Chapter Thirty | Aftermath

To say my dad was upset about what happened at the charity event was an understatement. He was furious, his mahogany brown eyes switching to the hottest hellfire, and his face hardens into the sourest expression that I'm sure the devil himself would shudder in his presence. I've only seen my father like this three times throughout my eighteen-years of living — one being the day my mother passed, the other being the day I was kicked out of school for breaking Liam's nose, and now.

Crazy how Liam is responsible for two out of the three.

My dad's office was still. It felt like the air of the room was constricting around my neck like a snake, and it had no intention of letting me go. The sun had set causing the lights that usually shined from the fabric curtains to dim, the only source of light being the lamp on my dad's mahogany desk and his lit computer screen in front of him.

He's upset — really fucking upset. His eyes were a knife in my ribs, the sharp point digging deeper. Where there had been love was an emptiness, but not in any vulnerable sense. Uncomfortable with the void, he had filled it with emotion fitter for the moment of the situation - raw anger. The unmoving gaze was accompanied by deliberate slow breathing like he was fighting something back and losing. When someone looks at you like that, eyes holding total anger, it hurts; but when that someone holds your heart in their hand it kills.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" His voice is like thunder and caused me to fidget in my seat when he abruptly blurted those words.

I was silent.

Not because I didn't have anything to say for myself because I did – I had a lot to fucking say, but I knew whatever was about to come out my mouth would only just make him more upset so I decided to stay quiet.

My dad leaned forward on his desk, his bushy brows scrunching up in a confused expression. "Pierre's boy? Asher? Seven-billion people in the world and you go for the worst one."

"He's not the worst." I finally spoke, defending Liam.

"Oh please," He cursed under his breath, a look of disgust taking over his face. "That boy is just as worse as his daddy. I thought you would've known that considering all the shit he put you through when you two were younger."

"We were kids!"

"Kids my ass! That boy had me coming up to your damn school every damn week because he got you in trouble. He's the reason you got kicked out of school and shipped across the country for five fucking years for crying out loud and yet you wanna sit here and tell me you like him? And to have that little son of bitch father come in my face like that in front of all those damn people — Asher, I should kill you and him."

The words rolled off his tongue with such a coldness I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. My dad had never laid a hand on any of his children or anyone else for that matter and I don't think he ever would, but that doesn't go without saying that my dad is a very wealthy man with a lot of connections, and wouldn't mind making a call to do what needed to be done, both good and bad.

The room fell into silence again. It was practically picking at my skin and I felt myself trying to shift around in the chair as my dad's eyes locked on me with such a sharpness that it felt like my lungs were constricting. He was judging me and in his eyes, I saw only cool flames. He'd had that same look when he had to come to school and speak with Liam's parents after our fight, like if someone offered him a loaded gun and a "get out of jail free card" he'd have no problem pulling the trigger.

Without a warning, his balled fist slammed against his desk and the sounded cracked in my ears like thunder and I'd be lying if I said I didn't jump in my seat a bit.

"Get out," He grumbled, burying his face into the palms of his hands. "Get out! I can't even look at you right now Asher."

I held my tongue even though I knew there was nothing I could say at this moment to make anything better. Instead of arguing back, I exhaled a sigh before getting up and making my way out of my father's office. Immediately I'm stopped in my tracks when I see Braxton sitting on the steps that lead to the second floor of the house. He sat on the second to last step with his legs pulled to his chest, his head slumped against the wall, fast asleep.

He must've been listening and fell asleep. God, I must've been in there way longer than I thought.

Heading towards the spare closet, I grabbed a blanket and brought it and wrapped it around Braxton on the steps. I know he doesn't like to be disturbed when he sleeps so I decided to let him be and headed up the steps to my room quietly. Today has been such a long day and all I wanted to do was be alone —

Well, that's kind of a lie because truthfully all I wanted right now was Liam. Just to see if he's okay and how he's doing would be enough for me, but he didn't answer gym texts or call. Every time I try it goes straight to voicemail so I can assume his dad took his phone and God knows what else.

I just hope Liam is okay. I'm not even the type to pray and to be completely honest I'm not even sure I believe in a God, but at this point I'm desperate. I just want him to be okay, that's my only wish.

