I'm amazed when I look at you. Not just because of your looks but because of the fact that everything I've ever wanted is right in front of me.

-Unknown.

Awesome cover at the top by aurora363

***

'Hey!' Brenda calls out jogging to catch up with me.

'You look rough. Bad night?' She asks, falling into step with me.

'Didn't get much sleep.' I yawn.

'Why not? We don't have any assignments due.' She says. 'Do we?'

'We don't. I was up late working on a new painting I started a few days ago.' I say, rubbing my eyes to clear the remnants of drowsiness.

'Okay. What are you working on?' She asks, pulling a ChapStick out of her bag.

I stiffen.

'Just some portrait.' I reply as deceptively casual as I can manage.

'How was your night?' I quickly change the subject.

'Quiet. Nun-ish.' She shrugs.

'The strangest thing happened to me some nights ago.' I say.

'Yeah?'

'Someone came knocking but when I answered the door, no one was there. Just a piece of paper.'

'What was on the paper?' She frowns.

'Leave. Whoever dropped it off printed "Leave" on it.' I reply.

'Sounds fishy.' She frowns.

'Maybe.' I shrug. 'I think it's just a prank. Maybe someone's trying to scare me out of the apartment.'

'What did you do with the paper?' She asks.

'I chucked it out.' I lie smoothly.

I hid it in under my bed actually.

'You should've kept it just in case whoever it is starts harassing you. You're going to need evidence to show the cops.' She says.

'I'm sure its nothing. It probably won't happen again. Where's Tom anyway?' I ask, glancing around as if he might suddenly appear around the corner.

'Probably hooking up with some chick in the janitor's closet.' She shrugs, stuffing the ChapStick back in her bag.

'You're kidding.' I reply.

'Already caught him doing that twice so its a very high probability.' She says absentmindedly, scanning the lunch crowd in the quad.

'My God.' Is all I can manage.

'I wish Leo would visit again. I need another dose of the surface of the sun hot that he is.' She sighs, as we make our way through the quad to the other side of the school.

We have a two hours to kill so we decided to take a stroll, see more of the institution.

'That makes one of us.' I mutter.

Ever since I started working on his portrait, I've been dreading seeing him. I feel like he'll take one look at me and know exactly what I'm up to.

Talk about a disaster of epic proportions.

'Hey, what do think of that guy who always seats at the back of the class with a dark brooding look? Asher? You could get your dose of hot as the surface of the sun from him.' I suggest.

'Nah. He's too dark and broody for me. And have you seen the tattoos on that guy? I recognize one. He's a member of a motorcycle gang.'

'Ah! A bad boy.' I nod emphatically. 'They hook you every time.'

'And did I mention that my dad's a cop? A sheriff actually. He would lock me up in cell before I could even manage a "hi, there".' She scoffs.

'My dad's more discrete. When I first discovered boys, he tried to distract me with paint and art exhibitions. When that didn't work out, grounding did. He'd ground me for anything just to keep me in the house and away from boys. And then there was the strict boarding school. Probably explains why the only crush I've ever had is on my brother's best friend.' I chuckle, ripping open a bag of chips I took out of my bag.

'My dad tried the grounding thing too. It was one of his less annoying solutions. The most annoying was placing me under protective custody. It was horrible. The cops scared away every guy within the ten mile radius that just about covers our town which explains why I have been single since birth.' She giggles, reaching over to steal some of my chips.

'Hey!' I exclaim, holding it out of her reach.

'Pretty please. It's chips. How can you expect me to not want some?' She pouts.

'I guess you're right.' I acquiesce, tilting the bag towards her.

'Thank you.' She grins, taking a handful.

'You're impossible.' I laugh as we turn on a corner.

I narrowly avoid running smack dab into a hard chest.

The smell of leather and pine fills my nose. I already know who it is before I even look.

'Asher! Hi.' I say a little breathlessly.

Thank God we already stopped talking about him.

His lips quirk up in the smallest of smiles which is really saying something for a guy who is constantly seen wearing a scowl.

Brenda's eyes bulge out and her eyebrows shoot up on her face as she shoots me an incredulous look.

'Good to see you around. Where are you headed?' I ask with a smile.

He is over six feet with piercing gray eyes and a trim body after all.

Rather than using his words like a normal person would, he just inclines his head in the direction of one of our lecture rooms.

'Cool.' I nod. 'This is my friend, Brenda.'

We both glance at her and that's when I notice that she's not listening to a word I'm saying. Instead, she's busy ogling Asher. Not so discretely.

The edge of his lips turn up slightly in the beginnings of a smirk. It's smaller than the one he gave me but it's a lot cockier.

Not so discretely, I elbow her sharply in the ribs.

Biting back a wince, she manages a breathy hi.

Not one for words, Asher nods in acknowledgement.

I guess that's good enough.

'So... It was nice seeing you. I guess we'll see you around.' I say, tugging Brenda's arm to wake her from her Asher induced drooling daze.

After taking two steps away, Asher says in a low baritone; 'There's a party tomorrow. You're invited.'

I can feel Brenda trying to hold in an excited squeal. I try not to roll my eyes at her excitement.

'But I don't know the address.' I reply.

He takes his phone out of his black leather jacket and types something on it for a few seconds before returning it to his jacket.

My phone pings in my bag and I pull it out. The message icon lights up and I click on it.

'Now you do.' Asher says before walking away.

'He has your number?' Brenda gapes. 'Wait, you have his number?!'

'I borrowed a pen from him in class once. I guess one thing led to another and we exchanged numbers. He was surprised I worked up the nerve to ask him. He thinks he's big, bad and scary.'

'Damn girl. Why didn't you tell me this sooner? That guy is hot as sin.' She says.

'Well, I did ask you about him.' I offer.

'Yeah but you didn't say that you knew him. I might be willing to risk my father's wrath for a face and a body like that.' She says.

'It's like talking is painful to him. It's always grunts and nods of acknowledgement with him.' I shrug, staring after him.

'We are definitely going to that party. He sent you the address?' She asks.

'He did.' I say, stuffing my phone back in my bag.

'Can we go? Pretty please?'

'Yeah. Sure.' I roll my eyes but smile anyway.

'Woohooo!' She does a little jig.

'We should start heading back.' I say as we approach the area where Leo and his friends usually hang out and have their lectures.

Brenda glances at me and then her watch.

'We still have half an hour before we have to be...' She trails off.

'You don't want to run into him.' She deduces.

I consider lying but she probably knows already.

'Yes.' I sigh.

'Okay.' She doesn't pry but instead pivots on her heel and starts walking in the direction we came.

'You didn't ask.' I state.

'If you wanted to tell me, you would've have. I'm trying not to pry.' She replies.

'I'm just not ready to see him again. Plus I get a little awkward when I'm around him. I'm trying to avoid that.'

It's not completely a lie and from her slow nod I guess she knows it's not the complete truth either.

***

Asher.

A/N:

There's been some issues with this story recently. Wattpad had an outage problem and it got affected but they're working on restoring it as soon as possible.

The early update is to apologize for any problem(s) you may have had with this story.

On a lighter note, what do you think of Asher? Is he your typical bad boy? And what are his intentions towards Kelsey?

He invited her to a party after all. ;)

And who left Kelsey the creepy note? What do you think; harmless prank or creepy stalker?

Let me know your thoughts. I love reading comments. They inspire me to write more. Especially the long ones. ;)

Vote, comment, share and fan.