Ace

Chapter 3

Ace

Dr. Escobar, and Dr. Flanigan, along with my other healthcare team, kept me under strict supervision for 3 days before they discharged me. They had to do many brain scans to make sure everything was functioning correctly. Dr. Flanigan said I am perfectly healthy, besides a bit of bruising, and I could continue to heal at home, where my family would be able to take care of me. He has been coming over for home visits as well.

I am in my senior year of high school, and have my finals this week, so I was discharged right on time. Even if taking my finals is the last thing on my mind, I have to take them to be able to walk the stage and receive my diploma.

"Your mom told me you are home now. I am so happy to hear that, and was wondering if you'd like to come by and go through Ash's things with me?" Alice sends me a text message, and I respond telling her I will be there soon. Ashlynn was my best friend, and Alice is such a sweet woman. Neither one deserves any of this.

I head downstairs, and find mom reading. "Hey, where is dad?" I ask her. "He had to go sign some documents at the office, but he will be back soon," I sit around with her for a bit, before I tell her I am going to Ashlynn's house to visit with her parents. "You shouldn't be leaving the house yet, Adriana," I groan.

"Mom, the Dr's said, I am fine. You can't keep me locked in here forever." My voice gets loud, and mom tears up. "I'm sorry. I just want to protect you. You could have died in that accident too." I feel bad for getting loud. I think mom's just nervous and anxious about what happened. "I'll be fine mom. I'll go there and come back. I won't stop anywhere else. I promise." I think that aces he feel better so she nods and tells me to hurry up.

I stand on their front porch, and I ring the doorbell. I realize that this is the first time I am coming here, and my friend is not home. I always came here to visit and spend time with her, and now she is gone. Dead. Dion opens the door and gives me a sad smile.

"Ace. I am so glad to see you better and out of that hospital bed. Come on in. Alice, Ace is here," he shouts. His wife comes running down the stairs. She throws herself at me and gives me the biggest hug I have probably ever received. "I'm so glad you alive," she starts crying. "I'm so sorry," She shakes her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Adri. This was not your fault. It's just something that happened," she tells me, but I shake my head. "I told Jr not to drive drunk, but he wouldn't listen to me," Dion clears his throat. "I heard about that. I spoke to your father. Thank you for telling him the truth. Jr switched up some facts, but thanks to you. We are hoping they will reopen the investigation. Your dad already helped us put in a petition, and if there was any foul play, there will be some kind of justice, but you shouldn't worry about that. Why don't you two head to Ashlynn's bedroom and do your thing," he tells us. Alice grabs my hand and I follow her up the stairs.

I step into her room, and everything is as she last left it. "I know there are things in here that are yours. You can take all your things, and anything else that you'd like. I'm sure you are the only person she would feel okay with going through her things or taking anything," I smile. "I'm going to make some snacks. I will be back. Take your time," she tells me and walks away.

I have been here for an hour now. I packed a box with my clothes, and shoes that she had borrowed. I also find some of my hair tools that I have been looking for. I didn't even know she had brought them here. Once I am done collecting my things, I look around, and decide to start with her vanity. I slowly star going thought it. She has a stack of pictures here. I begin to go through them, but something is wrong. These are all pictures of me. On different days, all of me asleep or not looking at the camera. What the f*ck.

I continue looking around, and I find different stacks of pictures all over her room. So many of me, but in a box under her bed, the stack she was storing wasn't of me, but of her with Charles Jr. in all types of compromising positions. My heart drops, and my eyes sting with tears as I look at each picture and realize these two played me and Ryan for fools this whole time.

I am disgusted. Some of these pictures look like they were from when they were in middle school. I stare at a picture of them naked, and what looks like Jr wrapped in a bedsheet, with her lying naked on top of him. Who even took these pictures? What the f*ck is going on here?

A hot pink book with glitter catches my attention. I don't think I have ever seen this. I open it and sit on her bed. I open it and begin reading. I don't realize I am reading a private journal until it is too late. The words I hate Adriana in bright red catches my attention. I read everything a girl I thought was my best friend had to say about not just me, but also about my brother.

"Ryan is an idi0t. He swears I could ever love him." Then, on another day, she wrote. "She will pay with her brother's tears," I start to realize that Ashlynn wasn't who I thought she was.

I read page after page, and realize that this whole book is about how much she hated me and how much I made her life a living h3ll. I had no idea she ever felt this way. She sure played me. Here I was, thinking we were like sisters.

She wrote that I stole her man, Charles Jr. Carlton. I read every single cruel thing she said about me. She talked about how she and Jr would meet up just to talk sh1t about me. She wrote down all the nicknames they gave me. bubble butt, know it all, teacher's pet, nerd, stupid, rich girl, b1tch, c*nt, tr@mp and clueless. Wow. They went all out.

