"…”
Ashley suddenly remembered that summer vacation in the second year of junior high school.
She was confessed by Ethan in front of the escalator on the third floor of the mall, and then Jacob suddenly appeared behind them.
It was the same. She didn’t know how long he stayed behind her.
Originally when she called out those two words, she was quite in a good mood. But he caught her again, which caused her some guilts and some grievances.
She subconsciously denied, "I didn't call you."
Jacob made a faint “okay,” as if he had listened to it.
When Ashley just breathed a sigh of relief, Jacob asked again, "Who are you calling?"
Ashley's scalp began to go numb because she was a little confused after drinking, and she stumbled, "You don't know. "
Jacob said, "Well, well"
"Brother quite wants to know, who can let Ashley scold like that."
Jacob smiled and said, "Little Ashley, tell me."
"…”
‘It is said that he does not know him, but he still has to ask.
Who is that old thing?
Who?
If I had known, I would have just told him it was Liam.
But I had already said it was someone he didn't know, and now it seemed too late to say it was Liam.
She felt uneasy about her conscience when she pulled a random person.
Ashley looked away and deliberately changed the topic, "Why are you so nosy?"
"Well," Jacob walked down two steps and stood beside her. "Maybe it's because the old thing is not busy."
"…”
"Let's go, young kiddo." Jacob bit heavily on the word "young" and said slowly, "The old thing will send you back to school."
"…”
With that, Jacob raised his foot and continued to go down.
Ashley’s palms unconsciously sweated. She followed him nervously and hesitantly explained, "These words, I think, are quite, very civilized."
"…”
"It's just, I think," Ashley hesitated, nervously clasping the chain on her bag, "I wasn’t swearing."
As soon as they walked out, there was a parking lot.
Jacob took out the car key from his pocket and pressed it.
As if he didn't hear what she just said, he only said, "Get in the car."
Ashley didn't move. "Brother Jacob, where is your home?"
"Brown Apartment."
Ashley has only been in this city for more than a month, and she didn't know many things about it, so she didn’t react.
Jacob explained, "Near the city library."
"That seems to be in the opposite direction to my school," Ashley pointed to the nearby subway station. "It's so late. I'll just take the subway back. Don't bother."
"Young kiddo."
Jacob played with the car keys in his hand and smiled. "Brother wants to get even with you and then send you back by the way."
"…”
"I'm not specially going to send you back," he paused deliberately, looking at her. "Do you understand?"
Ashley said nothing more. Silently and uneasily, she went to the passenger seat and pulled the door open.
But to her surprise, the door was still locked.
She subconsciously looked back at Jacob.
She saw him come over and stand beside her, not so close but gave her a sense of pressure for the first time.
Jacob paused for two seconds, pressed the car key, and opened the door for her.
Ashley got in and took the bag off.
Soon, Jacob sat in the driver's seat and glanced at her, "Fasten your seat belt."
Ashley obediently followed it.
He didn't start the car immediately, tapping the steering wheel with his fingertips, then suddenly stopped and began to question, "How much did you drink today?"
Ashley thought, "One or two bottles."
Jacob said, "You should pay attention to yourself outside and don't drink with people you don't know well."
"Most of them are people I know, and my roommates are there."
"Well, brother is just reminding you."
"I know."
Ashley thought there was still a long list of sermons to listen to.
But after saying this, Jacob started the car and did not mention what had just happened.
On the contrary, it made Ashley feel frightened.
She didn't take the initiative to stop him from driving, so she took her cell phone out of her bag and played with it.
She happened to see that someone added her Whatsapp. She opened it and saw the person who added her noted the name "Alex".
The name reminded Ashley of Sophie's words.
Ashley didn't like to add people she didn't know. She wanted to exit as if she didn't see it.
But she inexplicably slipped on the add button.
‘…
Forget it.’
Jacob said at this time, "Kiddo, let's have a talk."
Ashley immediately looked up, "ah"
"Why did you scold brother?"
Ashley glanced at him quietly, didn't know how to explain it, and finally had to honestly say, "I don't like being treated like a child."
Jacob's eyelashes moved slightly, "Just it?”
"Yes."
She was serious.
Jacob thought it was funny. "Why don't you like this? Even if you get married later, your parents still think you are a child. It’s the same thing."
"…”
Ashley was confused.
