Chapter~6~ Part 2

“Good morning everyone, unfortunately I have some terrible news for some of you.”
She cleared her throat before continuing,
“I know we have a few students who take math in room 202 with Mr. Rosdale…”

This caught Ashlyn’s attention; she furrowed her brow and quickly raised her head to listen.



“….sadly he passed away in his sleep last night. In the wake of this, the faculty has managed to hire a replacement teacher and you will be meeting him this afternoon”


Various gasps and ‘oh’s’ were heard echoing around the room.

“Hey Ash, that’s our class!” Katie whispered from behind.



“Yep.” She sighed leaning back in her chair, “I hated that guy though. Hopefully the new one will be nothing like him.”

By the time lunch rolled around that afternoon Ashlyn had already begun to feel better, so she borrowed some of her friend’s makeup and headed to the bathroom.



Her look was completed with applying a final layer of lip gloss. She then took a step back from the mirror and after a few short moments of examining her reflection she let out a deep sigh of disappointment.



Heh. Who am I kidding? She grumbled in her thought.

Ashlyn despised herself to the very core of her being, and she had for as long as she could remember. Although she would often put up a tough exterior of defense, she was slowly losing her battle of heart.





I am never going to be pretty enough, skinny enough or rich enough. That’s why everyone hates me. I don’t even know why I bother anymore, nothing is ever going to change.

She swallowed forcefully, trying with all her strength to hold back tears.



The wall clock read one o’clock, lunch was now over and she had to go to class. She frowned and took one last glance at the mirror before storming out of the bathroom.
---------------------------------------

Chapter~7~ "Suspicion" pt1

To Ashlyn, it seemed like the longest, loneliest walk from the bathroom that afternoon, and was relieved when she had finally arrived to her last class of the day.



Math, however, was by far her worst subject. Not only did she abhor it with ever inch of her body, she was hopelessly failing in every aspect.

The last teacher Mr. Rosdale, or the “decrepit old man” as he was often referred to, went out of his way to call out students who he felt weren’t trying hard enough and unfortunately, Ashlyn was one of those students. Other times he was just painfully boring, she would be sitting in class and would literally feel her eyes glazing over in response to his lackluster lectures.




“ASHHHH!”

Katie’s whiny voice stung her ear.

“I missed you at lunch babe, were where you?”



Katie look concerned, but Ashlyn was not in the mood to go into details, not today.



“I uh... had to make a phone call.” As soon as the white lie had passed though her lips, her eyes fell, focusing her attention on the dark stained hardwood floor on which her feet were rooted.


“Oh. Well, I wanted to tell you that….”her voice trailing off as she rambled on.

Ashlyn could hear Katie’s voice, but the words weren’t registering, for some reason she couldn’t seem to focus on anything today.

Ever since she turned fourteen she felt a constant struggle, a war perhaps, going on inside of her.

She was always troubled, and even when something good happened, her mind would always revert back to negative. It was a force which could not be controlled, and the worst part about it was she didn’t even understand why she was feeling like that.

“Are you listening to me?!” Katie snapped.

“Uhuh, yeah.”
Her monotone spoke for itself.

Katie sighed softly as she stared at her friend,
“Ashlyn, what is wrong with you? You’ve been spacing out on me a lot lately.”



Ashlyn grinned widely,
“I’m fine! Go on.” It pained her to fake such a cheerful voice.



“Ok…..,” Katie replied suspiciously,
“Well I was saying that my parents are gone this week, so Mike is bringing his friends over and we’re having this huge party!”

Mike was Katie’s boyfriend…Katie’s college boyfriend. They had been going out for six months and she claimed she was in love, but sometimes Ashlyn couldn’t help but speculate that there was more to that story.

“So you know you’re going to be there.” Katie sustained,
“It’s next Saturday.”

“Mmm, okay, I guess. Just one thing…” she held up her hand, “Chaz isn’t going to be there this time is he?” Her voice strained with apprehension.

“Well yeah, he probably will.” Katie crossed her arms in defense, “Is there a problem with that?”

Ashlyn had a habit of studying the floor whenever she was nervous.
“Well, uh…no. It’s just that I don’t think he likes me very much, you know with how he was in the car and-“

“That’s just his personality; you’ll have to deal with it.” She replied coldly.



“-Well, no,” Ashlyn continued, her voice rather shaky this time, “he’s always like, yelling at me-“



“Geez, Ashlyn!” Katie barked loudly



“You’re always so weird about my friends!"



"Give 'em a break will ya? They always let you tag along with us, and always allow you to come to their parties."



Sorry if they’re not all “Ooh, let’s all hold hands and tell each other secrets while we sit around a camp fire toasting marshmallows!”

Her sarcastic falsetto tone made Ashlyn cringe.



“Maybe you should try being grateful instead of acting like a spoiled child who can’t have a lollipop!” her eyes were narrowed at Ashlyn, cutting her down to size.

Chapter~7~ pt2

She was completely taken aback; Katie had never acted like this before and didn’t know where this spat of hostility was coming from all of a sudden.

