Ashlyn Dash

1. Trapped in a nightmare

School...is a living nightmare, I'm just glad it's the last week. My friends and I get bullied on a daily, but I get more bullied than they do. We are considered the outcast in our high school, all because we look different from them. They bully us all the time and they call us 'emo, scene, Goth kids who worship the devil and listen to satanic music and wear all back'. My mother and father hate me and so do two out of my three siblings hate me as well.

"Child get down here!" Speak of one of the devils and she shall yell. I quickly walk out of my room and found her wherever she was. If I didn't make it to her a minute after she called for me there would be a punishment and I never know what that punishment would be. My mother, Lilith, I really wouldn't count her as my mother, turned and looked me up and down with a look of disgust written on her face "You could at least wear color and not black all the time in this house." I looked down at my outfit. I thought it looked fine?

"I called you down here to tell you that the school closed down earlier than expected, so what I am saying is that I want you out of the house. Your father and I are having company over and I don't need you in our way to mess it all up. Do you understand?" Lilith asked, making me nod my head. "Good, now get out of here, go somewhere and stay there, I want you gone before I come back home." She's telling me to leave the house for the whole day, for normal kids would think this is punishment for them and they have to come back at nightfall, for me.

I'm not one of those normal kids I take this as an opportunity to leave the house and bang out with my friends, I only see them at school or whenever Lilith and Jonathan go to work, but it's Friday meaning I don't have to be home until Monday, and Lilith and Jonathan are not working this weekend which means I can't be home with both parents are home and the other three kids aren't (they go to their friends and spend the night there the whole weekend) because it's worse when Jonathan is home. "Why are you still standing there? Go!!' I nodded my head again and went back to my room and looked around it looking for my bag. I heard the front door open and shut, meaning Lilith is leaving.

I grabbed my skateboard and ran out of my room with my bag and closed the door and left the house and rode through the neighborhood. I guess I can tell you about myself, okay, hi I'm Ashlyn Jade Dash and I'm the family disappointment, I know I shouldn't say that but it's true, everyone knows it, they act like they don't know but they do. I have two brothers and a sister. Anyways, I'm 17 years old, and I don't talk. I love music, it's my life. I love music bands, I love the meanings in the songs. I guess I could also say I'm one of the kids who self-harm. Some kids do it to get attention, I do it because I feel like I have control over what I'm doing and what I'm feeling, I don't do it because I want to die, I do it so I'm numb, I don't want to feel the pain I do when I get bullied. I also have anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

I felt my skateboard come to a sudden stop, I embrace myself waiting for the harsh impact of my body hitting the ground, but it never hit the ground. I felt arms around my waist holding me still. I open my eyes and saw Carter Coleman and Kylo Cohen. Okay, let me tell you a little bit about Carter and Kylo. Well, first things first Carter and Kylo are dating. Carter, he's the big brother I wish I had but sadly I do not have him as one, he's 19 almost 20, I know, he failed his freshman year of high school and got held back. Kylo, who is Carter's boyfriend, he and Carter have been dating since sophomore year. Kylo moved here around the same time I moved back to Ohio. Kylo is very protective of all of us, mainly me and Carter. Kylo lives right next door to me, he sometimes gets to hear and see the many fights that my parents and I get into, the physical and emotional ones. Having Kylo next door is the best thing because he helps me escape from time to time when my parents lock me in my room. Kylo just turned 18.

Carter had his hands on my waist, he moved them and put my headphones around my neck. "This is why we pay attention when we are skating Ashes." I mouthed the word sorry to them. "Where are you going? We're on our way to Jordan's. Do you want to come with us?" Kylo asked as stood next to me. I nod my head at them telling them, yes and we started to make our way down the street, Carter was holding my skateboard. Carter gave me a funny look. "Why are you wearing a jacket? It's like 90°, the only time you wear a jacket is when you used to cut-"It dawned on Carter's face. "Ashlyn, you promised us that you'd stop hurting yourself?" Here's the thing once you start self-harming it's hard to stop and once you have been doing it for a couple of years it's harder to stop. "Ashlyn, why?" All I could do was shrug my shoulders. Carter looked at Kylo. Kylo lives next to me so he hears everything. "Is it bad again?"

Kylo sighed and nodded his head.

"Ashlyn, you promised us that you would come to us if it got bad again."

'I know, but you guys have been busy with getting all of our stuff ready for the warped tour.' I signed, oh yeah I use American Sign Language when I can't reach my whiteboard.

Carter looked at me with a sad look "But we would have dropped everything for you to help you!"

"Babe calms down, you're raising your voice." Kylo had put a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder.

We continued to walk down the street until we saw a van parked outside. Why is there a van?

"Why is there a random black van outside Jordy's house?" We walked closer to Jordy's house. Jordy's front door was open like usual, she never closes it because she knows we're just going to walk in.

"Jordan! Why is there a random van parked in front of your house?"

Jordan came rushing down the stairs with Nikki and Jordan's boyfriend. "You guys are never going to believe who's next door!" Jordan squealed.

"Who's next door?" Both Kylo and Carter asked.

"BLACK VEIL BRIDES!" Our three friends yelled.  We looked at them with shocked looks. "No way I do not believe you!" I laughed a bit before signing to them that I was going to go outside in the backyard. "Your guitar is out there still and so is your art stuff!" I gave Jordan's boyfriend a thumbs-up and walked outside. Grabbing my drawing book and pencils, I sat on the bench that Jordan had in her backyard, it was near the fence that she and her neighbors share.

I made little doodles here and there until I decided to draw something. I only stopped once only to change the song in my playlist but that was it. Every once in a while I would hear someone running around and someone chasing them.

"Boys! Leave the poor girl alone!"

Being confused and curious I looked up and turned around and jumped back. "Boys! What did I tell you? Ashlyn, I am so sorry about them." I looked at Jordy's neighbor, Chris. I grabbed my whiteboard that Nikki brought out to me some time ago and wrote 'it's okay' on it and showed it to him. "Ashlyn!" I turned and looked at Jordy, who had hair dye in her hands. "I'm bored, and you have no color in your hair!" I gave her a thumbs-up before turning back to Chris as Amy dragged them away. "Do you guys want to meet the band? Amy and I know you guys are big fans." I shrugged my shoulders. Do I? Yes. But will I? No, because I'm afraid that I'd make a fool out of myself.