Twenty-Two

Day one of helping the locker bastard make friends.

Archer and I both agreed to meet at my neighborhood since he wanna talk about the current deal we are having. I bought a cup of coffee from the nearest convenience store before proceeding to walk.

At the end of the street of our neighborhood, I saw Archer looking around like a lost puppy. When he saw me walking, his hands waved in the air. I waved back and then looked to left and right before crossing the street and meet him.

"Hey." he greeted and lift his fist. I looked at his fist before also throwing my fist at his to do a fist bump and started walking.

Yep, he does that now. Over the time that we're spending, I can tell that his treatment to me is not the same as before. "Alright, so the first thing I need to do, is hanging out with nice or kind people?" Archer started, putting his phone in his pocket.

I took a sip from my coffee before answering. "Yes, and I am already one but, we need to find other people." I explained.

He squinted his eyes and looked at me. "What other people?" he confusingly asked.

"Basically, it's not just me who has a kind soul to help you."

"What do you mean?" he asked again.

I looked at him, "There are hundreds of people in our academy, Archer, and to completely help you, I'm gonna ask some of my friends to hang out with you. Or should I say I'm gonna ask you to hang out with me and my friends." I explained then took a sip from my coffee.

He didn't respond and we just proceeded walking until we got to the school.

The first person I saw when I entered the gate was Justin. He is running towards me. "Ash!" he said when he got to me and put a grip on my shoulders. I was confused by him, so I asked him why. Before he could speak, he saw Archer beside me. He quickly got off his grip and pulled me away from Archer.

"Why are you with that guy?" he asked, but looking at Archer. I looked at Archer too before looking back at Justin. "Uh, actually...I'm gonna need your help." I whispered.

He looked at me and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What help?" he curiously asked. I put my hands inside my pocket and sighed.

"Archer needs friends." I firmly said.

Justine's eyes widened, not believing the word I just said. "Needs friends?" he repeated. "That bastard needs friends?" he pointed to Archer.

"You know that I could hear you right?" Archer blurted. Justin and I both glared at him, "Shut up!" we both said at the same time. Archer rolled his eyes and turned around.

"No, seriously, Asher. What is going on?" he asked again.

I took a deep breath, "It's true, Justin. He told me that he wanted to make friends, so that's why he reached out to me and asked me for help." I explained. "And I'm asking for your help too." I added.

Justin didn't respond and sighed. "Alright, I'll help you." he said. I smiled and chuckled. "But, if he started acting like a boss again, I swear I'm gonna kick his ass myself."

"You have your word." I smiled. I patted his shoulders and went to Archer. He turned around when he felt me and Justin behind him. He forced himself to smile. "Yes?" he sighed.

I clicked my tongue and sighed. "Archer, this is Justin. Justin, this is Archer." I introduced them to each other and smiled.

Archer offered Justin a handshake, "Hi. It's nice to meet you." he said, smiling. I could tell that Archer is just forcing himself to smile while Justin is still having his arms crossed. He then accepted the handshake, "Justin." he introduced himself.

Not bad, I think.

I started with Justin since they are enemies. The first time they met was also the first time I saw Justin got angry like that. I've seen him raging because of games, but his anger for Archer is different.

After that meet and greet thing, I speculated that why not introduce Archer to my friends. Because my friends are just like me. Kind-hearted and wise. I maybe sound cocky, I know I do, but that's the truth.

Otherwise, why would I be this elegant to a person who hated me these past few months?

I am really friendly when it comes to situations like this. Whenever a person needs help, I never hesitated or had second thoughts on helping that person. Even it is a stranger who just bumped into me and he or she needs help, I'll help him or her.

The encounter between the two was easy, sort of. So, I'm thinking that if Archer will be comfortable with my friends. I mean he's this courageous jock who is like a star player because he is in the varsity team. Can he hang out with just normal people like us?

