Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Guilty Conscience
Soccer field.
The sports committee member looked annoyed.
"It’s over, now we have to pay up."
"I mean, we were playing normally, and you suddenly decided to compete on who could kick the ball the farthest. Now look, we’ve flipped."
The sports committee member looked innocent: "It wasn’t my idea, it was Warren, he suggested it."
Everyone turned their heads to look at Warren Prescott, casually leaning against the goalpost.
Warren Prescott shrugged lightly.
"I just said it offhandedly, who knew you’d actually do it?"
The sports committee member gritted his teeth.
What a jerk!
"Alright, stop talking, go pay, I’ll reimburse it."
Warren Prescott had just finished speaking when suddenly someone shouted, "Archie!"
Warren turned to look, only to see Cillian Xavier striding toward him and without a word, landed a punch on him.
Warren’s face turned to the side, a trickle of blood running down his mouth.
He turned back, wiped the blood with his thumb, and smiled faintly.
"What’s got you so riled up? Who pissed you off?"
"Warren Prescott, you did it on purpose!"
Warren’s smile deepened.
"Did what on purpose? I don’t understand."
"You—"
Cillian was so angry that his face flushed red, and he raised his fist to hit again.
Everyone finally reacted and quickly rushed to restrain Cillian.
"Archie, what are you doing?"
"Calm down!"
"Let me go!" Cillian broke free from their grip and walked toward Warren again.
A fist stopped just before hitting Warren on the nose.
Warren didn’t seem to plan on dodging, just calmly looked him in the eye.
Cillian withdrew his force.
"Why didn’t you dodge?"
This attitude only made people angrier.
Warren’s face still held that nonchalant smile.
"Because... I have a guilty conscience."
Cillian’s face turned pale.
"So you did do it on purpose!"
"You knew when you came over, why confirm it again?"
"What do you mean by this? Do you find it fun?"
Warren smirked: "It’s alright."
"You—"
Cillian was so angry his chest heaved.
But in the end, he suppressed his anger.
"Why? I just want to know why you had to do it?"
Warren’s smile faded.
"Maybe because I’m a jerk."
"I don’t understand, what did she ever do to you? You had to treat her like this! Do you know she got hurt!"
Warren’s expression stiffened.
Cillian was no longer interested in talking to him and turned to leave.
But after two steps, he turned back.
"Warren, this is the last time. If it happens again, we’re not friends anymore."
With that, he walked away briskly.
The other boys watched Cillian’s departing back and whispered to each other.
"I mean, what are the two of them playing at? I understood every word, but put together, I don’t get it."
"Who knows?"
The sports committee member felt a little guilty; maybe he had some idea of what was going on?
But he didn’t dare speak up!
The sports committee member coughed: "Well, I’ll go pay the fees, you guys carry on."
With that, the sports committee member took large strides toward the café.
The others stopped discussing as well, about to invite Warren to continue playing soccer, but turning around, he was gone.
"Where’s Warren?"
"Don’t know, he was just here."
...
The Grant Residence.
Ariana Grant carefully helped Ashley Shaw remove glass shards from her earlobe while cursing: "Who’s the jerk playing soccer without watching? It’s a good thing the ball was off target, what if it hit your head?"
"Lie down and await compensation."
"Ashley Shaw, you’re obsessed with money."
Ashley Shaw laughed, turned her head slightly in the mirror, and said happily: "Isn’t this good? Saved the cost of getting an ear piercing."
"You’re hopeless!"
Ariana Grant scolded her, but her actions with the disinfectant were very gentle.
Once done, Ashley looked at her ear wrapped layer upon layer with bandages and couldn’t help but laugh.
"With all this bandaging, people might think I lost my ear."
"Stop complaining, this is my skill level. When I become a nurse, I guarantee my skills will improve greatly."
"Let’s hope there’s no next time."
"You know it’s dangerous!"
Ashley glanced at the time; it was already four in the afternoon.
"Grandpa Prescott invited me for dinner tonight, so I can’t keep you company. Remember to take your medicine."
"Alright! While you’re out, I’ll just ..."
"Dare you?"
"I didn’t even finish, and you’re already threatening me. I was going to say while you’re out, I can invite a cute guy over to hang."
"Well, good luck with that!"
"Hmph, heartless, you’re all I care about."
"Alright, I know you’re the best! I’ll come back right after dinner and treat you to a movie?"
"Really? Then I’ll quickly choose which one to see later."
"Yes, pick one and send it to me."
Ashley finished instructing her about the medicine and went out.
She initially intended to take the bus again to avoid spending money on a shared bike, but saw a familiar car waiting at the entrance of the complex.
The car that regularly shuttled her and Warren Prescott to and from school.
As if she had a premonition, she felt that Warren was in the car, too.
Sure enough, the driver got out and opened the door for her, and Ashley saw Warren sitting in the back seat.
He looked up at her, his tone unusually calm.
"The driver came to pick me up, and you too, hop in."
The driver who had circled around the suburbs twice nodded with a smile: "Yes, just happened to pass by to pick you up."
Very convenient, a tremendously winding path.
With Warren like this, Ashley felt a bit unaccustomed.
But she didn’t hesitate and got into the car directly.
For one, there was no need to waste money on transportation, and two, it wasn’t good to put the driver in a difficult position.
Third, she had let go completely and there was no issue sharing a car with him.
The route was quiet.
So quiet that Ashley began to find it unusual.
Normally, Warren should have taken a jab at her by now.
However, the change seemed to have started when she fainted, and he took her to the infirmary.
Why had he gone from throwing barbs at her to acting like this?
She couldn’t help but glance at Warren and found that he seemed to be looking at her as well, though he quickly turned his gaze away when she looked over.
"Cough!"
Warren lightly cleared his throat, the first to break the silence.
"Grandpa has asked you to dinner because he wants you to move back. What do you think?"
Ashley shook her head, answering honestly: "I don’t want to."
"..."
Warren was silent for a while before finally asking the question in his heart: "Why did you suddenly decide to move out? Is it because of me?"
"Not really, I just wanted to move out. I’ve troubled your family for a long time; I can’t keep imposing."
"No one’s saying you’re imposing."
"?"
"Do as you please, live wherever you want, but once you miss this chance, it’s gone. Ashley Shaw, I advise you to think it over properly."
Ashley smiled; this was typical Warren’s style of speech.
She might have a masochistic tendency since Warren’s way of speaking made her feel normal.
"I’ve thought it through."
She said.
She didn’t know if Warren heard her, in any case, they didn’t speak for the rest of the journey.
The car pulled into the Prescott Family’s gate.
From a distance, she could see Grandpa Prescott waiting at the door.
Like a long-waiting, lonely old man, finally greeting his child coming home.
Ashley’s eyes suddenly welled up.
This family, the one person she couldn’t fully let go of, was Grandpa Prescott.