"Dad, come on. I ain't like that. Why are you being so adamant? I have always been an obedient child."
Ashley went ahead to convince her father. She adjusted her hair which was packed into a ponytail as she blinked her eyes cutely at her father. "Go and meet your mother." Her father, Brown, said as he drank his cup of coffee for the morning. One could see the great resemblance between the two of them - the father & daughter pair were of the same height, they had the same eye color and she even took after her father's hair color. They were indeed splitting images of each other. If Ashley had been a guy then things would have been more interesting than it was. "But she was the one who told me to come and meet you. Why are you two driving me crazy? Can you not at least choose an option for your daughter?" Ashley had been invited to the school's party that night. The truth was that she had never attended any before but because she would be done with high school soon, she didn't want to miss a single fun and educative mingling with others anymore but her parents were being so strict and stubborn to convince. "And the option that we have chosen for you is that you should stay at home, relax and have some family time with us this evening. You can watch one of our shows." Ariana, her mother replied cheekily. Ashley was a bit annoyed and mimicked her mother right inside her head because saying that would be bad. She was taught how to respect her elders no matter the situation and she was not going to lose that respect at this point when she needs their permission. The father and daughter came to the dining table for breakfast. "Jennie! Come downstairs for breakfast. We are waiting for you." Ariana called on her first daughter while the others were already salivating at the meal. "I am almost down, please. Just a minute." Jennie shouted pleadingly. Within a few minutes, she was down as exactly as she said. A young beautiful lady in her late twenties appeared wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and a pencil skirt. Her heels were clicking against the tiled floor with pride as her doctor's coat was hung across her left arm while her right hand was holding her Gucci bag. Her black hair was braided to the side and she looked extremely beautiful to look at. "Hi, everyone. Good morning." She smiled, her dimples showing while doing so. She kissed everyone's cheeks and settled down to eat. "Wow, sister. You are looking so glamorous. I tap from your sexiness and beauty." Ashley praised her. Jennie rolled her eyes as she picked up her cutlery, "What do you want, Ashley?" "Now that you have asked, Sis, can you please convince Mum and Dad to allow me to go out to the party? It's a school party and by nine pm the party will come to an end. I won't be the only one going anyway. Josh and Sammie will be there. Moreover, Sammie's elder brother promised to come and pick us up so even if I don't come home, I can stay over at Sammie's. Don't you think that it's high time I started going out?" She gave a long explanation. "That should be when you are eighteen," Brown answered and put his fork into his mouth. He chewed his meal carefully while staring at his daughter. Ashley frowned and angrily began to pierce her fried eggs violently. Seeing how stubborn she was, Brown gave in. "Fine, you are allowed to go." "Really?" Ashley's eyes popped up excitedly as she looked at her father. "Yes but only with a condition." "Which is?" " You should call me at every interval, do you understand?" "Yes, Dad. Thank you very much, Detective Brown." She saluted him and everyone at the table laughed at her cheekiness. Jennie finished eating and waved goodbye to her family before heading to her car. She was late for work already but she needed not to miss family time such as breakfast. Ashley jumped up to her room to give her friend a call regarding the good news. ★★★★★ Around 7 in the evening, inside Angelou High School, crowds filled the area partying under the shiny lights both outside and inside the school building with security officers watching them carefully. Each girl was holding onto a guy who was either her friend [ AKA bestie] or her date or her real boyfriend. They considered it such a wonderful time to spend together. There was a dress code as students were instructed to dress beautifully, handsomely, modestly, and decently and the students rocked out their respective dresses. "I will pick you guys up by 8:50 pm, is that okay with you?" Sammie's brother yelled as he parked the car beside the school's gate. "You don't need to yell that much. We are right beside you." Sammie yelled back at her brother before bouncing out of the car. "Thank you for the ride, Willy." "You are welcome, Ashley. See you by 8:50. Have a nice time and don't drink alcohol, remember your promises." "Byeeeeee." His sister yelled and rushed ahead to stop Williams from talking further. They all walked in after showing their students' ID cards. "Wow, this place is beautiful," Josh said as he struck his palms in amazement. He looked pleased and his eyes were dancing up and down the venue "I bet it is. Let us have fun, y'all. Don't