𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 [a rini au]

FORTY-ONE

          Ashlyn couldn't have been more grateful for Warren Brady on Sunday morning. As she sat across from her parents at the final event of Parents Weekend–brunch–she was so thankful for the comfortable energy that she felt when she was with them. The girl was cracking jokes with her father about the undercooked eggs, even accepting compliments from her mother about her outfit of the day. Ashlyn still thought it was pathetic that a high standardized test score was what flipped her relationship with her parents on its head, but she was so happy to finally feel like things were normal with them again.

They were finishing up their food when Ashlyn excused herself to use the restroom. Once she opened the door to the women's bathroom in the Gathering Hall, she almost dropped the door on herself. Standing at the sink and dabbing paper towel underneath her eyes was Kourtney. When Ashlyn entered the tiled lavatory, her surprised expression appeared in the mirror behind Kourtney's own reflection, allowing the dark-skinned girl to spot her. Kourtney spun around once seeing Ashlyn, bug-eyed.

"Hey, Kourt," Ashlyn let the door go behind her, feeling more comfortable with the circumstances once it closed. "Are you okay?"

Kourtney truly didn't expect anyone to walk in on her nervous breakdown, never mind the girl she was breaking down about. She hid the damp paper towel behind her back, leaning her hands on the sink. "Yeah," she squeaked. "Everything's good."

Ashlyn knew Kourtney was lying, but she also knew not to press. Her and Kourtney weren't exactly on speaking terms, so she knew that even if she wanted to get to the bottom of this, she wouldn't succeed. "Alright," she nodded with pursed lips, shuffling to a stall.

"No, actually, everything's not good."

Ashlyn stopped in her tracks, turning on her heel to see Kourtney now staring at her feet after her outburst. The strawberry blond approached her slowly. "You....you can talk to me about it, you know," she offered. "I know things are weird between us, but you're still my best friend."