June 6, 2009








11:00 a.m.








Ash's House


Ding Dong

"Hey, Evalynne," Ash said as he answered the door. "Who's your friend?"

"I'm Kristy. Evalynne wanted me to meet you." Kristy replied.

"Oh, well I'm Ash. Why don't you two step inside?" he offered. Both of us walked into his house and he shut the door behind us.

His living room was bare except for a couch, a TV, and a table which the TV was placed on. "So what's up?" he asked.

"Nothing much, how about you?" I asked.

"Same here," he replied.

"So Ash, I heard you met Julianne and Kelly the other day. How was that?" Kristy asked him.

"It was...interesting."

"You hate them, don't you?" she remarked with a smile.

"Yeah, pretty much," He laughed and looked over at the window. His face froze in shock.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"No, I just didn't think my mom would get home so early from the grocery store. Uh, you guys should probably go now." he said, with an urgent tone to his voice.

"Ok," I began walking towards the front door with Kristy by my side, but Ash grabbed my arm and turned me the other way.

"Out the back door," He led us to his back door and opened it.

"Ash, are you sure everything's ok?" I asked him.

"Yeah, everything's fine." I heard the front door click open. "Nice meeting you, Kristy, bye." Then he slammed the door behind us.

"What was that all about?" Kristy asked me.

"He doesn't want his mom to know that we were at his house." I replied.

"But why?"

"I don't know. But I'm going to figure it out. I told you there was something weird about his mom."

"Wow, you were right. I think I might just play C.S.I. with you." she said.

"So you're going to help me figure this out?" I asked her.

"Just tell me what I need to do,"

"Awesome! First we should get out of his backyard though." So we both walked out the gate and back to my house. Then we sat across from each other at my kitchen table.

"I think we should start by researching him." Kristy declared.

"Yeah, me too. But I was also thinking that maybe if I got to know him better, he might trust me and give something away."

"That's brilliant! So how should we divide the research then?" she asked.

"You can research about him and his family. Try to find out the basics, where his mom works, where they lived before Miami, that kind of stuff. And try to figure out what his dad's name is too. I think his dad is a big part of this."

"Got it, family basics, mom's job, previous places that they lived at, dad's name." she repeated.

"Ok, if you find anything out, call me." I instructed.

"Ok, should I go home and start now or later?" she asked.

"How about we both start getting whatever information we can now, and then meet at Sadie's at eleven o'clock tomorrow." I suggested.

"Ok, see you tomorrow." Then she walked out the front door and I shut it behind her.

I decided that tonight, when Mom invited the Mongolia's over for dinner, would be a perfect opportunity for me to get some information. But to get more info, I'd have to spend a lot of time with Ash. This would be fun.



Later that day, I sat up in my room, reading Twilight, when I heard a door slam shut. I looked out my window to see Ash storming into his room. Then I looked away, pretending I hadn't noticed.

"Hey," he called out his window.

I put down my book and looked over at him, "Hi," I called back. Then I walked to my window so we could talk.

"Do you want to come over? My mom finally left." he said.

"Sure," I walked downstairs and out the front door. Ash was waiting for me on his front porch. I walked over to him, "Hi,"

"Hi, why don't you come inside?" We both walked into his house and sat down on his black leather couch.

"So why didn't you want your mom to know that Kristy and I were here earlier?" I asked him.

"My mom's not a very social person. She just likes keeping to herself and wants me to do the same." he replied.

"Oh, well my mom was planning on inviting you two over for dinner tonight. Do you think she'd say yes to that?"

"Probably not, I'm guessing she'll make up some excuse about how she's too tired even though she really isn't."

"So she never talks to any of her neighbors? Ever?" I asked in shock.

"Nope, and she wants me to be just like her. Never talking to anyone, never hanging out with anybody. But there's nothing she can do to keep me away from you." He gave me a seductive grin and my heart stopped.

"That's really sweet of you." I told him.

He stared off into space like he was thinking something over. "Can I tell you something?" he asked.

"Of course,"

"I like you. A lot." He gazed into my eyes and I felt my adrenaline speed up.

"I like you too." I replied.

"Well then tonight we should meet each other. But I'd have to sneak out so my mom doesn't know about it. How about when I flicker my light on and off, we both come outside and walk to the park. Then we can just be together without my mom telling us not to. We can be alone."

I couldn't believe this was actually happening. It was perfect. Ash was perfect. Everything was just perfect. "Ok," I agreed.

"Cool, so just watch out your window and when you see me flicker my light, come meet me outside."

"Sounds good to me," I said.

Then a car pulled into the driveway. Ash's mom's car. "Ok, sorry, but you have to go now." he told me.

"It's fine, I'll see you tonight." Then I walked out his back door and into my house.

Ash liked me! He actually liked me! Did this mean he was my boyfriend? Did I actually have a sweet, smart, extremely hot boyfriend?

My mom and dad got home about an hour later. "Hey mom, are you still inviting the Mongolia's over for dinner?" I asked.

"Yes I am. And I'm sure Ms. Mongolia is much nicer than she seems." she replied.

"If you say so," But I knew that nice was the exact opposite of Ms. Mongolia.

I walked over to Ash's house with my mom to invite them over. Ms. Mongolia answered the door, and her face told me that she wasn't happy to see me.

"Hi, I'm Holly Carter, and this is my daughter, Evalynne. I think you two have met already. We live right next door." Mom said, using her cheerful, neigborly voice.

"Yes we've already met. My name is Lori Mongolia. I think your daughter is a friend of my son, Ash." she responded.

And then Ash walked up behind her, "Yes she is." he said, grinning at me.

"We were just wondering if the both of you would like to come over for dinner. We know that you're new to the neighborhood and we just want to properly welcome you." Mom said.

"I think we should go, Mom. It would be nice to get to know our new neighbors." Ash told his mom.

"I'm actually tired from work, and we were just going to order take-out for dinner. Maybe some other time." Ms. Mongolia replied. Ash was right, excuses, excuses.

"Are you sure? We made lasagna." Mom told her persuasively.

"Come on Mom, they're our neighbors." Ash said.

"Alright, fine," she finally agreed.

My mom beamed, "Wonderful,"

"Let me just grab my purse," Ms. Mongolia walked up the stairs and came back down with a purse slung over her shoulder. Then we all walked back to my house.