Brave New Girl (Behind Closed Doors Book 1)

by Grace Herbst

  “You were jealous of me?” Ashley asked, trying not to show her surprise. “Really? Why?”

  “I may have had a history with Lucas, but he could relate to you,” Penny said. “You both have had experiences that I never went through. Things I would probably try just to get my parents’ attention.”

  Ashley was quiet for a moment. “I can’t say I’m exactly proud of what I did. I only did them because I was furious that my dad was dating Michelle. Ms. Jordan.”

  “At least your dad and stepmom give you attention. My parents pay more attention to their grandchildren than their own daughter.”

  “You’re an aunt?” Ashley didn’t know why she was so surprised. She didn’t know a lot about Penny or her home life.

  Penny nodded. “Yep, my mom was married before and I have three half-siblings. My half-brother is married and he and his wife have three kids. If my parents could adopt those kids, I’m sure they would do it in a heartbeat. They spoil them rotten.”

  Ashley tried not to smile. “Isn’t that what grandparents are supposed to do?”

  “Yeah, but they are also supposed to be parents,” Penny said. Ashley began to realize why Penny didn’t want to break up with Simon. Since Lucas left her, she felt abandoned and unloved. She wanted someone who paid attention to her and Simon was giving her all the attention she wanted. Perhaps too much. “What kind of parents don’t come to their daughter’s hospital bed right away when they hear their daughter got hurt?”

  Ashley felt like she was no better. She didn’t stay with her dad to support him and be there for him. She didn’t go and visit her aunt in the hospital. To see for herself if she was truly okay. All she focused on was trying to escape her problems instead of facing them.

  Penny didn’t seem to notice the faraway look in Ashley’s eyes. “Maybe if they would have known about their upcoming grandchild, they would have come and visited me.” Ashley was about to express her sympathy about the miscarriage, but Penny spoke up. “Then again, I wouldn’t have wanted to keep the baby anyway. Why would I want a reminder of my ex-boyfriend who abused me and who cheated on me?” Ashley couldn’t blame her. She didn’t know what she would do if she was in that circumstance. Penny’s next question brought her back to reality. “Was that girl Roxanne your friend or something?”

  Ashley let out a heavy sigh. How much should she tell Penny? “I don’t think she was ever truly my friend. But don’t worry. My dad will make sure both Simon and Roxanne pay for what they did.” She didn’t dare mention that Roxanne was in the wind.

  “Good because neither of them deserves to go to juvenile detention. They deserve to be arrested and put in jail.”

  “Can we get back to talking about us?” Ashley asked. As much as she wanted to get to know Penny, there was something she had to get off her chest. “Look, I understand that you were trying to protect Lucas from getting hurt. But it’s not fair to try and protect him without getting to know his new friend first. You don’t know the real me. You just know the student who has a deep troubled past and now is friends with your ex-boyfriend. There’s a lot more to me than being the troublemaker if you just got to know me. Especially since you said you listened to those rumors as an excuse to hate me.”

  Penny looked at her. “So your old nickname wasn’t Ace and you didn’t hook up and sleep around with guys?”

  Ashley groaned. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to hear the possible explanation considering where she had gotten that nickname. “That’s exactly why I stopped using that nickname. People hear that and automatically think it means an ace in the hole. No, I didn’t sleep around with guys. My nickname was Ace because I was an expert at winning games.”

  Penny raised her eyebrows. “Like what kind of games? Because nobody is better at winning than me,” she countered.

  “Name any game and I’ve played it and won the game. I don’t want to be a sore winner, but you need to watch out because I’m the queen.”

  Penny raised her eyebrows. “No way! I’m the queen.”

  “Really? You’re going to have to prove it to me some time,” Ashley challenged.

  They heard a familiar voice. “Is it my imagination or are you two actually getting along without arguing?” Lucas asked them as he entered the room. “I brought you some flowers.”

  “Don’t get used to it,” Penny joked as Lucas gave her a kiss on the cheek and he put the flowers beside her bed. She gave him a grateful smile before she became serious. “I want to apologize to you too. I shouldn’t have been so possessive of you. After all, you’re not a trophy. I just didn’t want to lose you.”