In the classroom, I immediately went looking for my friends to tell them about my request. I saw Irish at her seat reading a book, I went to her and asked her to come with me. Then I saw Agatha, also at her seat, looking at the window. I asked her to come with me and I did that until I got everyone.

"Is there something wrong?" Mika asked out of curiosity.

I shook my head then leaned to the wall. "Nothing. I just need your help." I said. They all looked at me and waited for my response. "I need you to help me, um, make friends." I blurted. I could see the curiosity in their faces.

"Make friends?" Irish repeated, also curious.

"Y-Yes." I stuttered. "Actually, it's not me that you're gonna help." I added. They all squinted their eyes.

"Then who is it?" Maddie asked, looked at me with disbelief. Justin stood up from his seat, he unplugged his earphones and faced us.

"It's the jock." Justin said, having this shitty British accent.

"Justin, can you please stop using that accent?" Agatha annoyingly asked. "You're never gonna be British, okay?"

Justin scoffed, "That's why I'm practicing!" he shouted and walked out stumping his feet like a cry baby. We all laughed except for Agatha that is shaking her head in disbelief.

"Alright, back to the topic." Cristina said. "Who's this jock?"

"His name is Archer, from the basketball team." I answered.

"Archer? Isn't that the one who humiliated Justin?" Mika asked. My eyes squinted, "What? How did you know that?" I asked back.

"Justin told us." Maddie added.

My mouth parted open, "Um, kinda." I only said.

"Why did you let him do that to Justin?" Irish asked. I looked at her.

I was about to answer her when Cristina said another thing. "You let that guy tease our friend, Ash." she said, her face is getting dark. Actually, everyone's face is getting dark.

"You are so shameless, Asher." Agatha said.

"You don't care about everyone." Mika added.

"You only care about yourself, you selfish idiot." Maddie added.

I can't believe what's happening right at this moment. My heart started pounding and I had a hard time breathing, so I excuse myself to go to the bathroom.

Walking in the halls with my hands holding my chest, my eyes are slowly closing. My vision went insane. Everything around me is blurry. I can't see any faces that are looking at me. But, I can hear Candice. Her voice coming from the end of the hall while running towards me.

I looked behind me and I could see my friends glaring at me while I was having a hard time. I looked back to Candice and she knelt down to help me.

"Hey, Asher. Are you okay?" she worriedly asked. I only nodded at her as an answer, since I can't talk much. My chest is tightening, my hand is squeezing my chest. I grunted and tried to hold back the pain that I was feeling.

I looked at Candice again and this time, her face has also darkened. The image was blurry but, I can see her glaring eyes at me. I started panting and ran away from the scene.

Running away, I tripped and fell hard. I smashed my head at the floor, but that didn't make me unconscious. No one is around at that moment. It's only me, lying on the floor. I tried standing up, but my chest keeps on tightening. It was like my heart was being vacuumed.

I tried standing up again yet I failed.

The third time I tried standing up, my chest that is tightening, somehow stopped. I stood up completely and went to the spot where I usually spend time when I need space from society.

When I got there, I sat down and breathed heavily. My knees were in front of me and my arms are wrapped around it. Staring at the view, breathing heavily, and thinking about what happened.

Minutes have been spent, I heard a crack behind me. Probably, a person must have been stepping at the roof. I turned around and saw Archer, slowly walking towards me. I immediately stood up and brushed off the dusts from my clothes.

"Hey, uh, I'm just spending my free time here. I've talked to them. They, uh-" I stopped and forced myself to smile.

"Free time?" Archer asked, his hands are hiding behind his back. I nodded and rubbed my hands nervously. "It's kinda freezing in here, don't you think?" I changed the topic.

"I gotta go." I bid my goodbye, but Archer immediately stopped me.

"Wait." he said. I gulped and looked at him.

"I'm sorry, Asher." he apologized. I got confused. "I'm really sorry." he said and ran towards me to push me off the roof.

Falling, I realized only one thing.

I don't deserve to live.