There was a knock on Ashley’s door as she was getting ready for school. She was still putting things in her backpack when she told Alex to come in. He opened the door and peered in.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Just saying goodbye before I go to work.”

“Bye.”

“One more thing. You may want to reconsider what you’re wearing today.” Ashley looked down at herself. She was wearing her running shoes, jeans, and a long sleeve shirt.

“What’s wrong with this?”

“Storm is brewing up and it’s getting a bit cold today. It might actually get cold enough that we’ll see a very early snow.”

“So what would you suggest?”

“Boots and maybe the water resistant pants you got. Trust me, snow melting on your jeans is a bad day. Other than that, take a jacket and you should be fine.” Ashley nodded groggily still not quite awake and feeling a bit cranky.

“Okay, thanks.”

Alex waved goodbye and closed the door. Half an hour later Ashley left the house and looked at the sky. It was definitely going to be a dark day. The clouds were rumbling in the distance which was never a good thing.

The day at school wasn’t the greatest. Even though she’d packed early, she’d forgotten her English book. History surprised her with a pop quiz which she was pretty sure she failed. Liz was absent, but fortunately there was the cheerful presence of Kara. Kara’s strange comments made her smile and forget about her troubles. The surprise she had was when Kara became serious suddenly at lunch.

“You’ve changed,” she said. Ashley looked at her weirdly. She wondered if she’d acted different somehow now that she knew Kara’s family secret.

“How?”

“You seem calmer to me. I don’t know why, but you feel friendlier for some reason.”

Kara was perceptive as always. Ashley did feel friendlier towards Kara now. She’d thought about her losses compared to Kara’s and realized they had a connection few people would understand. Her dad had told her to try and not look at Kara differently now and Ashley never would. She knew what it was like for everyone to look at you as if something were wrong. Ashley would never give that look to another person.

School and the sky seemed to brighten somewhat after lunch. The classes didn’t get any better, but they passed by quickly. When the bell rang to let out the school, the sky had cleared considerably, but there were black clouds on the horizon. As she walked across the campus she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder. Kara appeared at her side.

“Good afternoon,” Kara said quickly.

“Good day. Ready to go home?”

“Definitely. Something tells me the faster we get home today, the better.”

“Your prediction for the day?” Kara shrugged.

“Just a feeling.”

“Well then let us leave with all haste,” Ashley said enthusiastically.

Kara waved her arms forward and took off running through the crowd. Ashley jumped through the crowd after her with a smile on her face. The hall was packed with students as everyone tried to rush out. Kara was as nimble and agile as a dancer as she moved through the crowd. She moved through the mob easily and for once, Ashley fell behind in a race. Halfway through, she popped up too close to someone and bounced off a girl. They both dropped to the floor in surprise.

“Sorry about that,” said Ashley quickly as she stood up and held her hand out to the girl.

“Watch where you’re going!” complained the high pitched voice of Monica. Ashley cringed. Hundreds of people in school and she had the fortune of running into whiny miss popular.

“I will. I’m sorry.” Monica didn’t even take her hand as she stood up.

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“Whatever freak, get out of my way.” Ashley’s face contorted angrily.

“Takes one to know one,” said Kara as she reappeared. The crowd around them had slowed a bit as people stopped to watch. Monica scoffed.

“Like you’re one to talk.”

“I know you are, but what am I?” Kara said with her usual smile.

“What are you, ten?”

“What are you, a bitch?”

Ashley and a few others couldn’t stop themselves from laughing. Monica’s face went red at Kara’s instant retort. Kara looked relaxed, but Monica looked livid.

“How dare you!”

“Pretty easily,” chimed in Ashley. “Let’s go Kara.”

“Screw you!” shouted Monica. Kara and Ashley started to walk away with triumphant smiles on their faces. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Home,” said Ashley.

“Yeah, we don’t want to be stuck here with you now do we?” laughed Kara.

“At least I’m not stuck with a family of freaks like you two are!”

The crowd went quiet at these words. Kara turned to Monica with fire in her eyes. Monica even took a step back wondering what she’d just started. The only reason Kara didn’t pounce on her was the stunning effect her words had. As all eyes were focused on Kara, very few realized Ashley was the one who was moving.