  “Just because we broke up doesn’t mean that we still can’t be friends,” Lucas gently reminded her. “You didn’t have anything to worry about until you kept getting in the way of my friendship with Ashley.” Penny turned red, embarrassed about her actions. “But you weren’t the one who tried to kill us. In fact, we probably would have been if you hadn’t distracted him. I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “I think that’s the only thing good about my miscarriage,” Penny agreed. “I’m really sorry about everything. Especially being mean to you. I promise I will try to do better.”

  Ashley turned to Lucas, pretending to be suspicious. “Should I trust her?”

  “When Penny promises something, she sticks to her word,” Lucas defended. “But maybe I’m biased because I’m her ex-boyfriend.”

  Ashley was quiet for a moment as if she was thinking about the offer. There was a long silence as she remembered what Mrs. Johnson told her. She was willing to forgive her for what she did. If Mrs. Johnson could forgive her, then she could forgive Penny and give her a second chance. Roxanne may not be her friend, but that didn’t mean her relationship with Penny would be the same as Roxanne. They were two different people. Roxanne showed no remorse or guilt while Penny was willing to try.

  Ashley took a deep breath before she spoke. “I want us to try and be friends,” she admitted. “I will give you a chance as long as you give me a chance.” Penny nodded in agreement. Ashley could see she was being sincere. “I should get going. I’ll see you later.”

  Ashley said good-bye and she left the room. She began walking down the hall towards the elevator when she heard her name being called. Lucas caught up with her. “So what did you mean by that? “See you later”?” he asked curiously. There was hope in his eyes. “Does that mean you’re coming back to Emerald?”

  “I’ll see you later,” Ashley repeated with a twinkle in her eyes. Lucas saw the look and he gave her a smile. She smiled in return. He had gotten her hint. She was ready to return to Emerald.

  Chapter 25

  Kyle and Ashley waited until Lucas was ready to leave before Kyle took them back to Ms. Bartlett’s apartment. Both Ms. Bartlett and Michelle were there and Michelle let out a relieved sigh as she saw her two students. Kyle looked sternly at his wife. “What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay home.”

  “I couldn’t stay home when I knew Ashley and Lucas were in trouble,” Michelle replied as she turned to Lucas and Ashley. “Are you two okay?” she asked. They both nodded. “Thank goodness. I’m glad you guys are okay. I can’t imagine what you went through. I’m sure you don’t want to talk about it now, but I’m here for both of you if you ever want to talk.”

  “That goes for me too,” Ms. Bartlett added.

  Michelle shot her a look. “I think you’ve done enough,” she snapped. That was when Ashley noticed the tension between the two adults. Clearly, Michelle was still angry at Ms. Bartlett for not sending Ashley home sooner. “Kyle, why don’t you take Lucas home? I’m going to stick around until Penny’s parents arrive.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Ms. Bartlett said. “I can keep an eye on Penny.”

  Michelle raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Like you did with Ashley? Do you not remember what just happened with Ashley and Lucas? They could have been killed.” Ms. Bartlett wanted to defend herself, but Michelle didn’t allow her. “If you
had just sent her home in the first place, none of this would have happened.”

  Ashley interrupted the argument. “Michelle, I appreciate you looking after me, but I had to stay here.” Michelle gave her an angry look. “Ms. Bartlett’s approach to handling situations may be unorthodox, but she was right.” Ashley turned to Ms. Bartlett with a sympathetic look. “You were right about me. I had some issues to work out. I just didn’t want to admit it. I’m sorry for giving you a hard time. I don’t think I was mad at you. I was just mad about the situation. I felt like no one understood my side. I thought everyone was against me and now I realize how selfish I was being.” She was now speaking to everyone in the room. “And I’m so sorry.” She turned to her father. “Am I grounded for running away?”

