Her Words

Part 14

Charlie and Ashley gasped.

"Wow. Did you guys practice or something, because that was perfect." TheReaper said sarcastically.

"Morgan?" Ashley asked, incredulous. Morgan Schmidt had moved away last year. The teen wasn't very big on talking, like Ashley, but unlike Ashley, anything that came out of her mouth was a sarcastic joke.  

"Wow." She repeated. "Took you long enough."

Again with the sarcasm.

"But- Why?"

"Why what?" Morgan asked. "Oh. You mean with the copyright thing? I thought it was obvious."

"What was obvious?" Ashley was starting to get frustrated. "The only time we ever even spoke was like, one time, two years ago."

"Oh yeah!" Morgan perked up. "When I called you a-"

Stopping her, Ashley said, "How about we don't repeat it."

"Wait." Charlie interrupted, holding up a hand. "So let me get this straight. This random girl-"

"Morgan." Morgan said with a frown.

"Morgan. So this Morgan that you've only spoken to once just so happens to copy your work- For what? Credit? Wattpad doesn't really give out awards."

"There are the Wattys." Morgan muttered.

    Charlie rolled her eyes. "All right, beyond these Waddies."

    "Wattys. She said 'Wattys'." Ashley pointed out.

    "Stop! Let me think." Charlie shouted.

    "Let me do the thinking for you," Morgan said. With that, she pushed past Ashley and Charlie running towards the doors.

    Before the girls could react, the manager came out of nowhere, blocking her way.

    "I don't think so." He said.

    Now, it's hard to be intimidating when you're a scrawny 20 year old man that doesn't sound like he's fully grown up yet. But in the dark, the manager's tone was enough to tell Morgan to sit down.

    Surprisingly, she did.

    "Look," Ashley said, feeling like she should be leading. After all, this was about her. "You stole my words. All I ask is that you take down my poem and not do it again."

    "You don't even care about the motive, do you?" Morgan spat.

    "Well," Charlie said. "I do. Spill. Why'd ya do it, huh?"

    "I saw you at school reading over the papers and I was curious. I wanted to know what it was. When you left for the bathroom, I stole them. I meant to return them, honest, but then I saw how good they were, and, well.... You know the rest." Morgan shrugged.

    "Wait. What were you doing at school?" Ashley asked. Everyone says you moved away."

    Morgan laughed at this. It was brittle and fake. "I never moved. I've been there the whole time, but nobody noticed. Eventually everyone thought that I was gone." She looked down at the ground. "I just wanted to be noticed."

    Any angry left in Ashley evaporated as soon as Morgan said that. More than Morgan could known, Ashley related. But not any more.

Ashley had Charlie now, and she was beginning to open up more, even if she didn't realize it herself. So when Ashley saw Morgan, she understood.

"All right." Ashley sat down.

"What?" Charlie, Morgan, and the manager said all together.

"All right." Ashley repeated.

"Wait, you're not going to sue me or anything?" Morgan asked.

Ashley laughed, sounding like her mom.

"No. I mean, I'm mad. You stole my words, Morgan. But there's no reason for me to hold a grudge. I-" Ashley paused, thinking. "I understand. Just please, don't do it again." With that, she locked eyes with Morgan.

"I won't. I truly am sorry."

"You know," Charlie spoke up. "If you ever want to hang out and write..." Looking at Ashley, she checked to see if this was ok, and Ashley nodded. "You can always hang out with us."

Morgan laughed, no hint of sarcasm this time. "I- I'd really like that."

"But first," Charlie said. "You have to give Ashley her words back."

"After all," Ashley sighed. "When you steal other people's words, you lose your own voice."