[ thirty six ] little ashton
"Hey Prudence," He began, "Are you sick?"
"What?" She sucked in a nervous breath.
He shrugged casually. "You go to the doctor too much for someone who's healthy. I was just wondering if something was wrong with you. You would tell me...right? We're friends."
She bit her lip, the words of her mother and sister circled her thoughts. Prudence considered whether it was best to just come clean and let the boys know she was going to die. But her fears prevented the words from escaping her lips. They cared about her, but she knew they'd pity her. They would probably try their hardest to hide it, but they would undoubtedly treat her differently. And she didn't want that from them. Shaking her head quickly, she blurted out. "No, I'm not sick. I'm fine."
"Ashton told me you had very visible bruises on your arms." Luke's face contorted in concern for her.
"I've always bruised easily." She informed him. "Besides, Ashton exaggerates. The bruises on my arms were really small. He acts like they were the size of baseballs or something." She laughed nervously.
"And we've all noticed you're losing a lot of weight." He pointed out.
"I've been eating healthier." She reasoned.
"Or eating less." He countered.
Placing her hand on Luke's shoulder reassuringly, she put on a fake smile. "I'm perfectly healthy so you and the boys can stop worrying, okay?"
He wasn't convinced, but for her sake, he decided to drop the subject. He noticed how nervous she was beginning to look. Luke also dropped the conversation because he feared she could actually be sick. He didn't want to lose her.
"If something were wrong, you would tell us, wouldn't you Prudence?" He wondered aloud.
She gulped nervously before nodding. "Yes."
Being very religious, she always hated lying. Prudence knew she was probably upsetting God by lying, but she hoped he would understand her reasons for doing it.
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A few days later...
The morning of the retreat, the three boys stopped by Prudence’s house to pick her up. They all raced out of the car and up the front walkway that led to the door. Ashton rang the doorbell and it was a few minutes before Prudence came to the door.
“Good morning boys.” She greeted them with a smile. “Do you guys want to come in for breakfast?”
But Luke shook his head. “We were kind of thinking to invite you to breakfast.”
“I’d like that.” She told them.
Grabbing her white knitted sweater on the way out, she folded it over her arm. The three boys led her to the car and Michael opened the door for her. Thanking him, she got in the car and strapped herself in with the seat belt.
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They arrived at the church an hour later, parking in front of the gym, where the retreat would take place for the adults. All the group leaders gathered together, joining hands for an opening prayer. When they finished, the oldest of them separated the volunteers into groups which would lead the adults, a group which would lead the teenagers, and a last group who would babysit the children.
