Page 14 of Endless Anger
Still, if I end up having to use my parents to get me into Avernia, I suppose that wouldn’t be the worst thing. Maybe the change of scenery will help reset my brain or at least give me a chance to get away from the people who have always disliked that I’m not outgoing or exciting enough.
Anything that takes me away from this island.
“Asher! Lucy! Dinner’s on the table if you’re hungry!” Asher’s mom shouts from somewhere in the house, her lilting voice carrying across the dark wood floors and disappearing into the tall ceilings.
“She made vegan mac just for you,” Asher notes, lifting his head. “Don’t tell her Italian ancestors.”
I mime zipping my lips and tossing the key. “Mum’s the word.”
When I get up from the bed, reaching for my jacket, I turn around and wait for him to join me. He rolls over, propping his head on his hand, and stares at the wall.
“Are you okay?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. “You’re being weird.”
“I’m fine, pup. Don’t worry about me.” When he sits up, there’s a distant glint in his gaze that makes me shiver. After a beat, he refocuses.
“Sometimes I think you forget I know you better than anyone.” Reaching forward, I smooth the indent between his brows. “I can always tell when you’re keeping secrets.”
He swats my hand away, but catches it at the last second, holding me still. “Oh yeah? What sort of secrets might those be?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t have to ask.”
“Then maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”
It feels like he’s just slapped me. I recoil, snatching my wrist out of his grasp.
Sighing, he drops his head into his palms. “I’ll go with you.”
“Thanks, but I don’t need an escort to get food?—”
“No, not downstairs.” He plants his feet on the floor, lifting his eyes to mine. “To Avernia. If that’s really where you want to go.”
I can’t stop a smile from splitting my face in half. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. I don’t mind waiting around a year for you.” He clears his throat, straightening his spine. “That’s what best friends are for, right? So you don’t have to do anything alone?”
“But three seconds ago you were just trying to convince me to enroll somewhere else.”
Asher shrugs. “An exercise in futility. You hate being told what to do, and you’ve never listened to me before.”
Squealing, I throw myself at him, not thinking about the position it’ll put us in when he falls under my weight. I just wrap my arms around his neck and squeeze tight, trying to memorize the clean cotton scent of his shirt and the hint of some woodsy cologne he and Foxe bought a few months back.
For once in our friendship, he doesn’t smell like fresh blood or sweat, even though I can see the evidence of today’s fight blooming on his knuckles. Beneath one eye. A scar on his lip from a few weeks back with Foxe.
“No take-backs,” I say, jabbing my finger into his chest.
He chuckles but doesn’t reply as I bury my face in his shoulder, too delighted to speak.
At this moment in time, he’s not the angry, unhinged kid I’ve come to think of as a savior.
Right now, he’s just my best friend.
The only boy I’ve ever loved.
And the one I know will never break my heart.
4
ASHER
