Author's Note: Yes! Next Chapter! I have to admit that I am anxious for the encounter to occur already, but everything must go at its pace. Anyway, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Lost Boys, only my OCs.

Chapter 3- The Past Can Still Hurt

The last remaining days of summer vacation were pretty quick. Ashley was divided into two main thoughts. One of them was glad that the boring days of spending the last days of summer vacation was over. The other side was really nervous about the first day of school. Fortunately, her first day of school was not bad at all. Sure the Santa Carla High School was HUGE and anyone can get lost with so many students in the way. But it was your typical high school and as long as you stayed away from all the popular snobs, your life should be alright.

Ashley could already tell who the popular ones were. The obnoxiously loud and rude jocks could be seen from miles, so she was glad that she has been able to keep her distance. Fortunately she only saw them in the hallways and not in any of her classes. Her schedule seemed fair enough and she was really looking forward to her English class, which is her favorite subject. But the class was her last one, so she had to deal with other classes like boring geometry and tormenting gym class. By the time lunchbreak came, Ashley was relieved. Just three more classes left!

The cafeteria was just as packed as the hallways were, full of all sorts of teenagers. Only this time you could really see them all-the geeks, the jocks, the cheerleaders, the rockers, etc. Since Ashley was new, she is practically a loner, but she did not mind that. She was actually glad that she could sit on one of the few steps that led into the cafeteria when she saw all the tables stacked up from afar. Now she could get back to an interesting book about the supernatural as she ate her lunch. When she was younger, she hated reading with a passion, but Elizabeth always tried to persuade her to do so. Luckily, she always picked interesting books that did not have to do with some mousy girl falling in love with the most popular jock, or anything of that nature. Ashley was on the last section about ghosts. Soon she would get to read all about vampires!

A sudden rush of wind past next to Ashley's right, causing her to look up from her book. Now she could see you the queen bee was. A girl with long blonde hair, who was really trying to look like Madonna, came strutting by with some nice looking clothes. Behind her two girls, who were also nicely dressed, were strutting along with her. Ashley rolled her eyes and went back to her book, once some boys started to whistle to the three girls and holler on how gorgeous they were. Yeah, just your typical high school.

When lunch was over, art class came right up. Ashley liked the subject, even though she was not as good as her sister. Elizabeth was a prodigy. She could draw, paint, and almost craft anything into a real work of art! She also had peculiar tastes for abandoned places, creating surreal images of what those abandoned places once were, and what they are now, mixing it with elements that made them look like a weird dream stance that left you awing for more. How could their mother not see her talent?! Linda wanted her to work in some boring office, like her. No, Elizabeth would never!

For today's art class, the teacher wanted to get to know each of the student better, so they would have to draw anything that came into their minds right on the paper. The teacher, Mr. Screech, looked like he came out of a groovy 70's movie, a complete hippie promoting world peace. Ashley went right to work, so that she could stop herself from laughing at him and his laid back way of talking. As she began to draw, for some reason all she could think of was some of her favorite rock bands, old monster movies, and Alfred Hitchcock. The girl next to her could not help but to stare at her drawings. Ashley did not even realize she was staring, until the girl spoke up.

"Nice drawings! You like Alfred Hitchcock?"

Ashley looked at her and considered her appearance. The girl was the same height as her, with afro-textured black hair that was slightly pulled into a messy bun. Her lime green earrings went well with her brown smooth skin. She had a wild smile, as if she had finally found something. You could immediately tell that she was different from the bunch, as Ashley could somehow sense a sort of radiant energy coming from this girl.

"Um, yeah, I really like his movies."

"Me too! Psycho and Rear Window are my favorites."

"Mine too!"

"Wow! Where have you been all my life? Almost no one wants to watch anything old like that."

"Are you kidding? The old stuff is the best! "

"Glad to see that I'm not the only one. By the way, I'm Mina. Mina Tupps." Mina extended her hand to shake with.

"I'm Ashley Bacory."

"Are you new in town?"

"Yeah, I just moved in last week."

"Well then, Welcome to Santa Carla! You'll find all sorts of things here. I guarantee it!"

The girls had to stop their conversation there, since the teacher wanted to see what they did. He paced around quickly, as if he already knew what each of them would draw. Most of them were failed attempts at drawing insignificant things, like a hideous unfinished tree, some butterflies, and ugly looking cars. But once he got to Ashley and Mina's drawings, he stopped immediately. He went silent for a moment as he observed their art.

