Innocent (A Treacherous Novel)

17

Central City, Missouri

January 31, 2007

Ashley didn't know whose bright idea it was to send her own literal hell that was known as the Midwest, but she was ready to beat someone up. Midwesterners seemed to have a lot of audacity that was different from the attitudes she was used to receiving in her beloved large coastal cities and she truly didn't know how Barry and Wally coped with these unbearable diehard religious people around her that kept telling her that being a whore was a sin and kept asking for a handout of Wayne money and then getting offended when she said no. "I think I hate everybody in this god-forsaken state" Ashley huffed. "I'm ready for Star again, take me home" She grumbled, causing Wally to splutter and cough on his food.

"Did you finally just refer to SC as home?" Wally asked in disbelief. "You have never once referred to any place in Oregon as home" Wally stated, searching for a sign he heard her wrong. "As a matter of fact, you've only referred to Gotham as home" He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to figure out what he missed.

"Dinah and Ollie wanted me, hell he still doesn't" Ashley shrugged. "Why shouldn't Oregon be my home when Dad wanted me as far from Gotham as humanly possible?" Ashley rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It's home, and I've grown to quite like it" She told him, though not knowing if she actually meant it.

"Except for-" Wally began.

"For what happened two months ago?" Ashley griped. "Yeah, I fucking hated it" Ashley sighed.

"Round 2?" Wally asked.

"Wally just because I'm sixteen and female doesn't mean I'm a whore" Ashley said and shoved his face into his cereal bowl.

"Dick move" He groaned and wiped the milk from his face.

"Can't be a Dick move if Dick's not here" Ashley joked with a smile. Wally rolled his eyes and Ashley's stomach turned unexpectedly. "What the fuck" Ashley whispered in confusion since she hardly ever got sick. "Sorry Wally" Ashley said and darted off to the restroom.

"What's the problem?" She heard Wally ask as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl.

"I don't know" Ashley huffed before throwing up once again. "I never get sick" She complained and put her head in her hands as the possibilities ran through her head.

"You cannot be so sick of the Midwest that it's literally made you sick can you?" Wally questioned her as he stared down at her.

"And here I was thinking you were supposed to be smart" Ashley quipped. Wally rolled his eyes and leaned against the sink.

"I'm top of the class, even with all of my extra-curricular activities" Wally retorted and watched the teen girl roll her eyes as she wiped her mouth in disgust with toilet paper and threw it in the toilet. She moved Wally out of the way of the sink and rinsed her mouth and spit it back in the sink.

"Can you grab my toothbrush?" Ashley asked Wally.

"Yeah" He said and flashed from the current restroom to the one where her toiletries were currently being held.

"I'd get ready to go if I were you" Ashley said before she began to brush her teeth.

"Why?" Wally asked in confusion and furrowed his brow.

"Because we're going to CVS" Ashley told him when she was done.

"But transformers is supposed to be on today" Wally complained.

"Wallace, I swear to god."

♠️♠️♠️

Ashley sighed as she hid her small bump in Gotham and threw her bag on her bed in Wayne Manor. She pulled her sweater down further with the creeping paranoia that somebody could see her nonexistent bump and if she was being honest with herself, she was not ready to have that conversation with any adult in her life currently. She held her hand on her stomach but jumped in shock as there was a knock on her door. She quickly straightened out the sweater and yelled "It's open." She quickly got her breathing under control and sighed when her father entered the room.