Retreat (A.I.)

35. Realization

---Kelly---

I fell asleep on the floor. I still can't believe that Tracy and Melanie are friends. But Tracy saw Mel get carted away for shoplifting. Oh my god, was she with Melanie the night Kenny was killed? This can't be happening! I need to talk to Ashton. He'll be able to help me make sense of all this!

I immediately log onto Skype, but he's not on. Shit.

-To my Ash
Skype? I need to talk to you bad!

Ten minutes later, he hasn't replied to my text, or logged on. What the hell? They're probably out somewhere. Shit. I try to keep myself busy but my thoughts keep racing back to the thought of Tracy and Melanie being friends. I knew there was something about her that reminded me of Mel. Fuck! Mali's words run through my mind. "Never doubt a woman's intuition my dear sister!"

Where the fuck is Ashton? He still hasn't logged on skype or texted me back. Its now, I calculate it in my head, 11pm in London. I try again.

-To my Ash
Hey babe, where are u? I really need to talk to you!

Another 20 minutes and still nothing. This isn't like Ashton! What's going on?

-To Mikey
Hey! Where's Ash? He's not answering my texts
-To Tiger
Good

Okay, seriously what the fuck is going on?

-To Mikey
Wtf? What's that supposed to mean?!
-To Tiger
Exactly what I said, slut

My mouth gapes open and my phone falls to the floor and tears pour out of my eyes. Where did this come from? I pick my phone back up and shakily text him again.

-To Mikey
What? Why?

He sends me a link to a twitter account. I hesitantly open it and find a ton of pictures. Of me. Now I understand.

I climb into bed and cry myself to sleep.

---Ashton---

"I sent her the link to the pictures and she never replied, Ash. How much more blatant can that be?"

No, I just don't want to believe it. As much as we've been through, I can't believe she'd do that to me. Something seems off about this, but I can't pinpoint what.

"Tracy said she was grinding with every guy in sight. She tried to get her to chill but she wouldn't! How drunk was she? Dude, she's going back to her old ways!"

No, I refuse to believe that. Kelly said Tracy was drunk but she didn't drink. She didn't sound drunk. Something's not adding up.

---Kelly---

I wake up to my alarm. Shit. I have to go to work. With Tracy. Fuck! I can't face her without talking to Ashton, so I decide to call in sick to work and use today to try to get ahold of Ashton, or any one of them!

He still hasn't logged into skype, but they should be on their lunch break. I try calling Ashton this time, despite the international call fees, but it goes straight to voicemail. I'm not going to get a hold of him at all today. Maybe I should address the pictures that I'm certain are the cause of all this.

I open twitter and go through the pictures. They aren't from Saturday night, I know that for sure. For starters, I did not make out with anyone that night. The last person I made out with was my boyfriend who refuses to speak to me. I look closer at the pictures. I was drunk, obviously, in them, my hair was much darker, my hair is in deperate need of re-dying. And it's not even the outfit I had on! These pictures were from before I left for Colorado! But they're tagged with #HotTopicHalloweenParty
TRACY! Hell no!