He looked at me with a face full of confusion and then regret. "Hazel I didn't mean it like that! I-"
I pushed his hands away, stepped out from in front of him, and simply said,"Asher. There's nothing you can do because... I don't think we should be in each other's lives anymore." I turned around and huffed out a breath. Pushing one foot in front of the other, I began to walk away.
"Hazel, I'm not trying to do that! I just miss you, okay?" He threw his hands up in frustration and a muscle in his jaw twitched.
I stopped abruptly for a second, thinking about my next move. So, I whispered,"Well, maybe I don't miss you," and continued walking.
I heard a small choked sound come from him, but he didn't try chasing me or anything which was good.... I think.
~~~~~~~
I stood in front of my house, thinking about how I was going to approach my mom about skipping school. I sighed as I walked into the house and into the kitchen in search for my mom. Instead, I found my dad still there in Alan's robe, sipping coffee.
I was going to try to leave, but he saw me. "Hazel," he said in surprise,"why are you back early?"
I think he just had this effect on me where him speaking just made me roll my eyes. "That's what I need to find mom for. To tell her. Where is she?"
He set down his coffee and thought about it for a moment. "Oh, she took Leo to some appointment or something."
"Oh, yeah. That's right, he had a behavioral therapy session today." I said more to myself than to him.
"Wait, that? He still has that disease or whatever that thing is?" He scrunched his nose in disgust.
I scowled and balled my hands into fists. "That thing is called ADHD and it's not a disease. It's a condition. If you were around him longer and were a good dad, you'd know that." There was a certain venom in my voice when I spoke. He was not going to talk badly about my baby brother. I began to walk away.
"Hazel! You can't just say things like that to me! I came back now and that should be enough." He got up from his chair and balled up his hands on the island.
"That's not enough! You missed so much in the time you were gone. The only reason you came back was because your wife realized how horrible you are and left you! If she didn't, you would've never come back, would you?" My voice was beginning to crack from the rise and emotion in it.
He gave me this really nasty look. "Don't ever fucking talk to me like that ever again. Unless you want memories of your childhood." This made my eyes go wide and I whimpered a bit from fear but I didn't think he noticed. He sighed and took a sip of his coffee, relaxing back in the chair. "I won't tell your mom about you coming home early for whatever reason so long as this conversation was considered non-existent."
I closed my eyes and gulped. Reluctantly, I agreed. "Okay. Yeah, fine. Well, I'll be up in my room I guess."
When I got upstairs I ran into my room and flopped down onto my bed. I'd never felt more alone. I didn't cry but the emotions that make you cry were there. Ugh, two guys were making my life so miserable. I never would have left school like that and I never would have addressed my dad like that.
But there was a difference between them. I didn't really have to face Asher and couldn't (which is why I left school), but I had to face my dad. Not just cause we lived together, it just seemed like the right thing for me to do.
As I lay in bed, I thought about my last words to Asher. I said that to him, but I didn't really mean that. Of course I missed him, too!
I didn't really know how I felt. I just wished he could find some way to make me feel better so I could just forgive the jerk already. But I had already told him I didn't want him in my life. I sighed and screamed into my pillow which came out pretty muffled.
I spent the rest of the afternoon just reading and watching Netflix. I did my homework for the first four periods in class so I didn't really have anything.
When the sky began to turn pink, I was distracted by my book "Starry Eyes" by Jenn Bennett when something hit my window. What was that?
I climbed off my bed and crawled over to my window. I lifted it open and found a pebble with a paper taped to it on the roof outside. I grabbed it and closed my window, climbing back onto my bed.
When I untaped the paper, I found that it was a note.
Dear Hazel,
Meet me at that park we went to after Violet punched Sheyla. I swear it'll be worth it. 8:00pm tonight
Love,
Asher
Wow. He never called me Hazel unless it was really serious. I was debating whether I should go or not and for some stupid reason decided to go. It better have been worth my time because I still hadn't forgiven him. What he said really hurt me.
I waited a while until it was around seven o' clock. I had to get ready.
Mentally, that is because I was still wearing the outfit I wore to school. I paced around my room for about thirty minutes thinking about what might happen or what he wanted. Then I grabbed my bag and walked to the park.
