Ashling
"Hey, Ashling," her friend called as she shoved her way through the crowded hallway.
"So, I was totally going to make it to class today, but something sort of came up...and...well, anyway, I can borrow notes from you, right?"
Skipping class was not unusual behavior for her friend. They were as opposite as night and day, but they had been best friends ever since their first day in the foster home together, and that relationship was not about to change anytime soon. A backpack strapped to her back and earphones jammed in her ears, her friend had now moved on to the art of texting.
"What? Sure. I mean no...I mean I don't really remember what happened in class," Ashling hesitated and they moved their conversation to the school parking lot. She had never forgotten anything before. She had always relied on her photographic memory to get her through the many foster families.
"Ugh, come on Ashling! Don't be like that. I know you've been annoyed with me lately, but it's just one class," she pleaded.
"No, I really can't remember," Ashling stopped, suddenly confused. Her friend looked up from her phone for the first time since the conversation began.
"Well, I've finally done it. I've finally rubbed off on you. Hey, maybe I'll start being the smart one," she teased while walking backwards towards the street.
"Look out!" the car screeched around the corner before anyone could react. Her friend lay motionless in the middle of the road. Everyone rushed to her aid, but Ashling could not move.
"Hey, Ashling," her friend bumped into Ashling as they pushed their way through the crowded hall. What just happened? How was her friend who was just lying motionless in the school parking lot standing next to her as if nothing had happened?
"So, I was totally going to make it to class today, but something sort of came up...and...well,"
"Yeah, I know," Ashling interrupted.
"Ok, ok," her friend snapped, " you don't have to flip out about it."
They once again approached the school parking lot.
"Ashling, are you feeling alright?" her friend asked breaking the silence.
"I have this really weird sense of deja vu," Ashling rubbed her head.
"Well, maybe I've finally done it. I've finally rubbed off on you..." her friend did not get to finish her sentence. Ashling grabbed her arm and pulled her back from teh street. The car sped by just missing her friend's body.
"Wow, that was close," her friend stated.
"You have no idea," Ashling replied in disbelief.
When they had finally returned to their all too familiar foster home, Ashling immediately ran to her room two steps at a time. She pulled her new AP science book from beneath her bed and began rapidly flipping through the pages. Privacy was not an option in a foster home, a concept she learned quickly while sharing a room with her friend. How could she transform that quickly? She could not remember anything she read, and after the earlier events of the day, she was beginning to question her sanity.
Ashling pulled the thermometer she had placed in her mouth just moments before: 98.6 degrees. She concentrated on the page in front of her. Ashling remembered a picture of a sheep and something about genetic experiements. Finally, she remembered something. She flipped back a couple of pages, but oddly enough no sheep appeared. Frustrated, Ashling pushed the book aside blowing the pages forward a few chapters.
"Ashling, come on! Mrs. Montague threatened to give us bathroom cleaning duty for the next two months if we don't set the table in the next 5 minutes," she mimicked, "I tried to talk our way out of it, but apparently..." she trailed off down the hallway. Sleep, all Ashling needed was a good night's sleep. She slid to the edge of her bed grabbing her science book before it could also slide off. She set her open book back on the corner of her bed, but as she glanced down, she noticed a picture of a sheep with the caption reading 2000 genetic experiment results.
"You have got to be kidding," she mumbled to herself.
"Ashling, come on!" her friend called. Ashling slammed the book shut and ran out of the room.
