Hey All! Here's another one for you. Enjoy. Let me know what you think!

slushhy: Over the next few chapters things start to get explained. But I'm a fan of the unexpected so...

.HEART: I think Ashley might be able to reach her on a level that most wouldn't. :) And you will find out everything soon because nothing can stay buried forever. right? :)

grangergirl22: Thanks! Glad you're liking it!


Chapter 10: Some Secrets Revealed

Spencer's POV

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that no one has told her about me. I shouldn't be surprised that I really have become nothing to these people. Erased like a mistake on a chalkboard. Forgotten along with every other bad memory. I shouldn't be surprised that they really didn't care. It is not as if I was expecting them to anyway. All this does is validate the fact that I am alone.

"I know you, Spencer. I know you because three years ago I was pretty much just like you."

And what the hell is that supposed to mean? How can she possibly be anything like me? Last time I checked, she was never cast out by everyone that she knew. She was never blacklisted and turned into a bad memory that everyone just wanted to forget. She was never erased. But then again I don't really know her. I don't know what Ashley has been through and why she moved here. I don't know why she has this pull over me that makes me want to talk to her. I don't know anything anymore. But, now I'm curious. I want to know about her. I want to know everything.

Collin keeps telling me that I can't afford to get to close to anyone here. He tells me that I can't let my guard down because it will ruin everything. Collin likes to hear himself talk. He likes to pretend that he knows everything when all he knows is what is on the outside. He may have an in with these people but that doesn't mean that I have to listen to him. Besides, what does he know anyway?

If I want to get to know Ashley, then I will get to know her. It is not as if he could stop me. This is my life, my choice. I feel like she may know me almost better than I know myself and that is a little unnerving. I am going to find out who she is and maybe I can help her. Maybe we can help each other. Maybe she can be the one to love me. Wait…where the hell did that come from?

I open my mouth to speak but no words come out. I can't find my voice. Well, that's just perfect.

"Spencer?" She says softly, effectively taking me away from my thoughts.

I turn to look at her. "What?" That's it…simple answers Spencer.

"Why is everyone afraid of you? Why were you in jail?"

Talk about getting right to the point. Ashley's not wasting any time. She's looking at me with concern in her eyes and I am still trying to figure out why I am being open with her in the first place. I do not understand myself sometimes. I spend ten years building these walls up that no one can get through and it only took her three days to be able to read me like a book. It is kind of frustrating. Why am I letting her in? Why didn't I just slam the door in her face?

In the back of my mind, I keep hearing that little voice tell me that this is just some ploy to get information out of me for my sister and her friends. It keeps telling me that this is only going to backfire. Yet I don't want to let her walk out that door. I could tell her to leave. I could tell her that if it is that important for her to know then she can just ask somebody else. I could tell her that the answers to her questions are complicated and that I don't want to answer them. I could tell her anything I want to because I don't have to answer to her. I don't have to let her in. But I want to. I want to know her better than I know myself and I want her to know me. I want her to know the truth because lord knows she wouldn't get it from any of them.

I am staring into her deep brown eyes. She really is beautiful. I could get lost in her and never grow tired of it. She is waiting patiently for my reply. I know she is going to push, but I wonder if she knows her limit.

"They're not afraid of me, Ashley. They're afraid of a ghost that they thought they buried."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" I stop for a minute. This isn't going to be easy. "Look Ashley. The people in this town buried me a long time ago. They put me away and obviously erased me from their lives. They made me their dirty little secret and they never thought that I would actually come back. They never thought that they would have to face the things that they did. A whole town protecting two people, and ditching me like I was just a bad habit or something. But, getting rid of me made way for the two people who had the brightest futures. I was a sacrificial lamb Ashley and nobody cared then…so why should I believe that you really care now?"

I stand up and walk over to the window. Looking out at the town I try to compose myself. I was a little angry and I really have no reason to be angry with her. She just wants to know what happened. I can't say that I blame her, either. I know that I would want to know what was going on if I was in her position. But this is going to be a give and take. I won't open up to her unless she opens up to me as well.

I can feel her walk up beside me, brushing her shoulder with mine, and electricity shoots through my body. What the hell was that? She starts talking softly.

"For eight years I was nothing but a screw-up. I drank, did drugs, and got myself into more trouble than anybody else I knew. I hated the world because they hated me. Or at least I thought I did." She takes a deep breath. "In high school I hated my life. I was an outcast and expected to be school rebel, so that's what I did. I rebelled. But eventually things took a turn for the worse. Back in LA everything can be so superficial sometimes. Everyone always wants something. People have images to maintain and fake happiness to portray. It's all about what you have and who you pretend to be. I guess I just got sick of it."

I turn to face her and her gaze reaches mine.

"I started to steal in order to gain some respect and attention. I wanted them to catch me. But they never did. I thought that if I proved myself then maybe my mother and father would actually care. Back then they didn't. She was a wannabe socialite, he was a drunk, and I was just a nuisance." She looks away and puts her down. I continue to stare at her with my brows furrowed. "Anyway, one night I got into a fight with another girl from back home. She had said some things about my dad being a drunk and my mother probably wishing that I was dead. I just lunged at her. I was so angry and so frustrated that I took all of my aggression out on her. I didn't hold back and I just kept hitting her. She was bleeding and crying for me to stop but I couldn't. It was like I was possessed or something." A tear rolls down her cheek and she quickly wipes it away. "She was in a coma for six months. I almost killed her, Spencer."