I was wearing a beanie because it was cold in the snow, but I couldn't help but wish I had brought a thicker jacket. I shivered in the cold air of the night.
I sat on the bench cross-legged, waiting for the idiot that was supposed to come.
8:10 no Asher
8:15 no Asher
8:20 no Asher
8:25 no Asher
At 8:30, I was ready to leave. How could Asher just leave me waiting for so long in the cold and just not show up?? Especially when I was already mad at him.
I sighed and pulled my bag over my shoulder. I was about to get up when a figure emerged from the shadows and sat next to me.
I jumped, startled. "Jesus, Asher! Don't do that!"
He had a black hood on but I couldn't see his face. I knew it wasn't Asher right when he spoke, though. It was a very deep sound. "I'm not Asher." It was Eli.
"That idiot made me come out late at night in the snow for this shit. He's lucky, especially after he dated that one chick that bullied Ivy." He mumbled to himself but I could still hear.
I turned my body towards him and shook my head. "Wait, so you mean to tell me that he summoned me to the park to meet with him and he's not even here but he sent you instead??"
He looked up and I could see his dark eyes from under his hood. "You mean to tell me that you just used the word 'summoned'? Also not exactly."
He got up from the bench and looked down at me, sighing. "How am I going to do this?" He thought quietly.
I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. "Do wh-" I was interrupted when he leaned down and threw me over his shoulder like a sack, earning a scream from me.
It was really awkward cause I just got a view of his butt and I'm pretty sure it was the same for him.
I let out an 'oof' when he suddenly plopped me down on the swing. I held on to those metal chains for dear life. Dear life I tell you!
He rubbed his hands together and sighed. "This is a very special place. Asher once kissed you on the forehead here on these very swings. It was very-"
Eli paused to look at some smudged writing on his hand. He mumbled under his breath with a look of confusion.
"It was very me- melon full?" He looked up at me, dead serious. "It was very full of melons."
It was very full of melons?? What the heck did that mean??
I stared at him. "I-I think you mean meaningful?"
He gave me a look that said 'are you stupid?'. "Pshhh nah, I'm pretty sure he meant melon full."
I shook my head. "Whatever, why am I here?" I swung lightly making my shoes drag against the wood shavings underneath the swing set.
"You'll see in a while. My only purpose right now is to remind you of your lewd actions here at the park with Asher." He held up his hands defensively.
My eyes widened and quietly gasped. "Lewd?? Is that what Asher told you?? It was only a kiss on the forehead! And it was friendly! You were here, you should've seen it! It wasn't lewd!"
He rolled his eyes. "Relax, relax. I was only messing with you. Stop hitting me I was kidding!!" He yelled as I swatted at him for scaring me. I swatted one last time before crossing my arms over my chest and huffing dramatically.
"I don't know what else to say so I guess time for the next part." I was about to ask what he meant when he suddenly threw me over his shoulder again.
He started walking us away from the playground and out of the park altogether.
"Eli, where are we going?"
"You'll see."
I groaned. I was really curious as to why Asher's mysterious, scary, and quiet friend was kidnapping me. I should've probably been concerned but he couldn't have been too bad if Ivy was with him.
My mind wandered elsewhere and I started thinking about random stuff. I thought of the lady that held the world record for owning the most rubber ducks. I think her name was Charlotte Lee?
I was distracted from my thoughts when Eli suddenly yelled,"Hey, Adler! Catch!" I screamed like a dying goat when he suddenly threw me into the air. Luckily, I landed in another pair of arms.
The person stumbled back a bit but caught themselves. "What the hell, Eli?! Warn me next time!" I looked up to see Liam. He probably wasn't expecting Eli to do that either.
Eli shrugged. "I said catch." Then he emerged back into the darkness.
Liam cursed under his breath and placed me inside the passenger seat of a red 1980s Ford mustang which I guessed was his car. He walked around to the other side to get in and drove off.
He turned on the radio and Baby by Justin Bieber came on. Okay, here was the thing. I didn't know if it was ironic or not, but I felt obligated to sing along whenever that song came on. I knew every single word by heart.
"Bum
Bum bum
Ohh oohhh ohhhh"
Liam glanced at me with worried eyes and whispered,"Oh no."
