We get inside and I sit on the large sofa beside Ashton and give him his pizza.
"So what do you wanna talk about?" I ask them.
"We want to know what you're doing to find those fuckers who are switching the papers," Asher spokes. "So we can help you with it."
"You not me. Remember what we agreed about?" Cora says looking bored as ever.
I see her eyeing the pizza a few times before putting it aside. All thanks to Ashton for making this non-veg pizza.
Not that I'll be able to eat that later.
"Why shall we let you guys help us?" I ask him.
"Stop being your usual self for once Kiara," Cora snaps. "If we can catch the person who's doing it, we can prove it to Asher's coach it all was a misunderstanding, and then he will let Asher play for the team again. Otherwise, he's banned from playing baseball. Forever."
I would've taken her down right then and there but I don't for Asher's sake.
"You too?" Owen asks him. Asher looks away.
"Yes," he says. "I've been on the team since freshman. Never have I ever broken one rule. And now he believes a false rumor over me."
"Well shame on him," Miles says between each bite. "You're a really good player."
Asher smiles a little. "Thanks, dude."
"Wait," Owen interrupts. "You're saying your case is a fraud? You didn't bribe anyone to win the finals last year?"
"Of course it was! Why would I do something like that?" He says.
"Well, both of Ashton and Cora's were real so we thought-"
"The news on them us about how they fuck people!" Ashton flinches. "Mine's directly related to my career. Do you know what that means? I will never be able to be in the field again."
"Okay," everyone looks at me as I speak. "You can work with us. But what about the one that came along with you?"
Cora glares. "What'd you mean by it? My career-"
"Of pompoming was about to end after this year anyway," I cut her.
"You know it's about my reputation," she says.
I snort. "You have one?"
"You-"
"Girls, don't kill each other here," Ashton cuts between us. Again. "I don't wanna witness you murdering each other."
"Then tell your girlfriend to leave my house," I tell him.
"As if I wanted to be here anyway," Cora says with a snort.
Ashton closes his eyes and then turns to Cora.
"Cora, babe, why don't we calm down and talk about the matter in our hands first?" Cora melts down then and there. She nods.
My jaw falls. Does he use that trick on every girl? I turn to Ashton and find him watching her with a triumph smile.
"Why do you keep saying it's one person doing all that?" Nyako says, interrupting their open flirting session.
"Nyako's right," I say. "It's not possible for one single person to pull all those stunts all by himself."
"Or herself," Ashton adds.
"I think the easiest option to track them is to track the location of our Facebook page that they managed to hack," Miles tells us. "They have to log in from somewhere to upload those posts."
"I'm not sure if it'll be that easy," Cora says uncomfortably.
"Still, we have to give it a shot," I turn to Miles. "I think you should tell Luca about that. Maybe he'll be able to find something."
"Or we can leave this work for the Cyber Club," Ashton suggests.
"The what club?" Cora and I ask at the same time.
"Yeah the cyber club," Owen says. "Nyako is a member of that club."
All of our eyes fall on Nyako who refuses to look at us. "Why haven't I heard of it before?" Cora wonders aloud.
"Not many people know about it," Nyako shrugs. "There are only four members."
"Count that five," Miles says. "I'm signing up for your club tomorrow morning."
Nyako looks up. "Really?"
Miles shrugs. "It's not like I have anything better to do."
"Why doesn't Luca know about it?" I turn to Miles. "You should tell him. I'm sure he'll love to join too."
"Sure," he says. "Then we can search for those delinquents together."
"Yeah, we can try to track their IP address," Nyako mumbles.
I save myself from embarrassment by not asking him what that means. Maybe I'll ask Ashton or Miles later, or just Google it myself.
Asher clasps his hands together. "Then it's all settled," he says. "What shall we do next?"
"For now, keep your mouth close, no one should know what we're doing. Might even give those psychos a heads up," I say. "You too, Cora."
"I don't have a big mouth like yours," she remarks. Then she looks around. "Your house hasn't changed in years. I bet nothing about you changed, loser."
This girl! I'll just squeeze that face of hers and dump her in horse merde or even-or even-
Ashton squeezes my hand. I look at him and he shakes his head.
"Not worth it," he whispers, too low for others to hear.
