How I Won the Love Deal

"What are you wearing? People don't dress like this on a date." It was Asher.
"I want to kill him.‖ I muttered before turning back to look at the front door.
It was a surprise that he was home. He spent most of his time with different girls, who he‘d change constantly like they were his selection of shirts.
"Too bad! You can't." He replied, to my utter irritation.
I wanted to punch him and see the blood trailing down his nose. He made me angry like no one else ever had and to say that I had loved him once. The irony of life…
His family and mine - we were close. Literally. Our houses were next to each other‘s and we shared a huge garden. And to top it all off, our moms were best friends. Our dads were business partners. And yes, our brothers and our sisters were best friends too.
As for Asher and I, we hated each other with equal passion.
We fought over lots of silly things when we were young, but we got back just as fast. Because whatever it was, Liana and Asher were best buddies back then.
I started to hate him when he turned from a nice person – my best friend—to one of those arrogant jerks at our school. I started to hate him when he pushed me out of his life for only one reason – popularity and fame. OK, make that two.
I remembered that day clearly – like it was videotaped in my brain. It was early in the morning and the white wisps of mist enshrouded the garden. I was waiting for him. We went to school together, EVERYDAY. That day, he didn‘t turn up. That was the first blow to our relationship.
Then I saw him hanging out with all the jocks and the cheerleaders, which was the second strike. I waved at him and he didn't even nod back, which was the third strike and he was out! No, it didn‘t happen quite that fast, but you get the idea.
Finally, I just decided to get rid of him from my life. It was not easy then and not easy now, but I have learnt to pretend. I‘ve learnt to mask my true feelings and get on with it. After wearing the mask continuously, I don‘t even remember my true self anymore, but I love this. This way no one can hurt me; no one can look clearly into my soul and have any power over me.
I don‘t know why exactly he had stopped being my friend. I have some theories, the simplest being: I was not pretty enough to fit right in with the popular girls.
I wear thick black framed glasses, which hide my round blue eyes. I always prefer baggy clothes and pants, because dresses are never my first choice. They aren‘t my second or third choice either. My dark brown hair is as boring as the rest of me. My usual attire (yeah, I said ‗attire‘. You get the problem now?) also consists of a hooded jacket. I love the warm protective feeling it gives me. The hooded jacket – it‘s my haven, the place I can hide. No wonder I was invisible.
Now let me tell you all about my group.
I have four best friends. They are the best people in the whole world! 'The trouble clause' includes Riya Smith, the mother hen of the group; Trent Trevor, the jock of the group. Harry Cooper, the joker of the group and Sidney Trevor, the emo of the group and finally me, the loser of the group.
I looked at my watch again. It was already late and the buffoon who was supposed to take me on a date was not here.
I hate waiting as much as I hate Asher.
I had just decided to go back home and take a nap, but before I could turn back, a car pulled into my driveway. I stopped in my tracks.
"Hi Liana," he greeted me and then stared at me like I was a crazy person. His face contorted into a frown, and he looked like he was constipated.
I didn't want to go out with a boy who had agreed to take me out, just because my best friend – Trent, who was a popular football player – had asked him to. I was not that desperate. Best friends, what would you do with them?
"Hi Frank," I smiled at him as I got into his car.
"Um, it's Fred." My brain couldn‘t hold too much unwanted information. It was always that way for me.
"Oops, sorry. I have a short-term memory loss." I smiled sheepishly. It was a stupid excuse, but I couldn‘t get anything better.
He took me to the movies. I dozed off before the credits rolled and when he woke me up, I was so tired that I failed to recognize him and almost punched him in his face. When he brought me back home, I was sure he never wanted to see me again. Who takes their date to watch a chick flick? Stupid Freddie!
"See you later," he waved, but I knew he added 'NOT,' silently after that. I stared at his rapidly retreating car with a smile and shook my head.
"Hey guys." I waved at Shayna and Blythe. They were sitting in the swing with a set of smile on their lips. Shay was my sister and Blythe was Asher‘s sister and the two little girls were inseparable. What’s with our families!
"Hey Lia, come over here." Bly waved at me with a smile and walked towards the girls. Before I knew it, it was time for dinner. I didn't know how, I guess time really did fly when you were having fun. Screw the date! I loved playing with kids; it was actually fun. These two were my life. I loved watching them smile and play, but I do hate it when they cry and scream.
"Guys dinner's up." Catherine Lawler—Asher‘s Mom— announced in her strong voice. I jumped up and Shay and Bly followed.
"On the count of one... Two..." Before Shay could finish, I sprinted towards the table, Bly hot on my toes.
"That is cheating, guys." Shay glared at both of us before sitting down on her chair.
