Chapter 35Half an hour later, dinner came to an end, putting everyone at the table out of their misery. Jason had been anticipating the end just so he could go back to his mansion and make a decision concerning the Big 5, but as it turned out, the patriarch of that household had something else in mind. Smiling tightly at his daughter, he asked her to go to her room. “Ashley, kindly go up into your room. Don't worry about our guest here, I will see him out of the house.”“But Dad!” protested Ashley, still holding on to her memories of her father mistreating poor Jason. She suspected that now that Jason was rich, her father was looking for a way to exploit Jason, and she wanted to protect him. Yet, something in his eyes warned her not to try to disobey him, so she did as he asked and climbed up the stairs. Smiling at Jason, Ashley's father held one hand out to guide Jason out. “Come along, son. Would you like to take a seat before you have to move to your car? Dinner was pretty hea
Seeing that Jason was not going to volunteer any more information, Ashley turned to her father with her arms crossed over her chest.“What do you have to say for yourself? You're always talking about integrity and being honest and true to oneself, all of that bullshit. So now, tell me, is he telling the truth? Is it really as bad as that? Tell me that this has been grossly exaggerated and it's not actually as bad as this.” Frozen in place, her father's mouth gaped open and shut in shock, and she waited for his response, angry at all of his deceit. He could almost not talk and Jason felt pity for him, wondering how it must have felt to be cornered by your own child about your transgressions.He stood there like he had made the error of swallowing his words, and he did not know what to say.Reaching out a hand to Ashley, he tries to apologize, whispering so his voice did not carry too far.“Ash, I'm so sorry. It's not like I was trying to be a terrible person. I just could not allow th
The next morning, things were not looking any better, and Jason sighed with irritation.He kept on making attempts to call Ashley, but his calls had stopped going through, and he decided that it was time to give up.That weekend, he laid in his bed and fielded off calls from everyone, including the Big 5. The weekend had exhausted him so profoundly that he did not want to deal with anyone, consequences be damned. But as all weekends do, his quickly ran to an end, and Monday came, with him having to go to school. He had quickly forgotten all about the Big 5 and the wicked quest that had told him he would be undergoing, so when Monday came and Jim came over to put his hands over his shoulders, he visibly cinched. “Jim, what's up?”“You didn't forget about our quest, did you?” asked Jim, a smile on his face. Jason gulped down his saliva. How could he possibly forget their quest? He smiled at Jim and shook his head, conveying that he hadn't forgotten. “Well, either way, pretty boy, yo
A few minutes later, he said goodbye to Mrs Finley and stepped out into the hallway, surprised to find the Big 5 outside of the staff room, he raised a brow.“Hey guys. What are you doing here?” “Well, we followed you. We saw that you were headed towards the staff room, and we wanted to see what you were up to. Have you done it?” asked Jude, smiling at Jason. “Nah, I just got started. I went inside to get some stuff I needed.”“Did you get it?” “Yes." Jason had figured out that lying was his best bet when it came to dealing with the Big 5. Now that they were aware of his reluctance to harm Mrs Finley, they would be asking him the progress of the mission every single time they got the opportunity, and trailing him around like they did just then.He needed to devise a plan very soon so he could get them permanently off his neck and still protect Mrs Finley, but time was running out. Jim, who had observed Jason a lot more than any of the other boys, seemed to sense that there was a fa
They came in at the same time, but instead of sitting down like he had, his mother disappeared into the hallways that he knew left to her room. He was curious about what she wanted, but he didn't think much of it. He still had some loopholes in his thoughts, but his mother had done a terrific job of grounding him, which he appreciated. When she arrived, she was wiping down an apple dusty book he recognized as a photo album, and handed it to him. “Mum, what's this for?" He asked, but wordlessly, she gestured at him to open it. And he did. As Jason sat there looking at the pictures, he felt a mixture of emotions. He had never seen these pictures before, and it was strange to see his mother pregnant with him. He had always known that his parents hadn't planned on having a child, but he had never heard his mother talk about it so openly before. He did not see his sister, but he could see that there was a lot of character in those pictures.In each picture, his mother failed to smile,
As the morning sun peeked through the curtains, Jason opened his eyes and groggily sat up in his bed. The events of the previous night came flooding his brain and he recalled that he had spent the night at his mum's house, trying to come up with a solution to the problem that had been bothering him for weeks. The issue was with their school teacher, Mrs. Finley, one of his favorite teachers, and according to the people who had sent him on such a cruel quest, she had been giving them a hard time, marking them unfairly, and seemed to have a personal vendetta against their group in particular. He had been trying for so long to convince them that the notion they had of her was wrong, but how was he supposed to do that?” Jason knew that Ashley was the only person who could help him come up with a plan to solve this problem. She was known for her intelligence and her ability to think outside the box. So, he had spent the night brainstorming with her. Or at least, he had been, when he wa
As Jason and Ashley sat in the park, Jason couldn't help but rehash the feelings of hurt he had because of the way Ashley had been treating him.He had always considered her a friend, but lately, she had been avoiding him and acting distant, so much so that he wondered if or not he was wrong about that.He couldn't understand why she was acting this way, especially now that he needed her the most. Sure, her father had made some mistakes and done a few things that had made her uncomfortable, but none of that was his fault, and he didn't understand why he was being punished for it. Now they both sat in the park saying nothing, the silence suffocating them, and it made him inexplicably angry. "Hey, Ashley," Jason said, trying to get her attention. "Can we talk for a minute?" He had had enough of the quiet. He had had only that for company over the phone for the last few days, and now they were in front of each other, no way they were not going to have the conversation. Ashley looked u
As they were walking back to school from the park, Ashley told Jason about the teacher's plight, giving him some much needed perspective that he hadn't had before. "She's having a hard time in the school, anyway because of the guys," Ashley said. "If you fire her, you would be doing her a favor." After dropping that bombshell, she continued to walk ahead of him, kicking a rock like it was a makeshift football.Jason was surprised by this and stopped moving. When he realized and caught himself, he jogged over to her side. "How can firing someone be a favor?" he asked, perplexed. He stood in place and stopped walking, urging her to do the same. With a groan, Ashley looked at him, her expression serious. "Because you can use your rich status to help her. You can get her fired dishonorably to soothe the big five, but at the same time, offer her a better job with a better pay at a better school or even the company where you are a shareholder. Besides, I know I sound like I've been against