Page 4 of The Ruse

“Are you related to the Hastings?” I asked. “Is that why you’re visiting today?”

“Naw, we’re not related,” he said. “My brother is buddies with Ian and got me an invite.”

“Your brother is Mr. Park?” I asked, knowing my AP Chemistry teacher was close friends with the oldest Hastings’ sibling after seeing them hang out on a few occasions.

“Yeah, I’m Asher.” He nodded. “Asher Park.”

And even though I’d never met him in person and hadn’t known what he looked like before this afternoon, this was not the first time I’d heard his name.

I swallowed. The short conversation I’d had with Nash after the cast list had been posted came to mind. Nash told me that the guy our drama instructor had cast as Raoul was someone I should be careful around. Someone who didn’t have a reputation for being agoodguy.

Asher’s eyes tightened when he saw my reaction to hearing his name. With a slow nod, he said, “So, you have heard of me then.”

“Y-yes,” I said. And when his expression fell further, I hurried to add, “Not much though. Just, um, well, Miss Crawley said you’re coming back to the school and playing Raoul.”

Which was true. She had said that.

In fact, she’d given such a glowing review of Asher, saying that he was a talented genius when it came to acting, that her description of him had basically been the opposite of the few things Nash had mentioned.

“Miss Crawley was talking to you about me?” Asher’s dark eyebrows knitted together. “Why?”

“Because I saw your name on the cast list she posted and asked who you were.”

“You’re in the musical, too?”

“Yes.” I nodded, my cheeks warming. “I-I’ll be playing Christine.”

Something seemed to flicker in his eyes at my mention of playing the female lead who also happened to be Raoul’s love interest. I didn’t have a chance to decide whether it was a disappointed look or not, because in the next moment, Nash came around the corner. And when Nash’s blue eyes caught on Asher and me standing together, a scowl instantly formed on his face.

Okay, so maybe they really were enemies.

Instead of acknowledging Asher like I expected, Nash just looked at me and said, “I was wondering when you’d show up. How long have you been here?”

“Just a few minutes,” I said. Then, to acknowledge the elephant in the room, I glanced back at the boy behind me and said, “I, um, ran into Asher and we were just getting to know each other.”

Only then did Nash’s gaze go to Asher. When their gazes locked, Asher folded his arms across his chest and stood to his full height, which had to be somewhere in the neighborhood of six-foot-two—an inch or two taller than Nash.

And from that one move, I knew that Nash was not the only one of these two guys who didn’t like the other.

Which was so strange. Nash was like the sweetest, friendliest guy, and everyone at school liked him as far as I could tell. But it looked like these two had some serious beef with each other.

I really didn’t want to get caught in the middle of their rivalry, so I turned to Nash and asked, “You said everyone was upstairs?”

He turned his bright blue eyes back to me. “Yes. We were just starting a new round of Secret Hitler and hoping you were here to join us.”

“I love that game,” I said with a smile. Secret Hitler was a board game where each player had a hidden identity, and the goal was to figure out who the good and bad guys were—kind of like Mafia. As someone who usually abided by the rules and always tried to make good choices, it was fun to pretend to be the bad guy and trick everyone for once. The actress in me thrived on these types of games because then I could let my walls come down.

“That’s why I came to find you,” Nash said with his signature charming smile—the smile that had been making my heart do somersaults in my chest more often than not lately.

I was about to follow Nash down the hall to join everyone upstairs when I noticed a slight slump in Asher’s shoulders. “Do you want to play Secret Hitler with us?” I offered. Even though it wasn’t my house or my game, it seemed like the appropriate thing to do.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” His gaze went to Nash who had already turned and started toward the staircase. “I was just going to see where my brother and Ian were anyway.”

I was pretty sure this had more to do with whatever issues he and Nash had, but I decided to let it drop—I was new to Eden Falls and I really had no idea what was going on between these two guys.

So I gave Asher a half-smile and said, “I guess I’ll see you later then.”

He nodded, his brown eyes seeming to take me in for a moment before he said, “It was nice to meet you,Elyse.” He emphasized my name in a way that told me he was making a note to remember that I was a twin and different from my sister whom he’d mistaken me for earlier.

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