let us divert from each other because we need to stay close, okay?" Ashley advised them. "Yes, ma'am. We won't. But I think you will be the one to change that rule because your crush is standing right in front of you." Sammie whistled before pulling Josh along with her. Ashley's heart raced faster after she heard that and she turned to confirm if that was true. Indeed, Daniel, the school's most famous basketball player was standing right in front of her with a smile on his face. They were both in the same class and were just as brilliant as she was. She always had this secret crush on him but tried to hide it because she wasn't sure if Daniel would be interested in a girl just like her. "Hi, Daniel." She waved at him. Her cheeks turned pink as she avoided eye contact with him. "Hi. It's such a wonderful thing to see you here. You rarely attend events such as this." Daniel mentioned. "Uhm...yeah, my family finally let me out of the cage. I was permitted to come here." She answered and chuckled to cover her embarrassment after blurting that out. "I..." "Hey, Daniel. What are you doing over there? Come here." His friend called him. "I am sorry but I have to excuse myself. Thank you for the little conversation." He smiled at her and walked away. Ashley felt like fainting. He smiled at her...his smiles were warm and she was beginning to fall deep or that was what she thought. She chuckled and immediately walked to mix with the rest of the party members. ~~~~~~~~~ "Heyyyyyy." "That's wrong. I didn't say that." "Oh yes, you did. It's a truth or dare, babe. So, you should just follow the rules." The fun had been going on for the past one hour with the students either enjoying or rejecting the ordeal. Even though Ashley made sure not to step in, she enjoyed the horror and amusement on their faces. This was also because Daniel was sitting there with his friends. She suddenly felt the need to go to the toilet and immediately excused herself. As soon as she got to the ladies' toilet, she could hear moans coming from inside the place, and that made her stop. She blinked her eyes and looked around the bright yet silent hall. What were they doing and why were the moans so deep? How could students be portraying such an indisciplined behavior in public? Didn't they care about their future and reputation? Just staying around the area wanted to make a puke so she decided to leave but then her phone rang out loudly and her heart dropped literally. The next thing was that the door was swung open and two guys came out of the toilet. They were displeased when they saw her and her face turned sour too. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?" They asked her. Ashley tried to calm her racing heart. She was totally alone at this point so it would not be nice of her to be dumb. She cleared her throat, "I wanted to use the toilet but after I came here, I saw that the place was being used earlier by the two of you..." She stopped talking when a tiny head sneaked out of the toilet. That caught her attention. The person came out in full and took to her feet after that. "I mean three of you...I don't know and I am sorry for disrupting your moments. Please go ahead." She turned around. "How do you expect us to continue the moment when the lamb is gone? You have to make yourself sacrificial after all." One of the boys answered and quickly got a hold of her before she could escape. She started screaming as high as she could maybe someone would be able to help her but to her disappointment, no one came. She used all her strength to fight against them but it was futile. Just when she thought all hope was lost, someone barged into the toilet dressed in all black with his hands inside his pockets. His hoodie was covering half of his face, making it hard for people to be able to get a glimpse of what he looked like. "Hey, who are you? What are you doing here?" This happened to be the last question that the boys asked before things got out of control."Ashley! Ashley, get yourself up from the bed! You have been sleeping too much quite lately." Ariana yelled from outside Ashley's room. It was already past six in the morning which was quite unusual for a student who was interested in punctuality and making A's in her studies. "Who knows? She could be pregnant." Jennie added to the fire. "Pregnant? That's impossible. Ashley..." "I am not pregnant, Mum!" Ashley interrupted with a loud tone and slowly mumbled threatening words at her sister after she heard her laugh. Ashley was just too tired to stand up from her bed. Actually, she had been watching a lot of Netflix series nowadays but with maturity. It was just that last night which was Sunday, she watched the series till 2 in the morning on her laptop before going to bed and now, she was not enjoying the result of her action. Her door was knocked upon but this time it was her dad. "Do you need me to drop you off or you are going to walk on foot?" He asked from
