~ Zoie's POV ~
"Miles, stop, not here!"
Zoie was giggling as she pushed Miles's face away from her. He kept trying to make out with her as they walked through the haunted house. It wasn't like she didn't want to be kissed, but she just didn't want all the ghosts and ghouls watching.
"Baby, c'mere," Miles said as he pulled her closer again.
The church had these long empty corridors and a basement area that was fitting for a haunted house tour. They had decorated the place with scary ornaments and they even had students in ghost costumes pop out of nowhere to scare the people walking by.
Miles and Zoie were now walking through the dimly lit basement, which was decorated with several coffins. Maybe some of them were real, who knows? But Zoie saw one of them move and there was a mummy that jumped out from another one.
"Miles, stop!" she hissed again. Miles was getting kind of handsy. He was kissing her neck and his hand was groping her butt.
"Alright, alright, sorry," he sighed and pulled back, "It's just that you in that dress, baby, damn,"
Miles gave her butt another squeeze as Zoie flinched away. She rolled her eyes at him and they continued walking. Zoie felt a shiver as it was cold in that basement. She started rubbing her arms, but Miles didn't get the hint.
"Um, it's kinda cold in here, huh?" she said.
Miles still didn't notice anything at first.
"Geez, I'm super cold!" she said again.
"Oh," Miles finally took off his jacket and gave it to her. "Here,"
"Thank you," she said as she put it on.
Miles put his hands inside his pockets as he continued walking. Zoie caught up with him and she noted the air of coldness between them. It was weird. Definitely not just the temperature that dropped here.
"So, anyway, how have you been?" she trailed. "I feel like we haven't got a chance to talk lately..."
"Ah, well, you know, practice has been brutal," he replied.
"How's that going?"
"Well, actually... it's going pretty good!" Miles's face lit up as soon as they started talking about baseball. "We're so ready to beat Berkeley! And you know what, recently, we got ourselves a new pitcher, a new recruit, this kid from the DR, and he can throw the ball at, like, 100 miles per hour!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, he's so good, it's insane! And I saw him at his party last night-"
"Party?" she cut him off. "I thought you said you were at practice until late?"
"Did I say party? I meant practice," he said quickly.
Zoie narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"...Okay..."
"Anyway, he's really good, I'm super excited for the game tomorrow," Miles said again, and he quickly scanned the room for the nearby restroom. "Hold on, I gotta use the restroom,"
Miles stepped away faster than Zoie could say home run. He went straight for the restroom, and Zoie stood in between some coffins.
* BUZZ * BUZZ * BUZZ *
Suddenly, she felt something buzzing in Miles's jacket. It was his phone.
"Hey, you got a phone call-"
Zoie pulled out his phone and her face changed instantly. There was a girl requesting a FaceTime call. Her name was Crystal. And the photo on the screen... well, she looked like a damn model. Blonde, big boobs, and a blue bikini.
The phone kept buzzing and Zoie didn't know what to do. Out of curiosity, she answered the call, but she closed the camera with her hand.
"Miles! Baby! Where are you?" said the blonde girl as she appeared on the screen. She was, like her photo, extremely beautiful with plump lips and large breasts. How do we know that? Well, she was wearing a sexy cheerleader outfit that left very little to the imagination.
"Hello, are you there?" she said again. "I'm waiting for you in your room, baby. Look, I even wore the outfit you got me last night! Do you like it?"
Crystal set the phone down and she started modeling the cheerleader outfit. On the backside, there was Miles's jersey number and his last name, Serrano.
Zoie then noticed the room that she was in. Unmistakably, that was Miles's bedroom! That was his bed behind her, his posters hanging on the wall, and his clothes scattered on the floor.
No...! This can't be happening...!
"What are you doing with my phone?"
Suddenly, Miles appeared in front of Zoie and he was shocked to see her holding his phone.
"I... can't believe you're doing this to me," Zoie croaked. Her voice cracked involuntarily.
"What?"
Zoie lifted up the phone, showing Miles the screen. Crystal, who seemed very drunk, was now dancing in her costume and pom-poms.
"You've been seeing another girl behind my back...?" she croaked again.
"Wha--?! Give me back my phone!" Miles grabbed the phone from her hand rather forcefully. Zoie gave it up and stepped back.
"I was wrong about you..." she said. Tears were brimming in her eyes. "...I really thought you were different,"
Zoie felt like her stomach had been kicked and punched. Everything she thought she knew about Miles... it was all a lie. It made her feel dizzy and nauseous. Like she wanted to puke her guts out.
"Hey, come on-" Miles said as he stepped forward again, reaching for Zoie's arm.
"Don't touch me!" she snapped angrily, taking a step back.
Miles was taken aback. Zoie never reacted to him like this before.
Glaring at him with deadly eyes, she said, "I never wanna see your face ever again!"
At this time, there were several other people were was also walking through the area. They heard the commotion and stopped to watch. Miles looked uncomfortable as they had gathered an audience. He didn't like not having control of the situation. But instead of apologizing, he kept being aggressive, taking another step closer to her.
"Zoie, stop it!" he hissed. "Don't overreact here!"
Miles reached for her arm again and she slapped his hand away this time. Loudly.
"I said, don't touch me!" she almost shouted.
More people had stopped and watched. Though she tried her best to act strong, the tears had fallen from Zoie's face. They fell like rainwater. Slow at first, and thunderous as it went on.
Slowly but firmly, Zoie then took off Miles's jacket and threw it on his chest. Watching all this unfold, Miles only got angrier and angrier. People were staring at him with a judgmental look, whispering and pointing their fingers. They all knew he made her cry. Miles let out a frustrated and angry groan.
