The Devil's Sweetheart

A while ago..

Jasper had a nap to remove unwanted thoughts from his mind after coming from school. He woke up in the evening and went to the kitchen to fill his stomach. \'\'What\'s special today?\'\' He asked his mom, tasting a cinnamon cookie that his mother baked. Black bean salsa, chocolate chips, everything is his sister\'s favorite. Now Jasper realized. His sister is coming home for vacation.

\'\'Reese is coming home, right? So, I have made her favorites,\'\' Mabel said, packing the cookies into a box and handed to Jasper. \'\'Go, and give these to Andrew. He loves chocolate chips which I make.\'\'

Jasper smiled and drove to Andrew\'s house. Unlike every day, he got a chance to spend time with Aunt Lily. In between their talks, Andrew\'s Mathematics tutoring classes came into the picture. Jasper was shocked to hear that Lily has no idea of his classes. Then why did Andrew lie?

Something is wrong. With Lily\'s permission, Jasper went into Andrew\'s bedroom and searched the cupboard, and he found a beard, mustache. \'\'Why is he keeping weird things?\'\'

 Jasper found strange things in one of the drawers to his further search: Medical pills, play stations, Fart machine...Jasper\'s eyes widened in surprise. \'\'A_ndrew.. He was the one who played the prank?\'\'

Grabbing the device, Jasper charged out of the room to directly go to school to confront him. But to his luck, Andrew was just three steps away from him. His anger even rose to pitches seeing Harley tagged along with him.

\'\'Jasper_\'\'

Before Andrew uttered a word, a punch landed on his face silencing his thoughts, sending Andrew to the ground. Before Andrew picked up himself, Jasper laid another punch on Andrew\'s jaw. \'\'Was it you?\'\' Jasper screamed, raising the fart machine so that Andrew could see his work.

\'\'Jasper, please listen to_\'\'

\'\'Why did you do it?\'\' Jasper barked, straddling Andrew\'s torso.

Harley panicked and tried to stop their fights. \'\'Jasper, please don\'t

\'\'You stay out of this!\'\' Jasper\'s roaring voice made Harley cringe in terror.

\'\'Why did you betray me, bastard! What have I done to you to humiliate me?\'\' Jasper screamed and held his throat. Andrew coughed, unable to breathe, blood drained from his face. 

\'\'Jasper, please. Don\'t hit him.\'\' With all her might, Harley pushed Jasper, but to no avail. In the third attempt, she knocked him to the ground.

\'\'Harley, I told you to stay out of this,\'\' Jasper yelled.

\'\'What has gone into you?\'\' Harley shouted as she looked at the surroundings. Slowly, people would come and make a scene if Jasper keeps acting like a mad man. \'\'Are you planning to kill him?"

\'\'All my girlfriends broke up, and the sole responsible is this culprit.\'\' Jasper pointed his finger at Andrew.

\'\'Stop blaming him when you don\'t know the truth,\'\' Harley spoke up, her voice trembling. \'\'I was the one who asked him to ruin your dates.\'\'

\'\'W_hat?\'\' Jasper\'s eyes widened, his voice shaky, disbelieving. \'\'Why did you?\'\'

Without looking at Jasper, Harley helped Andrew to get up.

\'\'Why did you do it, Harley.\'\' Jasper pushed Andrew to the ground. \'\'I am not letting you leave without giving me_\'\'

\'\'Because I like you, and jealousy overstepped me to do all sort of evil things.\'\' Harley screamed, letting out her feelings finally. \'\'Happy? Now, will you leave us in peace?\'\'

Dropping a bomb at Jasper, as if nothing happened, Harley guided Andrew to his home, leaving Jasper speechless.

....

When they walked inside the house, Lily screamed in horror, watching his son with bruises. \'\'Andy, what happened?\'\'

 \'\'He fought in school, aunty. Fret not; I will take care of him.\'\'

\'\'Hold on, I will get a first aid box.\'\'

Harley led Andrew to the bedroom, holding the first aid box. Wiping her tears, she pressed the cold pack on his swollen jaw. \'\'Does it pain?\'\'

\'\'A little,\'\' Andrew smiled.

\'\'I am sorry, Andy. It\'s all my fault. I created a rift between you two.\'\'

\'\'You started again?\'\' Andrew sighed, pulling her from the squat position. \'\'Don\'t worry. I know about his anger.\'\' Wiping her tear stains, Andrew smiled. \'\'Watch, and see, everything will settle to normal by tomorrow morning.\'\'

\'\'I hope.\'\' Harley hoped Andrew and Jasper would reconcile soon. 

While she was tending, Andrew dozed off when fatigue kicked in, and Harley also left for home.

....

The following day, when Andrew stepped out of the house, Jasper was waiting at the doorstep. \'\'Jaspee_\'\'

\'\'Don\'t call me with my nickname, monkey fellow.\'\' Jasper interrupted. \'\'You know Harley likes me, but you didnot plan to tell me. You betrayed me and made me a laughing stock in front of all my girlfriends.\'\' Harley\'s confession made him restless for the whole night.

\'\'Hey!\'\' Andrew sighed when his friend started again. \'\'It was all_\'\'

\'\'I am not here to listen to your pleas.\'Mark my words. I will be the satan of your love life. Get ready for the torture.\'\' Jasper said and left.

True to his words, Jasper didnot let Andrew see his sister, tortured him by playing pranks every chance he gets.

Flashback ends...

.....

Everybody in the hall waited, anticipating Jasper or Andrew will reveal the incident that caused a rift between them, but both kept mum. Jasper was embarrassed to share the story, while Andrew was ashamed to tell everyone the weird things he did. Sure, they would call them laughing stocks.

\'\'It already happened; why do you want to know now?\'\' Jasper muttered, glancing at the crowd. \'\'We have cleared your doubts already.\'\'

\'\'Alright, alright, you don\'t need to share if you are not comfortable. I am happy that you are not in a relationship,\'\' Louis said.

\'\'So, whatever you confessed was true, Andy?\'\' Leon asked. \'\'You have someone in heart?\'\'

Another bomb dropped. For a split second, Andrew and Reese\'s eyes met before tearing away.

\'\'What?\'\' Kurt hollered. \'\'You like a girl?\'\'

Jasper\'s icy stares bored into Andrew, making it hard not to back away. Has this monkey revealed to Uncle Leon? So, this is his plan, and that\'s why he didnot tell Harley\'s secret. Jasper stared at Andrew; his eyes carried a threat. If Andrew opens his mouth, there is no way their parents will reject it. Both are the closest families. He has to stop before that. \'\'Let\'s talk about it some other time,\'\' Jasper said. \'\'It\'s not_\'\'

\'\'You can go to the office if you are not interested, Jasper,\'\' Leena suspended his thoughts. \'\'We are all curious to know Andy\'s love .\'\' If Jasper and Andrew are not in a relationship, the girl is definitely Reese. The way Andrew looked at Reese on that day, at her.... 

\'\'Who is it, Andrew?\'\'

\'\'She is...\'\' Andrew briefly glanced at Jasper and then turned his eyes in one particular direction.