‘This person not only wants to be my brother but also wants to be my father now.’
She didn't want to argue with him anymore and looked out of the window.
On the way to a convenience store, Jacob got out of the car to do some shopping and soon came back with a plastic bag.
Ashley didn't ask him what he bought.
Unwittingly, it has been driven to the school gate.
The car couldn't get into the school. Jacob found a place to park and said, "I'll walk you in."
Ashley nodded and unfastened her seat belt to get out of the car.
The distance from the main entrance to Ashley's dormitory was not far. It was about a ten-minute walk.
Ashley wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say. It took a long time for her to say, "Brother Jacob, don't you have to go to work tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow is Saturday," Jacob said with a chuckle. "
"Oh."
The two talked to each other without a match.
Basically, Ashley racked her brains to take the initiative to throw out the question, in order to make the atmosphere not too awkward, after all, he was kind enough to walk her in.
When they reached the downstairs of the dormitory, Ashley finally breathed a sigh of relief and waved to him. "Goodbye, Brother Jacob, it's so late, safe drive."
She had not taken a few steps when Jacob suddenly called her, "Ashley."
Ashley turned around.
The next second, he held up the plastic bag he had been carrying all the way. "Go back and make some honey water, or you will have a headache tomorrow."
Ashley paused and slowly took it, "Thank you."
"You've come so far by yourself. If you need any help, you can call me."
Jacob rubbed her head and bent the corners of her mouth. "Brother played a joke on you, knowing that you have something you want to do at your age. I don't really think Little Ashley has no conscience. "
"…”
"As for the old thing."
Ashley could not help laughing out loud, with a low-hoarse breath, "How come it's not a dirty word?"
Ashley didn't dare to look at him. "I won't say it again."
Jacob, "As long as you know it's wrong, go back."
He thought for a moment and added, "You can come and have dinner with brother sometimes."
Ashley pinched the plastic bag in her hand and nodded slightly, "OK."
"Brother is here alone, so I heard your brother say that you are coming here to go to college."
Jacob lowered his eyes and looked at her gently. "Brother feels very happy."
When Ashley returned to the dormitory, it was empty and the lights were off.
Ashley turned on the light, went to the balcony, leaned over the railing, and looked down.
But the night was so thick that she could not find the figure of Jacob.
She went back to her desk and put everything in her hand on it.
Ashley opened the box of honey, dug some into the cup with a spoon, and filled it with some hot water.
There was something wrong with her stomach, which was relieved by a few mouthfuls of water.
Thinking of Jacob's last words, Ashley straightened the corners of her lips and stared at a point in the sky, as if a stone had been pressed on her chest.
‘That's weird.
Why does she feel so bad?
He said he is alone.
Isn't his family here? Why is he alone?
She doesn’t want to believe it was what she is thinking.
If so, after she came here, she didn't contact him or even answer his phone calls. It’s not good.
This man didn't do anything wrong to her.
He was nice to her from the beginning.
But she knows very well.
If she spends a lot of time with him and listens to him talk to herself as she did in the past, she is often treated well by him.
She will, and definitely like him as much as she used to.’
After taking a bath, Ashley called home as usual, and then went back to bed for a while.
She felt a little tired and soon fell asleep.
But because of drinking, she didn't sleep well.
At two o'clock in the morning, Ashley heard his roommates’ sounds.
They probably just came back, but for fear of waking her up, they only turned on a small lamp and moved gently, but they could not avoid making some noise.
After waking up, Ashley couldn't fall asleep much either. She raised her head and whispered, "Turn on the lights, it's all right."
Hearing the words, Sophie immediately looked up at her and said in a guilty tone, "I'm sorry to wake you up."
"It’s okay."
Ashley said, "I was already awake. Unable to continue my sleep."
"Don't sleep yet," Vivian said excitedly suddenly. "Ashley, let me tell you a gossip."
Ashley, "Ah"
Vivian, "Sophie got a boyfriend."
Sophie’s cheeks were a little red and she said shyly, "Keep your voice down."
Ashley’s reaction was a little slow. "Who is it?"
"The one from our department who has been sitting next to me today."
Sophie seemed to be in a good mood and her tone was a little embarrassed. "I didn't expect him to suddenly…"
Vivian, "Ashley, you should stay a few more minutes."
