-Chapter 4-
It was a quiet day in the busy suburbs of Los Angeles. The whole city seemed to be asleep on this particular afternoon, and even the sun shone with less intensity and brilliance than usual. Two teenaged brunettes were on the porch of a huge house, one was pacing (or lumbering, rather) around the deck, her delicate brow scrunched in deep concentration, and the other laid sprawled across a hammock, filing her nails idly. A blue book was held in each of their hands.
"I've come to see if you're ready," Kyla droned, glancing up from the script and twirling her gum around her finger.
"Take a good look, Alicia. `Cause the only thing I'm ready for is a dirt nap."
"Why don't you look inside your heart, Olivia? Your words have been heard, and not just by me."
"When you walked into—" Ashley squinted her eyes and strained to think of the line. "Shit," she cursed, and flipped through the script. "Ok. When you walked out of the rain and into my club, that wasn't just a coincidence, was it?"
"Nothing's a coincidence, baby, you know you're the only one," Kyla paused dramatically and made a kissy face at Ashley, "that can make me sing." She burst out laughing and pointed to the script. "Jesus, this thing is soo sleazy. Are you sure Clay wrote this, and not Madison?"
Ashley tried to stifle her laugh into a sigh. "Come on, Ky. Can you please focus? I have to have this memorized in three freaking weeks!"
"Ash, you know you couldn't pull this off if you had three months," Kyla declared. "Hell, I bet Paul Newman can't even make this shit work!"
"What is your obsession with that guy?!"
Kyla shrugged and went back to her nails. "He makes good lemonade."
Ashley sighed again, feeling quite hopeless. It seemed like even Kyla had bailed on her.
Seeing her best friend's distress, Kyla quickly got up from the hammock. "Hey, you know I'm just picking on you, right Ash?" she said in earnest. "You know I'm going to be there on opening night... on the front row." Kyla paused and grinned mischievously. "...with tomatoes," she added.
Ashley laughed, shaking her head and hugging the younger brunette. "Thanks Ky."
"No problem." She smiled and picked up the nail filer, finally satisfied with the shine of her nails. "Hey can we take a break?"
"Yeah, sure," Ashley agreed. "I'm starving."
Kyla followed Ashley as she made her way inside the house. "You got any lemonade?"
---
On Monday morning, Ashley got up half an hour earlier than she normally did. But this wasn't just any usual day; this was the day that Ashley Davies would ask Spencer Carlin for a favor. And she couldn't risk her friends seeing them talk together. She knew it was wrong to think that way, but what other choice did she have?
She tiptoed into the school building and looked from left to right, finally catching a glimpse of Spencer shoving a mini telescope in her locker. Luckily for her, the school hallways were currently deserted.
Carefully, Ashley walked to the blonde's locker. "Spencer, hey," she greeted as casually as she could make it sound.
Spencer took one glance at the taller girl and snorted. "What do you want, Davies? I've known you for years and you've never been the first one to come up and say hello."
Ashley sighed and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her gray jeans. "I need help with my lines," she said quietly.
Spencer shut her locker and spun around in false shock. "Ashley Davies is asking me for help?"
Ashley winced. "Yeah."
"Okay, I'll pray for you." She grabbed her backpack and walked away, leaving a shocked expression on Ashley's face. It didn't take long, however, for her to come out of her stupor and chase after the other girl.
"No, Spencer, you really don't—"
"You've obviously never asked someone for help before, have you?" the blonde swiftly cut her off, making Ashley stare at her shoes. "A request like yours requires flattering and groveling. It can't just be about you. It should be for the common good of everybody."
"But it is for the common good of everybody. Clay Gordon deserves the best. And he certainly will not have the best if I continue like this," she persisted, and her warm caramel eyes silently begging Spencer. "Please?"
Spencer thought for a while and realized that the other girl did have a point. "Alright, Davies. I'll help you on one condition." Spencer sighed, staring intently into the brunette's gorgeous hazel eyes. "You have to promise you won't fall in love with me."