"You two have interesting tastes, and a great choice of a movie director. I can see that you two will be the creative ones out of the bunch. At last!"

Ashley tried to hold her laugh at what he said at the end, since he whispered it in a voice of desperation. She looked over to Mina's drawing, which also consisted of the famous trademark image of Alfred Hitchcock, but there were also some very colorful images of disco balls and sky diving. Mr. Screech went back to checking the rest of the class's art. Once he left, Mina went back to talking with Ashley.

"So, are you liking Santa Carla, so far?"

"Yeah, it seems pretty cool."

For the remaining classes, it turns out that Ashley and Mina were in the same classes together. They immediately became friends. Mina is a pretty spunky girl, who enjoys surfing on the beach and having a good time, along with sharing many interests with Ashley. Now that she actually made a friend, Ashley could even meet up with Mina during lunch! Ashley was so happy that she was able to find someone like Mina, she simply did not fit in any of the typical high school labels. It were as if they had a completely different world of their own. After a couple of weeks, Ashley and Mina became such good friends, that Ashley decided she could invite her over to her place.

"So, Mina..."

"I can come over to your place?!"

"How did you know that I would ask you that?"

"Oh, I don't know, a hunch? Sometimes I think that I'm a physic." Mina smiled innocently.

"Well, is that a yes?"

"YES! We are gonna party, all night long!" Mina started to imitate Lionel Ritchie's song. Ashley laughed as they finally left school once it was over.

Ashley's mother was so delighted that Ashley had a friend and that she came over. It has been a while since she last saw her daughter have a good time. Once Mina arrived to their apartment, Linda greeted her with a huge smile on her face. Mina could not help but smile back.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mina." She extended her hand for a shake.

"Same here Mrs. Bacory!" Mina shook her hand with great speed. Ashley laughed to herself, seeing how her mother was struggling to keep up the pace. They finally left go after a while.

"Well now… I have to go to back to work, my break is almost over. Enjoy yourselves, Bye!"

"Yeah, see you later, Mom." Ashley was given a quick kiss on the forehead, before Linda left off.

"Your Mom seems nice." Mina commented once they were alone.

"Only when she's not angry."

Mina laughed at that, and soon after that the girls just chilled. They watched movies, ate pizza, and by the time it was night time, they talked about themselves. It turns out that Mina is also being raised by a single mother who works at an accounting position. She is the middle child, and the only girl, amongst the three siblings. Her older brother serves in the army, while her younger brother is in middle school. Mina thinks that her "craziness" comes from her boredom of always being left alone by her family.

"I don't think you're crazy, only energetic." Ashley assured.

"I guess it comes with being the middle child." Mina stated lightly.

"I think you're pretty cool. And I'm not just saying it because we're friends."

"Thanks!" Mina gave her a huge smile. "By the way, can I see your room? If your this great in person, I bet your room reflects your soul."

"Heh, sure, it might be a bit messy, though."

"Hey, the messier, the better!"

They went over to Ashley's room, and the minute they entered, Mina was amazed. The walls were decorated with some cool rock band posters and some fancy looking crafted décor that hang loosely from the ceiling. Mina also loved the great view of the ocean and the Boardwalk from Ashley's window. It was really comfy as well, and Ashley started sharing her Walkman with her. After some music bonding, Mina noticed a small family picture placed on Ashley's night stand. It was slightly tilted away, but she could see it either way. She picked it up to take a better look at it.

"Is this you and the rest of your family?"

Ashley saw what she had in her hands and quickly snatched it away from her. For a moment they stared at each other, both dumbfounded about what just happened. Then, Ashley turned away from Mina, trying to hold back tears. Mina realized how sad Ashley got.

"I'm sorry, I should've-"

"No, it's alright. It's just that… talking about my family still gets to me." Ashley said as she slowly turned to face Mina. Her eyes were now glossy, holding the tears.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to-"

"No! It wouldn't be fair after you talked about yourself. Plus, I really need to talk about it to someone." Ashley sat on her bed.

"Well, I'm all ears." Mina sat next to her, and gave her a small smile.

Ashley gave the picture back for Mina to see. Mina looked at it completely, noticing a younger version of Ashley and her mother. But the man and girl with the black hair, she did not recognize. Ashley noticed what she was looking at and decided to finally talk about them.

"The man's my dad, and the girl is my older sister, Elizabeth."

