Chapter Two

Asher couldn't take his eyes off from Poppy. She was holding one side of her cheek while walking down the streets. He knows her. He can see whether she is lying or telling a truth. He knows everything about her past.

He can still clearly remember how they met.

They studied at the same elementary school when they were about five years old. Asher saw a girl crying. He wondered what happened and why she was crying. He then overheard some girls giggling not far from her. They were laughing at her for not having a father.

'Oh, she don't have a father' was what Asher thought at that time. He felt pity for her instantly. He's the kind of guy that would not leave people in trouble. He likes helping others. Without much thought, he stood up and decided to give them a scolding.

"What's wrong with not having a father? Does it affect her studies? Does it destroys her life? Does it make her a murder? And who says, she doesn't have a father? I can be her father! I can even be her mother if she needs one!"

Those girls got humiliated and run away. As he turned and looked at the crying girl, she laughed a little at him. He tilted his head in confusion. "What's so funny?"

The little girl stop laughing and smiled at him. "How can you be my father or mother when you're the same age as me?"

Asher rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "The words just came out without me realizing it. Sorry." He waited for a few minutes but the girl didn't reply anything. He then continued, "Erm, but, I can be your friend if you want to?"

The girl started to smile widely at him. She nodded her head for a few times.

"Oh," Asher raised one of his hand. "I'm Ash, Asher Belleville."

"And I'm Poppy Wright."

From that day onwards, they were like an unbreakable friends who would look out for each other. Asher became her life companion and priceless childhood friend.

"Boo!" someone tried to scare Poppy from behind but failed as she just continue her walk. She didn't even realize there was somebody behind her.

"Is.. Is something wrong with her today?" the person who tried to scare Poppy few minutes ago asked Asher. It was Colin Lincoln, their most cheeky best friend. He raised his eye brows to get some answers.

"Yoyoyo man, " another two guy approached to Asher and Colin. They made their friendship fist bump to greet each other. "What's up? Did something bad happened to her today?"

Colin punched Ian on the shoulder. "I just asked that question. Can you stop stealing my lines?" Ian rolled his eyes in boredness and punched him back.

The other guy, known as Matt as he doesn't like people calling him by his full name 'Matthew' went upfront and stopped Poppy.

"Hey, what's wrong with you today?" Poppy turned her head and Matt saw the hand print on her face. "My goodness. Poppy, who did this you? Was it Asher? If it's him, I don't care if he's our best friend but I'll seriously punch him!"

Asher's eyes widened. "Matt, are you serious? Will you really punch me?"

"Ohhhhhh," Matt glared at Asher. "So you do admit that you slapped her?!"

"Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt! Matthew Evans! Calm the hell down!" Asher defended himself. "I did not do that! For the past 12 years I don't even dare to snapped her forehead when we played games!"

"Matt, Debora did that," Poppy said calmly. "Stop glaring at poor Ash."

Ian pushed himself forward. "What the hell? Your mom did that?!"

"She's not my mom! She isn't my mom!" Poppy shouted. "Mothers wouldn't call their own daughter an accident. Debora is just someone sent from God to give me a place to stay and a school to go. Not more than that, okay?"

"Okay, okay," Ian patted her head to calmed her down. He also knows what happened in her past. All of them are Asher and Poppy's best friend. They know Poppy's complicated family and her painful past but they doesn't know her more than Asher himself. "I'm really sorry Poppy. Forgive me?"

"Pfft," Poppy rolled her eyes and smile a little. "Ian Savoy, put your hands off." She pushed Ian's hand away from her bangs.

"Come on'!" Colin clung onto Poppy's arms along with the others. "We have a bus to catch."

*****

"Poppy," Miss Brown, her class teacher called her up. "Congratulations! You ranked first again for this semester!"

The classroom students started to clapped and cheered. It wasn't surprising at all because Poppy always study hard two months before the exams. Since elementary school, she studied hard everyday without fail. She hope that one day if she gets a good job and earn some money, she could leave Debora and Fergus, leave her ugly past.

"Thank you Miss Brown," Poppy bowed. "I'll work harder in the future."

Miss Brown looked at her in amused. "Oh, you don't have to dear. You already got full marks for all the subjects. What's there to study harder?" She chuckled a little and Poppy just gave her a tight smile.

"Can't you just relax a little?" Asher nudged Poppy when she got back to her seat. "It's scary you know."

Poppy raised one of her eye brows and tilted her head. "What's scary?"

"That someone can actually get full marks in every subjects."

Poppy laughed when Asher said that to her. He always knows how to make her laugh. She's known to be a cold-hearted girl but after Asher came in the picture, her heart seems to get warmer.

"Very funny, Ash." Poppy took out her revision books as well as her pencil case. "Try beating my score and I'll buy you dinner."

Asher ruffled his hair and frowned. "That, could be the hardest thing I ever tried."

"Why? You always ranked after me. It's easy if you try a little harder."

Asher shrugged. "Nah, that's okay. I like being second."