Asher's POV

I know how death lies beyond the countless waves, shifting in the tide, and sweeping over the gleam of the ocean, reflecting in the whirlpool of my existence. It was a split second, but I know a glimpse of what's over the horizon as the hereafter bled in the water. And with it a stream of water pumped into my lungs, and in my passing everything connected. I knew of the hurricane when it was a thunderstorm, and I remembered wrestling with the wind to avoid another unsolicited downfall. Then I understood what lies above the endless night; it was the arms of forlorn, but I never expected the sea to become our tomb.

It was a quarter past midnight when I saw an enigma surging through Persian blue ripples, casting an enchantment over the deep blue. I knew my decimation was in the heavens, but then I unearthed an abundance of stardust disentangled in my last moments of lamenting. Afterward, it wasn't long before I discovered love withering from my soul as brunette strands fell over a galaxy of freckles. It drove me insane just thinking about the infinite ways I wanted to disobey my heart. I think my perception was tainted from the moment my eyes had captured her golden-brown hair. I once had a notion I was a sleuth, but even now I can't differentiate from a past I've grown to blind to see.

"What if you were always my lighthouse and my first love?" Margo affirmed as she attempted to question a statement. "What if we were drawn to one another because fate likened our hearts unto a harbor? What if we are the best thing to blossom out of chaos? Would you deny our worlds of each other even if you know I make you feel more alive than Juliet ever could because I accept you for who you are? How could you walk away from me when our souls are one as the moon and the stars?"

"What if our betrayal is only a testament to the enduring nature of God?" I asked as her gaze faltered. "Think about the sun and the moon and how they obey the commandments of the Lord. Then there's humanity that spills blood without reason and who falls in love in every season even if their past relationship had no reason to expire. Nothing except for a wandering eye and a thirst people can't seem to quench outside of heaven. I acknowledge what we have together in each other's embrace, but I will always love, Juliet."

The bitterness behind my words formed in my Adam's apple, and suddenly I could taste my ignorance before the pungent odor even stained my nostrils with folly. The aftertaste clung to my tongue and held my stomach in knots. I can't help but think that this mere instance is we're I betrayed Juliet and my heart the most. If I were in court, I'd sentence myself to life for falling in love all over again, but this time with a phantom. I wanted to embrace reality, but Juliet was the only person I searched the cosmos to find because my soul refused to slumber.

"How can you love her when she constantly forces you to be someone you'll never be, Ash?" Margo screams as tears threaten to tip over the edge of her eyelashes. "She expects you to walk with pride, dress like you deserve to be with her, and if you even think about defying her, she'll threaten you by hinting at throwing Andre out on the streets to his abusive father. Tell me if she loves you so much, then why does she have so much leverage over you?"

"I love Juliet because she saw who I could become even when the entire world wasn't paying attention," I whispered, wondering if anything she said mattered to the stronghold Juliet possessed in my mind. "Everyone else saw a boy that belonged on the streets rooting through garbage with his brother for his next meal, but Juliet didn't see a degenerate. She saw a boy entertained with the chaos of the world, but unwilling to partake because no one wanted a child way past his expiration date. I was a fool who didn't understand the craftiness lurking in the moonlight, but Juliet understood it completely."

"Ash, do you even realize how insane it makes you too constantly follow someone that only loves the gleam of their reflection in your eyes? You have to understand Juliet only desires you because she's never witnessed your strength blooming in another man's bosom. You're the reason she's perfect! Can't you see how she acts around you or when she lets you see moments she feels will make her more authentic in your eyes? It's all an illusion, and you're Juliets last act."

I remember Margo's rage as she gazed into my eyes and expected me to utter an ounce of the truth she had come to favor in her mind. Although, the only statement that crossed my lips was my authenticity. I knew the power of my words, but I couldn't stop Juliet from ricocheting in my humility. Then there was the matter of my chemistry with Margo, but with Juliet, there's a history between us that declares itself a work of art. Why would I want to deny my heart when Juliet found me decimated and lost without a clue of the man I'd soon become?

I wholeheartedly believe I owe Juliet in ways I could never in a million lifetimes repay, and it's clear I'm enamored with her loveliness. I can't lie and say Juliet showed the world the most intimate parts of her soul because I know it's not the truth. But I'm aware of the young woman, she hid deep in her mother's bosom and burrowed within her father's intellect. She's the only person who truly believed I could harness the universe, and I miss someone feeling like I was invincible even when I failed.

The thought is vain, but I can't help the happiness that gleamed in my smile whenever Juliet thought I could do anything under the sun. She assumed if Hallie Roberts can become the top of my class, then with a little effort, I would be Valedictorian without being a counterfeit. She once declared if Marley King was capable of painting an image of gold, then I could adorn a mural, but I'd do it stone-cold sober. Juliet even stated that if Ajiona had a father who loved her dearly, then I'd marry her and share her father's affection, except we'd do it lavishly because our family could afford it. Juliet had a thousand ways of measuring how she valued me over any of her closest friends who despised me.

"I'm sorry, girls," Hallie said, glaring outside the door where I stood patiently waiting for Juliet. "but who was that dark-haired boy with the stars in his eyes. You can't honestly think you can bring some kid off the street and give him a makeover. Then suddenly, he's a person that walks in sophistication instead of poverty, and let's not forget he's not even memorable. How do you even walk into a room with him without completely forgetting he's even there?"

"Don't be sorry, Hallie." Juliet challenged, bridging the gap between Hallie as she glares at her with malice in her tongue. "Why should you feel sympathy for someone when the only reason anyone remembered you was because you were standing next to me? Don't forget that I can push you off those same heights I helped you climb, and when you've fallen, let's see how memorable you'll become when you don't have a mold to hide behind."

