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Synopsis:  Ashley Roberts has started living full time as a girl luckily she has the support of her family and has even managed to find herself a boyfriend along the way. Life seems good at the moment, but, “There's always a calm before the storm...”

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Chapter 19

 

            It was Monday morning and it had been a full week now since we moved to Littleton, it was the place I now called home. Since moving here a lot has changed in my life. I had always known deep down that I was really a girl and now I was finally living the life that I was meant to live all along. 

There were still doubts in my mind though but not about the transition and becoming completely female. The doubts stemmed with Adam and if It was possible to give him what he wanted.

I believed deep down that I could but when it came to having children I doubted that it was even possible, even if I did eventually have all the plumbing would it be fully functional.

I guess that would be a question that would be eventually answered once I saw the specialists and they ran their tests. I thought to myself as I slowly climbed out of bed and got ready to take on another day.

After taking a shower, I decided that it was going to be a t-shirt and jeans day and slowly got dressed and did my makeup and hair, even though I didn’t have anywhere to go I still needed practice.

Once I was satisfied I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen and found my mother sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee.

“Good Morning Honey”, she said looking up from her newspaper.

“Good morning yourself”, I said as I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat it on the table and then poured some cornflakes into a bowl and joined my mother at the table.

“Mom, there is something I have been meaning to ask you, has Barb, giving you any kind of time frame of when she will have my documentation ready so I can start school?”

“You should have it in a couple of days, Ashley.  Once I have the letter, we can get you and your sister enrolled in school and hopefully, it won't be too long before your transcripts arrive.”

“So what is your plan for today mom?”

“I am going to start looking for work honey, I can’t expect your Uncle and Aunt to support us forever. There is also something, important that I want to talk to you and your sister about later tonight, so don’t make any plans.” Mom said looking across at me.

“Alright mom, but if it's about us staying here with Uncle Brian and Aunt Helen, I am completely fine with it,” I said with a smile.

“I guess your Uncle, must have told you, but that’s not the only reason I want to talk to the both of you alone. We have some things that need to be addressed and I thought we could grab a bite to eat and have a talk.” Mom explained.

“Alright, I am fine with that Mom, do I need to wear anything special?” I said looking over at her.

“Wear one of your new dresses and go light on the makeup.” Mom said then took a sip of her coffee.

“Bet you never thought you would be telling me to wear a dress and makeup,” I said grinning.

“Nope, this kind of all came out of the blue., but you’re a beautiful girl all the same.” Mom said looking over at me.

“Thanks’ Mommy, I know this isn’t what you wanted for me, but it means the world to me knowing that I can finally be myself around you,” I said wiping a single tear from my eyes.

“I know baby, and I am fine with it for the most part. There are still some issues that I need to deal with but that has nothing to do with you, honey.” Mom explained.

“I am sorry mom for giving you such a hard time with moving to Littleton, you were right moving here was best for all of us, I was just afraid that Uncle Brian was going to be like dad., but he is nothing like dad ever was,” I said with a smile.

“The two of you have grown pretty close haven’t you Ashley.”

“Yes, I didn’t think it was possible, but I really like spending time with him,” I said grinning.

“It’s alright honey, the two of you are kindred spirits, and you share a lot in common, especially music and he seems to have taken a real liking to you also.” Mom said grinning.

“Yeah, well the feeling is mutual,” I said with a smile.

“So, do you have any plans for today?” Mom asked.

“I was thinking of asking Megan if she wanted to go into town and check out the thrift store with me,” I exclaimed.

“That sounds like a good idea, it will save your poor mother money, how much is this going to set me back.” Mom said with a smile.

“Nothing mom, you have already done enough, I have some money in the bank, but I am going to need to get a new phone number though, any calls that come in right now I am being charged long distance rates,” I explained.

“I will take care of that later today honey. I think it’s time we upgraded to a family plan anyway, those prepaid cards are getting expensive.” Mom exclaimed.

“You may be right mom, some of the family plans are pretty good and you have the added bonus of not running out of minutes,” I said grinning.

“Well, I better be going, I have a lot of running around to do I will see you around suppertime honey.” Mom said getting up and heading towards the door.

“See you later momma and good luck,” I said as she exited.

 

            After finishing breakfast and washing the dishes, I returned to my bedroom. I wasn’t ready to leave just yet and thought it was a good time to start adding Ashley Roberts to the online world and booted up my laptop.

When the computer finished loading, I put on my headset and started up my Spotify playlist and then went to Gmail and signed out of my old account and then started setting up my new account.

Setting up the account didn’t really take very long all I really had to do was fill in the information and then wait for them to send me a text message.

Once the activation code came in I entered the code and the account was ready to use.

After I finished setting up my Gmail account, I went to youtube and signed in using my Gmail username and password which automatically created a new account. 

Once that was finished I opened up a new Facebook account and spent the next few minutes filling in all the required information and waited for the activation code to arrive on my phone and then put the code in and the account was verified.

The last thing I set up was Twitter and logged in using my google account and I was finished. I then turned off Spotify and loaded up my recording software and watched as my webcam started and I saw my reflection appear on the laptop's screen.

After doing a check to make sure the microphone was working I grabbed my guitar and took a seat in front of the computer. I was happy that I was using a wireless headset because the wires always got in my way whenever I tried to record anything when I played my guitar.

Once I was sure everything was working I started playing. “Angel”, by Sarah McLachlan. I let the sound build up before I started singing the lyrics and as I sang the song I became lost in the music, which was something that often happened when I really loved a song and there was something about Sarah McLachlan's music that always touched my heart.

When I finished I moved onto “Mad World”, by Tears for fears. Which was a song that I only recently learned to play? I had been watching a television show called, "The Voice" and one of the people auditioning did the song. I liked the song so much that I spent hours afterward trying to play it, eventually, I learn to play the song and memorized the lyrics.