"Is she coming?" Ariana asked eagerly as she placed a birthday cake on the dining table. Her daughter was beside the window, stretching her neck to get a good view ahead of the buildings to check if her sister, Jennie, was coming. She then shook her head. "She is yet to arrive." She answered. Ariana sighed, placed two hands on her waist, and then looked at her husband. "Did she forget that it's her birthday?" Brown chuckled and wrapped his arms around her shoulders to calm her down. "Don't worry. She must be with Louis or maybe an emergency came up." "If she happens to be with Louis, I will make sure to cut off her legs. Louis wasn't there when I was struggling to push her out and even sent her to school so now he is delaying her when today is her birthday? Who does that? They are not even married yet." Ariana fumed. "She has arrived!!" Ashley yelled and flew over the couch with all her strength and everyone else got into position. Her parents quickly
It's been a few days since the event happened and things were finally going back to normal for Ashley except for the thought of Alex in her mind. She had already forgotten about Daniel and didn't place any focus on him with the help of her friends. She only found herself getting interested in Alex these days especially if he was asked a question in class, he wouldn't be able to give a correct answer. He was one of the least students with low grades in school which somehow surprised Ashley. She would always see him with books at every chance that he got, was he not really reading them and was just using them as a way to escape reality? She did that for some time too but he was becoming regular at it. "Hey, Ashley, throw the basketball over here," Sammie yelled as they ran around the basketball court for physical education practices. Ashley did as she was told, she was sweating so hard but didn't mind it. This wasn't her favorite sport to get involved in but then if it meant g
Alex stared at the book in front of him. This time around, he wasn't wearing any hoodie or clothing that could cover his face. He was just plain. His long shiny black hair was tied up into his favorite hair position - the ponytail. His sharp jawline could be seen clearly just fell a side view. In front of him were different books from different authors and at first, he looked like someone who didn't a get a thing that he was doing. He picked up the pen and got closer to the small table that was about his size - the sitting position and proceeded to read something. He tore a sheet of paper and wrote a few things but then stopped. He stared at it and squeezed the paper into a ball before throwing it away. He tore another one and tried to write a few words again but it proved abortive. Nothing was happening and he clenched his fist line and closed his eyes as many memories flood in, words from different individual greeted his brain. "You are nothing without me... without us. Nothin
Ashley knocked on the principal's door and entered when she was given the chance to. She bowed her head a bit to show her respect as she took her seat. "Miss Ashley, how are you doing? It's been a while, don't you think?" The principal smiled at her. "Yes, ma'am. I am great, thank you. How are you too?" "As you can see, I am glowing." "That's good." Ashley chuckled. "Anyway, I called you here because I need your help with something or someone to be precise and you are the only option I have unless you don't want to do it." Ashley raised her brows, "I can only decide that if you tell me, ma'am." "One of the students in your class needs help with his schoolwork. Alex." She revealed. Ashley's heart sank - not in a bad way but rather in a good way. Her heart raced after she heard that and she gave her lips a quick lick while adjusting her sitting position. "You must know him too, right? That secluded guy..." "Yes, ma'am." "Great. Some teachers that cared about him laid a few c
"Are you sure that you will be able to teach him? He looks like someone who is not interested in learning." Josh whispered as he stared at Alex who was sitting not quite far from them. Ashley also looked at him briefly before turning to her friends. She smiled. "He is going to be fine. I will handle him well. How hard can it be?" She shrugged and flipped the pages of her book for a quick review. ~~~~~~~~ "Okay, I give up. I know that I said HOW HARD COULD IT BE?" Ashley exclaimed as she slumped against the chair inside the cafeteria. She had visible lines on her forehead that showed how stressed she was just after a few days of teaching Alex. Josh reached out to her and smoothened the lines on her forehead. "Thanks." She collected her energy drink from Sammie and opened it so she could take a sip from it. "You haven't even started yet but you are already fed up, what type of a teacher are you?" Sammie laughed. Ashley frowned and ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
