Whoa... short-ass chapter. Sorry...

- - -

A few weeks went by without any word from Ashley. Keely began to grow a bit worried until she saw a message from her in her inbox on the afternoon of April 12.

Keely-

Sorry I haven't been able to write lately- really distracted lately.

That's weird that there's no 1489 Marron Way… I guess Molly must've gotten something wrong, then.

I haven't been feeling good lately. Not like physically ill or anything like that. Just a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that I can't get rid of.

Sometimes I wonder why I think the things I do. It's not like me. But sometimes these thoughts just pop randomly into my head. More often than not, though, I'm consciously thinking about them. I find myself consciously wondering about stuff like death. Sometimes it doesn't seem all that bad to me.

I'm scared, Keely. I'm fucking scared.

I don't know, Keely.

Just seem lost today. Out of my element. Sorry.

-Ashley

That night, Max went over to Ashley's to drop off her notebook he'd borrowed.

After a knock sounded through the room, Molly called out, "You gonna get that?"

Ashley rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not gonna get that…" she muttered, looking at the various bottles of pills on the counter in the bathroom.

Molly sighed. "Ashley…" she said, having not heard her answer. "Where are you…?"

Ashley just laughed, as she slid down against the wall into a sitting position.

"Dammit, Ashley…" Molly saw that the bathroom light was on, and stalked over there. "Ashley, I…"

Molly's eyes moved from the counter, where several bottles of medicine lay opened, to Ashley, sitting on the floor, laughing. She put two and two together, and promptly panicked.

Meanwhile, Max, who was growing tired of waiting outside, decided to try the door. Finding that it was unlocked, he let himself in and put the notebook down on a table near the window.

"Ashley, why? I--"

"Get out, Molly," Ashley spat.

"You--"

Ashley, fed up with her roommate, flung a mirror at her. She ducked, and the mirror slammed into the wall. The noise caught the attention of Max, who headed down to the bathroom to see what happened. "Ashley?" he called out.

"Max?" Ashley snapped up.

He walked in, and just as Molly had done earlier, he looked at the pills on the counter to Ashley on the floor in the corner of the room.

"Holy shit…" he muttered. He didn't even bother to pay attention to Molly, much to Ashley's confusion. Doing the thing that first came to his mind, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed 9-1-1.

A few short moments later, he came over to Ashley and knelt down beside her. "Oh… Ashley…"

"Why… did you do that?" she asked.

"Why did I do what?"

"Why the fuck did you call an ambulance?" she demanded.

"I… I couldn't just leave you here… leave you to die…"

"Well, what if that was what I wanted? I could've sworn I locked that damn door…"

"Ashley, you're not thinking rationally…"

"Of course I am," she spat. "Do you think I just decided to do this on the spur of the moment? Dammit… maybe Molly unlocked the door."

"Ashley, wh--"

"No. Just… ugh…" She shook her head, trying to shake the feeling of nausea that was coming on. "I don't want to hear it…"

---

Whilst watching The Ring on DVD, Keely jumped when the phone in her house rang.

It's only a movie, she reminded herself, and plucked up the courage to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" she answered it, a bit worried.

"Uh, hello… is this Keely?" Max asked from the other end.

"Yeah…"

"Is your mom up?"

"She's actually in town right now… she'll be back in probably half an hour or so…"

"Oh… oh, okay, I'll tell you then…"

"Tell me what?"

"Um… it's about your sister… well, she's in the hospital."

"What?"

"I found her in her room… she overdosed…"

"Wh… do they know if she's going to be alright?"

"I haven't heard anything…"

"Was it intentional?" Keely asked, fearing the answer.

Max paused for a while. "Yeah," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh my God… so… you just found her in her room? Well… what about her roommate?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Her roommate… wasn't she there?"

"Roommate?"

"Yeah… ugh, what's her name… Molly Groves!"

"Ashley doesn't have a roommate…" Max said, frowning.

"Doesn't… have…" Keely tried to wrap her mind around what he was saying. "Of course she does! Molly Groves… she always writes about her…"

"Sorry, Keely, but Ashley lives alone here… look, my battery is low, so I'll call back if I hear anything, okay?"

"Yeah, sure…" Keely muttered, distantly.

- - -

Well fuck. I had written up a nice long note to the end of this chapter, but this damned site just decides to erase it. Thanks a lot.

Anyway... this document manager is acting the fool. That's alright. I can live with that, I suppose.

But... yeah, I'm quite aware that this chapter is awful. But, it's been a while since I updated, so I figured that I had to put something out there. Just haven't been able to do much, lately. Eh, whatever, this is quite possibly the last story you'll ever see from me, anyway. Hm. Maybe I'll rewrite this chapter someday, just so it doesn't suck so bad. But yeah... uh... dammit. I can't remember what else I said. Oh yeah. I plan to finish this story before I have to go back to school. Jeez... school just needs to die, already.