  Kyle and Michelle looked at each other before Kyle spoke. “We think you have been through enough.” Ashley was grateful. However, he wasn’t finished. “But would you promise us that you will always be open about your feelings with someone? I don’t care who it is. Me. Michelle. Ms. Bartlett. Or even one of your friends. I just don’t want you to keep your feelings inside. And I don’t want you to run away from your problems all the time.” Ashley nodded in agreement. “Now why don’t you go and get your stuff from the guestroom?”

  Ashley disappeared in the bedroom, not sure if they were going to talk more about her or not. She gathered her things that she had taken out of the backpack before she had gone over to Roxanne’s apartment. As she packed her things, she heard a knock at the open door. She turned around to see Lucas. “Did they kick you out of the room too?” she teased him.

  Lucas laughed. “No, I just wanted to talk to you about us.” Ashley frowned. What was he talking about? “I know what I said about not wanting to pursue a relationship during my senior year. I still want to focus on my studies, but I also have a confession.” There was a short pause. “I like you. I really like you.” Ashley looked at him surprised. She wasn’t expecting him to express his feelings for her. “I kept my feelings to myself because I didn’t know how you felt about me. And you had to focus on yourself. And I wanted to make sure Penny was okay after hearing what happened between her and Simon.”

  Ashley remained quiet as Lucas continued with his speech. “Everything changed when I heard you were in danger. I didn’t care if I was skipping school. I had to warn you. When he pointed that gun at you, all I could think about was I had to protect you. I don’t want anything to happen to you. Although, I have to admit that was pretty brave of you to try and talk to Simon. Maybe you should become a psychologist.” Ashley laughed at the thought. That wasn’t the plan. “I’m serious. You did really great today.”

  Ashley smiled at the compliment. “Thanks, but I was only doing what I thought was right. Whether she was my friend or not, Penny needed my help and I wasn’t going to let him stand in the way. I hope he gets the help he needs.” Lucas nodded in agreement. There was a short pause. “And maybe you can take me to the diner for a real date sometime, but you’re going to have to give me a little more time. Just because I’m returning to Emerald doesn’t mean I’m ready to move from the friendship zone yet.”

  Lucas didn’t look too disappointed. “I understand,” he said. “Speaking of returning to Emerald, what are you going to say when our classmates start asking questions?”

  Ashley wished nobody would find out about it. She would love to keep this whole day private, but it was a small town. It wouldn’t take long before everyone would find out about Simon’s attempt to kill her, Penny, Lucas and Roxanne. She let out a heavy sigh as she thought about it.

  “I can just imagine what everyone will be thinking. But it will be just rumors and gossip. Some people will still probably be on Simon’s side. And I really don’t care what they think anymore. It’s none of their business. If my classmates ask me about it, I will just tell them ‘I would rather not talk about it’. I will do one interview about it and that’s it. If they don’t believe me, that’s their problem.”

  Lucas smiled at her. “Good for you.”

  When they arrived back in Emerald, it was proven true. Everyone had heard about what Simon had almost done to Ashley and Lucas and she was the talk once again. Unlike the first time she had arrived in Emerald, she ignored the rumors and gossip. She didn’t care about what people thought about her anymore. She wanted to focus on herself. She also wanted to make sure her friendship with Chloe and the others wasn’t severed because of her running away.

  Luckily, Chloe, Jill and Gwen weren’t upset with her. Chloe and their friends couldn’t express their happiness enough knowing their friend was okay. When they asked her about that day, she assured them she was fine, but she didn’t want to talk about it. As much as they wanted to hear her story, they respected her privacy and they didn’t bring it up again. She was willing to tell them when she was ready.

  When Penny returned home, she too was the subject of rumors and gossip. However, she had made both Ashley and Lucas promise they wouldn’t say anything about her miscarriage. She didn’t want any more sympathy than their classmates were already giving her. Ashley couldn’t blame her and she promised she wouldn’t say a word.

  Ashley noticed Penny was more annoyed than she was with the gossip and rumors. Ashley wasn’t surprised and she wanted to help her. The only problem was that she understood who Penny was now. Penny had too much pride to ask for help. Especially when she didn’t believe she needed it. However, Ashley could tell she was getting frustrated with the whispers around her.

