Chapter 90
"Want me to get you anything?" Alicia asked Adams the minute they stepped into her home.
"No I'm good." Adams replied, she led him to the living room and they both took a sit.
Alicia looked at Adams for a while, he looked so tired and frustrated. "You know...we don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to, you can just tell me about it whenever you're ready." She said with a reassuring smile on her lips.
"No it's fine, now's the perfect time." Adams ran his hand through his hair, then he sighed deeply.
He went silent for a while before speaking again. "You know I and Ashton went to the same university." He started.
"Really?" Alicia asked in surprise. "Who would have thought."
"Yeah, we were roommates too." Adams added.
"Wow, I never would have thought about that." Alicia replied and Adams smiled.
"He wasn't like this back then, he was a nerd and always keeps to himself, whereas I was the one with the whole popularity in campus, but we were close, best friends since I understood him and thought of him to be a cool guy plus we were roommates too."
"Everything was going so well and our bond only got stronger the longer we spent time together, we knew everything about each other and we didn't have any problems, not until Ashton fell in love with the campus popular girl, her name is Amara, obviously I was the first one he told about his feelings for her and I urged him to confess his feelings and even offered to help him but Ashton was just too shy and wasn't confident in himself, he thought she wouldn't like him back and he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of her." Adams smiled at the memory of the past.
"It was a long time before he finally asked me to help him out, he wanted me to help him talk to Amara, I tried getting him to do it but he just wouldn't agree, I gave in after he pleaded so much, I mean we were best friends and I wanted to help him out in anyway I can just to make sure he's happy. I saw him as a brother and would do anything for him." He said and Alicia nodded in understanding, she was paying so much attention to every single word.
"There was this place we had in school, it's called a love garden, a pretty place for lovers. I was going to meet up with Amara there that night to tell her about Ashton's proposal, but I never thought things would go so wrong after that night."
"So I and Amara meet up and before I could talk she told me she's been wanting to tell me something for a very long time, I asked her to speak and that's when Amara confessed her feelings for me, she had also thought I was going to tell her the same thing and that's the reason I asked her to meet me at the love garden, but she thought it was best for her to tell me about her feelings for me first. I was shocked and surprised, I didn't know what to do and Amara was all so excited about everything because she misunderstood the reason I asked to meet up."
"Before I could clear the whole thing up, Amara hugged me and then she..." He trailed. "She kissed me, I froze for a moment, but when I recovered I instantly pushed her away, I never knew Ashton was there too, he saw what had happened and misunderstood the whole thing, he felt betrayed, he thought I had betrayed him."
"What?" Alicia muttered.
"Believe me Alicia, I tried clearing the whole thing up, but Ashton was just too hurt and wouldn't give me a chance to defend myself, no matter how hard I tried to tell him the truth, he just wouldn't listen to me, that incident caused a huge rift between us, one that destroyed our friendship forever."
"A few days later, Ashton decided that he wants to be on his own from that moment, I begged him not to leave but he never listened to me and moved out, then cut all ties with me. What happened also caused a huge change in Ashton, he went from being a nerd to someone who craves popularity, he changed his appearance and everything about him, he also got obsessed with wanting to be better than me in everything and possessing everything I have or even more than I.''
"I got to hear that he once again asked Amara out but she turned him down and picked me over him, this only infuriated Ashton even more and his hate for me only grew, he also didn't fail to show it, how much he hates me and wants to be better than me in everything. All that didn't matter to me though, at that time all I wanted was my friend back and I tried my best to fix our broken relationship but it was useless, Ashton's mind was made up and there was no turning back, that's how my best friend became my own rival and worst enemy."
"As for Amara, I made it clear to her that I wanted nothing to do with her and didn't love her, she also didn't stay too long as words got out about me rejecting her, she was made fun of by every other student, most especially those who hated her, the whole thing was too much for her to bear and she ended up transferring schools." He heaved a deep breath. "I kept on hoping for things to return to normal between I and Ashton but it never did, with each passing day all I got from him was nothing but hate, my efforts to settle things between us only proved fruitless and in the end I gave up.''
''I don't know but I spent a long time regretting asking Amara to meet up or even offering to help him out because If I and Amara hadn't seen that night then none of this would have happened, I and Ashton never would have separated and become complete strangers to each other, we would have been together till date and he wouldn't have been so obsessed with wanting to get rid of me or ruining my life and blaming me for losing someone he truly loved."
"Each time I think about it I still blame myself. Ashton completely changed and I saw a side of him I never knew about, a side I couldn't even recognize at all, a dark side filled with only hate, anger and a crazy obsession of wanting to be the better one in everything, wanting to have everything I have. I guess that's the price I pay for wanting to help a friend.''
"Oh Adams." Alicia took his hand. "It's not your fault, what happened isn't your fault at all, and you don't have to blame yourself for anything, Ashton is the crazy one for not wanting to listen and just hear the truth, you were only trying to help your friend and there's nothing wrong in doing that all, so it's not your fault and you should stop blaming yourself for what happened." She said softly. "Everything is all in the past now."
"A past Ashton has refused to let go of." Adams replied.
"He must have been deeply hurt but he took things too far, but then again, people do crazy things for love. You shouldn't blame yourself forever Adams, you tried your best and if Ashton had also wanted to fix things between you two then he would have given you another chance." She then hugged him and began patting his back in a comforting manner. "You tried your best, it's not your fault."