"Mr. Zach, good day. " Ashley greeted the salesman as she entered the bookshop. A man who seemed to be in his early fifties came out from the backyard carrying a small laundry basket. His hair was white as a sign of old age but Ashley felt like it was just too early for a man in his fifties. "Ashley dear, you are here. Welcome, it's been a long time. What books do you need?" He asked her as he quickly dropped his basket so she could get his attention fully. "It's been a long time indeed. Do you have children's books? Books with virtual pictures? Elementary books or something like that?" She inquired while going through the different books on the shelves. Zach was amused, "Did your momma give birth?" Ashley was stunned, "Give birth? What do you mean and how is that related to this?" "I mean no harm, I am just wondering why you need an elementary book when you aren't even in that grade anymore." Ashley finally realized what he meant and laughed. "I get th
Jonathan entered the sitting room carrying a small bowl of popcorn that he had made that evening by himself. He gave some to Alex but the latter rejected it as he had no interest in eating. He brought out the children's books that Ashley had given him and set on working on them. This got Jonathan curious and amused at the same time. He looked at Alex. "What is going on?" He asked him. "I am reading," Alex replied bluntly. "A child's book?" "She said that it's good if I start from here." He answered. "Wow. She's a great observer and a good friend to be with. Don't you agree?" Alex was mute. He picked up his pen and started working on the exercises. Jonathan seemed pleased to have seen this because he had tried finding ways to make him study even though he really wanted to but unfortunately, he lacked the clues and ways to do so. "I told you that there will be someone out there who is gonna care about your state of living," Jonathan said proudly. Alex
Alex closed the door and looked around with a soft look. The breeze blew his hair gently and his eyes were squinted as well as if trying to figure out something due to its view. This was surprising even though he had expected something like this. It was already evening in H City and the atmosphere brought back memories. Unlike ten years ago when this place was so despicable and no one could come here because it was a gangster's home, it was now an abode to many people and life had become better now. Alex could see the cops dragging a teenager with tattoos all over his body down the road. The teenager was trying to escape but with so many cops, his energy was futile. Ashley watched him, carefully observing his facial expressions. She had brought him to H City without his knowledge but he seemed to be taking it quite well. "What are we doing here?" Alex finally landed his eyes on her as his two hands went straight into his pockets to prevent them from getting iced. Good enough
"What do you think I should do, huh? I don't know if I am reciprocating the feelings back to her?" Alex frowned as he discussed his problem with Jonathan. "But she doesn't seem to mind. She is totally in love with you." "That's not an excuse. I just need to know if I am doing well enough." Alex answered.Jonathan exchanged his leg position and sat down a bit comfortably to the right. "Well...to be truthful, you are far from doing well enough."It felt as if someone had thrown a glass into his mirror, shattering all. Well, he knew what the truth was but having someone affirm it was something he wasn't expecting to hold within. Jonathan could see the sadness wash through his face. His lips curled downwards as a result of his answer. "Okay...you know what? Listen to me. I don't want you to pressure yourself in this short journey that you two would be going on. Ashley totally understands you, this is what I can assure you of so you don't need to rush and you don't nee
"I am sorry." These were Alex's first words immediately after he healed up and could speak. Ashley smiled and hugged him gently so as not to cause him any harm. It was their moment and they were taking the most of it. Alex missed her scent, he missed holding her and it was great to have her back. Later on, she held his hand. "I know...I know you're sorry and so am I" "You are not mad at me anymore?" "Why would I? I have told you that I have no reason any more to stay mad at you." She answered. "Does this mean that you still love me?" Alex asked gently, his eyes boring into hers desperately expecting a positive answer. Ashley couldn't meet his gaze and just stared somewhere else, intentionally raising his hopes.When Alex couldn't see her approval, he became slightly disappointed...in himself. "Oh." He muttered. "I must have been thinking too much that you and I..."Ashley silenced him with a kiss and looked into his eyes. "I know we have been apart for
It's been three weeks since Ashley started coming over to Alex's place all thanks to Valerie. Jenny and her husband also were able to come once in a while. Ariana was not left out as well. Ashley felt more at peace and worked from home instead. She had no trouble with Rhae going anywhere because Jonathan told her that she was going to find absolutely nothing. It was funny how he said that and somehow, she was just glad that they were both on good terms now. Ashley smiled at herself in the mirror as she packed her hair up. She had a great feeling that things were going to be good again and now that this misunderstanding had been clear, she couldn't wait to see Alex's expression whenever he woke up. Would he be happy to see her? Their time together as teenagers wasn't that long but they had impacted each other deeply and it was taking a toll on them even after all these years. She cleaned herself up and walked out of the bathroom only to meet the biggest shock of her life. She almos
