Ash doesn't die

“Big brother…?”

Ash suddenly shut his eyes open, and they darted towards the door.

Noah was standing there in his night suit, a stuffed bear in one hand, and the other hand squeezing his shirt.

Hard, that his knuckles were white.

‘He is scared.’ Ash let out an exasperated sigh, and sat up.

“What’s wrong, Noah?” Ash asked, although he knew what was he scared of.

“Big brother…they are loud.” Noah said, his eyes puffy from the little amount of time he slept.

“Come here.” Ash said, while mentioning Noah to come closer.

Noah came to him with little steps, he was hugging the stuffed animal at the same time.

He then sat on Ash’s bed.

“Weren’t you sleeping?” Ash asked, while looking at Noah.

He looked like a perfect combination of mom and dad.

Black hair, and brown eyes.

‘Innocent’ people thought whenever they looked at his face.

“I was sleeping, but then I woke up, mommy and daddy are loud.” Noah told Ash, shrugging.

Ash didn’t respond.

‘It will be wrong to tell him that dad and mom are fighting, and he has never seen them this loud. I should probably tear his focus on something else.’

“Don’t you have to go to school tomorrow?” Ash asked, ruffling Noah’s hair.

“Yes, but I don’t wanna.” Noah pouted.

“Noah, school is important. Don’t you like learning new stuff?” Ash asked, tilting his head a bit.

“No.” Noah huffed.

“Then the teachers?”

“No.”

“The playgrounds?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Oh, I like my friends!”

“You what?” Ash asked quickly.

“I like my friends ,they’re so cool. I have this friend who knows how to make paper butterflies!” Noah told Ash, overly-proud at his friend.

“A paper butterfly?” Ash asked, clearly confused.

“Yes, and you don’t know how to make them, and my friends tell me their brothers play with them, and you don’t play with me. Ne, big brother, tell me, do you have friends?!” Noah was now out of breath.

“Noah breathe first. And for your question, Yes, I do. I have many friends.” Ash replied, proud.

“What are their names?” Noah asked, curious.

“Um…” Ash breathed out.

‘I don’t have friends, why did I lie to him?! I mean, I’ve pretty good relations with every classmate, but I don’t clearly have a best friend.’ Ash facepalmed.

“Big brother, tell me!” Noah jumped.

“They’re too many, besides, Noah, what are friends even for?” Ash blurted out.

‘What are friends even for?! Great job asking a seven year old child about it, Asher! Couldn’t have been better, man!’

“Friends are….to share…stuff?” Noah replied, now realizing he actually didn’t know himself.

“I guess?” Ash questioned again, now both of them staring at each other, dumb-founded.

‘I think mom and dad are done, I don’t listen them anymore, or maybe because I’m on the second floor?’

“Noah, mom and dad are done, you can go to sleep now.”

“Eh?! Why were they even fighting?” Noah shrieked.

But before Ash could reply, Noah said again,

“I know, because you caused some trouble! Right, big brother?” Noah asked, now standing up.

‘That makes things easier for me to explain. Thanks, Noah.’

“Yeah, you could say that.” Ash replied, his index finger on his chin.

“Did you do something bad? Did you fight with your best friend from school?” Noah asked, worried.

“Ah, no. Nothing like that. Don’t worry. Now go to sleep.” Ash replied, facepalming once again.

“Okay, big brother, next time we meet, I’m gonna tell you what friends are for, Okay?” Noah did a thumbs up.

“Next time we meet? Noah, we basically live together, remember? And for the question, alright.” Ash said.

But Noah was nowhere to be found.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a long day, a bit chilly, actually.

A good day for school.

But Ash was too engrossed in his thinking.

‘It was such a long day yesterday, and seriously, I slept only a bit. After Noah went to sleep, mom and dad actually started fighting again. And Noah came back.

So much for getting a good night’s sleep.

He came and I had to deal with his friends' questions so much, I thought my brain was gonna explode.

But gladly, he slept. In my bed. At my place.’

Ash thought, and heaved a long sigh.

Luke and his wife were not talking like usual, and Noah overslept to the point he had to miss school.

Ash had to make his own breakfast, because his mom was so engrossed in her ‘fighting trauma last night’ that she kinda forgot that she has two sons to send to school.

And Luke…went to the office early. Even before the sun had risen.

Talk about family drama.

‘Luckily, nothing is gonna go wrong today. I’m gonna make sure of it.’ Ash cracked his knuckles, a fierce determination visible in his eyes.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, so much for a normal day.

The day started great, and then came the teacher, and he obviously scolded the class, gave them a 1000-word essay to write, and also extra homework, because of Lucas.

Lucas bunking class.

‘Great.’ Ash thought, his hand holding his chin, eyes darting into every direction of the class.

He was currently in the classroom, after lunch with Jason, and he obviously told him about how much the ratio of healthy food is important and all that stuff.

And now he was finally free.

‘Only one session to go, and then home.’ Ash looked over to the door.

Lucas was coming through the door, his usual appearance, his dishevelled brown hair, brown eyes, a uniform with no tie, and unpolished shoes.

Yep, he didn’t care about how much his classmates had to suffer because of his mistakes.

