• It was...
    Her mom. Ashley became furious inside and flipped opened the phone. "What, mom? You're in the other room." she snapped.
    "Can you come shut my door please?" her mom whined.
    "Fine." Ashley went to her mom's room and slammed the door. She could feel the tears begin to rise again. Her bed and stuffed animals seemed to be calling her name as she slid into her room. Hermie, the hermit crab, seemed to look at Ashley from his plastic home with pity. Ashley grabbed the covers and burried herself. "It doesn't hurt that much," she whispered, "except when I breathe."
    Ashley woke up the next morning feeling as if she had slept under rocks. She stummbled out of bed and fed Hermie; but then, her phone began to ring and ring. "Who calls in the middle of the night and leaves voicemails?" she said out loud. In her heart she had hoped it was Jake, but in her head, she knew who it was. "You have 3 unheard messages" her voicemail said. "First message, 'Hey, Ash! It's me, Luke. Just calling to check on you.' Second messgae, 'Ashley? Ashhhley? ASHLEY! You better be ok. Do I need to fly a plane into Jake's house? C'mon, you gotta get out of this funk. He'll come back to you. Call me back.' Third message, "OKAY! Ashley Marie Fender! You are getting in your car, and driving to The Avenue and we are going shopping! That's what girls do right? Oh, whatever! Just call me back and we'll set up a time.' End of messages. To replay these messages press--" Ashley hung up the phone and actually felt a smile on her face. Luke Ray Owens was probably the only person she hadn't lost yet. She had lost Leah, her best friend, almost her family, and now Jake. Although these people were alive in a physical form...but to Ashley, they were dead to her.
    Luke had become her best friend. He may have been somewhat of a "man whore" yet he was a great person. Ashley drove to The Avenue to meet Luke at Starbucks. "Ashley Marie!" Luke said as he jumped up and hugged her. Ashley laughed as he took her breath away. "If Jake breaks up with you, I'll take care of him. Remeber! I'm the Pencil with a Sixpack! Besides, I'm 17. He won't stand a chance."
    "Yeah..." Ashley said as she stared into space.
    "C'mon, let's get you that mint mocha frappachino thingy. The one with the chocolate whipped cream." Luke bought her a bagel without her seeing. They sat and talked as Ashley's mind drifted away from Jake. "Why didn't you pick up the phone last night?"
    "Well, Luke, I was asleep like most normal human beings."
    "Haha. Funny. I thought you were talking to Jake."
    "No. He never called."
    "What a jerk..."
    "Yeah..."
    "Ash, I'm always here not matter what."
    "Thanks."
    "You know, everything will be okay in the end...and if it's not then it's not the end. I don't want a hazel eyed beauty like yourself to give up."
    "I won't. I'll keep going just for you." As soon as Ashley said that her phone rang.
    "Who is it?" Luke asked.
    "It's a text...from Jake??!"
    "Oh wow." Ashley began to smile. Maybe he had an excuse for not calling. Maybe he was apologizing. Maybe he loved her again! The text said: Good Morning. Ashley's eyes read it over and over again as her heart sank. "What did it say?"
    "... Good morning."
    "Ashley, it's a start. At least he's thinking of you. Just respond."
    "Okay." She wrote: Good morning. How are you? "Luke, can we go shop now?" A smile spread across Luke's face.
    "Of course."
    After a couple hours of shopping, Ashley felt totally different and alive again. Luke and she parted and went home. The car seemed to drive itself as Ashley's head began to think of Jake again. "I need to get home and go play tennis." Ashley mumbled at a stop sign. She got home and went outside to hit againist the back board. The ball was being hit so hard you could mistake it as a yellow bullet. Sweat went down Ashley's face instead of tears as she kept hitting. Out of the blue, her cell phone rang. It was Jake's ringtone, and without a second thought, Ashley droped everything and ran to the phone.
    "Hello?" she said almost out of breath.
    "Hey." Jake's voice sang. "I have a question for you."
    (to be continued.)