"Where are they?"

Ashley had to take a deep breath before talking. She had almost forgotten how sad the situation made her feel.

"It used to be the four of us. My dad was pretty cool, always playing around with us and taking us to fun places. My mom has always been a nice woman, like how you saw her today. But she was really clingy to my dad. She wanted to keep an eye on him ALL the time!"

"Was she scared that he would leave her? He is handsome." Mina pointed out.

"Yes. But my dad only had eyes for her. The problem was that she wanted to keep a picture perfect family image. She never got along with her family, especially since her sisters were favored over her. I guess she wanted to prove that she could have the ideal life like them, so she pressured my dad into being someone that he is not."

"Oh, like the typical average Joe who works in an office and comes in time for dinner?" Mina smiled at the image of this man being anything like that. It would've been funny.

"Yeah, ridiculous, right? Honestly, the conventional lifestyle is not for him. He was sort of a biker-"

"Your dad was a biker! Wow! This is just like Grease!" Mina could not help herself.

"Um… I suppose." Ashley never really thought about her parents' relationship like that since her mother would never be caught singing and dancing like that.

"Sorry, continue." Mina said with an apologetic smile.

"Anyway, once my mom wanted him to change, things did not go well from there. She had such high standards that he could no longer take it. They eventually got separated, and she won custody over us."

"It must have been really tough on you." Mina sympathized.

"It was, but I could handle it thanks to my sis, who was always by my side. But that did not last long either since all the pressure that my mom put on my dad she-"

"Don't tell me!" Mina covered her ears quickly for a second and then removed her hands looking at Ashley.

"She later pressured my sister too."

"Noooo!" Mina cried.

"Yep, she basically wanted to turn Elizabeth into another version of herself. The same fashion sense, arranging her classes so that she could eventually learn to work in an office like her, and it was all overwhelming. Many people saw Liz and thought that she turned out more like our mother, but it was far from the truth. She wasn't happy and to make matters worse, she's actually a lot like my father."

"Yeah, she has the same skin tone, hair, and everything else. It's like a female version of himself!" Mina exclaimed looking back at the picture. "I bet she looks gorgeous now."

"I sure hope so."

"What do you mean?"

"After going through all of my mother's demands, she had enough and decided to run away."

"WHAT?!" Mina could not believe. During her silly teenage angst episode with her own family, she would imagine what it would be like to run away. But she could never do it. The minute she stepped one foot out the door, she would pull it back in.

"So, you haven't heard from her since?"

"Yeah. It has been two years since I last saw her. I actually talked with her the moment she decided to leave."

"Really? What happened?"

"She wanted to take me with her, so that I would not go through the same thing with our mom. But I refused."

"Why?"

"Well, my mom never put any high demands or standards for me. She just let me be myself. I suppose that she only wanted to do that with Elizabeth because she reminds her of our father. Plus, I couldn't leave Mom by herself. I knew that I would be fine with her." Ashley gave a sad smile.

"That was really brave of you. What about Elizabeth, though?"

"She understood and promised to write to me every day. Here are some of the letters she sent me." Ashley reached for her nightstand drawer and pulled some letters out.

"Wow, she can write in cursive! Almost no one writes in cursive anymore." Mina was amazed by how beautiful the letters were.

"Yeah, she is practically an old soul. Sadly, I moved from New York to this place, and I don't think that I'll have any chance of ever finding her again." Ashley stated sadly. Before she knew it, soft tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"It's alright, Ashley. I'm sure that she is happy and will do whatever it takes to see you again. Reading these letters shows that she really cares about you." Mina patted Ashley's shoulder to comfort her.

"Yeah, she's always wanted to wander off like my dad and simply be herself. I use to call her the Gypsy Queen." Ashley laughed a little, slight memories coming back to her.

After a moment of silence between the two, Mina continue to pat Ashley on her back and looked back at the image of the family. She thought she had it rough, but this family was actually more torn apart thanks to a selfish act of wanting the "perfect" family image like some yuppies. Mina looked around, finding a way to change the subject. The nightlife that shone from the Boardwalk was now evident from the window. Mina smiled as she thought of an idea. She looked at the clock and saw that it was still early for them to try something new, at least for Ashley. She got up to face Ashley, with a bright smile on her face.

"Do you want to do something fun after all this time of keeping that in?"

"Yeah, like what?"

"Have you ever been to the Boardwalk?"