Chapter 55 A Promise I'll Never Break

"HOW did you know I was in pain?" I asked Ash, who was now cleaning my wounds with alcohol. I winced every time the cotton touched my wounds, but I couldn’t help but smile when I saw him blow on each wound as if that would make the pain disappear. I couldn’t believe I had failed to appreciate this side of him before. "I’m observant when it comes to you," he replied briefly, applying band-aids to my wounds. There were so many that I thought he might use up the entire first-aid kit. I didn’t even know there was one in the auditorium. "Be careful," he added as I put my blazer back on. The bruises still stung, but compared to earlier, it was tolerable. Just as I was about to leave for school, Dad decided to take his frustrations out on me again. He was angry because he had no more money for gambling. I had hidden all my savings in the bank so he couldn’t touch them. Even if he killed me, he wouldn’t get a single penny from me. “Ash.” “Yeah?” "Do you really... like me?" I bit my lip as I as