Ashley smirked her notorious crooked smirk; her eyes traveling from Spencer's light pink blouse to her strawberry-colored Keds. "That's not a problem," she assured cockily. Was she even serious?
Spencer barely blinked. "Okay. Then I'll see you this afternoon after school." And without another word, she disappeared down the corridor, just as the hallway slowly became flooded with students.
Feeling unusually happy, Ashley Davies almost skipped down the hallway in pure joy. But being Ashley Davies, she knew she couldn't. Still, she couldn't deny she was more than a little stupefied as to why Spencer had such a strange request. She shrugged to herself and pushed it to the back of her mind. It was the least of her worries.
Whatever the reason was, Ashley was glad to be certain that she wouldn't break her promise.
---
"Ashley is coming here? Ashley Davies?" Arthur asked in disbelief.
Spencer glanced at her father cautiously and went back to chopping carrots. "Yes, Dad. Do you mind?"
"Of course I do! She's dangerous, she's careless, she's the worst kind of bully," he declared, and tested the soup out.
"Daddy, what about forgiveness? I thought we had discussed how I was going to decide how I wanted to spend my time and… my life."
Arthur sighed and wiped his hands on a dishcloth. "Well it's Ashley that I don't trust, not you, sweetie."
Spencer opened her mouth to say something, but was quickly cut off by the doorbell. Looking sternly at her father, she said, "I'll give you some time to talk to you, but please don't scare her off?"
"I don't think I scare people."
"Dad, you're like seven tall with the deepest voice ever." Spencer grinned and kissed his cheek. "But be nice."
Arthur rolled his eyes at his daughter playfully and ruffled her hair. "Fine, but if you don't get the door, I don't think I'm gonna have to." He smiled to himself as his daughter laughed and got up to get the door.
"Uh, hey," Ashley said almost shyly, looking down at her shoes.
"Hi."
She was wearing the same gray skinny jeans and the plain white v-neck t-shirt she wore at school. Although the young brunette was anything but plain. Her chestnut curls blew softly in the wind and Spencer smiled to herself. She never thought she'd ever see Ashley Davies on her front porch.
"So, are you gonna keep me out here all afternoon?"
Spencer breathed a sigh of amusement. "No, come on in." Ashley obeyed and the blonde gently closed the door, then pointed upstairs. "I'll be right back, my script is in my room," she said, although she had done it on purpose to let her father speak with Ashley like she had promised. "Make yourself at home."
"Yeah." Ashley looked around at the eerily clean home. "That's not likely," she muttered under her breath. Throwing her hands into her pockets again, she slowly walked around and glanced at the photos on the mantel. Spencer as a baby. Spencer as a toddler. Spencer as a kid. And Spencer now. Strange, she looked like she barely changed at all. As Ashley moved on, her eyes landed on a freaky figure of Jesus' head. His expression was that of a tortured soul, and his mouth was twisted in a silent scream.
"Wow. That is one scary looking—" Ashley jumped as Reverend Carlin silently stepped from behind her. "Jesus!"
Arthur frowned. "No. Spencer's father." The way he glared at her from the top of his glasses reminded Ashley of Mrs. Garber. "Hello Ms. Davies. I understand you've managed to win the lead at the school play. Congratulations."
Ashley nodded but she knew by Reverend's hard stare that he didn't really mean it. Glad that she hadn't chosen to say the f-bomb, She shifted awkwardly and tried to think of something to say. "So listen," she said, breaking the silence. "Thanks for letting me come over and run lines with Spencer."
"I didn't let you."
"Oh."
"It's a school night," he stated slowly, eyes still locked on her. "Let's get one thing straight, Ms. Davies. You think that on Sundays, I can't see you from where I stand." If there was one thing the Reverend was best at, it was making Ashley nervous. "But I do."
Ashley said nothing, and for the first time in her life, she was praying furiously for Spencer's return.
