Chapter 13:Double Vision

 I tried to point a finger on where I heard that laugh before but it wouldn't come to me. I sighed and washed my hands, looking at myself in the mirror. I was disgusted by the monster that looked back.
I started to walk out of the bathroom but I had to slow down because of the heels I was wearing. How did Ashley walk in these? I finally made it to class before the bell rang. I went to the back and sat down next to Kristen, who was another one of Ashley's close friends.
"Alright class take out the worksheet on Othello that I assigned last night." droned Mr. Gaga, Ashley's - I mean, my - english teacher.
I fished around in Ashley's designer bag for her English folder and took it out. I opened it and a piece of loose leaf paper landed on my desk.
Note to self, it read, in Ashley's obnoxious handwriting, get $1,000 for shopping in New York.
Memories from 7th grade flooded my mind of the time Ashley invited me to go shopping with her and her snooty friends in New York.
"Cassieeeeee" she sing-songed as she danced through my doorway.
"What do you want." I said bluntly, focused on my homework.
"I want you to come to New York with me and my friends this Saturday!"
"Uh huh." I said, ignoring her.
"I'm serious, Cassie." she said, coming over to me and placing her hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her, hate in my eyes.
"These last few years we've been fighting so much. I want to be friends again." she continued. Her eyes were soft and her expression forgiving.
I was surprised by this kind gesture but didn't think much of it. I welcomed the opportunity to become friends with Ashley again.
"Okay, Ash" I said, my expression softening, "I'll go. And I'm sorry for all this fighting. I really do want to start over."
"Aww, thanks Cassie! I love you!" she said, hugging me.

Finally, it was Saturday. Me and Ashley had been nice to each other all week, and I was extremely excited to go by now.
Ashley's friends all came over and we all piled into the van.
Just as we pulled out of the driveway, I realized my money wasn't in my bag. "Wait, Ashley. I think I left my money in the house, can I go get it?"
"Oh you did?" she said, concerned, "That's alright! I'll pay for you."
"You will? Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah!" she said, grinning.
But things started to get bad once we got there. We stepped into Forever 21 and we spent an hour finding things we wanted. We went to the checkout line and I gave my stuff to Ashley and she smiled at me. When it was Ashley's turn to pay, she handed my clothes to the cashier and said "I changed my mind, I don't want these." and proceeded to pay for her own stuff.
When I tried to ask her why she did that she would ignore me and talk to her stupid friends. She kept on doing that all day, at every store. Around 5:00 PM, the girls were tired from shopping and decided to sit down in front of a lake and just talk. Whenever I tried to say something, one of the girls would interrupt me, so eventually I just stopped talking. I sighed and got up and went towards the lake to observe the fish, or something. Anything would be more interesting than sitting with them. I was just sitting there when I felt a blow on my back and the next thing I knew - I tumbled into the lake.
I heard all the girls laughing. Ashley sounded like she couldn't breathe as she said, "Sorry Cassadoodle, there was a bee on your back."
I let the tears stream down my eyes as I pulled myself out of the lake. The girls were still laughing hysterically, and one of their laughs sounded just like the one I heard in the bathroom earlier this morning.
Oh my god.
I was suddenly woken from my flashback.
"Holy sh*t." I said under my breath.