Flashback ~ 6 years ago.

0 1 | m i l k s h a k e s

🎶 So Far Away - Charlie Purth 🎶

—————————————————

The day I followed my best friend to football practice after school hours was when everything began.

I was just sitting at a bleacher, a banana milkshake in hand, waiting for Mia to finish her discussion with Blake Griffin, that nerdy guy she claimed was her cousin. They were arguing, it seemed, and I just decided not to interfere. Mia wouldn't like it.

One damn ball that I hadn't noticed in the fields suddenly whizzed past my head and I looked up. My milkshake spilt on my thigh, making me gasp and shudder.

I was just about to open my mouth to yell at the idiot who threw the ball when my breath hitched as my emerald green eyes was met with tantalising grey ones.

It was the Asher Mendez, jogging towards me, naked. Sorry, I meant, um, abs on show.

His biceps and flexed muscles contracted as he moved his arms. Legs moved lazily across the field in tight sports knickers.

I gasped, again, completely whipped.

"I always knew this snob was going to be a delicious milkshake " I muttered to myself as he finally stopped in front of me.

His eyes stared into mine while I openly eyed him with my mouth slightly ajar.

He smirked and I curled my toes in my shoes as I felt my cheeks warm up and some funny movements in my stomach but he only rolled his eyes and the next thing I saw him doing was bending down. I followed his movement to see that he was trying to pick something off the bleacher.

His shirt.

"Move that ass. " he snarled in a monotone.

God that sounded sexy.

He tugs at something and I move apart a bit when I realise I'm sitting on a part of the T-shirt.

He picks it up and puts it over his head, wearing it.

I frown in discontent but quickly look away. I'm not supposed to be looking at him like, like, I'm dying to be in his arms. I'm not!

Suddenly I was shy as I noticed his heavy gaze on me before he walked past me and when I looked up again, I found him passing the ball on the field.

I sigh.

My banana milkshake found its way back into my hand and a few minutes later, Mia jogs towards me.

"Hey, " I say wiggling my brow once at her and taking a gulp from my milkshake.

She pants and crashes beside me.

"Man, Blake is a fucking pain in the ass. Can't believe he... " she pauses to think what to say then pants, "actually wasted my time."

I nod. "What were you guys even discussing?" I threw the empty container in the bin next to me and then focused back on Mia.

I look at her intently. Am I imagining things or she's blushing? Her face is beet red.

"I- well it doesn't matter. It's just about his stupid books, " she shakes her head. "I just borrowed one of the books he reads and I found, well? " she looks at me with raised brows, as if asking me to guess.

"What? " I reply, honestly clueless.

What could she have found?

She suddenly laughs awkwardly. "You know... what boys see, " she shrugs, "online."

My mind went wild with guesses until my eyes widened when I realised it.

"Por-"

"Shh," I'm interrupted by Mia's giggles.

I couldn't help laughing along with her.

"What the fuck! " I whispered and d d yelled and we went back to laughing.

Across the field, I catch Blake glaring in our direction. He knew very well we were gossiping about him. I quickly look away self-conscious. Mia nudges me to the side as she continues to laugh.

Later, we both decided to go home. Mia was going to drop me home since I don't have a car yet. My parents aren't really poor but I happen to be just very reckless with cars.

"You know, boys will always be boys. Even my cousin's brother... Geez, " Mia practically cringes.

I just chuckled and Mia began to hum a song which I think should be She's All I Wanna Be. I also listened to the music from the radio and began wondering about things in my life I never dared to tell anyone.

At some point, I stole a glance at Mia, to see her smiling. She's happy about something, I don't know. I smile too thinking maybe she's recollecting the incident with Blake.

Then I flashed back to the little moment with Asher Mendez, the guy who has the ego size of a pig and snobbish attitude like that of a goat. I know it's weird I'm comparing him with animals but I prefer it.

I'd compare Mia to a sheep right now. With the way she's grinning. She only does that after she's had a great day.

We usually hung out on days like this, when we closed from school earlier. She just had to see Blake so she could borrow some novels as she could not find them in the school library.

Then, I went back to Asher Mendez.

The first time I saw him, we all just resumed middle school and I accidentally spilled soda on a stranger's backpack during the closing period. He simply groaned and glared at me, without uttering a single word. That was strange so since then I started noticing him.

He wasn't making any friends and I spotted him either in the library where
I spend my recess, or in the field, with the other guys. He was actually in our school's football team despite his closed-up attitude.

Everyone thought he was a snob and maybe he is. He chose to ignore people around him, even his teammates.

I never really thought of him in any romantic way, not until when we got to high school and I realised he's attending the same school as I am again. He suddenly became, from the lean guy to a Greek god. Though I wasn't hopeful even when we had almost all our classes together, I always noticed him.

As the class topper, I had a lot of people hating on me. At least I thought that was why they preferred to pick at me, and maybe my clumsy nature too.

I met Mia in my junior year and she's the only friend I've got and who has always stood up for me anytime I was being picked at.

There was a time I realised I was doting on Asher. What to do when the hot guy was always sitting in front of me in most of my classes and always amusing me with his smartness? He's not the number one but he's among the best in class.

I planned to start talking to him and maybe I'd improve on my love life. Somehow, I dared to make the egoistic snob change for the good girl just like I read in the novels I borrowed from Blake.

The fact about his snobbish attitude discouraged me from doing anything because, who knows, he might just humiliate me one day because of that.

Somethings about Asher Mendez that everyone knew was that he always minded his business and kept this cold shoulder.

Also, he had only one friend, Liza Queen, the famous cheerleader. I remember coming to school one day to see a new girl who seemed to get Asher talking to her like old friends. She became the it girl in school, every guy's dream-obviously. I also admit she's a gorgeous blondie.

I, like everyone else in school, knew she liked him more than just a friend but Asher never proved anything or anyone right. From rumours, she's been his childhood friend so it's not surprising she's the only person he talks to and hangs out with often.

Anyone who dared to cross his part, either got an angry remark from him, a humiliation, or at worst a big circle around the eyes with a broken arm.

The very few times I caught his eyes on me, it was either people were mocking me or I displayed my clumsiness (which is why I always cuss at myself before going to bed at night).

I never saw him smile though, so I never thought he might like me in any way. I wish I could know.

Sometimes, I would stare longingly at him wondering what knowing him would be like. I would envy Liza for being the only person, or rather, girl in our school who could make him smile, talk openly with him, eat lunch with him, sit on his lap and even ride in his jeep.

I might be jealous of her. But right now I wonder why I'm smiling to myself for having achieved my life's biggest achievement about Asher.

He talked to me. The first time he ever did. That was one of the rarest things I saw.

~~~

Hey guys I know right it's been forever since I published a new chapter but let's say life got to me. But no matter what, I am not giving up on this book. Thanks for the reads and loves. I hope to publish more often now. ❤