"Bum bum
Ohh oooohhh ohhhhhhh
Bum bum
Ohhhhhh oooohhh ohhhhhhhhh
Bum bum bum
You know you love me
I know you care
*Cut to not too long later*
And I just can't believe my first love won't be around and I'm like
Baby baby baby ohhhhh
Baby baby baby noooo
Baby baby baby ohhhh
Thought you'd always be mine
Baby baby baby ohhhhh
Baby baby baby noooo
Baby baby baby ohhhh
Thought you'd always be mine
When I was thirteen
I had my first love
There was nobody that compared to my baby
Ain't nobody came between us no one could ever come above
She had me goin crazy
Oh, I was starstruck
She woke me up daily
Don't need no Starbucks
She made my heart pound
And skip a beat when I see her in the street and at school on the playground but I really wanna see her on the weekend
She know she got me dazin'
Cause she was so amazin'
And now my heart is breakin'
And I just keep on sayin'
"Shut up shut up shut up! I will stop this car, murder you, stuff your body in a bag, and throw you in the river." He banged his head against the steering wheel repeatedly as the horn went off.
I shrugged and continued singing. That is until he stopped the car and the radio stopped playing. He opened his door to exit.
"Get out. We're stopping here." He gestured to me. I looked around and saw that we were at a large meadow.
My eyes widened in fear. He really wasn't kidding about murdering me.
He looked at me expectantly before cursing under his breath and walking to my side. The door opened and he tried prying me out of the seat.
"I'm too young to die!"
"You're not gonna die! Now get out!"
"What a world! What a cruel, filthy world!"
"Hazel, I really will murder you if you don't get out."
I zipped my mouth shut and stepped out of the car. We walked over to the calf-length grass of the meadow and stood there.
Liam plastered a charming grin on his face and spread his arms wide. "Welcome to the land where romance spurred! Wendy and Peter Pan were lying here, right in this very meadow. They lay under the stars and held hands! So simple yet so cute."
I snapped my fingers in realization of what he meant. "Ah, you mean that time when Asher and I were in this meadow after your party!"
He nodded his head and clasped his hands together while smiling. He stared at me in the same position for a while with the same smile when I saw a bead of sweat roll down his forehead.
I scrunched my eyebrows. "Uh, you okay there?"
He kept smiling awkwardly. "That idiot didn't tell us what to do after this. He just told us to remind you of the moments."
I was really freaking confused. "Huh?"
He put his hands down and stopped smiling. "Uh, nothing. Let's just- let's just go."
We got back into his car and at this point I felt that it was too late to ask why all of Asher's friends were kidnapping me.
Pretty soon, I got handed off to Connor. He drove me to some random McDonald's.
"What are we doing here?" I asked as he dragged me to the grass area in front of the restaurant.
He turned and gave me a goofy grin. "Tis the kingdom of the clown where the princess and her jester shared a true love's fall. You shoteth an appleth at Asher's faceth and he chased youeth. He liftedeth you offeth the groundeth and you botheth felleth and sharedeth a momenteth."
I raised my eyebrow. "I think you're trying to speak Shakespearean. However, not every word ended with eth." He shrugged. "Anyways, I remember now. It was the night he took me to bmx practice with you guys."
He snapped his fingers and made a hooking gesture with his arm. "Exacto."
I fidgeted with the collar of my crew neck. "Now what?"
His smile faded into a straight, thin line. He looked at the ground as if he didn't think this through. "Well shit."
I sighed and shook my head in disappointment. "Just shove me in the car and give me to the next dude."
Last was Ian. He drove me to Sunset Sally's Diner. Well this one was just obvious. He helped me out of the car and we stood in front of the place.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet. The two of us never really talked much but he was helping out a friend. He was also a really sweet guy.
"This is the place where Asher works. You found out he's a waiter here and he drove you home the first time you came here. The second time was weirder cause you were on a date with Caleb who he hates but let's not talk about that. This moment isn't all too special, but it is special in a way. The place, I guess. It's hard to describe, but I'm sure you understand."
I do.
