"h.e.l.lo, my niece," she greeted after she answered my call.

"Aunt Cecilia . . . " I bit my lower lip. "Do you know someone who's stalking me?!"

"Stalking you? Who?" Just go on, my Aunt. Use your acting skills on me.

"Do you know Asher Lucero? Right?"

"Asher Lucero?"

I inhaled deeply. "Come on. We both know that he's one of your friends."

Silence.

"Aunt Cecilia, come on!"

"Okay. Fine. Sorry. Yes, I know him."

"Uh, Aunt, please, don't be too overprotective to me," I pleaded as I sat down to my study table.

I heard her sighed. "Okay. But let Asher be your friend."

My mouth gaped open. "And why is that?"

"At least, I know you're safe with him."

"Really, Aunt? I can protect myself."

"But why you were in danger that night?"

I didn't answer. She's right. I couldn't protect myself. I clenched my fist at that thought.

"See? You can't protect yourself. It's better if he is on your side."

"Got it, Aunt." I ended the call before pressing my eyes close.

Yeah, Scarlette. You are weak.

I felt my phone vibrated that's why I looked at it.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

1 new message

"Disturbance," I muttered. I was about to ignore it when it vibrated again. "What now?"

UNKNOWN NUMBER

2 new messages

I could feel my eyes narrowed into slits as I read the messages.

From being a good STALKER, now, I'm already your FRIEND. Save this number.

- Asher Lucero

Aunt Cecilia is really surprising. No wonder.

~*~

I walked faster when I noticed what time was it. It's already 7:00 AM! I was running late!

I automatically frowned when I saw the familiar car of Asher outside my house.

What is he doing here?

I immediately wore my backpack after I ponytailed my hair. I knocked two times on his tinted window for him to open it, and gladly, he did. His smiling face greeted me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"To give you a free ride. Come on. Hop in!"

I raised a brow. "You know that my house is just few meters away from the school, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then why give me a free ride?"

"Because, as a friend, it's my duty to help you."

"Friend, huh?" I mentally rolled my eyes. "As far as I can remember, I don't have any."

The curve on his lips faded. "We're running late."

"I know."

"Then, step back."

"Why would I?"

His serious face became darker. "There's a bomb!" he shouted all of sudden.

I froze upon hearing that word. "B-bomb . . . "

"Step back!"

Out of panic, I stepped backwards.

At first, I thought there would be an explosion but he just opened his car's door and pulled me inside. He drove his car fast.

"W-where's the b-bomb?" I asked nervously. My face turned to him when he laughed. "W-wait, did you trick me?"

"You got it right, Partner."

I gritted my teeth. "You scared me!"

"Your fault. You forced me to do it."

"Still, you scared me!"

When the car stopped, I got out from it. I walked faster when I felt his presence behind me.

"Hey! Sorry! I didn't mean to!"

I stopped and faced him. "Scaring . . . is that how you treat your friend?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "D-did I hear it right? Y-you accepted me as your partner?"

"H-huh? Partner?"

"Partner – my term for friend."

Still, I gave him a confused look.

He smiled and lowered his head to level mine. I could feel my breathing stopped. He's too close!

"Now, we're friends, I'll call you 'Partner' and you must call me using that, too," he told me as he pinched my nose.

"That hurts," I uttered.

"Let's go. We're already late." He held my right hand and pulled me into a run.

"W-wait, where's your cla.s.sroom?"

He smirked as he answered, "In your room, too."

So, he's the new student that our adviser told us yesterday.

"Welcome to our school then."

He just smiled in response. "We're not just friends, we're also cla.s.smates," he said cheerfully.

"Yeah, you're right!"