Pretty Little Liars: the next generation

The Past Haunts

18

The Past Haunts

Ashley got into her car. She had to buy a new outfit for tonight's sleepover. She'd asked Sasha if she'd wanted to come along too, but Sasha said she was busy with stuff. Ashley asked what stuff, but Sasha

hadn't replied. Ashley jammed her key into the ignition, and drove off. She took the shortest route to The King James, by taking the first exit off the freeway, turning left, then passing Mockingbird Lane. After a right turn onto Laundry Road, which most of Rosewood's Residence didn't know about, you were there. She entered the mall, and went straight into Otter, her favorite boutique.

"Hi," welcome to otter greeted a pretty sales girl. She had chocolate colored skin, and wore her bleached hair in dreadlocks. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yeah," Ashley said. "I was looking for something casual. Like a sweater and jeans."

"Well, we just got a whole new shipment of skinny jeans this morning," she said, gesturing toward the many racks of jeans. "You can look around if you like."

"Thanks," Ashley replied, starting to walk toward the jeans.

"Oh, and by the way... I'm Tamisha."

"I'm Ashley," Ashley said, smiling back. She strutted toward the pairs of jeans, and started ogling over a pair of dark skinnies with the cuffs sewn up."

"You like?" Tamisha seemed to have appeared out of no where.

Ashley stared back, startled. "Oh, um yeah," she stuttered.

"Cool, I can help you find some similar styles you might like."

While Tamisha looked for jeans near the back, Ashley searched the store up front. A few minutes later, Tamisha came, holding several pairs of jeans. She showed Ashley to the dressing rooms. Ashley stepped inside. The jeans Tamisha had selected were a size two. Ashley felt good inside. The pair she'd picked for herself were a size four. First, she tried on the fours. They fit pretty good, if not a bit loose. She twirled around in front of the full length mirror. She liked the style. Next, she selected a size two. It was a pair of light colored jeans, with rips near the knees. Bingo. They fit like they'd been made for her.

Bzz. Ashley's phone vibrated on the hard plastic bench, sounding like someone farting. She quickly grabbed it. The screen showed the message icon. The sender was unknown. She opened the message, and saw a picture. It was from eight grade. Ashley's stick-skinny, pale arms held a Manila folder and a white piece of paper that read "Meal Chart" at the top. She looked like a creepy, pale skinny monster, and wore hideous yellow sweatpants, and a blue and white striped hospital gown. This was during her stay at The Preserve at Addison-Stevens for anorexia, back in eighth grade.

Ashley frowned. This was from years ago. And who could have known about this? Underneath it was a text message.

Wouldn't want to get too skinny, huh Ashley- A