I smiled as I remembered what Ian was talking about. "Yeah, I remember tackling Honey just to question him. He didn't tell me he was a waiter and I was really suprised to find out."
He nodded and smiled. I was sure we got to that point that came with all the boys where they ran out of things to say. He coughed and tugged at his shirt.
I narrowed my eyes. "Hey, my brother has a shirt exactly like that." It was light blue with a pocket on the left side and a pattern with navy blue spades all over it.
His eyes widened. "W-what? Your brother??"
"Yeah. My brother, Jason."
He laughed awkwardly. "Jason? I don't know a Jason... Jason who?? What's a Jason??" He waved his arms around frantically as he spoke.
I raised my eyebrow at him. "Wait a minute! Holy cheese! I remember that night of the party, you hooked up with some other sophomore named Jason. I thought it was another Jason that happened to be a sophomore. So you and my brother are a thing?"
He sighed and dropped his hands at his side as he hunched over in disappointment. "Yeah... I'm sorry."
I glared at him. "You better be!" He looked up, scared. "You've been giving him rides for so long while I walked to school and you didn't even offer me a ride!" He still looked guilty, but he eased up after hearing that I wasn't upset with him for dating my brother. "I mean Asher started giving me rides, but you know."
"I'm sorry. Do you want rides?"
"Nah, it's okay. I'll leave you two to your privacy. I just thought it'd be nice of you to ask." I joked. It was quiet for a moment and I impatiently tapped my foot.
"So.... Where do we go now?" I asked.
He perked up. "Oh right! Get in the car!" We got in and drove off.
You'll never guess where we ended up!
In front of my house! Note my fake excitement.
As Ian and I stood there in the little space between Asher's house and my own, the other boys emerged from the shadows. One by one.
Bring forth Eli
Bring forth Liam
Bring forth Connor
Where's the last idiot? I thought to myself.
Ian joined them so that all four of them were standing right in front of me, staring deep into my soul.
I chuckled nervously. "So uh, you guys aren't gonna beat me up or anything right? Cause there are other ways to do this."
Their eyes widened in surprise.
"What?? No!"
"We're not gonna beat you up!"
"We'd never!"
"As long as you don't sing Baby by Justin Bieber again."
You can guess who mumbled that last one.
I crossed my arms. "Then what was the point of all this."
They parted ways, sliding back. Ian and Connor to my left, Liam and Eli to my right.
Oh, and there it was!
Rise and bring forth Asher
This whole thing felt wayyy too cultish. I thought to myself.
He was carrying a few things. When he got closer, I saw what they were.
He was holding-
*Gasp*
The Lightning Thief, The Lost Hero, and The Hidden Oracle. The start to each series of the Percy Jackson franchise or whatever you want to call it.
That was in one hand. In the other was what I guessed was a mixtape. He was also holding mini pancakes in a Ziploc bag.
"Hazel, please hear me out." He pleaded.
I had to! He had Rick Riordan's books! And pancakes! Who could resist pancakes? Oh, and a mixtape I guess, whatever that was for.
I looked at the floor. Ah, what an interesting patch of grass that is... "Fine."
"You're probably wondering what this whole journey was." He started. He was right. I was very curious. "Well, it's our journey. So far."
I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. "I'm not sure I follow..."
"Think about it. It wasn't in any particular order, but it was a collection of moments we've shared together. On the swing set at the park. In the meadow after Liam's party. The McDonald's after bmx. Sunset Sally's Diner. Each of those places holds a special memory between the two of us."
Oh. That explains why the boys were driving me around to all those places. Believe when I say that I was extremely confused.
He raised his eyebrow. "The guys told you about the little easter eggs I left in those places, right?"
"No. What easter eggs?" I asked as I looked over at the boys.
Their eyes widened in realization.
"That's what I forgot..."
"I think I spaced out in that part."
"Well, shit."
"The idiot did tell us what to do afterwards."
Asher gave them one of those "I'm going to kill you later" clownish smiles with wide eyes and tight line lips.
With gritted teeth, he looked at Eli and said,"There were flowers in the sandbox at the playground."
He turned to Liam. "There were chocolates under the tree in that meadow."
Then, he turned to Connor. "There was a teddy bear in the grass outside of the McDonald's."