I close my eyes. Why does Ashton even care? Unless he actually cares about her and lied to me just to get in my-
But after knowing him for two weeks that doesn't sound like a strong possibility. Yet, it still stands a chance.
I open my eyes and give Cora a tight smile. She returns it.
After that, they all start to leave. Ashton tells Asher he'll let them know about further meetings.
Cora tries to kiss Ashton before leaving, but he skillfully brushes it off.
Something inside me steers. So he wasn't lying earlier.
Owen and Nyako also leave, after Owen finishes Cora's 'uneaten' pizza.
Eww!
Miles gets up. "If we're finished here I'll go and catch a small nap," he says and leaves through the backdoor.
Didn't he just wake up before coming here?
I turn to Ashton who has the same question written on his face.
We finish our homework in the kitchen, eating his promised ice cream while I continue giving him the silent treatment for giving away my pizza.
Ashton doesn't say anything much as he silently completes his homework. I was a bit surprised seeing him actually doing his homework at first. So the bad boy status is just a facade.
I eat the cookie dough ice cream and Ashton eats the vanilla one. Typical of him.
Silence follows until we hear the front door open.
"Oh no, you don't get to say that!" Mom's voice fills the house.
"What do you mean by that?" Dad yells after her. "Who was it?"
"None of your business!" Mom shouts again. "Why don't you tell me what you were doing there?"
"When you answer me first."
"Don't try to put the blame on me now!"
I sigh and look at Ashton. He is looking at me.
"Does..." Ashton hesitates. "Does that happen often?"
I shake my head. "Never before. At least not that I remember."
I look at the doorway, we can still hear my parents yelling in the front hall.
"Let's go to my room," I tell him.
We collect our things and head for upstairs. In the hallway, I see my parents shouting and I flinch.
Ashton puts a hand on my shoulder and nudges me to continue.
"Kiara, what are you-" Mom's voice halts when she spots Ashton.
Ashton turns around and smiles at them. "Hi Mr. and Mrs. White, I was going to get my things. I'll be leaving."
Both my parents look flustered when they realize we caught them in the middle of a fight. Dad walks past mom towards the kitchen.
"Oh no, please stay," Mom tells Ashton. "Kiara didn't inform me you were coming."
She probably didn't notice Ashton has been practically living in our house for the last week.
"It's fine, I should go home anyway," he tells her.
Mom smiles. "If you're sure," she says. "And please call me Agnes."
Ashton nods and follows to my room.
"It's Ms. Leery," I say once we're inside my room.
Ashton blinks at me. "I'm sorry but, what?"
"My mom's name is Agnes Leery, not White."
His brows furrow. "I'm sorry, I thought your parents are--"
"No doofus, my parents are married." I roll my eyes. "It's just mom kept her maiden name even after my parents got married," I explain to him. "Dad had no problem with it."
Ashton nods. "That's really refreshing to know. Changing the maiden name is really old fashioned these days. Loads of trouble if they want to...er...divorce."
"I know," I chuckle. I don't ask him about his mom. "Though having this long name isn't delightful much. Like seriously? Kiara Olive Leery-White." I roll my eyes. "Everyone ends up calling me Kiara Olive White in short."
"Olive huh?" Ashton smirks.
"As if you have a better middle name," I roll my eyes. "What is it by the way?"
Ashton starts packing his things. "I should go home and finish my homework," he tells me.
Oh, he's trying to avoid telling me his middle name. It must be something pretty horrible.
And so I block his way when he tries to leave. "You can't leave without telling me your middle name first."
"Oh really?" Ashton arches his brows.
"Oh yes," I mimic his voice. "You're welcome to try the window. Although I won't recommend it. There are rose bushes right down the window.
"I don't have to." Ashton starts leaning down.
Next thing I know, he kisses me on my cheek and pulls back almost instantly.
I stand there in shock as my hand reaches for my cheek.
What the hell just happened?
Before I can comprehend what has just happened, Ashton takes his chance and sprints out of the room.
"See you tomorrow snow!" He yells for the hallways.
"Wait till I get my hands on you, you obnoxious pervert!" I shout after him, but he's already long gone. His laughter fills the silence of the house.
Only when I look in the mirror I realize that I am smiling like a nincompoop.
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