Her Words

Part 6

Ashley's jaw dropped.

    She knew it wasn't true, right off the bat. As embarrassing as it was, it had taken her a pretty long time to write the piece itself, and discovering how to write well had taken time and a lot of work. In short, Ashley was both hurt and infuriated.

    Being smart, Spinach removed himself from the immediate vicinity as to not be thrown.

    Though she felt like a baby, betraying tears came to Ashley's eyes, splattering on all of her rough drafts and notebook. Thankfully, Ashley's mom was still sound asleep.

    "They're mine, Spinach. Those are my words. Nobody else's." Ashley sniffled after wiping the tears away.

    Spinach pawed his way over to Ashley and rubbed his head against her hand.

    "I didn't share them with anybody, Spinach."

    She paused.

    "Except-"

    Two weeks earlier

    "Hey," An unfamiliar voice said from behind Ashley's open locker door. It was the end of the day at Banks High School, and Ashley was ready to leave for a long weekend.

    "Hi?" Ashley was never good with making conversation, especially when she didn't know the person she was talking to. Closing her locker door revealed a red headed girl with a mouth full of braces. Big glasses rested on her not-so-big nose, and as the girl talked Ashley noticed they moved slightly.

    "My name's Charlie." The girl introduced, hand out for a shake.

    "My name's Ashley." Ashley said, shaking her hand. Her mouth went dry as she thought of a question to ask.

    "Are you new here?"

    Gleaming braces flashed in the light of the Friday afternoon as Charlie smiled. "Yup. That obvious, huh?"

    Ashley blushed, embarrassed. "No, it's just, I've never met you, that's all."

    Another smile. "Well, now you have."

    How am I supposed to reply to that? Ashley thought. But she didn't have to.

    "Do you want to study for the English test together?" Charlie asked.

    "I didn't even realize we were in the same class!" Ashley blurted, then instantly bit her tongue.

    But Charlie just laughed. "Yeah, we are! So... do you want to study?"

    "Sure..." Ashley said with slight hesitation. "But I have to get home to a cat so..." The words just tumbled out of Ashley's mouth before she could stop them.

"Want to come to my place?"

    "Sure! Lead the way!"

    Ashley blinked. "Don't you have to call your mom or something?"

    "My dad, actually. And no, he doesn't really care as long as I can get home by six." She shrugged. "So I'm all good."

    "Okay then," Ashley said, confusion encompassing her. "Let's go."