You are lucky, lucky people. I was on a roll, and I didn't want to do schoolwork so I did this really fast today. There's probably mistakes though so tell me if you catch any. You might hate me for the end.

If you died today, would that be okay?

Ashley's PoV

I wasn't worried about my mother kicking me out. I still had my inheritance money so it wasn't much of a threat. I hope she goes to hell though. She was staying in town for a couple of days, and where once that would have delighted me, now my only thought was to get out of the house. If I stayed under the same roof as her any longer I might kill her.

I grabbed my guitar (it was a birthday present from my father) and some money and fled the house unnoticed in late afternoon. There was a park that I used to go to a lot because it was the only green place in the entire goddamn city. Inside there are a lot of paths that barely anyone walks on. I chose one that seemed pretty deserted and set off.

As the evening wound down, and the sky darkened less and less people came. I sat on a bench and strummed my guitar. I didn't play many songs, just picked chords and short melodies. After the harrying days with my mother everything was peaceful in the park. It was getting too dark to see when I decided to return home. The lamps had come on only a few minutes before, but it was a long haul back to my car.

Something about the night air made me feel more alive and free than I had in a long time. I could hear cars from the streets reminding me I was still in the city, but suddenly I felt sort of wild. Cold was never common in LA, but there was a bite in the air tonight. Rather than freezing me up, it emphasized how warm and alive I was. I kept stopping to play little tunes on the guitar, and I sang when I walked. Singing left me breathless and light, and I was so alive. My fingers were pleasantly numb, everything was right and I was exhilarated.

And there was someone walking down the path towards me. I couldn't see them very well, and I heard them first. It was two people actually, walking side by side. Suddenly, my elation disappeared, and I felt incurably lonely. I started hugging the right side of the path to let them through.

They were closer. Passing under a streetlamp I tried to make out their faces, but they were still too far away. Then, a sense of familiarity washed over me. It was different than déjà vu, and it took a moment for me to realize why. Even though I couldn't see any features there was something undeniably familiar about one of them: the way she walked, the shape of her body, how her hair swung with her gait. I stopped.

"Spencer?"

"Ashley," she replied with forced calm. It was definitely Spencer, and -yes, Carmen. I hadn't seen Carmen in about two years, but nothing major had changed. The only difference I could see was that her bangs were even heavier.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"I'm on a date." I tried. I had warned her about Carmen. Why didn't she realize that Carmen Madruga is the last person anyone needs to have any type of relationship with? And what did Carmen think she's doing with my Spencer. Spencer deserved better than some crazy psycho. Carmen had tried to burn down the school once. I was far from perfect, but I had to be better than Carmen.

"With her-" I began heatedly.

"Yes, with me," Carmen interrupted just as angrily. Inches from me, she snarled, "And she's a whole lot better off with me than you. I'm not a filthy rich, sniveling baby who cries herself to sleep because -horror," she mocked me," mommy and daddy don't love me. They're not here and I'm all alone with my fancy car and swimming pool." Fuck her. What did she know about me and my family? "And I sure as hell don't use that as an excuse to be a bitch and a whore," she finished.

"No, of course you don't, you just use it as an excuse to beat people up," I pointed out ever so reasonably. Then, just to get her back, I whined "oh no, I have a horrible life so now I'm going to attack other people because I'm not getting enough love at home."

"Shut the fuck up," she snapped, her eyebrows lowering until you could actually see them under her ridiculous bangs. I was distracted from my critique of Carmen's features by Spencer's placating voice.

"Now look, let's all-" Carmen cut her off, which annoyed me because that was Spencer she just ignored.

"At least I'm not an unlovable bitch. Didn't daddy want you? Weren't you his favorite little girl? You know, except for all the others? Where's daddy now?" She sniped. I could have killed her. I'd spent too many sleepless nights asking the same questions. Why didn't he tell me? I took a deep breath and tried not to show just how hard that had hit.

Next thing I knew, Carmen was screaming at Spencer and pushing her and kicking her, and I was furious. There was no way that Carmen should ever be allowed to lay a hand on my Spencer, much less hit her. I dropped my guitar and leapt for her. I didn't do much damage, but she turned around anyways and swung at me. I staggered away from the blow and called on all the hallway gossip I'd heard over the years.

"Do you even know who your father is? You've got a lot of nerve calling me a whore when your mother is a prostitute. She isn't much of one either. Not even two of your siblings have the same father." Carmen made some sort of bellowing noise and lashed out again. The blow caught my cheek and threw me off balance. I stumbled and twisted my ankle when my feet traveled from the grass to cement. If it weren't for Carmen's newfound grip on my shirt I would have fallen. As it was I clawed at her hand and kicked her shins, trying to get away.

Her next blow struck my nose directly and blood gushed everywhere. I choked on the nauseating metallic liquid. The pain wasn't as bad as the strange wrongness of being hit in the nose. At that moment I realized that picking a fight with Carmen Madruga was probably the stupidest, not to mention last, decision of my life. It was far from the worst though. If I hadn't gone to Europe with my mother none of this would have happened anyways.

Where was Spencer? She ran, right? No, she's still here. What in the world is she doing? She needs to run! I redoubled my efforts to escape Carmen's grasp, but it was like hitting a brick wall. I sucked in breaths as best as I could through the blood and blows to my stomach. Dying couldn't be that bad, but as long as Spencer was here I was going to fight it out. I tore at Carmen's face. My nails had been neglected since my European adventure, and they slid easily into the flesh, leaving rivulets of blood. In retaliation she bashed my ribs and I think one broke. I strangled a cry of pain through the blood. Spencer was screaming, but I couldn't tell what.

Without warning Carmen falls on top of me. It wasn't much of an improvement because now my hands were trapped beneath her. And then, her hands closed around my throat and I couldn't breathe. I jerked and writhed on the ground. Wriggling a hand free, I tugged at her fingers, but I was only getting weaker. Spots were appearing in my vision, and I felt like I was going to explode. My head was both throbbing and light. This wasn't so bad. I was out in the cold air and not some dingy room that the light has never seen. There were worse ways to go. Nobody says bad things about you once you're dead. Even having Carmen on top of me wasn't so horrible. Sure, I wished it was Spencer on top of me, but still, I was alive tonight. I hoped Spencer got away. I couldn't see clearly anymore. I wished I could tell her...

Black.

...

No, Ashley's not dead... or is she?