2. THE GUY IN THE BLACK HOODIE.

"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 N*****x 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 outside the door. That seemed to have resurrected her dead brain as she immediately jumped to her feet, she staggered a little bit backward before she regained get posture.

"I will be down in a minute."

"Now you're gonna skip bathing?" Brown teased and left her alone to prepare.

Ashley arranged her bed neatly and replaced whatever cover was needed. She offered some words of prayers to the creator of the universe before heading to the bathroom.

Her family was not religious but her parents had input in them that no matter what situation they were in, they should always pray because up above, there was a supernatural being watching the affairs of the world and he deserved honor.

As she was bathing, her mind went to the school party that she attended two days ago. She blinked her eyes to prevent the flowing water to enter them while standing in front of a mirror. Ashley loved her mirror to be in the bathroom so she would be able to get a view of herself while bathing. She had been practicing this since she was young.

Surprisingly, the one she wasn't expecting to come to rescue her was the one who made the top chart in her mind - the guy in the black hoodie. He didn't say a word to her even after beating the two guys almost to death all on his own. He just left her standing inside the toilet speechless and void of strength. By the time she recovered her thinking, he was already gone. So Ashley decided that at least, today she would have to speak to him and appreciate him for his help.

She quickly turned off the shower and bounced out of her room fully naked. She went for a simple blue gown and a jacket to go with it before pulling out her neat pair of sneakers from under her bed. [ Don't ask why it's there, lol.]

After checking her simple look in the mirror, she made her way out of the room and went downstairs to join the family for breakfast.

"Aren't you going to work today, Jennie?" Ashley asked her elder sister. The latter looked up from her phone and shook her head.

"Nah, I am off work today. However, if there is an emergency, I will be right there." She answered. Ashley nodded and continued eating.

"Alright, let's move it." Drown fixed his work badge on his shirt and quickly pecked his wife on her cheeks before leaving hurriedly. Ashley followed after him too and within a few seconds, they were both on their way.

Brown dropped her off at the school's gate.

"Remember to make us proud, okay?"

"I have always made you and the family proud. I love you."

"I love you too, Cutie Pie."

"Eww, cheesy, Dad." Ashley laughed. Her dad gave her a thumbs-up before driving off. Just as she was about to enter the school, she saw her two friends, Josh and Sammie standing side by side. As usual, it seemed as if Sammie was giving Josh one of her authentic yet not required lectures.

"Hello, guys." She waved at them.

"Ah, Cutie Pie, you finally came to my rescue. Can you please tell her to stop lecturing?" Josh pleaded.

"Why couldn't you say that to my face?" Sammie snorted.

"And allow my teeth to get removed by you? Never!" Josh huffed before turning to Ashley. The latter grabbed the two of them by their necks and they started heading towards the entrance of the building.

"The two of you are very annoying but regardless of that, I have something wonderful and interesting to tell you about." She whispered.

"More like a gossip or a gist?" Sammie asked her. Ashley frowned and removed the strands that were blocking her hair, she tucked them behind her ear as she prepared her replies.

"You should know that gossiping is something I detest quite a lot." She answered.

The three of them have been friends since childhood however Sammie and Josh's parents moved to their respective houses many years ago thereby limiting their closeness as neighbors but they still met in school and they had outings alongside sleepovers.

~~~~~~~~

The last teacher for the first half of the class finally finished teaching and the students prepared to go and hang out. Ashley had been waiting for this opportunity to speak to the 'guy in a black hoodie.'

After the other students were out, she finally made her way to his seat which was at the back of the class and beside the window. In front of him were books of all kinds and as usual he was wearing his hoodie with his head on the desk. His name was Alex as many people called him that.

He was the quietest person Ashley had ever seen. From the first time he started schooling here, he just made himself invisible as wind to the audience. Nobody cared about him nor did he care about anybody. He had no friends and he never changed his hoodie to another color, it was always black and it would cover his face to prevent anyone from seeing him clearly.

Because of his mysterious look and behavior, some people just assumed that he could be a cultist, a gangster, or a bad boy that came out of those web novel high school bad boy series. Ashley didn't place any attention on him since they had no business together but since two days ago, she had been thinking about it.

"Uhm...hi, excuse me. Can I...Uhm...you know, speak with you for a few minutes?" She asked him politely but he didn't respond nor did he make any movement.

"Hi, can I please speak with you?" Ashley repeated herself and Alex lifted his upper body from his desk before relaxing against the wall with his hands folded. Ashley was a bit anxious after seeing his reaction but she tried to be confident about it.

"I don't know if you recognize me but I was the girl you rescued on Saturday in the bathroom from those rapists. I just want to appreciate you for considering helping me because if it weren't for you, I would have probably committed suicide." She said and pulled a smile on to show her sincerity but what she got back was baffling. Alex placed his head back on the table and even put his earpiece into his ears just to block her out and that was what made her mad. How dare he?!

~~~~~~~~~

"He shunned you just like that?" Sammie asked with interest as she sipped her finished orange juice with a lot of noise. Josh grabbed it from her table with frustration and threw it into the trash.

"Hey?" Sammie was a bit offended.

"You were making too much noise with it," Josh answered and continued eating his burger.

"I am sorry. Anyway, continue Ashley."

"I just don't get it. What's so hard about responding with an 'okay' or 'you are welcome'? I mean I saw him fight as if he was practicing karate, Judo, or Taekwondo."

"Pick one." Josh interrupted

"Well, I am not sure which is which but they are all means of self-defense." She answered and ate her meal grudgingly. She looked towards where he was sitting...it was his usual lonely spot with just his phone.

"Maybe he doesn't need your appreciation. That's his clue for you to let him be." Sammie shrugged and picked up a fried sliced potato.

Let him be? Ha, as if she would. At this point, she was more interested in him than anything else. She watched him dump his remains into the trash not far from home and he stood up to leave.

Ashley sighed and faced her talkative friends. Now that she remembered, she needed to do something this evening, or else, she might just be sliced into pieces and buried six feet below the Earth.