Ashley was walking along the sidewalk of her neighborhood. It wasn’t like her to take random strolls, but she was thinking hard, and she found that walking helped the thought process. Besides, Spencer was busy at home working on a paper for her Honors English II class, and the brunette wasn’t about to bother her.

What she was thinking about was how she was invited to go to Ohio with the Carlins. Yeah, she really wanted to go because she didn’t want two weeks without her girlfriend, but spending long amounts of time with anyone’s family always made her feel uncomfortable and out of place. Besides, there wasn’t really anyone to take care of Rob Thomas. Well, she could find someone, but she was thinking of ways to get out of going.

It wasn’t even Spencer’s idea for her to come with them. It was Arthur’s. Why was he so nice to her, anyway? Paula hated her guts, but Mr. Carlin was always so humble. It definitely threw the girl for a loop. How could two completely different people ever stay together for so long? Actually, she decided to think twice about that. She and Spencer were also completely different, so that’s no way to judge how long a relationship would last.

She sighed as she continued to stalk forward. Ashley wasn’t headed anywhere in particular; she wasn’t even sure how far she had gotten. She just recognized her path as the one she used when she chased after Spencer that one night.

This was crazy…How was Mr. Carlin even sure that she didn’t have any plans for the break ahead of time? Was it even his idea, or did the blonde make it up, so that Ashley would agree to go? Well, she wanted to find out.

Ashley turned on her heel and began to sprint back to her house. She was going to drive over to where Arthur worked, and have a little chat.

-~-

The brunette sat in the parking lot of the centre were Arthur worked. To go and talk or not to go and talk? That was the question. It wouldn’t look strange for her to ask to speak to him. After all, he was a social worker. He spoke to teens all the time.