"where is she!" spencer yelled, grabbing aiden by his grey hooded sweatshirt and spinning him around. "aiden, where the hell is ashley, and what the fucks going on?!" aiden sighed, he looked pale and worn out. "spence, her dad. her dad died last night. in between passing time principal keller pulled her out and told her.." spencer’s heart beat faster as her mind raced, struggling to process what aiden was telling her. she ran her shaking hands through her hair. "look, do you know where she went, everyones tryin’ to find her…i know she didnt have the closet relationship with her dad but–" aiden’s voice faded as he felt spencer reach into his pocket and grab his keys, in the same moment breaking off into a sprint towards the deserted parking lot where his car was parked. i have to find her… spencer thought. she slid the keys in the ignition, not sure where she was going but knowing she had to get there fast. ash would get off campus. she’d go somewhere deserted, somewhere she could be alone, somewhere she could escape…

========

the rain pounded hard against the windshield as ashley fiercely drove to the beach. she just wanted to escape, let go, and spencer couldnt give her that. so she turned back to what she knew best. she reached for the bottle of vodka in the passengers seat cursing to herself when she realized it was empty. knowing she had stashed a flask somehwere in the car she popped open the glove compartment relieved to find her silver vessel full and ready. that bastard. that fucking bastard just up and left me. ashley hit the steering wheel in her frustrations, her vision being clouded by the tears in her eyes. never even got a chance to know me. couldnt make it to a school play, couldnt make it to a concert. jesus christ, the kids at school knew as much about him as i did…with his ashley made a sharp turn into a lonely parking lot, grabbing the flask and a bottle of rum from the back seat. her hair stuck to her face and her clothes couldnt have been wetter. she walked through the rain, indifferent to the buckets of water that were falling towards the earth. she kicked off her shoes and marched through the sand finding the place under the pier she and spencer had visited not so long ago. the wind had picked up but ashley didnt care. she took another desperate swig then tossed the empty silver vessel into the ocean. she stared at the waves as if they might hold the answer to the question echoing in her heart. why?