A good mood was always easy to get infected, and Ashley smiled. "You said you were interested in someone in the department. That's him?"
Sophie nodded. "Yes."
Another roommate, Lily, happened to come out of the shower at this moment and said curiously, "What are you talking about?"
Vivian, "It’s about Sophie."
"Well, speaking of which, Sophie, you are really too fast."
Lily said, "How long has it taken you to get rid of being single? I haven't found anyone interested."
"He said he fell in love with me at first sight." Sophie took a change of clothes and went to the toilet with a smile. " I'm going to take a bath."
After she went in, Vivian said, "Right, Ashley. I just heard Alex added your Whatsapp. Have you passed? "
The people at this party were basically Sophie's acquaintances.
Ashley said yes.
Vivian, "Are you interested in him, too?"
Ashley muttered, "Just a slip of the thumb."
It was only when Ashley mentioned this that she thought of checking her cell phone.
She pulled out her phone next to her pillow, opened Whatsapp, and clicked on it. When she clicked on it, she saw that Alex had sent her several messages.
And also Jacob.
Ashley did not give Jacob a note. She paused and first clicked on Jacob’s messages.
Just one sentence.
“If you go back to school so late in the future, find someone to accompany you back.”
Ashley stared at it for several seconds, wanted to reply "got it", noticed the time, and decided to reply to him tomorrow.
Vivian was still talking. "He seems to have found you gone. He wants to ask where you are and say he wants to send you back. He's a nice guy. "
"Okay."
Ashley opened the chat window with Alex and replied politely.
Lily, "Ashley, are you going to have a date, too?"
"No."
Ashley was really in a bad mood. She suddenly sat up, and the noise was a little loud, which startled the other two.
Lily, "What's wrong"?
Ashley stared at both of them, then said slowly, "A question."
Vivian, "What"
Ashley said solemnly, "Just a friend of mine."
Lily, "Well, I know it wasn't you."
“ A friend of mine, who used to like a friend of her brother, and then this friend of her brother treated her like a sister. Then she found out that he seemed to have a girlfriend and gave up. Recently she met him again. What do you think she should do? "
Sophie was curious, "How old is the man? "
Ashley, “He graduated three years ago. "
"Well," Lily calculated, "about twenty-five or six."
Vivian, "That's fine. Does he have a girlfriend now?"
"Don't know."
Ashley shook her head. "But she doesn’t think so."
‘Otherwise, he couldn’t say that he is alone.’
Lily, "You still, no, your friend still likes him?"
"I don't know."
Ashley put her chin on the column beside the bed and said gloomily, "That person only regards my friend as a sister."
Lily, "Then you can see if your friend still likes him, chase him if she still does, be a normal friend if she doesn’t, and just get in touch with him once in a while."
Ashley was silent.
Vivian, "What else is your friend struggling with?"
"She felt very unhappy."
Ashley exhaled and said softly, "She feels that that person is in love with someone else. Every time she thinks about it, she is very unhappy."
Lily, "How old was your friend when she was in love with him?"
Ashley, "The second year of junior high school."
Lily was stupefied for a moment and then calculated the age in mind. "That's normal. If he liked you then, he would be a f*cking pervert. "
"…”
Vivian, "And this man is 25 this year. If he hasn’t dated anyone, it means that he has no sexual experience. A man who has no sexual experience at the age of 25 will be sick. "
Ashley was confused. "Ah".
Lily, "Pervert is not accurate, but there may be a problem with him."
Ashley was stupefied for several seconds, then flushed, and her melancholy mood was gone. "What are you talking about?"
Vivian, "Ashley, please describe this man."
"He was very handsome and got good grades, and then," Ashley scratched her head. "When he spoke, he was just like that, just like that…"
Lily was made a little anxious by her dillydally. "Just like what?"
Ashley didn't know how to describe Jacob's character and his way of speaking. It took her a long time to say, "Just, it's kind of like a playboy."
"Well, a handsome and flirtatious boy, how can such a person not have a girlfriend?" Vivian said, "By the way, how do you know that person?"
Ashley whispered, "Just my brother's friend, he often comes to my house."
There was a long silence.
"Ashley, I don't think you need to mind."
Lily took the test and looked very serious, "Not before he knew you. If he hasn't been in love for so many years, there's only one possibility. "
Ashley stared at her eagerly, "What?"
"He may like your brother."
"…”