25. FRIEND NOT RIVAL

ACT FOUR SCENE SIX

FRIEND NOT RIVAL

third person

perspective

LUCA SAT UNDER the large oak tree. His headphones were plugged in as he studied the euphoric sky filled with hues of pink and orange. It was almost a tradition. Luca would always come here to watch the sunset and think about things that occur in his life. Nobody would be here, it would be just him and his thoughts and the lively wind brushing against him.

It was also a place where he could wear no gloves. With no people it made his life easier, he could feel comfortable for once. Luca enjoyed that, he enjoyed his own company. But sometimes, sometimes it would get lonely. His heart would feel bitter as his mind would sometimes feel cold. He never wanted this, he never wanted to live life to survive.

He wanted to live life to live. He wanted to experience each day of his life to the fullest, filled with friends and filled with experiences that he could remember for eternity.

Sahar is the only person he could touch. But even a blind man can tell that she's hopelessly in love with Asher Devon. Luca has always loved her, he has always attempted to make her feel better. He viewed her as a person before her title, he didn't care about her wealth, he cared about her. Suddenly Asher shows up and he has her heart. It makes Luca wonder, why do girls go for the guy who always treats them the worst?

It's as if the nice guy has no place in their heart. He has known her since he was a child and has always cherished her presence. When Luca told Asher about his feelings for Sahar, he simply laughed and asked him why he likes a peasant. But of course, Sahar doesn't care about that does she? She just cares about Asher because she believes she has seen a different side of him.

But that's how Asher is. He has two sides and he'll show a person the side they most like. And she likes the side of Asher being a good person, treating people with kindness. But there's something else to that side of his. He likes to show people kindness in order to receive something he wants. And that's where Luca is confused, what does Asher want from Sahar?

The other side of Asher is his selfish arrogant side, a side in which he tries to be above others and belittle people who are poor. He has called Sahar a peasant before meeting her but now suddenly she went from being a peasant to someone who is a companion to him.

There's also one more thing that's holding Luca back from Sahar. And that's his complex friendship with Asher. He didn't want Asher to feel lonely. Luca is completely aware of Asher's feelings and his secret. He didn't want Asher to feel lonely anymore, he wants him to be with someone that makes him feel happier.

And for some reason, Sahar makes him happier.

Luca hates to admit it but he can see the chemistry between the both of them. It was rare to see Asher care about someone and seeing him with two cups of coffee in the rain made Luca realise that maybe Asher isn't planning anything malicious and he actually likes Sahar.

And that's the confusing part.

Luca wasn't sure of Asher's true intentions.

He stares at his phone, wondering whether to text Asher or not.

But after a few minutes, Luca found himself texting Asher.

LUCA:

can we meet?

ASHER:

where

LUCA:

i'll come over

Luca sighs. If he wants to find out what Asher really thinks of Sahar, he'll need to talk to Asher himself.

"Is there something wrong?" Asher asks Luca, running a hand through his platinum blonde hair, confused as to why the billionaire bad boys club member wanted to meet him so suddenly.

Luca looks at Asher, he couldn't analyse his emotions. His expression was stoic, practically emotionless. "I just wanted to ask you something." he says, studying Asher's face, he had obvious dark circles — it looked as though he hasn't slept in days.

Asher purses his lips. "Well, talk."

"It's about Sahar." the moment Asher heard Luca say Sahar's name, he felt nothing. A void of emotions, he wasn't sure how to feel about her anymore, he spent too much time on thinking about her and what to do about her but now he wasn't sure about anything anymore.

"Oh."

"Why did you become friends with her?"

Asher pauses. He became friends with her to overtake Luca. He was using her to become the richest person in Devon Academy, in fact, he wanted to be the leader of the billionaire bad boys club instead of Luca. He needed her to overcome his loneliness and exploit her in such a way that left Luca weak. For some reason it excited Asher, he enjoyed the way Luca would get sad over her. He enjoyed watching Luca talk hopelessly about his childhood love when Asher knew she was attending this school. As bad as it sounds, Asher just wanted to be better than the most liked person and the most richest person in the school.

