HETAR

I lowered my face to avoid the sharp gazes of my female cla.s.smates.

Tsk! This is Asher"s fault! Did you know what he did? Of course, you didn"t. Okay, I"ll tell you.

After introducing his self in front, he asked our adviser to sit beside me! Specifically, on my right side!

I should be glad of what he did because it could lessen my aunt"s worries but I couldn"t. I couldn"t be happy.

Why?

Because Rhode is still beside me plus, I receive sharp gazes from my cla.s.smates!

Well done, Asher. Well done.

"Partner, do you want your neck be bend permanently?" Asher whispered.

I glared at him. "Of course, not."

"Then why you hide your face like that? You"re not ugly so why hiding?"

Really? Really?! He"s asking that to me?! By the way, thanks for the compliment.

"This is your fault." He gave me a "I-don"t-know" look that"s why I rolled my eyes. "Dumb. Look around me."

He did what I said. When he returned his sight on me, the side of lips moved upward, forming a smirk.

"Correction: it"s my handsome face"s fault," he proudly told me.

"Whatever. Your face is also a part of you. So . . . it"s your fault." I just sighed when he laughed.

I swear, I"ll bury him later.

~*~

The bell rang which was my signal to silently cheer up. It"s lunch time!

Yippee! I can finally straighten my neck!

Uh, wrong move. When I straightened, face was up and not lowered, it made a cracking sound. Wrong move.

I tried to turn my face to Asher but I couldn"t. It hurts. It"s really a wrong move.

"Asher?" I called him.

"Yes?" I felt him stood up and wore his backpack.

"I-I can"t move my neck . . . " I breathed deeply.

Instead of worrying, he laughed. I just rolled my eyes. Gladly, there was the only two of us left in the room.

"What I-I"m going to do?" I nervously asked. I felt him walked behind me. "H-hey!"

"Stay still."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just stay still."

"I won"t until you tell me what are you going to do." I moved my body to stop him from doing so . . . but he held my shoulders.

I"m doomed.

"Just stay still if you don"t want to get your neck be broken."

My eyes widened when he touched my nape with his fingers. "What will you do?"

"Just stay still and don"t shout."

"Answer me first." I swallowed hard. "Y-you"re scaring me . . . "

"Shush. I"ll just ma.s.sage your neck. There"s nothing to be afraid of."

There is! "It will hurt you know."

"Come on. It wouldn"t hurt. Trust me, okay?" Then, he chuckled.

Don"t use that line to me. I"m not a kid anymore. Try to be more convincing!

"I won"t. It will hurt!" I shouted. "And why would you do that? You"re not a professional!"

"So?" I felt his face near my right ear. "Don"t underestimate me, Partner."

And the next thing I knew, he pressed his two fingers on my nape in a split of second. I didn"t feel any pain aside from the fact that after it, I felt a cool sensation on the part that he touched.

I looked at him with surprise on my eyes. "What did you do?"

He gave me a sweet smile before answering, "I just touched your nape and pressed it."

My eyes narrowed into slits. "I know. What I"m talking about is the cool feeling. Did you put something on your fingers?"

"None . . . maybe, it"s just you and your weird senses."

Uh, maybe . . . he"s right. Maybe, it"s just me and my weird senses.

"Come on. I"m starving." He tried to hold my hand but I took it away. His smile faded because of that. "Why?" he asked as he frowned.

"I just want to say this first." I wore my backpack and held the right strap as I stood up. "Thank you, Partner."

Being friends with him is not bad at all. Aunt Cecilia is really somewhat . . . surprising.

He smiled sweetly once again. "Anything for you, Partner."

~*~

While eating my cheeseburger, I kept on lowering my face to avoid the sharp gazes of the girls inside the cafeteria.

"Hey. Do you want to get another stiff neck again?" Asher asked.

I gave him a sharp look. "Of course, not."

"Then why lowering your face again?" he innocently asked. Acting like he didn"t know, huh? I already told him earlier.

I frowned. "I already told you."

"Ah . . . " He took a bite of his one slice Hawaiian pizza. "Oh yeah, it"s because of the sharp gazes or should I say, jealous gazes that you are receiving. Oh well, it"s my handsome face"s fault again."

"Yes, so do something," I hissed.

"Come on. Relax." He chuckled. "So . . . what should I do?"

Dumb! Just ruin your so-called handsome face!

I rolled my eyes. "Use your head, Mister Lucero. Think."

"I can"t think any possible things that I should do to remove their attentions from us."

Again, I couldn"t help but to roll my eyes. "Just ruin your handsome face."

"You know what?" He swallowed. "It"s impossible."

It"s possible! I can easily ruin it! I can easily ruin it in many ways! I can cut your face using your fork right now. I can punch your face until it can be unidentified. And I can burn your face using the stove at the counter!

I just sighed to what I realized.

What I"m thinking right now are illegal.

"Just sit comfortably there and get used to it," he said as he pushed my forehead using his right forefinger. "Those sharp gazes, don"t mind them. Just mind me as your friend, Partner."

I smiled in amus.e.m.e.nt. "You"re deep, huh."

"I know. No need to tell me."

Just like what he said, I sat comfortably. This is better than my position in our room earlier which lasted for four hours! I"ll never repeat it again!

~*~

Aunt Cecilia is really surprising. No wonder.

In just a day, I knew a lot of things about Asher.

He and my aunt met in a mall here in our province. He didn"t mention the mall"s name because according to him, it"s their secret.

How did they meet?

He didn"t mention it.

Why did he transfer?

He said that it"s a secret.

That"s all.

Stupid me. These informations are just few but why did I call it "a lot"?

Yeah, stupid me.

I brought out my phone from my jogging pant"s pocket to check it if there were messages. I shut it off this morning so I didn"t know if there were.

ASHER LUCERO

1 new message

It"s a new message from him that was only sent right now. What a coincidence, Partner!

From being a good STALKER to a friend, now, I"m your FRIEND PLUS, A NEIGHBOR!

After reading it, surprise filled my system. But hey, what if he"s just kidding?

I immediately dialed his number and made a call.

"Good evening, Partner!" he happily greeted.

"You"re joking, right?"

Oh . . . too bad for him. He didn"t receive a greeting.

"I"m not."

"I don"t believe you."

"Then go here."

My eyebrows furrowed. "What here?"

"The house that was just sold out last week."

My eyes widened upon hearing it. "You"re the one who bought it?"

"Actually, my Mom."

"Oh . . . "

"Go here now if you still don"t believe me."

I smirked. "I"ll go there right away."

I quickly ended the call and wore my red slippers. I didn"t bother to wear my jacket that was placed on my study table because my black T-shirt was enough to keep me warm.

I ran towards the big blue house at the right side of my home. Unlike the past several days, the lights inside were on and the "House for sale" sign were gone.

I inhaled and exhaled before knocking three times on the dark blue gate. I heard footsteps came near. Someone opened the gate from the inside.

His so-called handsome face greeted me with a smile on his lips.

Oh well, he"s really my neighbor, new neighbor.