"So, you're making me the villain here?!" he roared. "You're the one going through my phone, that's a breach of privacy!"
Miles took another step forward, invading her space. Zoie didn't know what had gotten into her, but the next thing she knew, her hand flew across the air and landed on Miles's cheek.
* SMACK! *
The sound echoed through the room as people let out gasps. Everyone was silent now. All eyes were on them.
Zoie's hand trembled as she put it back down. It was a reflex. She didn't plan on doing that. It just happened.
Meanwhile, Miles's face was slowly turning red. He was livid. His eyes were burning with rage and anger. He glared at her like was about to kill her. Zoie had never seen this side of him before and it terrified her to her core.
"You fúcking whore!" Miles yelled as he raised a hand up. It looked as if he was going to slap her back. Zoie's eyes were scrunched closed in response.
* SMACK! *
Zoie heard a loud slap, but she didn't feel anything. She opened her eyes and saw Miles falling to the ground.
* THUD!!! *
Asher, in his black suit and cape, was flying before her eyes like the angel of death himself had appeared. He stood tall, towering above the fallen Miles. He then grabbed Miles by his collar and lifted his face up. Miles's right eye was now swollen and turning blue.
"Didn't I tell you, if you dare even touch a single strand of her hair, I'mma fúcking end you?" Asher spoke lowly into Miles's ear. His tone dropped an octave lower. Even Zoie shuddered at his voice.
"Let go of me!" Miles spat.
"Fine," Asher let out a smirk.
* SMACK! *
Asher punched Miles's face again until he fell down to the ground. People's gasps were heard all over the room, including Zoie's. Unfazed, Asher climbed on top of Miles and rained down punches after punches.
* SMACK! * SMACK! * SMACK!!! *
Zoie was shocked and terrified. She saw blood splattering from Miles's face and Asher had no restraint. His eyes were empty and dark, like a cold-blooded killer.
"Asher, oh my God! Stop!" Zoie yelled, trying her best to get Asher's attention.
Asher stopped for a beat. He looked at Zoie and back at Miles. He was drowning in his own blood, coughing up on the floor. Asher let out a sigh and grabbed Miles's right arm. In one swift move, he twisted Miles's arm until a loud noise was heard.
* CRACK! *
"Ahhh!!! My hand!!!" Miles was yelling and crying for dear life.
Zoie was mortified. She could only stand there with eyes wide open.
"That's what you get, you son of a bitch! Go rot in hell!" Asher spat one last time at Miles who was groaning and holding his arm on the floor.
"Hey, what's happening here?!"
Suddenly, a booming voice was heard and everyone turned to the back door. One of the security guards was pushing through the sea of people to get to the crime scene. He saw the bloodied Miles on the floor and Asher standing nearby. Quickly, he grabbed his walkie-talkie and alerted the other guards.
"We got a situation in the basement! Call an ambulance--!"
The security guard was now racing in Asher's direction. Asher knew he had to run. He quickly turned to Zoie and stretched his hand out.
"Let's go!"
Zoie froze for a moment, but when she realized that was happening, she quickly grabbed his hand and he pulled her away as fast as humanely possible. They made it to the exit and Asher shoved past the sea of people on the dancefloor. The security guard was now struggling behind them. He called for backup, and several other guards came out from another direction.
Thinking fast, Asher went around to find another exit and they ran until they reached the parking lot. Once outside, they got into their car faster than you can say "The Fast and The Furious", and Asher hit the gas pedal. They speeded away before any of the guards could even reach the parking lot entrance.
And all the while, all Zoie could do was clung to her seat, holding on for dear life.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was cold in that car.
Asher drove around town for twenty minutes, making sure that no one was following them before he started driving back home. Zoie didn't say one word to him as she was still reeling from everything that just happened. Her breathing was labored and her body was in fight mode. Occasionally, she'd glance over at Asher and note his expression. He looked cool and calm as always. Like he didn't almost kill someone and got chased by the guards.
How is that possible?!
Zoie noticed Asher's hands that were on the steering wheel. His knuckles were torn and bloodied up. Maybe some of it was Miles's blood, but his skin was torn up too. Zoie felt a pang in her chest as she thought about this. She felt so dumb for ever believing in Miles in the first place. If she had listened to Asher... maybe none of this would've happened.
"Hey," Asher said suddenly. He noticed that she was about to cry and he looked worried. "Are you okay?"
Zoie held the tears back.
"Your hand is bleeding," she said.
"It's nothing," he said simply. "Most of it is his blood anyway,"
Asher pulled up at the traffic light as the light was red. Letting out a deep breath, he finally turned to Zoie for the first time since they got into the car.
"Are you hurt at all?" he asked, his eyes were scanning her face.
"Just... here," she croaked, pointing at her chest.
Just the heart that's broken, that's all.
Asher let out an angry sigh.
"That fúcking son of a bitch!" he hissed, his fists tightened around the steering wheel.
"...I was wrong about him..." Zoie shook her head and tears fell from her face involuntarily. "You were right... I should've listened to you..."
Asher looked at Zoie for a moment. The sight of her crying in front of him... it almost turned his eyes glassy too.
"It's not important who's right and who's wrong," Asher said as he put his hand on Zoie's cheek. It was a gentle touch. "I should've killed that motherfúcker..."
Zoie shook her head and more tears fell from her eyes.
"Ash..." she said, her voice coming out in a whisper.
"Yeah?"
"Can you... get me something to drink?"
"What, like water?"
"No. Something stronger," she said, and Asher knew exactly what she meant.
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- - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -