Trainwreck

by Heather C. Myers

  ---

  Sadie knew there was a good possibility she would be spending another nine hours with him in this room as she had last weekend, but though a part of her was ecstatic about this, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be in some room with him for such a long portion of time. Not after going through the entire week with him practically ignoring her presence.

  It wasn't long before Stewey came into the room, practically decked in the same outfit he had been wearing last Saturday, save for the fact that this one was beige rather than grey. He gave the same speech he had last time, and after giving both Sadie and Asher mutually exclusive warnings, he left.

  "Hey," the girl said in a voice that mirrored a whisper. Her voice was raspy due to the fact that she smoked cigarettes quite frequently. Sadie turned to regard the girl, but found the girl wasn't looking at her; she was looking at Asher. "You're Asher Boyd, aren't you?"

  Asher looked like this whole conversation was paining him to have. "Who wants to know?" he asked, his eyes fixated on the ceiling above him rather than on the girl who had addressed him.

  "I'm Kristen," she said in the same voice. "Kristen Boiler. I think we had a class my freshman year."

  Asher shrugged, still refusing to look Kristen's way. "I wouldn't remember," he replied, his voice mumbled.

  Sadie tried to ignore the exchange between the two. Instead, she leaned down and grabbed her book that she brought, hoping it would help her mind escape. Luckily, her mother wasn't too upset at the fact that Sadie had another consecutive Saturday school, despite the fact that Sadie had actually punched someone. When Sadie had explained what had happened at school, the rumor that was going around, Ellen understood why Sadie had done it, though she couldn't exactly commend Sadie lest she want her parental abilities to be questioned. Even her brother Harry, who had heard about the incident through friends, thought that what Sadie had done was one of the funniest things he had ever heard. It was nice to have her family's support.

  "Asher," Kristen called, interrupting Sadie's thoughts though she would never admit this fact out loud. "Are you still going out with Brittany?"

  ---

  Asher's warm brown eyes narrowed in Sadie's direction and his lips quirked up. A lot of people underestimated Asher's capabilities; they all thought he was some slacker stoner who did nothing but smoke weed and ditch class constantly. Asher was actually a lot smarter than people gave him credit for. The problem was with the fact that he was bored in school, and as result, he had to stir up something amusing for himself in each class every day in order to get through them. The problem with that was that usually, the things that amused him also caused him to get detentions or Saturday schools. And it didn't help that his teachers didn't like him anyway.

  But his eyes were sharp, and his analytical mind was quite capable of depicting body language. And even though Sadie had a book out, based on her body language, she seemed to be listening to his conversation with Kristen quite intently. She was jealous. Not so long a day after all...

  "No," he said, finally turning his head in order to look at Kristen. "I broke up with her sometime last week. Why?"

  Kristen blushed and glanced away, but she couldn't stop the smile if she tried. "Nothing," she managed to say.

  ---

  Sadie couldn't help but roll her eyes at the answer. Oh please, she thought to herself. Sadie knew flirting when she saw or even heard it. And it didn't help that this girl was being rather obvious about it too.

  "Hey Blondie," Asher called, his eyes going back over to Sadie. She could feel his eyes on her back. "What'd you do to get in here? I mean, besides the fact that you miss me and whatever." Another smirk touched his cheeks, and somehow, she knew it.

  Sadie refused to answer, doing her absolute damndest to ignore him despite the fact that she wasn't very good with patience whatsoever. However, she didn't have to answer, it would seem; Kristen decided to answer for her, probably because Asher was paying more attention to Sadie's back than Kristen's face.

  "She punched Paulina right in the face," Kristen said.

  ---

  For a moment, Asher was absolutely silent and the expression littering his face was hard to decipher. He looked long and hard at Sadie, despite the fact that she still hadn't turned around to look at him. One thing Asher definitely was, was surprised. But other than that? His emotions, if he had any, were too hard and enigmatic to figure out.