Arthur examined the young brunette, and it seemed that his work was done. "I'll be in my office," he insinuated, "right here." And without another word, he disappeared through the door, right when Spencer came down the stairs. Ashley heard her say something and she nodded absently, still wondering what Spencer's father had meant.
Were all the Carlins this cryptically strange?
Ashley glanced back at the screaming Jesus head and shuddered.
Probably.
---
A lone car hurtled down the unusually quiet road, carrying a familiar young brunette in it. Only this time, she was heading home from another typically boring party that Glen had made her go to. Ashley sighed tiredly and rolled down her window, loud airwaves of guitar riffs and scales filled the night air. Just as she was about to pass the cemetery, Ashley caught a glimpse of honey blond hair in the woods and slowed to a stop. Squinting her eyes at the figure, she really hoped it wasn't who she thought it was.
But of course, it had to be.
"What the hell?" she wondered to herself and stopped her Porsche, quickly heading into the thick band of trees. She finally managed to limp-run fast enough to reach a distance of a few feet behind the other girl and yelled, "Hey!"
Spencer spun around, startled at the sight of a slightly panting Ashley. The shock quickly wore off though, as Ashley recovered her breath.
"What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question."
For a moment she just stared at the blond girl, making Spencer cock her eyebrow quizzically. "Do you normally walk by yourself in cemeteries at night?" Ashley asked curiously, though she was kind of scared for the answer.
Spencer simply shrugged. "Maybe." She turned around and set foot into the graveyard.
"Wait!" Ashley called after her. "Where are you going?" She flinched as a small beam of light suddenly hit her face.
"Come and see."
Ashley stood where she was and weighed her options. On one hand, she was kind of curious what a girl like Spencer would be doing in the cemetery, because let's face it, she could be up to anything. But she also couldn't lie. This deserted place gave her the creeps. With a deep sigh she gave up and followed the other girl deeper into the woods.
They walked only by the light of the moon and Spencer's tiny flashlight. But in about five minutes, they reached the center of the graveyard where Spencer emptied her heavy backpack of its contents. Ashley watched in perplexity as the blonde started to assemble some sort of instrument that looked like a long tube attached to a wooden base.
"What is it?"
Spencer got up from the ground and dusted her skirt off. "This is my telescope. I built it when I was twelve," she informed, looking at the strange device lovingly.
Ashley nodded, actually a little impressed.
"Take a look."
The brunette raised her eyebrows at Spencer, but then reluctantly tilted her head and placed her eye over the slot.
Instantly, millions upon millions of stars became close to her, and one stood out in particular. It was exactly in the center, and if Ashley looked closely, she could see that it wasn't an actual star, but it had faint rings around it.
"Saturn," she recognized, and moved away from the telescope. "Pretty cool."
Spencer nodded, and her electric blue eyes twinkled excitedly. "Yeah, I'm planning to build a larger one so I can see the comet Hyakutake. It comes in Spring, but no one knows when it's coming back," she explained.
"Ahh. Nature's miracles," Ashley said, but they both knew she was being less than sincere. She gazed up at the sky and listened to the even chirp of crickets. It was the first time that night that she felt totally at peace, but her eyes fell back on Spencer. "I get it, okay?" she told her.
The blonde's delicate eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "Get what?"
"That you're into all this stuff." Ashley gestured to the telescope.
"This stuff… Well, I have my beliefs and my faith. But don't you?"
"No." She tore her eyes away from Spencer's and focused on the sky. "There's too much bad shit in this world." She thought about her mother who left her poor gentle father, for some rich guy. She thought about that girl she saw at the subway, the one with all the scars on her arms and tears in her eyes. She even thought about Aiden, and filled with guilt again.
Spencer shook her head. "Without suffering, there would be no compassion," she insisted.
Ashley turned back to Spencer and gazed right into her calm turquoise eyes. "Tell that to those who suffer."
Shaking her head again, Spencer stayed silent and looked to the huge dome of stars.
For the first time ever, the blonde and the brunette stood closely under the same night sky, but had absolutely nothing to say to each other.
