And Then There Was Vince

Chapter 1: Ashley's Alex

For me, the hardest part about being friends with Ashley was being friends with Ashley. I know how ridiculous that sounds, but allow me to explain. She was fiercely loyal and hilariously entertaining, but also the kind of girl who would get mad at you over something your essence did to her in a dream.

She was beautiful, blonde-haired, and sculpted to perfection, but none of those qualities made her any less of a beast. It was harder than you'd think not to poke her.

Somehow, I'd managed to remain inoffensive for the whole six years we'd been best friends. I never excelled at anything, academically or physically, while her persona was so large the accolades could break through the ceiling. I was the perfect person for her to be friends with until Alex Ainsley decided to exist.

I'm aware you don't know who Alex Ainsley is, but if you had happened to attend our school for even a day in the past sixteen years, you most definitely would.

He was also blonde-haired, beautiful, and sculpted to perfection. Some considered him Ashley's only possible male counterpart for the school's best in show. As a result, she'd believed for years that she was destined to be with him. He didn't appear to agree, though, as every attempt she'd made to get closer was brushed away by a cold and unconcerned hand.

This had left Ashley on edge when the date of winter formal was announced. Tickets weren't on sale over four months in advance, but it seemed as if everyone were running out of time to find their date. Ashley hadn't wasted any herself in asking and being rejected. Her teeth were sharpened, bared and looking to bite into whoever was lucky enough, (or I suppose in this case, unlucky enough), to receive his invitation.

Not a single person had expected that someone to be me.

It had happened on a Wednesday in early September. Alex had approached our table in the lunchroom while Ashley complained about research for English. She smiled and waved at him when she'd realized he'd come up beside us, fully expecting whatever resulting conversation coming forth to be directed at her.

Instead, he'd asked me to the formal as an opener.

I froze like a man who'd just seen Medusa, Corrine grasped at her necklace as if they were a concerned catholic mother's pearls, and Mandy covered her mouth as if she'd just witnessed a train wreck.

Ashley stared directly at me, her pale blue eyes somehow blazing, daring me to say yes.

I don't think I managed to answer one way or the other. From what I can remember, I had been so in shock I couldn't speak. My eyes just darted back and forth between them, wondering what I'd done to the higher power to make them hate me so much.

Alex had stood there confidently waiting for me to validate him, and chuckled arrogantly when no such boost was provided. You could have taken a slice out of the air around our table with one of the school's cheapo, plastic butter knives and slapped it down as a new mystery solid on our trays.

"I'll let you think it over, then," Was his response as he departed.

The rest of the lunch period had been painfully silent despite any lame, nervous attempts I'd made at conversation. I had then shaken my way through gym class, almost vomiting on the polished wood floor. I was a space case through the remainder of my subjects. When school finally let out for the day, Ashley never messaged me. The girls hadn't waited for me to walk home. I was not invited to wherever they had been going.

I knew I was in the dog house at that point.

I typed a long-winded reply to Alex that night, attempting to explain just how disinterested I was in going anywhere with him. I propped Ashley up as a much better candidate, downplaying myself as someone who couldn't dance or look nice to save her life. I also screenshotted every bit of this interaction as evidence and sent it off to my bestie, hoping it would be my salvation.

Ashley never opened the texts, and Alex proved relentless.

Over the next few days, he kept trying to get in contact with me. Every time I'd brush him off in haste, hoping all the while that Ashley had been watching.

But still, Ashley wouldn't speak to me. She didn't even glance at me when I was around. If I attempted to talk to her, she would fake not noticing me with such effectiveness that even I'd start wondering whether or not I existed.

I couldn't figure out any remedy to the situation, and it filled me with all sorts of dread about showing up at school. I had become an outcast, even to Corinne and Mandy. They threw me nervous and apologetic glances, but never came to my side.

Funnily enough, coming to school as an outcast is precisely where this story began.

That entire, terrible situation was a blessing, even if at the time, it was very much in disguise.

Ashley's cruelty may have been horrible, but it also served as the catalyst for some of the best experiences of my high school career.

Now, allow me to explain.