Normally, I wouldn’t want to draw out a conversation with Ashley Davies.  But I couldn’t help but ask her something else that had been nagging me since dinner.

“So how did we end up becoming partners?”

The question, I could tell, caught Ashley off guard, because she quickly looked down, hesitated, and then began to answer.  But before she could respond, we were interrupted by a knock on the door.  The look of relief that flashed across Ashley’s face was clear, even if I couldn’t understand why she was so relieved.  Karen then walked through the door and invited Ashley to some club — probably the only club — she found in town.  Ashley, of course, was eager to go.   They barely even acknowledged I was in the room. 

After they left, a new thought dawned on me.  I began to consider Rebecca’s comments, the article I read on TMZ and Karen’s frequent visits.   Were Karen and Ashley a couple?

It would explain everything, including how relieved Ashley looked when she heard Karen knock at the door and how urgently she left for the club.  The more I thought about it, the more logical it seemed, and the more firmly I began to consider it as fact.

Early the next morning, I saw that Ashley hadn’t come back from her night out with Karen.  I was sure she was probably passed out drunk somewhere, which wouldn’t have concerned me if we weren’t scheduled to meet at the gym to practice together with all the other duos.  I waited for awhile but gave up as it got closer to six o’clock, deciding she wasn’t going to show up anytime soon.  Still, I didn’t want to go to the main gym for partner practice without a partner.  So instead, I headed to the old gym on the other side of campus.

As I walked inside, I was surprised to see none other than Ashley Davies.  At first, I stared in disbelief.  I could tell by the sheen of sweat covering her skin and her ragged breathing that she had been practicing for hours.  That alone was astonishing.  Then, as I continued to watch her, I became awestruck by the effortless – almost graceful – way she moved around the court.  Her movements were aggressive and firm, but there was a certain element of control and finesse that seemed to balance it out perfectly.  I couldn’t say how long I stood there just watching her before she finally saw me.