"Ash…" I say with concern lacing my voice. I had no idea.

"Let me finish." I nod my head telling her to go on. "I pled guilty to aggravated assault and served eighteen months in a juvenile prison and then five years probation when I got out. Once my probation was finished, my mother made me move here to manage her building, saying that I needed a change of scenery, among other things." She turns to look at me again. "So, I do care Spencer. I care because regardless of what you may have done, it doesn't give them the right to treat you like this." She takes my hand in hers and looks directly into my eyes. "I care because I feel this connection with you that I can't quite explain. I care because I know that you are just as alone as I am even with all these people who call themselves my friends. I care because I know that somehow I need you in my life and I'm not willing to just forget about it."

I have no idea what to say to that. She just literally shared one of her deepest, darkest secrets and I can't even say anything. She looks so broken and hurt. I just want to pull her in and hold onto her, letting her know that everything is going to be all right. I want to let her know that her demons can be dealt with and that she does deserve to be happy, because right now I don't think that she feels like she does deserve it. I want to tell her that we really aren't all that different, although our situations may be. I want to tell her that I understand. That I feel the same way. I want to take her pain away, but I know that I cannot do that until I deal with mine.

We are just looking at each other with our hands still linked together, and I can see the worry and fear washing over her eyes. I know that she is waiting for me to say something. I know now that the pain I saw in her eyes before is real. I know that I need her too. I don't know why, but I know that somehow we were meant to be there for each other.

"I'm sorry, Ash."

"For what?"

"For just assuming. For thinking that you only wanted to talk in order to help my sister. For…"

She squeezes my hand and smiles slightly, cutting me off.

"Don't worry about it, Spence. You didn't know any of that. No one around here does. I just thought that if this is going to work, you needed to know. I needed to let you in, if I ever expected you to let me in."

Another tear falls from her eye and I reach up to wipe it off. Tilting my head slightly and giving her the best smile that I can muster. I know that I need to tell her everything, regardless of what she does with the information. I need her to know what really happened, just like she needed me to know her secret.

I take a deep breath and pull her over to the couch so we can sit down.

"It started when I found out about some of the business practices going on in this town. To say they were shady would be an understatement." I pause for a minute, regaining some sort of composure. "My father found out that his bosses were skimming money from the businesses, among other things, and not reporting it. They told him to stay quiet and that they would cut him in, so he didn't say anything at first. He didn't take the money offered, but he still didn't say anything." I take another deep breath and she squeezes my hand again, almost instantly making me feel at ease. "That is until one night when he walked into McGraw's Pub to have drink. He didn't know that I followed him that night and hid in the alley beside the pub. I hated it when he drank because it never solved anything, but that's how he dealt with his problems." And another deep breath. "Anyway, after about an hour I heard yelling through the little window on the side of the building and I knew right away that it was my father's voice. I grabbed a crate and stood on it so that I could try and see through the window."

There were five big guys in the bathroom holding another man in a chair even though he was tied down. The man in the chair was bleeding from cuts on his face and arms.

"What the hell are you doing, Jenkins?" Jenkins turns his head.

"Leave Arthur! This doesn't concern you."

He walks up to Jenkins and puts his hand on his arm and turns him around aggressively.

"Well, I'm making it my concern. Did you forget that I am the only thing keeping your ass out of prison. Now, let the man go."

"Go to hell, Arthur. This is a business matter and Mr. Thompson here is trying to get away with stealing from my business."

Arthur pulls on Jenkins' collar a little tighter.

"You let him go, or I will turn you in myself." He leans forward a little bit.

Jenkins backs down and nods his head a bit. The other guys in the room untie the man who is tied to the chair and he runs out of the room.

"The man ran out but it didn't matter. They found his body about four weeks later. I guess after my dad had talked to them, they waited until he left to go after Mr. Thompson again." Ashley moves a little closer to me and squeezes my hand again, encouraging me to go on. "When my father placed the face of the dead man with the name, he knew. He knew that they had done it and a few days later he decided that he was going to go to the police. He knew that it would cause problems but he didn't care anymore. He was willing to take whatever they were going to give him." I looked at her eyes, needing desperately to convey my emotions to her as a tear fell from my own. "He never made it, Ashley. The night he was in his supposed accident was the night that he was on his way to turn them in." She wipes the tears away from my face. "And that's when everything went from bad to worse."

I get quiet for a minute, trying to regain my composure. I don't cry. I think the last time I cried was at my father's funeral. I have held onto everything for so long that I think maybe it needed to come out. I think that maybe Ashley is the only one who could make me feel safe enough to let it come out.

"Spencer?" She says bringing my attention back to her. Once she knows she has it, she continues. "Why were you in jail?"

I close my eyes for a second and then look back into hers. "The official charges were fraud and manslaughter."

The door slams shut and me and Ashley jump apart and look towards the intruder. Our eyes go wide and my walls come back up. DAMMIT!

"What the hell is going on in here?"