  At that moment, the door opened and everyone in the library tensed, sensing it was Stewey. However, it wasn't Stewey, but it was somebody very familiar. Asher felt his eyes narrow in direction of that new guy – Asher didn't know his name – who was now sitting next to Sadie in Marine Bio. He hoped that this kid wasn't in detention with them.

  "Hey," Tyler said, a smile sliding onto his face when he recognized Sadie. "I thought you might be here. I heard about what had happened. Anyway, I have track right now and I'm not exactly sure where the field is. I was hoping that maybe you could show me...?" His voice trailed off and his brows were pushed up, a slightly hopeful look on his face.

  "Wait a minute," Asher interjected quickly, giving Tyler a pointed stare. "Are you telling me that you don't know where a big, green grassy field is? The big, green, grassy field you couldn't miss unless you were blind?"

  Sadie, surprising everyone in the room, stood at that moment, and for the first time since she got there, she glanced behind her, glaring at Asher. Then she looked back at Tyler and offered him a friendly smile. "I'd be happy to show you," she murmured, and within moments, she walked out the door, leaving Asher alone with Kristen.

  Chapter 18

  Sadie wasn't sure what had compelled her to get up when she knew that if she was caught, Stewey would have no problem with writing her another slip for another detention, and she highly doubted her mother would be as lenient with the entire situation, especially if Sadie got a detention over a guy she really didn't even like. Ellen was pretty laidback, but even she had her limits. Sadie only wished she could have seen the look on Asher's face as she walked out, though to be honest, he probably didn't even care. If anything, his mind was probably wondering how he could get into Kristen's pants and was grateful for her departure because it promised him alone time with Kristen.

  Was it wrong for her to think that? Was Sadie looking too much into the stereotype that Asher was known by? It wasn't like she knew him, really. When they had spent those couple of hours together in that supply closet, she thought she saw glimpses of who he really was if he let down his walls. But the entire week had gone by, and she had barely gotten any chance to talk to him about what they were now. Sadie wasn't stupid; she knew that one kiss did not equal love, a relationship, or even that he liked her. A kiss wasn't as simple as it sounded. But it would have been nice to know where they stood with each other. Was she allowed to say hi to him, or would that embarrass him, especially if he was in front of his friends? It was stupid, Sadie knew, but as much as she hated these unwritten rules high school was composed of, she didn't want to embarrass him. She didn't want him to be annoyed with her. So instead of doing what she wanted and conversing about what happened with him, she stayed quiet and began to avoid him as much as he was avoiding her. And Sadie hated that more than anything because that wasn't like her at all.

  Asher Boyd was the most confusing boy on the planet, she realized. And it was just her luck that he was the one she managed to fall for.

  He's not complicated, a mature sounding voice murmured through her mind. You're just reading too much into this, as always. If you want to say hi, say hi. Who gives a shit about what his friends think? If he's embarrassed acknowledging you in public then he doesn't deserve you.

  "You sound like my mother," Sadie murmured, not fully realizing she had spoken out loud.

  "What was that?" Tyler asked, glancing down at Sadie through the golden locks that tainted his vision slightly because no matter what he did with them, they continuously fell into his face. It was actually pretty endearing, if Sadie was b
eing honest.

  "I said," Sadie said, thinking quickly as her face kept up with her mind by turning a shade of red in less time than Sadie thought was actually possible. "How is your mother? How does she like it here?"

  "Oh," Tyler said, after chuckling. "She really likes it, you know, because the school system here is really good and everything. My dad likes it because it's closer to his job so he doesn't have to worry about sitting on the freeway for two hours both ways just to get where he needs to go. And my brother likes it because it's close to the beach and he loves to surf, so..." He shrugged his shoulders, offering Sadie a friendly smile. "Yeah, my family definitely likes it here."

  "And you?" Sadie asked, quickly glancing up at him and catching sight of his brown eyes. "Do you like it here?"

  "Definitely," he said, popping his dimple. "The people here especially." He didn't elaborate any further and Sadie was too consumed in her thoughts once again to actually read between the lines of what he had said. Tyler cleared his throat almost nervously as he followed Sadie across the front of the school, and reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Except Asher. I mean, I don't think he likes me."

