The Mute

Chapter four

Ash's P.O.V.

The first day was really difficult. It was getting harder and harder to ignore everyone. Their stares and eye rolling killed me inside. I knew what they were thinking about me..."Why did she do that?"- "Why did she give it up so....easily?" This isn't the image I wanted for myself. I don't think anyone does. No one wants to be known as the girl who had everything stolen from her. I didn't want to be known as the weird girl who was an idiot to trust a guy who destroyed her.

Call me a melodramatic teenager if you want, but I've been suffering all high school with this image hanging over my head. All because of a mistake I made my freshman year that people still talk about. It was one night and one mistake that causes two years of anxiety and depression, and the loss of my two best friends.

Beth... and Lucas..

Every day I think of them, and now I'll have to see them knowing they'll never know the truth about what happened. If I told them the truth, he'd hurt them... Like he hurt me.

They'll just believe what Mitchell tells them...

So here I was in the girl's bathroom crying in a bathroom stall. Tears rushing down my cheeks and breathing heavily. I wiped my tears away with my sleeve of my sweater, as I heard the door open and footsteps of little red high heels.

She went to the sink and ran the water to put her hands under. I saw her between the crack of the stall, and it was Beth..

"Ash? Is that you.?" She turned and looked down at my sneakers.

I opened the door to the stall. She looked at me with concerning eyes. Her warm gentle blue eyes, and pale white skin, and short blonde hair that framed her face.

Beth was my best friend since kindergarten. She had a gentle comforting voice, and we had never argued about anything. We always seemed to think the same way. Both honors students, and labeled as nerds. So we immediately clicked. She wears dresses and heels and skirts, always looking like a model. You'd think she'd be popular but she'd rather focus on her family, school, and her responsibility at her church.

She forced a smile, and said, "How was your summer?....And the last two years?" she muttered nervously.

I thought about our trio of friends.. The friends who would sleep over my house when my dad was outta town for business to keep me "safe", but in reality we had movie marathons and Lucas would bring the junk food. We stayed up late telling all our secrets and gossip. Like the time Beth secretly had a crush on Patrick West, and when Lucas accidentally walked in on his parents. We told each other everything. The only secret I couldn't tell them ruined our friendship. It's hard to say this is for their own good but it is. They don't need to suffer like I did.

"I- We miss you. Lucas and I. I know I came around a lot last year but what ever is going on, we're here to help," Beth explained and she put her hand out to grab mine.

I said nothing just looked at her concerned face. Her blonde hair curled to frame her face and those blue eyes glimmered with hope. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out.

"Is it true what Mitchell's been saying.?.... Did you and he..?" She trailed off with tears welling up in her eyes. She used her other hand to wipe her tears away.

"Everyone thinks you guys did freshman year..I know you wouldn't ever commit to that. Lucas and I know you."

Mitchell said he would kill me if I told anyone the truth about what happened that night, and he'd kill them too or even worse..

Nothing could worse than being hurt by him. He took everything from me..I didn't give it up to him so easily. Tears welled up in my eyes. I manages to say..

"He stole it from me." A whisper escaped my lips.

Beth wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. Then together we walked out of the bathroom with her arm on my shoulder.

Her comforting voice said, "C'mon. Let's go find Lucas. Mitchell will pay for this."