Ashley had never been violent before. She’d never once hit a person out of anger before that moment. Ashley turned and yanked Monica towards her by that beautiful blouse. Monica barely had time to issue a whine before Ashley’s fist caught her hard in the jaw. It was no girl slap or small punch. She put every ounce of strength she had behind her fist. Monica spun like a top before falling to the floor. The crowd of students around them went dead quiet. Ashley wanted to scream at her, hit her, stomp into the ground. When she couldn’t find the words necessary to express her rage, she ran. She didn’t care where she went, she just wanted out

It wasn’t the insult to her dad that bothered her. Even if he hadn’t been there for most of her life, Alex was a good guy who’d helped her since she’d met him. It wasn’t even that it was directed at Kara’s family. Ashley knew Kara’s story now and why her family was strange. To call them freaks was certainly wrong and she was sure Kara would’ve hit Monica if she hadn’t.

No, the worst part about what Monica had said was not what she said, but what she implied. Her first words had been, “At least I’m not stuck with a family.” All at once Ashley was flooded with the memories of her mother and losing her. No one had asked her to move here, life had forced it. There was nothing she could’ve done for her mom. Ashley just wanted to go home and cry in her arms, but she couldn’t.

Even if Monica hadn’t meant to bring her mother up, she had. Every time Ashley thought about the bitch, she only became blinder with rage. She got in her jeep and just drove as far out of the town as she could. The road ended into one of the nature trails she’d come to know so well as a retreat. Getting out, she ran. Ashley ran and ran until exhaustion forced her to walk. Every time her mind tried to piece her rage and sorrow together, she found herself running until the pain became numb again. Stopping on a ridge Ashley realized she could see half the town.

All alone she screamed out her frustration to the world. All her problems seemed to hit her at once and she couldn’t cope with it anymore. The loss of her mother, the sudden arrival of her father, new school, new friends, new enemies. No word, obscenity, curse, or swear was proper to vent her emotions. She screamed nothingness out for everybody and nobody to hear. Minutes flew by as she flailed her arms, kicked rocks, and yelled until she was hoarse. When it was over, she sat on the ground defeated. Nothing had changed. Her life would still be the same when she went home. After hitting Monica she might have detention. That would certainly be different.

She chuckled slightly at the thought, wondering how her mom would react if she found out her little angel had detention. Memories of their time together flooded her mind. Watching girly movies late at night, baking dessert, trading stories. Ashley wished she had her flute right now. She put her head in her knees and tried to forget the world. It didn’t take long as she fell fast asleep. Without realizing it, she’d spent the last couple hours wearing herself out. Not even the cool breeze on the wind disturbed her.

Something cold touched her cheek and her eyes fluttered open. It was dark out. There was snow all around her. Alex had been right. It was coming down softly, but by the look of the fat grey clouds it wasn’t going to stay that way for long. She needed to get home and started down the mountain at a slow jog while fumbling for her phone. Alex was probably worried about her and she hadn’t told anyone where she was. Worse, in her rage earlier she must have thought no distracting calls because the phone was off. She pressed the power button and ran on. She’d have to apologize and thank her dad when she got home. Wearing the winter clothing today was definitely nice so she didn’t have to worry about the cold as much. She looked back to her phone and cursed. Why did cell phones always have to have such long and colorful startups? She’d like their service a lot more if it just turned on so she could make a call!

Glaring at her phone caused her to miss whatever her foot caught on. What Ashley didn’t know was it wasn’t quite cold enough to have snow. When the rain cooled as it was coming down it created the illusion of snow. Only when it hit the warm ground it melted instantly back into water. The stone she’d just used for solid ground was actually slick which slid her right into a root. Branches and twigs slapped against her as she crashed through them. She found her feet just in time to smack her head straight into a tree. The resulting impact took bark off the tree and skin off Ashley’s forehead. Her eyes fought to stay open, but she couldn’t focus. As the snow continued to fall around her, she began to fall unconscious. The air was getting colder around her, but she didn’t feel it. The last thing Ashley noticed was something rolling next to her head and coming to a stop. It was a bright light she couldn’t understand as her eyes came to a close.

Her phone was on.