The rejected mate

COLLISION

While I was going home, I kept thinking of what had happened throughout the day.

I wondered why Asher needed me to teach him Math.

He was not dumb. I had peered through his calculations during one of the classes we had during the week, and trust me, they weren’t bad at all.

As I walked home, I could feel that Asher was setting a trap for me, and this tutoring could be the bait.

I decided to brush off the thoughts. There was nothing he could do. If he requested that I teach him, I would politely reject the offer.

My mother, Regina, was with Ken when I got home. They were in the sitting room, watching a movie over popcorn.

I was on my way to my room in the attic when my mother called me back.

"How was work today?" she asked as though she cared. I know she did not.

Even though she and my stepfather earned a lot of money from their various occupations, they still took cuts off of the money I earned.

"It was okay," I said reluctantly. I knew they either wanted to know my salary or if they got a discount on their meals as family of a staff member, and they did not disappoint.

I told them the amount, and they requested that I submit twenty percent to them because if I were living with them, I would have spent double.

I politely agreed. I was already planning to move out, and thanks to the tip I was receiving from my job, moving out should not be a problem.

Later at night, as I lay on my bed, I thought about what had happened earlier today. I felt the need to protect myself from Asher, truly, but there was something that pulled me each time I tried to put a guard up.

The next morning, I woke up quite earlier than usual. It was sports day at school, and I did not want to be late knowing how terrible I was at sports, but despite how hard I tried, I still arrived late.

At the gym, Mr. Wilson punished me for coming late by doing ten squats. And while I was counting to four, my eyes landed on Asher and the other players of the school’s football team.

Asher was wearing a sleeveless shirt that revealed his biceps. Once again, the shirt was suffocating his hard abs, as I could see the line traces from a distance. He was dripping in sweat from all the training he had been doing. From the look of his uniform, I could tell that he was the captain of the football team.

Asher grabbed a bottle of water and poured its contents right into his mouth. I could see the veins around his arm and his Adam’s apple.

"Ella...Ella.."

I fell to my knees and blacked out, becoming unconscious. The only thing I could remember was hearing the gym teacher, Mr. Wilson, calling out for the students to take me to the school’s nurse.

At the school clinic, I was asked what happened. I told them I was stressed.

from my job at the restaurant, but the truth was, I was not sure. It was either that or the sight of Asher in his gym clothes.

When the bell rang for lunch, my friend Joyce came to check up on me. She had heard what had happened and had come to inquire if I was okay. I was, and I could not afford to miss the next class, which was Math.

The school nurse came to ask me if I was good enough to be discharged, and I affirmed. She let me go on the condition that I used my drugs and took a week's break from work. I agreed and proceeded to my math class.

In the class, our teacher, Ms. Kendra, came with the score sheet of the last test we did. I did well. When she got to Asher’s name, she paused. It was like something got stuck in her throat. She mentioned Asher but could not mention his surname. At that point, he winked at me.

Upon getting to the last names on the list, she paired us in pairs as a means of helping each other, and as Asher had written on the note, I was paired with him.

When the teacher mentioned our names as a pair, he winked at me again. I smiled, but deep down, I hated that he was right. His guts pissed me off.

I was also bedazzled. I could not understand the masterminded plan he pulled for me to be paired with him.

"See you at my house, Smith," he said as he walked away with the other boys from the football club.

After class, Joyce and I met in the school hallway. While we walked down, she could not help but ramble about her day. I kept nodding as she spoke.

Joyce noticed that I had not been responding with enthusiasm like I always did and paused to ask if I was okay.

"I am okay, Joyce." I said, feigning a smile in the hope that she would not notice, but she did.

"I know there is something wrong." Joyce persisted.

Joyce was like a mind-reader. Even though we had not been friends for long, she could tell when I was not being myself.

"It is something private, and I would not want us to discuss it here. The walls have ears." I whispered.

However, this was not my true reason. I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to talk anything out, and I was hoping that the excuse would make Joyce give up on my matter, but she persisted.

"Let’s go to my house. We could talk over a bowl of ice cream," Joyce requested.

I smiled sheepishly, not because Joyce offered to play my therapist but because I got to drown myself in ice cream.

At Joyce’s house, I was welcomed by her father and a fresh bowl of ice cream. Joyce took me up to her bedroom to showcase all of the beautiful gowns she owned.

As she brought out the last pair from the wardrobe, she paused and asked, "Why were you quiet in school today, Ella?" She asked.

Joyce noticed that I was happy and was open enough to let the cat out of the bag. Joyce tabled the question, hence her asking it out of the blue.

I was startled, but if there was anything living with strict and mean parents taught me, it was the art of lying and giving flimsy excuses.

"Oh, it was Ophelia and her cohorts. They kept taunting me in Math class." I said this without taking a breather between my words.

I did not mean to keep Joyce out of the loop, but the truth is, I had no idea what I felt for Asher, and I did not want to keep her on her toes for something that did not matter in the least.

Not long after showing me all the gowns in her wardrobe, Joyce gave me a pair. "This should give Ophelia a run for her money," she said, chuckling before handing it over.

As soon as she handed it over, my mother, Regina, called me. I bade Joyce goodbye and headed for my house.

In the evening of the same day, Asher sent me his house address via text message. I wondered how he got my number.

Asher’s house was not far from the restaurant I worked at. I had seen the street tag before, so locating it was not a problem for me. The problem was the fact that I was contemplating going to see him. I was confused.

On one hand, helping Asher would earn me a bonus in Math class, and on the other hand, I was tired of the mind games he was playing with a poor girl like me.

While I was ruminating on these thoughts, my mother walked in.

"I hope you will not be going anywhere tomorrow. Ken’s friends would be coming over tomorrow, and I would need you to help me prepare the meals."

"Oh! I have a class project with a friend tomorrow," I blurted out. I knew for a fact that going to Asher’s tomorrow would help me avoid cooking tomorrow. It was the perfect excuse I needed.

After doing my usual house chores, I headed to Asher’s house on Beets Road. I was not sure it was his house because it looked a little bigger than I expected.

Before I got a chance to knock again, Asher came outside wearing nothing but grey sweatpants, and just like I suspected, his abs were rock-hard. From the sweat dripping all over his body, I could tell he had just returned from the gym.

"Good girl… I won’t release today until I am satisfied," Asher said as he grabbed my hand.