"Good morning," I embarrassingly greeted the innocent young man seated in the front row, as usual.
"Hey," he responded with a genuine smile as I settled next to him.
"You beat me here."
Asher playfully narrowed his eyes and pointed, "I always make it to class before you."
His innocent gaze intensified my guilt, and I looked away. As always, I found myself apologizing for Caden's behavior. "Asher, I'm really sorry about what Caden did to you."
Over the weekend, I doubted if I could ever look Asher in the eyes after my ill-mannered stepbrother's actions. But he was my first and only friend in college, and I couldn't let Caden ruin that for me. I had to salvage the friendship I found. Besides my studies and my recent friend Caleb, Asher had been one of the positive aspects of my college