A MONTH LATER,Ashley had just finished her therapy session with her female therapist. Her phone had been confiscated for a few days now because Ariana feared that things wouldn't improve but her phone was given back to her a day ago. She hadn't been to work as well.Ashley laid on the couch and crossed her legs against each other. She turned on the phone, only to meet a series of text messages inquiring about her health and how things were going. Sammie and Josh were also not excluded. Where they were was a bit far so it denied them the chance of visiting frequently like they would always do when they were still teenagers.So with the little amount of strength in her, she replied to all messages until she got to a particular one that caught her attention. She clicked on it so she could view the entire message. "Hey there, this is Valerie, Alex's sister. If you still want to speak with Alex and also to know where he is, contact me back." This message was sent just a MONTH ago as
Jonathan was already ushered in and was sitting down with the rest of the family but on the other side. His hands were clasped together with his head bowed. His right leg kept tapping against the ground as he prepared his mind to speak. He suddenly raised his head at once to speak, his eyes were on Ashley who he considered the oppressor. "Valerie told me what happened and I think you know what you have done so there is no need for me to start explaining. I hope your family is also aware this time. We don't need you to keep useless secrets that we would be blamed for again. Who do you think you are?" His tone started rising at the end of his sentence. "Tell me! Who do you think you are to do all this trash? How dare you approach my brother only to insult him and say trash to him, you b*tch...?"Ashley became angered and stood up fiercely. "How dare you call me a b*tch when you and that psycho brother of yours are the real d*ck, huh? Oh...so he ran out of the cafe and went
Ashley closed the door of the sitting room, looking soaked up and terrible at the same time. Her face was pale and at that point, even though it was deadly cold, it felt as if she was immune to the weather: 's circumstances. She leaned against the door and slid down to the ground which she sat upon, bawling her eyes out. Jenny who woke up due to the sound of the door being unlocked appeared with a knife and her husband behind her as well. She was scared that it was probably a thief or an attacker. Their minds didn't go through to the thought of it being Ashley because she would have called. But they were both stunned at the situation in front of them. "Ashley?" Jenny called in surprise and then looked at her husband. She gave him the knife and quickly approached her sister. When she got to her side, she knelt and touched her wet hair with a little bit of confusion. Her hands kept moving from one part of her body to another, purposely checking for any physical injuries while being
"Are you sure it's not something that you need my help with?" Philip asked as he looked at the cafe and turned off the car's engine. This was the third time he had brought Ashley over to this place. Was she now obsessed with it that she wouldn't stop coming or there was just another reason for it? "No, thank you. I am fine. You can go home now. We will discuss it tomorrow." Ashley answered with a brief smile and came out of the car with her things. She stood to watch Philip leave first before proceeding.The latter quickly reversed and took the other route. The hand Ashley was waving vigorously halted and her smile was wiped off. She exhaled silently as her eyes ran across the surroundings. She turned to face the cafe.Yeah, she had been coming here for a while with the hope of having a proper conversation with Alex regarding her pending questions. She was so much curious and there was no way she would let this slide but her first attempt in speaking with him landed in failur
"And this counts as the end of your story, Alyssa," Loius said and kisses his daughter's forehead. Jennie glanced back at them and smiled. She had also been listening to the father-daughter discussion while preparing Alyssa's things for school. Louis was a good reader and his voice was smooth which could make the listener not get tired of listening to him speak multiple times. That was the major score he used in winning her over finally. "Thank you, Daddy." Alyssa chuckled after Louis shook her head playfully. "Get to sleep. You don't want to go to school very late."Alyssa then closed her eyes and Louis stood up. He approached his wife and hugged her from the back. "You got a free concert." "I didn't know reading was now some form of concert." Jennie teased back and Louis bit her earlobe. "Ouch... Louis, stop it." "Should I?" Louis asked, proving to be stubborn. Before Jennie could answer, Alyssa did her the favor. "This is still my room." She mumble