As she stood before her friend staring in disbelief she took notice of something, something unusual.

“Katie….are you-“



“WHAT?” she retorted, flinging her hand back in rage.



“Nothing! Sorry-I’m sorry,” Ashlyn gave in, her eyes pleaded with Katie, “I’ll go to the party, I’ll hang out with Chaz, just please don’t be mad at me, 'kay?”

A smile slowly started to form across Katie’s face,
“Well, that’s all I really want hun!”

Her voice had changed, going from abnormally harsh to sickly sweet.



Ashlyn was dumbfounded as her friend reached out and hugged her tightly.

What is going on with her?

Chapter~8~ "Teacher Whoas" Part 1

*Chapter 8*

Ashlyn sat gazing longingly out the window.



It was late afternoon on a warm spring day. Bright white clouds filled the sky cheerfully and the sun beamed brightly making the street pavement twinkle, while birds sat happily among the trees sweetly singing enchanting melodies-

“When the hell is this teacher going to get here? I’ve got stuff to do!”



It seemed as though Katie was out to rip everyone a new one today.

Ashlyn was still trying to figure out what had gotten into her friend when she heard the door creak loudly.



The whole class turned their attention to the man standing quietly in the doorway.

He looked young, maybe just out of college, and his clothing was less than professional to say the least.



“Hey, hottie.” Shelby said in her sexiest voice, loud enough for the entire class to over hear. Half the room erupted in laughter while the other half rolled eyes.

“Uh, sorry I’m late,” he started, “I was having a discussion with your principal about my eh...attire.”



The man politely introduced himself as Adam; he was the kind of person who was turned off by trivial pleasantries so wherever he went he always insisted everyone call him by his first name.

After everyone around the room introduced themselves the class droned on like any other normal day would.



Ashlyn stared impatiently at the wall clock counting down the seconds until class dismissal.

With everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours she couldn’t wait for the chance to leave the prolonging source of her problems behind.



The time finally came and she practically leapt out of her chair eager to blend with the sea of classmates pushing out the door.

As she was walking she felt a warm hand rest gently on her shoulder.

“Ashlyn?” the voice called.

She whipped around intolerantly and saw her teacher half sitting on the edge of his desk.

Chapter~8~ Part 2

“I’ve been going through some of the class records and I noticed that you seem to be struggling with this subject.” He waved to a sloppy stack of papers, “I was wondering if you could stay an extra few minutes so we can talk and try to pinpoint the areas that you don’t understand, that way we can work towards improving your grade.”



She shot a look toward the door…she was so close to freedom.

“You know,” he interjected, “it is this school’s policy that if you fail a class you can’t participate in graduation.”



“Alright.” She gave in after letting out a quiet, disappointed sigh.



The time flew by as they talked, it turned out that he had this incredible knack for explaining things the way Ashlyn could easily understand them, an ability the previous teacher lacked.

Before Ashlyn knew it, three hours had passed and at some point their conversation eventually strayed from professional to a somewhat personal level.


“God, so how old are you? You look so young for a teacher,” she giggled, holding her hand up, “no offense or anything!”



He laughed and smiled generously at her, “I’m almost 23.”

“So you’re 22?”

He nodded, looking slightly embarrassed.



“So I have to ask,” She began, “why-“

“Become a math teacher? It’s actually quite simple, “he smiled before continuing, “I’ve always been really good at teaching…anything really, and math I’ve always just gotten.”



He paused for a few seconds, then whispered, “That and I want the summers off so I can surf.”



Her smile broadened toward him and they continued talking for a few more minutes before she noticed the time.

“Oh my God, I have to go!”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow?”



Ashlyn didn’t understand why he said it like a question.
“You bet!” she smiled sweetly then waved goodbye.





It was now twilight and since the bus was long gone she reasoned that she had no choice but to walk home.

The air was crisp, yet warm, and surprisingly there was not a sound to be heard except for the loud chirping of several crickets in the bushes and the sand that crunched under her sneakers as she walked.



Ashlyn’s mood was finally beginning to lift and her heart was light. All she could think about was Adam; his eyes, his smile, his laugh.

Characteristically she was quick to become very fond of whoever treated her with kindness and respect.
Maybe this day would end on a good note after all.

Just at that moment the sound of a car engine idling next to her broke her concentration.

Fearfully she kept her focus, not turning her head an inch, her heart began to thump loudly in her chest and every nerve in her body was buzzing.
She recognized the sound of a power window going down, and then a voice.

“Hey babe, you need a ride home?”

She turned to identify the driver.

“Oh, hi Chaz.” She greeted sheepishly.



“C’mon get in, I’ll take you home. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you out here all alone.” He insisted.

She felt a pang inside of her, but this time it was not of guilt, but more of a warning. Something was telling her she should not go with him.

She paused for a moment and reasoned with herself. After all, she did tell Katie that she would try to get along with him, and her house was only a couple blocks away, surely nothing could happen in that short amount of time.

As usual, she put her better judgment on a shelf and got into the vehicle. Her body was still trembling as he put the car in gear and drove off.