Broken Up

The Backstories We Have

*music helps*

After the planning of the Everyday Hero's contest, Max had said she needed to go to the bathroom. She looked shaken, like something had just happened in the moment we all said goodbye. Kate had left, quickly saying something about her bunny needing feeding, but she looked sad. She' been like that all day. It was probably that stupid video that was going around. So it was just Ashley and Bella walking back to Ash's own dorm which she never used since she alternated there and her house.

Ash and Bella never knew each other personally, so it was awkward.

"So, how did you get into Blackwell," Ash asked, looking at Bella out of the corner of her eye.

Bella had her hands in her pockets and was looking down, silent.

"Before everything went to shit on my part, I had been smart enough to make here. I was fucking intelligent in science and math. My mother wanted me here to succeed but that was before my she died. Now that she's away, my dad wants nothing to do with me. He works all day and sleeps all night. It's different at my house if you ever came. Silent as a fucking forest at night. Like here", she said, gesturing to the campus where it was silent,"at night. Anyway I got in here just because of my good grades I tried so hard to get. Now I could care less, because I realize the world recognizes me as a mistake, a shitty person worth no attention," she finished, still looking down.

Ash had now gathered insight on Bella's life. It was just like hers. Broken and messy. Both remaining parents didn't care about the girls. They left them alone to their own lives not caring if they got hurt or died. The parents were dead to emotions and everything life offered.

"How are you still smiling after everything you've been through," Ash wondered.

She heard Bella chuckle.

"Because I got reasons to be living, I got everything I felt like I didn't have. When I got partnered with you I thought "Holy shit, I'm gonna hate this person to the bone" but instead I really don't. We both got fucked up lives and love art. Art is our escape. And I'm pretty sure we have a lot more in common, we just don't know it," she explained.

Ash had stayed silent the entire time, not knowing if she should explain her life story too. But she didn't.

They both stayed quiet. When they both looked up they saw that they by there dorms. They went up, quickly, and stopped in front Ashley's door.

"Enough of the touchy feely shit. We gonna draw together or separate pictures and connect it with Max and Kate's?"

Ash thought about it for a second.

"Separate. It'd be better and more original."

Bella nodded her head, opening the door to Ashley's room.

It was so Ashley. Comic books posters with their movie counterparts. Books all over the floor and her desk. A Macbook opened but asleep. Her black cat asleep on her bed that had dark sheets and a fluffy cover. Fairy lights all over, lit up. Posters of movies not related to books or comic books. Graphic tees in her closet and on her couch. Jeans and shorts in draws that were opened. Necklaces and rings on stands. Her pictures she took all over her walls and her desks. They weren't polaroids like Max. They were 35mm camera shots. Black and white photos. No color.

"Well, you definitely lived up to your personality and lifestyle," Bella said, smiling and petting her cat.

"Her name's Wanda. And thanks I guess," grinned Ash.

They had begun to work on their projects. Bella on the couch and Ash on her desk. It wasn't until an hour in Bella broke the ice.

"How did you get in?" mirroring Ash's question earlier.

"I got tested. I got in. I guess it's okay here. I have friends here. They aren't rich pricks. I stayed with my mother yesterday to see how she was doing and I came back here. She can barely remember her schedule and forgets to eat. All those days working and drugs to keep her up. I wouldn't be surprised if she O.D one day from all those stupid. I'm fucking morbid I know," she sucked in a breath, clearing trying not to cry, "Warren Graham is my best friend. He's nerdy just like me. The turtle I call him. Max understands my problems, she listens. You seem to be the one that happens to know what I go through and how I deal with it. School here is making me happy again but not much. I wanna leave. New York is my goal. I just want to fucking leave this shitshow of a town. Too many bad memories. To much pain."

Bella let that sink in. They were much alike. Very much alike. Bella hoped to get closer to the brunette. But the girl seemed closed off to the rest of the world. Reserved in her own way. Bella thought it was because of how fucked up her life was. Bella was the same way too.

"I wanna be friends, but I'm scared you'll leave me too, like everyone else," Ash whispered, crying.

Bella could see the tears running towards the paper, but Ash wiped them away before they ruined her drawing.

"Then let's be friends, but we promise to be by each other sides no matter what," Bella said, making a deal with Ash.

Ash looked over with glossy eyes and red cheeks from crying. Her nose was red too. Bella wanted to hug her and comfort her. But it was too early for that in there relationship.

Ash took a deep breath.

"Deal."

(A/N: Some insight on there lives and how they cope. The beginning of there relationship begins)