"No, we're being cautious." Bly waved her little hand at her friend.
"Bly, I'm going to get my revenge!" Shay threatened, rolling her pretty blue eyes.
We had a huge dining table with twelve seats resting in the middle of our backyard. We‘d eat dinner together, always.
This was like family bonding time between the families –the Stans and the Lawlers. I loved having my two families around me, but to my utter irritation HE loved dinner time just as much.
Shortly after, my mom arrived with my dad. My mom and dad were perfect for each other. I was so happy that my parents loved each other so much. Same went with Catherine and Mike. They loved each other just as much and our family was just too perfect to believe.
I think that's why there was a small fault – Asher and I. We were the only ones in the family who couldn't get along.
"We can't wait for dinner, can we? With the big stomachs and all." My dad mocked the three of us. I rolled my eyes indignantly.
"My stomach is not as big as yours Uncle Andrew." Bly smiled sickly sweet at my dad and we laughed together, earning a glare from him.
"Where's Mike?" Catherine shouted. Mike ran towards us with fear in his eyes. I loved the mock bickering between the couple.
"I'm here, no whipping tonight, Carrie." He raised his hands in surrender and we laughed again.
Finally, his highness –Asher Lawler – arrived with a big smile on his face "Always late for everything." I muttered under my breath.
I didn't know why I was still fighting with him after years. After everything he had done to me, I should have just walked away, but it would be difficult to discard him completely out of my life.
"It's none of your business." He muttered.
"It is, since I'm here to eat as well." I told him completely irritated.
―Like I care about what you do and don‘t.‖ He glared at me.
"Who are we kidding? I know you never care about anything except those fake bimbos." I smiled at him sweetly.
"Someone is burning with jealousy." He smiled back.
"Oh I'm not envious. I just pity Carrie and Mike for having a son like you; you might already have an STD, poor you." I said sarcastically with a smug smile.
"Oh don't worry, I have standards." He smirked at me, before flipping his hair away from his forest green eyes – green like the ponds in late summer.
"Again, who are you kidding? Your standards are as cheap as call girls." I shrugged casually and pushed a piece of chicken into my mouth. "Are you envious that boys don't take a look at you?" Asher asked with a big smirk on his face.
"Like I care.‖ I said with a frown. Sometimes, I did wish I had someone who would love me for who I was, but I would never let it stop me from living my life.
"Guys will never like ugly girls like you." He said with a sly smile. Our parents watched us with a tired sigh. They had stopped interfering with our fight long ago.
"That's a relief, because I've never liked guys like you – pig-headed and brainless!" I shot back feeling completely irritated.
"Shut up both of you and eat!" When my dad yelled over our voices, I immediately stopped talking. Asher looked down at his plate with a guilty look on his face.
"This isn't the place to unleash your personal unfriendliness, and there are little girls present here." Mike frowned pointedly at me.
"What's STD?" Shay asked Asher as soon as Mike had stopped.
"Yes what is STD bro? Lia said you‘ve one." Bly looked up at him with her big eyes, while he kept glaring at me. I gave him an innocent look and pushed my head into the delicious food on my plate. Wow, I just love food!
"How was your date?" He asked after some time. I looked at him completely shocked. I knew everyone was watching us. Was he actually starting a decent conversation with me?
Trust me, today a tornado or at least a storm will hit our city.
"With Frank?" He smirked at me and then I knew – he was making fun of me.
Our city's safe!
"Why do you care?" I shrugged and started eating. I noticed my mum glaring at me; she probably thought it was my fault that we were at each other's throat. She wouldn't understand that Asher was not really the guy he used to be.
After dinner, I walked to my room and wore my pajama. I stared at the shining moon out of my window. The night was calm and placating. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the chilly breeze as it embraced me.
My window was adjacent to his room; when we were friends we‘d always talk to each other, sitting on the window sill.
Wonderful memories, but I never liked to look back at them, because all it would bring was more tears and pain. It was just too hard to live through all those beautiful memories and feel the pain of loss, again and again.
His room lit up and before I could slam my window shut, his head popped out of the window. His green eyes shimmered in the moonlight while the strong wind messed with his brown hair.
"Goodnight, meet you in the hell." He waved at me with his trademark smirk.
Ugh! How I hate that smirk. I really wanted to swipe that smirk off of his ugly face.
"People like me belong in heaven, so please go ask someone who will go to hell with you like your FGFs." With that I slammed the window shut. I pulled the cover over my head and sighed. I had so many reasons to hate him, yet I could only pretend to hate him. I‘d never hate him for real and I hated myself for that.
With a small sad smile, I closed my eyes.

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