- 6.
Checking on Ashton was just an excuse.
Despite him sticking up for me, I still
remembered how he treated me in school –
–
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pelting me with dodgeballs, snipping my braids,
hiding my textbooks, putting caterpillars in my
desk… Gratitude was one thing. I’d send him a
thank you gift. But becoming friends? No way. I
was heading home when I spotted him leaning
against the wall outside, smoking. He tossed
the cigarette in the trash when he saw me. “I
rode with Josh. Are you heading back? Mind if I
get a ride?” I sighed and relented. In twelve
years of friendship, this was one of the few
times we’d been alone without arguing. I
<
dropped him off at his house. He didn’t move.
After a long silence, he mumbled, “That
Summer girl… she’s a lot like you used to be.” So what? She wasn’t me, and I wasn’t her. I
didn’t want to discuss it, so I opened the car door, practically shoving him out. Ignoring his indignant shouts, I pulled away and turned into
the next driveway. My house was next door to Ashton’s, Ethan’s right beside that. This was a neighborhood of privilege.