Besides, he didn’t even have to work hard for that, he was basically the topper.

And now, he was coming, a bunch of other students around him, and him laughing hysterically at some lame joke he was telling, but no one else around him was laughing at his joke, but his carefree demeanor.

‘Whenever he is around, there is laughter erupting, and he is never alone. I guess he really hates being alone, huh?’ Ash looked over to him.

Lucas was coming, and he had to pass by Ash’s seat to go to his own seat.

And he actually wasn’t looking ahead but sideways to one of the students he was telling a joke to.

‘At this point, if he doesn’t look, he’s gonna trip, or worse, he’s gonna hurt the pinky of his right foot, by bumping against my table.’ Ash thought, seriously taking into account how much pain the worse case will cause him.

‘I gotta alert him!’

“Oy” Ash managed out, although he strongly doubted his voice could’ve reached him amidst all the laughing around.

But it was too late.

Lucas had hurt the pinky of his right foot, by bumping against the desk.

“Crap, it hurts!” Lucas screamed, now sitting, and acting cautious not to touch his hurt pinky.

His lackeys laughed at him.

How sad.

‘It must’ve hurt.’ Ash thought, while looking at Lucas.

“Are you okay? Here.” Ash asked, while offering him his hand to stand up.

“Man, you should’ve alerted me!” Lucas complained, while standing up, taking Ash’s hand.

“I did.” Ash was now sitting in his chair.

“Huh?! When?” Lucas asked, pointing at Ash.

Ash didn’t respond.

“Eh, better question! Who are you?!” Lucas asked in a loud voice, taking into account that Ash had just ignored him.

‘There’s no way he doesn’t know me right! There’s no way- This man, he is the topper, and I came third place this midterm, and we even shaked hands at the stage. He’s gotta be kidding-’

Ash mentally laughed at Lucas’s stupidity.

“I am Ash-” Ash hadn’t even completed his name, or his introduction, when he saw Lucas was already dragged away by the other students, they were saying to Lucas,

“Man, you gotta go first!”

“Why did you even ask him who he was?”

“He is a nobody, dude”

“He isn’t even famous. You deserve better.”

‘Typical.’ Ash thought while sitting down.

He was used to this. People were … so cold with him.

Not that he was any better.

His classmates knew he was like this.

Quiet, observant, cold.

They thought Ash loved being like that.

His classmates never talked to him like they did with other students.

They were right, he wasn’t famous.

He wasn’t even what they called a good guy.

He would always avoid conversations with others.

He would sit alone, he would eat alone.

And he liked that, but seriously, sometimes he even thought, ‘Would it make a difference to what I am now, if I had actual friends, and I hung out with them like others do?’

But then he would say to himself, ‘ I doubt that.’

Ash now waited for the day to end, it wasn’t what he would call a ‘normal day.’

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Finally, I’m gonna go home.’ Ash thought, his tensed muscles relaxing a bit.

The last session was over, and Ash was making his way to the main gate of the school.

The school itself was prestigious. Big steel doors, furnished classrooms, air-conditioning, gardens, gyms, music classes, nothing was off the charts.

He was a few steps away from the gate, when someone bumped into him.

“Look where you are going.” He quickly gained his balance, and looked sideways, to see who was the lucky person to bump into him.

‘Oh god, I’m gonna regret it now.’ He suddenly thought while looking at who he was.

“What did ya say?!” The boy who bumped said, looking at Ash like he was the one at fault.

“I said, look where you are going.” Ash replied coolly, but he knew he was messed up.

Other students started to gather around them, like it was a good old puppet show.

“He said it again!”

“Man, he got some nerves!”

“He is doomed now.”

“No matter, he’ll regret questioning him.”

They started to speak in hushed tones, but loud enough for Ash to hear.

‘I’ve always got some pretty good ears, I hear people from miles awa- Not helping Asher, just think how to get yourself out of this mess!’

The boy stepped closer, towering over Ash with an amused expression. “You’ve got guts, talking back to me like that. Do you even know who you’re messing with?”

Ash’s eyes scanned the boy. His senior by one year, but doesn’t change the fact that he was like the king of bullies from the entire school.

Broad shoulders, blonde hair, hazel eyes, an aura like a storm cloud.

The moment he entered a room, it felt like the air thickened, almost pressing down on everyone around him.

His presence was loud, even when he wasn’t speaking, like a ticking bomb that made you wonder when it was going to go off.

Blake would always move like he owned the place, and everyone else was just in his way.

His eyes had a sharp, calculating gaze, always scanning for weakness, for the next target to beat.

‘Blake isn’t just a bully; he is the kind of guy who thrives on control, he is enjoying this—a little too much. But who am I kidding? This is Blake, and he looks ready for a show.’

Ash’s mind raced. He could feel his muscles tense up again, his body preparing for the who knows what.

But showing fear now would only make things worse.

“Yeah, I know exactly who you are,” Ash replied, keeping his voice steady. “Doesn’t change the fact that you should watch where you’re going.”

Blake’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous look crossing his face.

His hand shot out, grabbing Ash by the front of his shirt and yanking him closer. “You think you’re funny, huh?”