PROLOGUE

“If you had the chance to change things, would you do anything Ashley?”

83-year-old Ashley Davies thought back to the summer before her senior year, when her life fell apart.

“No. Everything happens for a reason, right? Actually, wait… I do wish one thing had been different. I wish that I never let myself get so close to Spencer. After all, she’s the one that should have just killed me instead of letting me die slowly inside. She’s the reason that I let myself go, that I let myself fall apart, and the reason I’m dying. I just wish that she could be here so I could tell her that I forgiver her. That I never blamed her for anything that happened. It was my fault, not hers. And after all these years, I wish I could tell her that I still love her, that I’ve always loved her… I think you should turn off the machine now. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

As the young girl looked at Ashley, she wondered where Spencer was, after all, Spencer promised her that she would be there to say a final goodbye to Ashley, the love of Spencer’s life.

Spencer watched through the window as the young girl started crying as the nurse went towards the machine that was keeping Ashley alive. “I love you too, Ash.”

CHAPTER ONE

“Dr. Carlin! We need you in ER, STAT!”

“Ben, what’s going on?”

“Seventeen year old girl, looks like she’s been beaten almost to death. We need to do emergency surgery. It looks like she might have a fractured skull. We need to see if it damaged her brain.”

Dr. Carlin walks closer to the small, fragile brunette covered in blood on the gurney… “Oh my god, Ashley!”

“Ben! Call my house, tell Spencer to get here as soon as she’s able to! Don’t tell her that Ashley is here, I don’t want her to drive if she’s worried. Just tell her to get here.”

Ben walked away as Paula Carlin took Ashley into ER to see if she would survive.

1 hour later

“We’re losing her! Come on Ashley, stay with me please. Come on! You can do this Ashley!”

Mrs. C watched as the girl who was her daughter’s best friend went in between life and death. “Please Ash, don’t do this. You can’t leave us. You’re like a daughter to me Ashley, you can’t leave me now.”