I flip the pages and skim read, and I finally get to a page that has a picture of me that she painted with devil horns and she crossed out my face. "ADRIANA BLAKE WHITMORE I HATE THIS DUMB F*CKING B!TCH. TODAY WE WERE ALL INVITED TO JR'S HOUSE. I HAD TO SIT THERE AND WATCH AS HIS PARENTS GUSHED ALL OVER ADRIANA, AND I GOT IGNORED. HIS PARENTS BARELY PAYED ANY ATTENTION TO ME OR ASKED ME ANY QUESTIONS. JR LATER TOLD ME THAT HIS PARENTS DIDN'T THINK I WAS ENOUGH COMPARED TO ADRIANA, AND THAT THEY MIGHT NEVER ACCCEPT ME, SO WE HAD TO KEEP US A SECRET. SHE IS LITERALLY RUINING MY LIFE. I HATE HER."

"I made her believe we were friends, and that I like her. I am going to crush her for inserting herself into my relationship. She will pay for forcing Jr to be with her and taking him away from me. I will show his parents that they are wrong about me."

"Today Jr and I had s3x in Adriana's bed while she and Ryan were downstairs playing games with everyone else. It felt so good, and they had no idea."

"I hate her I hate her I hate her. I had to watch Jr being gentle with her today. I felt so sick and came home and threw up."

"That b1tch has been keeping my man busy."

"I had to go to the nurse's office today, because I felt dizzy and had to throw up. I texted Jr, but he was too busy with that b1tch to come and comfort me. She is ruining my life.

"I just found out I am pregnant with Jr's baby. I can't wait to tell him. Surely now he will leave her.

Jr was mad about the pregnancy, but he will come around.

Jr said he would break up with Adriana if I ab0rted the baby, but I don't feel like he was being honest. I don't know what to do. He said if I didn't ab0rt, he would never talk to me again.

Jr keeps pressuring me to adb0t. Today in class he told me that if I ab0rted our baby, that he would tell her everything. I agreed and told him we could go to the clinic after prom, but I am not going to ab0rt the baby. I just want him to tell her. I want to make sure he does not back out of it. I want her to hurt. I want to see her suffer. I f*cking hate her.

Jr called me tonight and kept going on and on about the pregnancy. He says now is not the time. That we are too young. Our lives are barely starting. He thinks this will create difficulties for us. I tried to argue otherwise. If we love each other, it doesn't matter that it is happening now. If anything, this makes it better, because we will have more time with each other, but he says, I am crazy. It is all her fault. I just know it. I know that the difficulties he speaks of are her and her family. He is always trying to get her dad's approval. I have to figure out a way to convince him to keep the baby. Yes, we have our whole lives ahead of each other, and goals to accomplish, but my only goal is to stick it to that b1tch, and I finally have the power to do it. This baby is my power. I might just promise to do everything just so he doesn't keep arguing against this baby. I won't let him ruin this for me. I will not ab0rt. I can't wait for her and her dad find out the truth.

Ryan came over today. I kind of felt bad, but then he mentioned he was texting his sister, and I remembered why I was really doing things. I locked in.

Jr asked that b1tch to prom. I am about to lose my sh1t.

After crying hysterically in the auditorium to Jr, he finally gave in and said that depending on the mood, he would confess everything to her either at or after prom if I stopped causing a scene. Finally, things are moving forward.

Today is the day. Jr has been weird towards me. He has hardly been replying to my text messages. He doesn't answer my calls, almost ever. I decided to make plan B in case Jr doesn't go through with his part. The truth is going to come out one way or another though. I'm tired of being hidden, and I am in the mood to break some hearts, since I can't break faces. She has no idea what is coming for her. I have these new glasses that have a camera built in, so I can record when he does it. After prom, if he hasn't told her, then I will get her alone and tell her myself. I will tell her everything in detail too. I will film everything, and the video will be uploaded the day after so our whole class can make fun of her right before graduation. Everyone will find out that she is a l0ser, who took her best friend's man, and she will be the joke of the school." I close the book at the last entry.

She planned on confessing everything, and according to her humiliating me, but she died in that tragic car accident.

I am shocked. I can't believe she went through all that, instead of talking to me about it. Her feelings are important. Why would she just let these bad feelings grow instead of saying something? I complained about Jr to her so many times. I would always tell her I didn't know why I was even with him if I didn't even like him as a person. I would have felt relieved if she had confessed instead of putting all of her energy into hating me. Ashlynn was unhinged as f*ck, and I had no idea. I will not be able to trust anyone ever again after this level of betrayal.