  Sadie rolled her eyes while snorting simultaneously. "Don't take it too personally," she said, shaking her head. "Asher doesn't like anyone except himself."

  "So Asher isn't your boyfriend then?" Tyler asked, pushing his brow up and shoving his hands deep into his pockets. "I mean, the only reason I ask is that he seemed to jump on me when I walked into the room, and there have been some instances where I've caught him staring at the back of my head in Marine Bio. I was debating whether or not he was into you or if that's just how he treats all the new kids."

  "I wouldn't know," Sadie said, shrugging her shoulders. "I only met Asher last Saturday. I mean, I knew of him before, but I hadn't actually met him until then. But if I had to guess..." Sadie let her voice trail off, cocking her head to the side. "I don't really know, but if I had to guess... Asher doesn't seem to be the type of guy who actually cares about giving new kids a hard time only because he doesn't care about anything really. At least, that's what I think."

  "So he's interested in you?" Tyler asked slowly, his tone taking form of a guess, before subconsciously holding his breath, waiting for Sadie's answer.

  Sadie had to think about it for a long moment. Was Asher Boyd interested in her? The obvious answer was, of course, no. Asher Boyd had proven time and time again that he was never actually interested in a girl as a whole. Maybe he was interested in a particular body part, maybe he was interested in scoring something from her (whether it was sex or weed depended entirely upon the girl herself), but interested in a girl for the purpose of developing a relationship? She highly doubted it.

  However, he had kissed her. Of course, if Sadie was being rational, she had to admit that she had kissed him first when she placed her lips on his collarbone. But he was the one who had kissed her on the lips. And oddly enough, the kiss was soft and tender rather than demanding and passionate. It was sweet, but Asher Boyd was definitely not sweet. Maybe it was just a lapse in judgment. Maybe it was his way of kissing people he wasn't actually interested in.

  Or maybe it was how he kissed people he IS interested in! the voice exclaimed. You saw the way he looked at you after he kissed you. He even tried to go in for a second one. Sadie, you are not allowed to play the fool here.

  "No," Sadie answered, looking into Tyler's dark eyes. "No, I couldn't say for sure whether or not Asher is interested in me. I don't think so, anyway. But to answer your first question, the answer is no, we're not seeing each other, we're not dating, and I'm not even sure we're friends."

  Tyler chuckled upon hearing that and gave Sadie an amused smile. "Shouldn't you know?" he asked, quirking a brow. They had reached the field, and from the corner of her eyes, Sadie could see people dressed in running attire similar to Tyler's start warming up and stretching. However, Tyler made no move to join them yet.

  "Yeah, I suppose so," she allowed, glancing around the mist-encompassed greenery. "I guess it's just complicated." Though Sadie wanted to continue avoiding Asher, she really didn't want to run into Stewey out here and have to waste another nine hours of her Saturday when she could be out seeing a movie or something.

  "Well, since you are single," Tyler said, and though his voice came off as somewhat shy, there was slight arrogance touching his smile. "Or at least, since you think you are, would it be possible for you to accompany me to a party tonight?" Again, he pressed his lips together, raising his brows in hopes that maybe, just maybe, she might actually say –

  "I can't," Sadie said, her tone apologetic and her eyes filling with sincerity. "My mom doesn't want me to go out and party after spending nine hours at Saturday school for punching some girl. She doesn't want to reward me for something. I'm really sorry. Maybe some other time."

  "Well, if you change or mind, or if she thinks you've suffered enough, it's at Lily's place," he said, and then glanced at his teammates for the first time. "I should be going, but thanks for walking me here and I really do hope to see you tonight."

  Sadie grinned and nodded before turning and heading back to the library. She slipped her hands into her jeans pockets and thought about what had just transpired between her and Tyler. She had lied to him, of course. She didn't agree to go to the party with him not because her mom wanted her home but because she really didn't want to go with him as a date. She couldn't even figure out her feelings for Asher and she didn't want to waste her time with a party she knew he wouldn't attend.