••••

It's been hard to sleep these past couples of days. Ever since Liam and I got caught on the yacht I haven't heard from him and it's starting to stress me out. I must have woken up six times last night. Not for that long each time, but enough to break my sleep into un-refreshing chunks. I have the same dream in each one with a few minor changes in between, but they all still revolve around the same person. Liam. I want to wash my brain in cold water, chill the whole thing right out but I can't.

My pillows were fluffed, the temperature in my room was perfect, even my favorite night light was on but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get the sleep I needed. My eyes were open like the entrance to a tunnel. I kept on staring at the bare ceiling, my eyes following the spinning ceiling fan. I thought that if I followed it long enough I'd suddenly doze off like being put under hypnosis or something but it doesn't work like that.

And now I was surely paying the price in homeroom. I haven't slept since Saturday and it's Monday now and my eyes feel like someone is pulling them down like curtains. Ever now and then I'll doze off which causes my head to fall forward without my control until I jump back to conciseness which only earned me a few strange looks from my classmates but fuck them. I don't care what these weirdos think, they aren't Liam.

Speaking of Liam, I hate looking back and seeing his assigned seat so empty. The classroom seems off without him in the back of the class. Lifeless even, like something was off not just with him but the entire classroom. It's sickly quiet and the ticking of the wall clock hanging in front of the room only made it worse. I guess everyone is used to hearing Liam smack on some candy in the back or texting obnoxiously loud and snickering at his Twitter feed to drown it out.

It's crazy how Liam always managed to stay at top of the class even with his distasteful habits. At first, I thought he was just paying his way through school like most of the kids here at Stratford do, but no, he's smart. Every time I would call him he was studying for something whether it be school work or company work for his father. One thing about Liam, he does what he needed to do and doesn't question it. He's very hardworking. I just hate I didn't realize that until I stopped seeing him as a threat and as an actual person for once.

I miss him.

When lunch came around I had no appetite. The cafeteria was filled with different varieties of food from all cultures and yet none of them did anything for me. I sat at the lunch table with only a bottle of apple juice to company me. The bottle wasn't the best company but I'd rather it than Andre and Caleb. Those two had been blowing my phone up since the day Andre dumbed pasta on Liam's head in front of everyone in the cafeteria. That was something just unforgivable, not the amount of blood we share can become a factor when it comes to disrespecting someone I love.

The two sat across the cafeteria in our usual booth. There seemed to be a lingering silence between the two of them as Caleb stirred around his food while Andre just looked down at whatever was on his phone. As if hearing my thoughts, Andre looked up from his phone in the direction of my table. Our eyes only met for a moment before someone slammed a lunch tray down right in front of me.

I looked up to see a smiling Toby Kim beaming down at me, Aria and Corbin right behind him with their trays as well.

"Wassup Asher," Toby smiled, taking the seat right in front of me, giving the cue for the other two to join.  I sent an acknowledging head nod, trying my best to hide any signs of distress on my face.

"It feels like we haven't talked to you in forever," Aria said, tossing around her salad. "how was your weekend? Anything interesting happened?"

Nothing. Just lost the love of my life.

"Nah." Was all I could reply, a light chuckle coming right after so the reply didn't sound too dry. I could see Corbin send me a slight side-eye, but he quickly brushed it off stuffing his face with his food.

"How was y'all weekend?" I switched the convo around. I didn't care about their weekends in all honesty, but I'd rather not be reminded of that terrible day.

Toby talked about he went fishing for the first time and nearly died when he had to take the fish off the hook and it was slimy. Aria spent her weekend online shopping and binge-watching Netflix documentaries her dad had recommended. She says she doesn't like documentaries but she knows her dad does and since he's in prison and unable to watch them she watches them for him and fills him in on the information she's learned.

"Corbin, how about you?" Aria nudged the boy who seemed more focused on his meal than the conversation. He quickly looked up and placed down his half-eaten burrito.

"I didn't do much," He started, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "Help my mom out servicing at this event on a boat. It was boring. A bunch of snooty rich white people talking about money over tea and sandwiches." Corbin faked gagged earning a chuckle from the other two.

We exchanged a look, Corbin's brown eyes locking with my darks ones for only a quick moment, but even at that moment, I knew he knew. He knew everything, he was there to witness it all. How I didn't notice him is something I can't comprehend, but then I remember Liam was in the room, and they're just something about him that makes everyone else in the room invisible.

"Sounds boring," I add, and Corbin lowly chuckles to himself before nodding and picking back up his burrito. "Very."

••••
Excuse any mistakes or errors