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Emerson starts to scratch her arm again, and I slide my phone from my pocket. I should probably text Travis, but he's not the calm and collected one. That's definitely Asher, so I drop a message to him and ask him to come and meet me.
I know that he's on campus because he asked me to wait for him to drive home today. So he should be around any minute anyway.
His response comes in quickly and he tells me that he's on his way, asking what’s up, but I don't respond. I have a feeling that if I tell him what's wrong, he's not going to come.
Moments later, I see the emo geek god, Asher St. Vincent, striding toward us.
When he sees Emerson, he frowns and glances at me. I shake my head, silently begging him not to ask questions as he approaches. He keeps his mouth closed for a minute, but his questions are written all over his face.
"Briar, you okay?"
"I’m good," I respond tightly. "Thank you for coming.
"Always. What's going on?" he asks me, not even glancing at Emerson.
"This bitch owes me money," Emerson announces, and Penn starts laughing dryly.
"I’m gonna go wait by the car, otherwise I'm gonna knock this bitch out," Penn says before striding away to where we parked this morning.
"You owe her money?"Asher asks me, looking confused.
I shake my head, rolling my eyes at her. I turn back to him, trying not to let her get to me. "No, she wants to borrow money. But I don't have enough cash on me. I was hoping you'd be able to help."
I wish I could just tell her to fuck off, but I can see how much she’s struggling, and I know who she used to be. She was a bitch, but not like this. Still, a part of me feels gross as hell asking Asher for this money, and I’ll pay him back just as soon as I can, because there is no way I’m having this hanging over my head. They all do enough for me already.
Asher frowns and I plead with him with my eyes not to ask any questions, but he knows this is far from normal for me. "How much does she need?"
"Five hundred dollars," Emerson responds, starting to scratch at her arm again.
Asher glances at her quickly before turning his gaze back to me.
I shrug because I don't know what else to do, it’s not like I want to do this either. I’m embarrassed as fuck as I watch his emotions play out over his face, and I know he’s torn about handing over the money. Not because he doesn’t have it, but because she was a bitch to me before and is being a bitch now. That, plus it’s glaringly obvious why she wants it. I don’t want to give it to her either, but I have zero doubt she’ll cause a major scene if I don’t.
I mouth the words‘I’m sorry,’to him, because I seriously hate this. If I thought I could get Emerson to come back later and just get the cash myself I would, but there’s no way I can, and I also know that she’s desperate enough to cause a scene. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s done it.
His face softens for a minute and he nods at me before looking back at Emerson. He pulls his wallet from his pocket and takes out the cash.
"This is the first and only time this is gonna happen. Do you understand?" he barks, waiting for her agreement before handing over the cash.
She reaches forward, snatching it from his hand, and I want to slap the stupid smile from her face. "We'll see," she says before turning and walking away without so much as a goodbye.
"We need to have a talk about your friend," Asher says sternly, and I let out a sigh, moving to his side where he puts his arm around my shoulders.
"I know,” I say, dejected, “but I'm not sure what there is to say that you guys don't already know. She’s a bitch, always has been, but this was a new low even for her. I’ll pay you back just as soon as I can." I shrug, because I don’t know what else to do.
"It’s not about the money, Briar. And you don’t have to pay me back,” he says softly. “I just don’t want to see her taking advantage of you. So as long as this doesn't become a common occurrence, let’s just forget it happened," he says, letting out a deep sigh and hopefully letting it go.
"Okay," I say, trying to shake off the gross feeling crawling over my skin from that whole thing as we start to walk back toward the car. We've got enough to deal with without Emerson piling on too.
"Now, let's get home. We have a surprise for you," he says, squeezing me tighter.
"A surprise? What is it?"
"Not much of a surprise if I tell you," he says, laughing. "Come on, Beautiful, let's go bring back some of your joy."
* * *
"I cannot believe you guys did this for me," I exclaim, way too excited to be pissed that Penn worked with the guys behind my back to make this trip a reality.
