I hate Madison. That stupid witch, I know she delights in making me miserable. It can't be true – can it? Spencer and I were getting closer, I felt it, and I know she did too. I'm almost positive she was starting to like me. Why is she doing this? I know she doesn't like Aiden, I can see it in her face. Why would she want to go out with him? She said that day at the beach that she thinks she likes girls. Aiden may act like a girl sometimes, but he's definitely a guy. Okay, sure, she might have been a bit freaked out by the fact that Madison outed her to Glen, but she could have talked to me or tried to deal with it. That's what Spencer does; she loves to talk about things. She would have come to me first, and we could have talked and worked it out. I know she didn't ask Glen to tell me to back off. Ashley took a deep breath, put her mask back up and decided to go find Spencer and hear it from the blonde directly. That was the only way she'd believe the foolishness that came out of Madison's mouth.
About twenty minutes later, Ashley felt the fear continue building inside and she couldn't even try to ignore it. She'd checked Spencer's locker, the locker room, all of the bathrooms, anywhere she could think that Spencer might be. The blonde was nowhere around. They hadn't really talked that much that day either. Was Madison right? She couldn't be. Trying her hardest not to panic and keep it together, she checked the parking lot. Maybe Clay or Glen had stayed after for something and Spencer had waited with them. She had to work harder than she had in a long time to keep her composure when she realized the Carlin car was gone already. She left? What? Why? She always catches a ride home with me. This is so not good. What did I do and how can I fix this? I knew I shouldn't have let her in. This is what happens every time. Ashley Davies, use me and toss me away when you're done.
She was sure the blonde was gone, her instincts screamed it and she wasn't stupid after all. She still couldn't silence the part of her that had to take care of and protect the younger girl. Sighing to herself at how stupid this all was, she got her cell phone out and hit the button for Spencer. She waited for it to connect and after four rings, the voice mail picked up. Ashley took a deep breath and spoke after the beep, trying (and failing) to make her voice sound as upbeat as possible. "Spence? It's me. I just wanted to make sure you were okay since I don't see you here and you didn't tell me not to wait for you. What's going on? Where are you? Are you ok? Call me later, okay?" The dejected brunette walked over to her car and drove home, noting sadly how much different it was without Spencer to talk to and dissect their day. She didn't even attempt to hold back the flood of tears that began to cascade from her eyes as she drove.
Spencer had gotten Ashley's message. She could tell that something was wrong and she knew right away that Madison must have gotten to the brunette. Madison was so jealous of Ashley that she would use anything she could to hurt the sensitive girl. UGH! She thought to herself, beating her head against her pillow in frustration. What am I supposed to say to her? Yeah, Ash, I do like you but I'm terrified. I'm afraid to take the plunge and see if it will work or not, so I'm doing the safest thing. I'm going to hook up with a boy who likes me. Oh yeah, just so happens that it's Aiden. That's just insult to injury for poor Ash, her ex who I know she still has some type of feelings for and the girl she likes now hooking up? I know our friendship will never be the same and I will miss that most of all, but I don't know if I'm ready to be Ashley's girlfriend. Mom and Glen and who knows who else will totally freak out. God, what am I going to do? I have to call her back but I don't know what to say. Spencer sprawled on her bed, trying to sort out her feelings but getting nowhere.
About an hour after Ashley called, she decided to return the call, having no idea what she was going to say to her friend but knowing she owed her an explanation of some sort. She wanted to kick herself at the relief that flooded through her when Ashley's voicemail picked up, which was very unusual. In the few months that they'd been friends, Spencer could count on the fingers of one hand with fingers to spare the number of times her calls had gone to Ashley's voicemail. Ashley always picked up for her, or called her back within a few minutes. "Hey, Ash. It's me. Sorry about today, I just caught a ride home with Glen. I have to eat dinner in a few minutes and then I have plans later tonight. Call me tomorrow or I'll call you, okay? Talk to you later, have a good night." Yeah, Spencer, she's not going to think anything's wrong when she hears that. God, you are such a moron. How are you going to fix this? Just then, before she could continue driving herself crazy with the thoughts that wouldn't get out of her head, her mom called her for dinner. Luckily, her parents would be leaving soon after dinner, so hopefully she would be spared the third degree. She'd worry about what to do about Ashley later.