| August 23, 2004 |
| It was the first day of Ashley's senior year of highschool. Time had gone so fast for her, and she was so glad that she was almost done with highschool. "Finally," she said to herself. "This is my last year. I just know that college has to better than highschool." She was so happy that college was just a year away. Highschool years were just so terrible for her. She had never dated anyone. She had never been as pretty as the other girls, and she was too shy. When she had been really overweight in junior high, she had been considered unpopular. She still thought of herself as overweight and unpopular. She guessed that was why none of the guys liked her. She had never really cared to date, though, either. Ashley had been over her bulimia for two years now. She had gone through all of her counseling and just decided to not do it. Sometimes, she would get urges to do it, but she was able to overcome them. She had a little more self-esteem, too. She didn't think that she was beautiful, but she didn't dwell on the subject of her weight as much anymore either. She parked her car on a street near her school. She got out and started to search for her friends. She started walking, and she spotted some of them in the place where they usually stand. Jenny, Amber, Kendra, and Maria were the only ones there. Jenny was wearing a big red T-shirt and jeans. Jenny had always dressed casually, like Ashley. She usually didn't care all that much about what she wore. She had really short blonde hair and blue-green eyes. She was a lot taller than Ashley, too. Ashley was really short, so most of her friends were taller than her, but Jenny seemed to be the tallest. Ashley had always thought that Jenny was pretty. She was, also, probably the closest friend to Ashley. She was the first of her friends to know about her bulimia. At the time, she had gotten so worried about it that she told Amber, who is another one of Ashley's close friends. Amber was, also, dressed casually. Sometimes, she would dress up in fashionable clothes, but most of the time, she just wore a T-shirt and jeans. Today, she had on a baby blue T-shirt and jeans. She had dark brown hair and blue eyes. She had her hair up in a ponytail, like she normally did. Amber was, also, really skinny. Ashley had always wanted to be as skinny as her. Amber was definitely someone Ashley joked around with a lot. She was now talking to Maria, who was another girl in their clique. Maria was one of those crazy kind of girls. Sometimes, she would dress up really fancy (when she didn't need to), sometimes, she would dress casually, and other times, she would dress fashionably. Today, she had on a black noodle-strap shirt with a white button-up shirt covering it, jeans, and black platform shoes. She has dark brown eyes and long, curly black hair that was up in lots of braids. Since she was Mexican, she had a really noticeable accent. A long time ago, Ashley hadn't been really good friends with her, but, now, she got along better with her. Maria was mostly cheerful, but, sometimes, she could be really moody. Most of the time, she could be kind of fun to hang out with. Kendra was another girl in their circle of friends. She was really funny, but very flirty. Just by looking at her, you could tell that she was a flirt. Today, she had on a red 3/4 shirt and black pants. Most of the time, she dressed fashionably, but once in a while, she dressed casually. She had really short light-brown hair and green eyes. She was, also, one of those skinny girls that Ashley had wished to be. Kendra was really funny, too. Ashley had been good friends with her for a while. She could be really cool to joke around with. As soon as she saw them, she quickly jogged up to her four friends. "Hey guys, " she said smiling, when she reached them. "Hey," they all said in unison. After greeting each other, Jenny finally spoke up. "I have some REALLY good news for you," she said, smiling slyly. "Really? What is it," Ashley asked, excitedly. "We have a new boy in our class." Jenny always know about new kids and teachers, since her brother, who is 16 years older than her, worked there as a teacher. "So...," Ashley said, carelessly. She never really cared about new boys in her class, since none of them ever seemed to be interested in her. "Well... he's blonde. And he's really your type," Jenny said, grinning widely. "That's nice," Ashley said, nonchalantly. She didn't really want to get another crush on a guy, that would probably end up breaking her heart later on, anyways. It happened before, and she didn't like it. She didn't really expect this guy to be as cute as they described him, either. "Well... we're all dating, and, well... you're not..." Kendra said, speaking for the first time in the conversation. "And your point is..." Ashley asked, a little offended. "Well, we were thinking that maybe you guys could get together... or at least you could TRY to hook up with him," Amber said. "I really don't think so, guys," Ashley replied. "Oh, come on, Ashley," Maria yelled. "It won't kill you to, at least, TRY to get to know the guy!" "Well... it depends," Ashley said, trailing off. "Depends on what," Jenny asked. "It depends on if I think he's attractive... on how he acts... and all that other stuff," Ashley replied. "Believe me... you will like him," Jenny said, reassuringly. "I don't know about that," Ashley said, skeptically. Just then, they heard the bell ring for their first class. "Well, we'll just see about that," Jenny replied, grinning. "Yes, we will," Ashley thought to herself, smiling. |