He wanted to be better than everyone and Luca was blocking him from doing so. He wanted to over throw Luca so badly that he went through the extent of using a person, a person that he recognises. Although Sahar may pretend to act like she doesn't recognise Asher. Asher knew exactly who she was when she approached him.

He knew that the both of them met each other one night and slept together. But he pretended not to remember her, he only did that because he wanted to use her to the point he could feel powerful. And using her worked. Luca began to grow jealous of the both of them, he began to feel weak against Asher.

And at Luca's weakest point, Asher wanted to take over his position as the leader of the billionaire bad boys club and become the richest person in Devon Academy.

Looking at Luca now made Asher sick. He hated the idea of Luca and Sahar smiling together, the both of them laughing together and the mere idea of them being close with each other. He wanted to ruin everything in Luca's life just so he could feel stronger and powerful.

He didn't want Luca to succeed more than him.

Luca is his rival not his friend.

A corner of his mouth lifted up. "Because you're my rival."

Luca furrows his eyebrows. "Rival?"

"Why do you act like we're friends Luca, we're business competitors."

"But what does business have to do with Sahar?" Luca questions, he was beyond confused.

"Don't you get it?"

Luca frowns. "No, I don't get it."

"I know you've had this crush on her for years, and so I took the opportunity to take her away from you, now doesn't that sound like something a rival would do?" Asher questions but he felt bad, it's as though he didn't want to say this.

"No it doesn't sound like something a rival would do, it's something an absolute ass would do. You're talking about Sahar like she's an object, a pawn for a game." Luca states bitterly, glancing at Asher with a piercing gaze. "I should've known you didn't share the same feelings as her, I was stupid to have thought that you would change and for once be happy with someone."

Asher felt his heart pause. Share the same feelings as her?

"I hope you're happy Asher, it did work. It made me realise that you'll always remain as lonely as ever no matter how much I help you. I wanted to help you and I wanted to sacrifice my feelings for a girl I've liked for a long time, just for you to treat her badly." Luca says calmly, but deep down inside he was disappointed that Asher's intentions weren't pure.

"I really tried to be a friend for you Asher, I let you in the billionaire bad boys club because I wanted you to feel safe and get rid of the idea that you're lonely. You're not lonely Asher, you have all of us, all the members care about you. But I guess you don't feel the same."

Asher looks down. He couldn't face Luca. It was the first time in his life he has ever felt truly stupid ever since that event with his new born sister. He took what Luca gave for granted, he used an innocent girl and he made a person who regarded him as a friend upset. Luca was never a rival, he was someone Asher was supposed to regard as a friend. A person who was there for him.

He felt pathetic.

"People look up to you Asher, they want to be as successful as you, they want to be as smart as you. Heck, I've always wanted to be as confident as you. Listen to me Asher, I've never looked at you as a rival, I looked at you as a friend." Luca smiles, glancing at Asher who was avoiding his gaze.

"Friends look out for each other not wish bad upon each other." Luca places an envelope down on Asher's coffee table. "It's a party invitation, you can build a lot of good business connections there, it's also my birthday party — I hope to see you there as a billionaire bad boys club member." And those were Luca's last words before leaving Asher speechless.

Asher picks up the envelope and opens it. He reads the invitation with regret written all over his face. Even though Luca has found out about Asher's plan, he still gave him an opportunity to be successful. He still gave him the choice to stay in his life. Luca has always wished best for Asher and Asher failed to see it.

"S-Sorry." Asher whispers, he knew he was too late to apologise. But he couldn't say it in front of Luca, he was too embarrassed. He didn't notice Luca's intentions of being his friend and he didn't notice that he was making Luca's life hard by taking away the one person he loves.

Asher didn't realise that Sahar meant so much to Luca.

He used her as every opportunity to make Luca feel bad.

He stopped them from getting to know each other and ruined everything.

Luca is Asher's friend not rival.

well, that was a deep chapter. what do you think of asher? do you think luca deserves to be with sahar or do you think asher does?

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