  Chapter 19

  When she returned to the library thankfully uncaught and unscathed, Sadie was stricken by a sight that caused her stomach to churn together, resembling nausea. Kristen seemed to have moved seats so that she was sitting next to Asher with one leg thrown over his lap. Her arm was thrown over his shoulder with her fingers playing with the brown tendrils of his hair, and her nose was caressing Asher's cheek. She was murmuring something to him, something Sadie couldn't hear and didn't particularly care to. At that moment, her heart felt a little bit broken, but she tried to keep an passive look on her face in order to avoid Asher's calculating gaze.

  Asher wasn't responding or reacting to Kristen's gestures and caresses. When he heard the door open and saw Sadie walk through, his head snapped up, and just like that, Sadie had his full attention. He caught sight of her eyes flashing emerald upon seeing him in such a position with Kristen, but it immediately disappeared, and for a moment, Asher thought that maybe what he had seen had never actually taken place.

  "So how was your little walk with Ty-Ty?" Asher asked, arching a brow. His body was relaxed and it almost looked as though the answer didn't matter much to him. However, if Sadie took the time to look closer, to try and read his eyes, she would have seen something flicker in his brown orbs, something Asher would never verbally admit.

  "Wouldn't you like to know?" she asked as she took her seat and didn't even bother to glance his way. She placed her face in her palms before running her fingers downwards. She needed to focus on something, anything, in hopes to drown out her body's response to the sound of his voice.

  Upon hearing the retort, Asher felt his whole body run cold. Sure, he should have expected such an answer. They weren't dating; hell, they weren't even friends, and to be honest, Asher probably would have said something like that if their roles were reversed. The thing was, their roles weren't reversed, and as a result, Asher felt himself get upset by her comment. He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit.

  "That doesn't answer the question," Asher said, pushing himself on his two feet, completely ignoring Kristen's presence altogether. In fact, he didn't even hear her whimper when he disengaged his body from her prying hands or notice her sulk upon his departure. He walked around the table Sadie was sitting at and leaned down so Sadie couldn't look anywhere but at him. His eyes were inquiring, his brow was raised. "So, are you, like, dating this guy now, or what?" Of course, as was usual when it came to Asher, his to
ne was slightly mocking, especially when he said the word like.

  Sadie locked eyes with him, and for a moment, neither of them moved. Their gazes burned, but they didn't flinch. It was like combining fire with fire, and they could both feel it. "It's none of your business," Sadie murmured , but her voice was still firm.

  "Actually," he said, his voice dropping octaves so it could match her own, "it is." Okay, Asher knew that logically, it wasn't any of his business, but his pride wouldn't let him admit it.

  Sadie arched a brow, the corners of her lips sliding into a slightly annoyed frown. "Oh really?" she asked him, and though she had tried not to, her voice came out sharper than she had originally intended. "Could you please enlighten me as to how it is your business, exactly, because the last time I checked, you haven't asked me out. You're also not my boyfriend, my brother, or my father. I can go out with whoever I want, for your information, and you can't do anything to stop me." She perked her brow, offering him a challenging gaze. And, if Asher's eyes weren't deceiving him, her lips had quirked up into what appeared to be a smirk.

  Asher narrowed his eyes at her last phrase. "You're going out with him?" he asked, and though it might have seemed as though he didn't particularly care one way or the other when the argument first began, it was quite clear that he did. And at that moment, he seemed unperturbed at this indirect omission. Now he just wanted an answer.

  Sadie decided whether or not to tell Asher what exactly had transpired between her and Tyler. For whatever reason, her mind brought her back to the attention of Asher sitting there with Kristen practically on top of him. She wasn't even mad at Kristen; the fact that Asher wasn't doing anything to prevent her from indulging in her attention for him was what caused Sadie pain. "He asked me to a party tonight," she finally decided to say.