The Academy: Ashland

Stories

Ian had been the one calling for Ash and, when she got into the rec room, she understood why.

“She’s been crying for ages,” Ian said, grabbing Ash’s hand and leading her to the blanket fort. “I don’t know what to do.”

Ian crawled into the blanket fort with Ash following him a few seconds later and Kara grabbed onto them both, “Whoa Kare,” Ash mumbled. “Are you okay?”

Kara shook her head, ‘I keep seeing bad things.’

“Bad things?” Ash asked.

Kara nodded, ‘Everyone’s dying all the time. I don’t like it.’

Ash sighed and ran her hand through Kara’s hair, “Do you see that when you’re awake?”

Kara shook her head, ‘Sleep visions.’

“Those are nightmares,” Ash said. “Not visions.”

Kara looked up, ‘But they might happen.’

“Things like that are always a possibility. They might happen, they might not, but we can’t worry about that. We have to enjoy what’s going on now. The present is the present and the future is the future,” Ash said.

Ian rested his head on Ash’s shoulder, “That’s smart.”

Kara poked her best friend, ‘Of course it is. Ash is smart.’

“Duh, but it’s like… deep, too,” Ian said. “Like what Uncle Tavy says after Uncle Markus talks about his feelings.”

Ash made a face, “I guess that would qualify as deep, on some level.”

Ian and Kara laughed, “And smart,” Ian said.

“I thought we just established that,” Ash said.

Ian shrugged and looked at Kara, “You’re better,” he said to her.

Kara shrugged, ‘Ash is good.’

“Thank you,” Ash said as Ian shot Kara a look and nodded in agreement.

Ian looked up at Ash, “Tell us a story.”

Ash tilted her head and asked, “What kind of story?”

“Tell us something about when you were a kid on the outside,” Ian asked.

Ash thought, “I had these friends,” she began. “We left the group home one day, just the four of us and my friend Zac’s younger brother. For a while after we left, we were a mess, I mean really, four ten year olds and a six year old get a lot of odd looks. We mostly stuck to the playground for the first few weeks.” Ash grinned, “One day, we were on the swing sets, and some guy walks up. He said to us, “Why are you kids always here?” and I say back, “Why are you shoving your big nose into our business?” remember, I was ten,” Ash said as Ian and Kara giggled. “So, anyway, this guy, he’s big, real, real tall and he’s got some muscles, he just looks at me before laughing…” Ash kept telling the story, shaking her head and defending her ten year old self when necessary. Halfway through the story, Seth stuck his head into the Rec Room and grinned when he heard Ash talking. He listened to her for a moment, before he quickly slipped out of the room and closed the door.

“What’s going on?” Trip asked after the door was closed.

“She’s telling them a story,” Seth said, “about the outside.”

Trip stared at Seth for a moment before he walked into the Rec Room, motioning for Seth to follow him.

“Samuel rolled his eyes at me when I said told him that,” Ash was saying when Seth and Trip climbed into the blanket fort. She turned and smiled at the two boys as they sat down, “He called me a little punk and Bailey smacked him. Then Evan ran out of the kitchen with a strawberry stuck to his face, covered in chocolate sauce, whipped cream and ice cream. Luke and I threw sprinkles on him and Michael licked him the chocolate sauce off his arm. Then, later, Bailey hosed him off behind the diner.” Ash laughed, “That little boy put up such a fight, none of us could stop laughing. He was picking sprinkles and strawberry leaves out of his hair for a month.” Everyone laughed, “Oh, and Samuel owed Luke thirty dollars.”

Seth grinned at Ash and ran a hand through her hair as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Trip, tell me a story,” Ash said. “I want to hear about Jainxx.”

Trip grinned, “Fine, but only for you.”

Ash sighed dramatically, “Fair enough.”

Trip thought, “Before I came here, my parents worked for some company and were never around. Our maid, Rosa, helped me take care of Jainxx when we were younger. Jainxx drove me nuts, like any sister, but I was okay with it.” Trip smiled, “One day, Jainxx didn’t have school and I did. It’ was the first time it ever happened, so I told her to be good and I went to school. Most of the time she listened to me, so I figured she would, but I guess she freaked out and thought I was leaving or something.” Trip took a breath, “I got called out of class and they told me there was a driver waiting for me. They said no one could find my sister and drove me home. Of course, as soon as I walked through the front door, Jainxx came out of her hiding place and jumped on top of me. She scared the crap out of poor Rosa. I told Jainxx she had to behave and that I would be back, then she said okay and my driver took me back to school.”

“After school, when I got home, the house was a mess,” Trip said with a laugh. “There were sheets and feathers all over and Rosa was covered in purple paint. After I walked in, we stared at each other for a moment, before I raised my eyebrows and she pointed to the steps that Jainxx was running down, still dresses in her pink princess pajamas with a tutu and all of her hair clips in her hair.” Everyone laughed, “It took a week to clean the house.”

“When Ian and Kara were younger they painted a “mural” on the wall in the mess,” Seth said to Ash. “Pink, purple and blue. They even made a rainbow.”

Ash laughed and Trip looked over at Ian and Kara, “Why pink?” he asked. “I thought you guys liked red better.”

Ian grinned and shrugged, “Jack,” he said as Kara nodded, making everyone laugh.

“Of course,” Ash said.