Marley twirled her dark blonde highlights between her fingertips as she dismisses Juliet's fury and Hallie's humiliation, envisioning something in her mind. She attempts to bring it to life with air quotes and hand gestures. "Hmm, I've been thinking about that ever since I first saw him, but with the proper guidance, he could be a heartthrob. Maybe shave him, cut his hair into a more prestigious hairstyle, and maybe even bleach his hair platinum blonde. He has the perfect eyes for blonde, the right chiseled jawline for the color to scoop his face, and thick eyebrows to overpower the platinum blonde with jet black. He'd be the perfect project."

I don't miss the glow that glimmered in Juliet's cornflower eyes as she contemplated Marley's answer. I knew if I could fit into Juliet's world it would be a means to an end for my closest friends, but somehow my mind realized Juliet only cared about her image. I pondered how long I'll have to bite the bullet before I realize I'm a man of someone else's making, and everything I know is entirely by design. I glanced at Juliet while she silently smiled at the thought of assimilating me into her world. Although, I still waited for her to insist, I didn't need to reconstruct my identity to walk amongst her people, and with each moment, my heart hammered inside my chest.

"Ladies, Asher doesn't need some ridiculous makeover so he can fit in with the shallowness of Rosewood Academy. I know it may be hard for you to understand, but depth isn't to be feared. Frankly, it's revolutionary," Juliet affirmed as a smile played on her lips, but it quickly goes unnoticed by her friends. "even Ajiona knows I'm right. Besides, I hardly think assimilating Asher into Rosewood without a rich lineage will hardly stand with the student body. Some insignificant little millionaire will always find a way because they're too jealous of his strength. Asher's, the kind of catalyst to turn this academy upside down because nothing will be the same after he discovers who he is and what he's capable of?"

The memory fades when Juliet peering outside the chamber door, almost as if she knew I listened to their discussion. I always understood there was more to my transformation, like maybe I morphed into a man to save Andre's life from a world of compromises. However, I lost myself in the truth, and it's heartbreaking because I disfigured my soul trying to get Juliet to imagine me the way she saw a random millionaire. Then I made a compromise to abandon the boy of poverty who protected his friends and become a man of chaos who assumed nothing under the sun was given without first spilling blood. I hated myself for burning years worth of convictions inside my head that chipped away at my spirit until my mind became desolate.

Beyond the shimmering lights of the ocean, a vision of calmness pales in a haze of cerulean blue while my mind marvels the path to my destruction. Then I had the bitter privilege of beholding the boy of yesterday, and in a sense, I too had lost my way. The same way Elijah forgot the man he used to be all those years ago. I became a monster whose only job was to seek the vulnerable and then decimate them with one hit of David's narcotics. The people I would only sell marijuana were the first ones I pushed to try something more powerful, like heroin or crystal meth. I gandered back on those intervals in time, and I'm amazed at how wonderful I slept at night.

I even remember this cop named Christopher, who used to work at the same precinct as Elijah, but they fired him a few years ago. Although, when we first met, he was an honorable officer of the law who had solved hundreds of drug-related homicides. After the captain retired, Christopher was one small step away from becoming a father who could finally afford to move his family out of his rat-infested neighborhood. At the time, he could only afford a rent totaling to two thousand and five hundred dollars a month, which only afforded him a seat in the lion's den. I didn't know it at the time, but my actions caused a domino effect, and it kept tipping over until it reached his daughter, who had to overachieve in life to be able to sit at Juliet's table.

"Come on, Asher." Chris pleaded as he gazed at the crystals glistening through the plastic. "give me the bag I-I promise I'll pay you next week. I promise I'll pay you on time; just let me have it, man. I need it, and I promise I'll pay you back o-on time next week. You know I'm good for it. I always have been. Can you find it in your heart to let it slide this time?"

"I don't know if I can do that, Chris," I whispered, looking into his bloodshot eyes as his skeleton clings to his flesh, and I knew in that minute, Chris was chasing a constant high to avoid reality. "If you were still Christopher, then I'd have no problem trusting you. But I know your not Christopher Reed, and I believed in Christopher. He was dependable but your not that man anymore. So from you, I need some insurance because we both know you'll never settle your debt. Your only option is to pay me or watch me break every single bone in your miserable body, and I won't stop until your dead."

"I swear I'm good for it; just listen before you react. My daughter, Ajiona, goes to this fancy boarding school, so my wife and I have a savings account where we pay for everything her scholarship didn't cover. Last time I checked, we had over fifty thousand dollars in there that we borrowed from the First National Bank. I can give you a folder with the account number and the routing number. All I ask for is to wipe my debt clean and forty pounds of crystal. Give me a chance to prove I'm good for it."

It wasn't my finest hour, but I took the blue folder with the words First National Bank inscribed on the front. I was moments from exiting the apartment then I saw a white mug with The Worlds Best Dad written on the cup in bold letters. I recognized the mug from the time I went to the police station to report my mother's murder. It was the same day Officer Reed called my mom a junkie, and the same year he convinced the captain to close her case. I pushed the mug off the table as the cup shattered in pieces on the hardwood floor. Seconds later, Christopher cried a river of tears, and I walked outside, handing Juliet everything she wanted.

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How did you like the chapter?

Tell me what you think about the opening paragraph? What can you conclude from Asher's statement about death sweeping over the ocean? Do you understand what Asher means when he says everything is connected? Do you think Juliet expected the sea to become her prison? What's your favorite quote or scene from this chapter?

Please remember to social distance guys and stay safe! P.S Don't forget the trailer to #ACK is in the section titled, Amidst Crimson Kisses. P.P.S The picture shown in the media box was just inspiration for me to write this chapter. P.P.P.S The next two chapters will definitely be written in Margo's POV.

Thank you so much for reading
GOD bless you all ❤️