Finally, he turned to Ian. "There was a singing goat at the side of Sunset Sally's Diner."
The boys and I all lifted our heads from our little moment of shame to look at Asher.
"A singing goat???" We all asked at the same time with the same puzzled looks.
Asher looked flustered. "Well, yeah. I was putting down thoughtful little things for you to find and I just thought a goat singing You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift was the way to go. It seemed like the best present which is why I left it for last." Then he turned to Ian, again. "But somebody just let go of a goat that cost me a pretty penny."
Ian looked back down in shame.
"How do you lose a singing goat?" The guys all asked.
Ian fidgeted with his-er, my brother's shirt. "I'm sorry. I guess I-"
"Let's just get on with this. You were saying?" I tried to get back on track.
Asher nodded his head. "Right." He stepped towards me with the things in his hand and held them out a bit. "These books were for all the times you randomly referenced them and I didn't know what the hell you were talking about. I did a bit of research and found out that it was these books."
He put them into my arms, moving onto the mixtape. "This is a collection of pretty much every song we've listened to together in my car. We have a very similar music taste and I know we can share our love for music through this."
Lastly, he moved onto the mini pancakes after placing the mixtape on top of the books. "These pancakes. Remember when you and I were making pancakes together and you got the batter on your face? I remember how I got it off of your face, too..." He whispered that last part to himself, but I heard it.
I could feel the heat rise up to my cheeks and ears. Oh, I remembered.
He coughed awkwardly and laughed before muttering "yeah". He then placed the mini pancakes on top of the mixtape.
"I just wanted to remind you of our story so far. I'm having such a fun time and I hope you are, too. I know I was such a fucking jerk. I was thinking for a while and realized why what I said was completely untrue and stupid. You're going through a hard time and instead of helping you, I made it worse. I'm really really really really really really really reallyyyyyy sorry. I hope you can forgive me because I care deeply about you and it's hard to get through everyday without you. You're a great friend and I need you in my life. I know there was a point in my life where I didn't even know you existed and you didn't know I did, but I didn't know what I was missing then. Life was predictable and boring but now it's fun and exciting. I don't know how I ever got by without you for seventeen years, because it's only been a few days, and I already feel dead without you around me. Please forgive me." His electric blue eyes pleaded with his lips in a small frown.
Woah.
I shoved everything in my hands into Ian's hands. He staggered a bit, but got it all balanced.
Then I ran up a few feet and jumped onto Asher, tackling him in a hug. He seemed shocked at first, but quickly hugged back. I buried my head into his neck and he buried his in my hair. I guess he was really happy because he lifted me up from my waist and spun me around before putting me back down. I don't know what he felt, but I felt so comfortable in his arms.
His speech made me so emotional that something unexpected came out of my eyes.
Not sand.
Not eye boogers.
Tears.
I started crying into his grey hoodie. He pulled back a bit to see me after feeling me shake against him. He held onto my shoulders as he searched my face. "P-Princess, are you okay???"
I nodded as tears streamed down. "Yeah, sorry for crying. I'm just happy we're good now. I missed you and what you did was so thoughtful. Thank you."
"Princess..." He said under his breath as he pulled back into the hug.
I sniffled before saying,"I'm also madder at you than before." He pulled back again with a frown.
"What?"
"Why??" The boys all asked.
Then my gaze turned into a hard glare. "For sending me on this wild goose chase around town just for me to end up back right in front of my house. Do you know how precious time is and how expensive gas is??"
He rolled his eyes and hugged me even tighter. I gasped for breath.
"Asher. I. Can't. Breatheeeee."
He laughed softly and loosened his hold on me. "I'm just glad we're okay."
"Me too."
A/N: HEY GUYS I'M FINALLY BACK WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER!! I know I took forever to upload this, but the semester just ended and I was piled with work as always. Anyways, are you guys happy that they made up? What do you think of Asher's "Grand Journey Gesture"? I was really happy to bring the boys I to this chapter. I thought it made it a bit funnier, idk. To make up for taking so long,this chapter is extra super long. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! Follow for any announcements or notifications for story updates. Please keep reading and vote! Thank you!! By me lovelies!!!â¤â¤â¤
---Your author, Gen