Grey

Seventeen: Battle

Lisa sat alone in her room. She was having a hard time coming to terms with the facts.

She wanted to go on believing in Ashley's innocence. Ashley, who had lifted her up from her isolation, and who had been the greatest support to her- she just couldn't bring herself to associate that same girl who had was allegedly responsible for the disappearance of a young adult, that too over an issue as petty as a guy.

This wasn't a struggle she could face alone. She quickly opened her phone and looked up Dan's number, but her finger only hovered over his name, before she went for the entry below it instead.

"Hello, Jeff?"

"Yeah?"

"I've got the story, will you come over to my place?"

There was a rush of static and Jeff asked, "Did you call Dan?"

"No."

Another rush of static.

"Okay, I'm coming."

And the beep of a disconnected call.

Lisa sighed. She knew she should've called Dan, but Dan was an emotional guy and what she needed now was a debate of cold, hard facts. Jeff was a better candidate for that.

Before Jeff came, she grabbed a notepad and scribbled down the entire dialogue with her mom as well as she could remember, lest she may forget.

Then she jotted down a few questions that had been bothering her.

1. Why would Elaine's family help her with the whole deal?

2. Did Agatha try to cover up for Ash, or had Ash escaped fro home without her knowledge, as usual?

3. What really could have happened to Gavin and Alison? Did Gavin really not know anything about the meeting? If he did, could guilt bea driving factor in his suicide?

4. Is it a coincidence that both Elaine and Ashley ended up in the same town, after leaving their old one?

And a fifth, more important question that was bothering Lisa was about Ashley.

Who was Ashley? Was she the warm, lovely girl or the cold blooded girl who would—

She shook the thought off from her head and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

There was a knock, and she raised herself slightly as the door opened. Seeing it was Jeff, she lay down again.

"What is it?" Jeff asked as he approached her.

She wordlessly pointed to the notepad lying beside her. Jeff leant forward, took it in his hand and sat down on the floor, close to her head. He read through it quickly and then another time, slowly.

All the while, Lisa did not speak, neither did she take much notice of Jeff. She was only thinking.

If Ashley was the kind of person that the facts seem to say, was there a point in carrying all this forward? Was there any meaning in seeking justice for a criminal? But then, was Ashley really a criminal?

The person who had talked to her, shared her secrets and had actually been the same, even after she knew that she was the Channing heiress. The happy girl. Was she capable of doing what she had been accused of?

These endless questions. Questions with no answers.

Lisa sighed and rolled over to the side, to look directly at Jeff.

He was looking intently at the questions she had written down, scratching his chin.

"Looks like you've already passed the judgement on Ashley?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.