  Ashley decided to approach her and just give her advice on how to deal with the rumors and gossip. To her surprise, Penny was thankful for the advice and she would consider it. Ashley had to admit that she was relieved she was now getting along with Penny. They weren’t exactly close friends, but they weren’t rivals anymore either. They were just classmates who were slowly getting to know each other – their true selves. Without rumors or gossip getting in the way. Or judgments. Penny still wanted to play against Ashley in a game to see who would win and Ashley promised they would do it soon.

  Shortly after Ashley and Penny returned to Emerald, they received a call saying someone had turned Roxanne in to the police and she had been arrested for quite a few crimes like breaking and entering and stealing. Since it wasn’t her first offense, Ashley predicted the judge wouldn’t be too lenient and Mrs. Spencer would probably make her daughter pay her back for all of the jewelry she had stolen from her. To Ashley’s relief, Roxanne was forced to give all the jewelry back that she had stolen from her victims. At least the ones that she still had that she didn’t give to her friends yet. Once Roxanne’s friends heard she had been arrested for stealing, most of them were scared that they were going to get arrested as well and returned the jewelry to the police. To the Clarks’ happiness, they were able to get the rest of their jewelry returned.

  “You know, we haven’t had a chance to celebrate your homecoming,” Chloe told Ashley that afternoon at lunch. “We should have a party tonight.” Ashley wanted to protest, but her friends insisted on it. “We have to do it. I promise it won’t be a fancy dinner or anything. It will be just a pizza party with your closest friends, okay?”

  There was silence before Ashley nodded in agreement. “Okay. You win. We can have a party.” Chloe gave her a smile. “Do you mind if we make a couple of stops after school before going home? There’s something I need to do.” Chloe smiled.

  After school, they stopped by the flower shop before Chloe drove her to the cemetery. The first time Ashely had been there since her arrival in Emerald. She carried the flowers over to her mother’s headstone. There was silence before she finally spoke. “Well, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks. As you probably know, I ran away from Emerald. I didn’t think I belonged here with Dad and Michelle. Especially since she announced she was pregnant. Yep, I’m finally going to be a big sister. Isn’t that crazy? My wish finally came true and I didn’t want it. I didn’t want a brother or sister who wasn’t going to come from you and Dad. I w
as afraid he was forgetting about you and me and he was starting a new family.”

  “So I ran away back to Sapphire City. I have to admit that I didn’t really have a plan. I just wanted to get away from Emerald. In the two short days I was gone, I realized I was being selfish. And I thought I wanted things back to the way they were. But it wasn’t the same anymore. I had already left that chapter behind when I moved to Emerald. I was just in denial, but I also needed closure.”

  “Now I’ve truly moved on from the past and I’m moving forward. I don’t have nightmares about the car accident anymore. I’ve accepted Michelle as my stepmother and I’m now embracing the idea that I’m going to be a big sister. It took me a while, but I’m finally finding myself. I may not want to become a family court lawyer like Dad anymore, but I’m finding my way. I love you and I miss you. But you don’t have to worry about me. I’m going to be just fine.” Ashley ended the conversation by putting the flowers on the grave and she returned to the car, where Chloe was waiting for her.

  “Are you ready to have some fun?” Chloe asked her with a smile. Ashley nodded and smiled in return. “Then let’s go have some pizza.”

  Chapter 26

  When Chloe parked the car in front of the house, Ashley couldn’t help but notice how dark the house was. She smiled at her friend. “Well, I’m glad I’m going to have company tonight. I guess my dad and Michelle went out for dinner. It’s weird because they usually tell me if they are going out. It’s never last minute.” Chloe shrugged. She had no answer for that.

  Walking up to the house, Ashley searched in her purse for her house key. As she entered the foyer and turned on the light, she jumped about a mile when she heard people appear out of their hiding places and shout “Surprise! Happy birthday!” She was speechless as her friends clapped and cheered around her.