as he tried to decide if he wanted to attend or not.

Before, he’d have gone without a second thought, but now, parties surprisingly didn’t hold the same allure for him as they once had.

Firstly, he’d matured and since then realised that underage drinking was a pretty stupid thing to do. He supposed being removed from the interstate championship had driven him to that realisation and made up his mind. It had sucked to learn that he couldn’t take part in it, and he didn’t want to risk getting caught with alcohol in his system and be kicked off the school’s team for good in case the cops showed up.

And secondly, the girls. Parties had always been the perfect place to work his charms. But now... Now that didn’t appeal to him either. This, he realised, had a lot to do with a certain girl who had midnight hair and eyes that never failed to pierce his soul.

He wasn’t going to touch another girl when he knew his heart belonged to someone now. Hell, he hadn’t so much as flirted with anyone for a long time now.

And Asa definitely wasn’t complaining. Why should he? With Carmen, every little thing was always more. She was more. And he’d drop just about everything just to keep getting his fill.

He let out a sigh and used his thumb to swipe the pop-up text away from his home screen.

He’d just decide on attending it or not later. Even if he didn’t want to drink or have an intense make out session for one night, he still did want to spend some time out of school with Hayden, Wyatt, and a few other guys who he could tolerate.

It’d been a while since he hung out with the guys, and oddly enough, he kind of missed it. He also desperately needed some kind of normal after 1) losing his best friend, 2) getting kicked off the one competition he’d been looking forward to his entire life, and 3) telling the girl he was in love with how he felt about her in the bluntest way.

It was ironic, really, that the three things he least expected to happen turned out to be the very source of his growth.

Shaking his head to himself, he slipped his phone into his pocket and turned around, only to find Carson approaching him.

For the love of God. Couldn’t he just catch a goddamn break?

None of the bruises were visible on his face anymore, and his eyes had healed from the swelling, but Carson’s slightly crooked nose still told a story of him getting it broken.

You took away my chance of participating in the meet,” Carson said, eyes fixed on Asa with a steely resolve that only meant trouble.

“I took away mine too,” Asa told him matter-of-factly. “Sucks, I know.”

“Yeah well, that spot was never yours anyway,” he bit out. “But I deserved to be there. And you took it away.” He stepped closer, and jabbed Asa’s chest, pure rage radiating off him in waves. “Because you went crying to the principal and your parents like the pathetic piece of shit that you are.”

Asa didn’t want the words to get to him; he didn’t want to allow them inside his head only to engrave themselves into the walls of his mind while they plotted to antagonise him later.

But he was finding it really hard to do so.

It hadn’t been weakness, had it? When Asa had come clean about the bullying?

He’d done what he had to do in order to make surviving school easier. Had that been pathetic?

Stop it, he chastised himself. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. He just wanted to stop letting them get to him. Wanted to stop with all the self-doubt already.

“You’ll pay for it,” Carson then said, his voice low with the promise of retribution. “One way or another, you’re going to pay. I’m going to make you pay.”

Asa wasn’t new to trouble; all throughout his life, his impulsive nature had always guided him to it. And more often than not, he’d found himself in one confrontation or another.

But something in Carson’s voice—not the words, but the tone in which he delivered them—unsettled Asa. And that was saying a lot.

He kept his cool, though. He didn’t let himself rise to the bait. “You can pull the same shit you did in the cafeteria that day.” Asa shrugged. “It won’t matter. Because I’m not going to let you provoke me into throwing the first punch. Not this time.”

Carson’s answering smirk intensified the uneasy feeling in Asa.

“Asa, Asa, Asa.” He sighed, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “I don’t have to get to you, in order to get to you, do I?” His smile widened. “Give Carmen my regards.”

All sense of self-preservation that kept Asa in check instantly drained away from his mind and body, and he took a threatening step closer, balling up his fists, when Carson held out a hand and spoke again.

“Think carefully about what you’re going to do right now,” he said. “Because one more misstep on your part, and my parents aren’t going to give you the courtesy of going to Hendrickson first.” He cocked his head to the side, angling his jaw towards Asa. “Go ahead. Punch me. I’d love to slap you with a harassment charge.”

Asa’s fists clenched even harder, his fingers digging into the skin of his palm, as he tried to hold in his temper. He took a few steps back because the closer he stood, the higher the chances of him choking the other boy.

Carson seemed to view Asa backing off as a victory. “That’s what I thought,” he muttered, a triumphant glint in his eyes. “You can’t do shit with the school already keeping a close eye on you. Have a great day, Asa. You never know when shit is going

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