After I finished the song I moved on to, “The Scientist”, by Coldplay. I had always loved the song and had even changed it around a bit to give it a bit of a different sound.

After I was finished, I spent the next 15 minutes looking at the videos then used the software to cut the songs into separate videos and also convert a few of the clips into jpegs to use as pictures for my various accounts.

The videos sounded pretty good so I figured what the hell and posted them to my youtube account and also used one of the pictures as my profile picture.

Maybe it was a little vain on my part but if I wanted to be a singer the best way of doing it was to get my name out there. I thought to myself as I hit the enter button and the upload began. Little did I know at the time that one video being posted would have such an effect on my already complicated life.

 

Chapter 20

   

            It was around 11 am when Megan finally made her way downstairs, I was watching Riverdale, on Netflix.  “I see sleeping beauty has finally awoken,” I said with a grin.

“Is there any coffee left?” she asked me looking half asleep.

“Yes, but I wouldn’t drink it, it’s been sitting in the pot all morning,” I explained.

“Guess, I will have to make a fresh pot,” Megan said and then made her way into the kitchen.

Megan didn’t need my help making coffee, so I hit the play button and continued watching Riverdale. When I first heard about the show I thought it would be complete garbage, considering it was based on a kid’s comic book, but I had to admit, I actually loved the show and found myself watching every time they put a new episode out.

About 20 minutes later Megan joined me in the living room and took a seat on the couch next to me. “So what are your plans for today?” she said looking over at me.

“Well, I was waiting for you to wake up to ask you if you felt like taking a little trip into town with me,” I said with a smile.

“What do you have in mind?” Megan said then took a sip of her coffee.

“When I was out with Adam, we passed a thrift store, I was thinking of paying it a visit and see if they had anything there I could use,” I explained.

“I could use a few things too, are you sure that you can find this place though,” Megan said looking over at me.

“Yes, it’s only a few blocks from the mall,” I explained.

“Alright Ashley, let’s get going,” Megan exclaimed.

 

            After grabbing our coats and purses the two of us headed out. I decided to take the long way to the mall, there were still so many things that the two of us hadn’t really seen since moving to Littleton,

I had been a bit luckier because I had been out more than Megan and had a chance to memorize how to get from here to there. Whereas Megan had only been out a few times with Amy and our Uncle Brian.

“Why are we going this way?” Megan asked.

“Don’t worry about it Megan, I know how to get there and you should know this route anyway, come winter the bike trail will not always be usable,” I explained.

“That’s true,” Megan said agreeing with me.

“So, it doesn’t seem like it took you very long to get your bearings around here,” Megan said looking over at me.

“I spend most of my time looking out the window, whenever I am out and it’s not just for the scenery and having a photographic memory doesn’t really hurt,” I explained to her.

“Yeah, that memory of yours has gotten you out of a lot of trouble at school considering how little you actually study Ashley,” Megan said with a smile.

“True but in my defense, everyone thought I was a nerd, and that I spent all of my time in a book. I wasn’t popular like you Megan.” I said looking over at her as the two of us walked.

“The reason people thought of you like that Ashley was that you were always sitting somewhere reading a book and as far as popularity goes you never really gave anyone a chance to know the real you. I have a feeling though you’re in for a completely different experience attending school as a girl.”, Megan said grinning.

 

            As Megan and I walked I thought about what she had just said, she was right about two things the first was, I didn’t allow anyone to get close to me. How could they when I built this huge wall up around me. Reading was one of my many escapes it took me outside of my mind and for a time I didn't have to think about how shitty my life truly was. A place where I could just be myself without the fear of being rejected by my peers.

The second thing she was right about. I was a very good actress and spent years performing as Ashley Roberts the boy and rarely let the girl inside me out. That part of me had to be kept secret, especially when my father was in the picture. Showing any kind of weakness around him would have been a big mistake.

“Something on your mind Ashley?”, Megan asked looking over at me.

“I was just thinking you were right Megan, I didn’t really let many people in. I had built a wall over the years, just to keep everyone out I was afraid if anyone knew who I really was they would reject me, and make my life a living hell.” I explained to her.

“Well, things are different here Ashley, nobody knows your past except for your family.  you can finally just be yourself.”

“That’s what is so liberating about this place Megan, I can be myself for the first time in years, and the actress is finally retired,” I said grinning.

“Well, I guess the both of us got something we wanted out of this move, you got to be the girl you always knew you were and I got the little sister I always wanted,” Megan said grinning.

“Was I really that bad as a brother to you?” I said looking over at her.

“No Ashley, you were always nice to me, but the two of us were never really close like we are now. It’s not like I could teach my little brother to do his makeup and hair. That would have been just too weird and as far as shopping goes you were never very much fun when you were pretending to be a boy. “Megan paused and then continued.

“I understand now why you acted the way you did. We were looking at all the things you desperately wanted but couldn’t have.” Megan exclaimed.

“Yeah, those days really sucked,” I said thinking aloud.

“Well, those days are over with now Ashley, you can finally be the person that you were meant to be,” Megan said with a grin.

Megan was right I was now living the life that I was truly meant to live, I knew that things were not going to be perfect, life rarely is but the one thing I could take to heart as I would face my problems head-on as the girl I was always meant to be.

 

            We arrived at The Salvation Army Thrift Store 10 minutes later, along the way I had pointed out a few places here and there. There was a lot more to Littleton then either of us initially realized.  There was even a small shopping district that we passed through on our way to the Thrift Store. They sold all kinds of items and we planned on checking it out a bit more later before returning home.

As the two of us made our way to the store, maybe it was the time of day or something but there was hardly anyone there other than the staff. My first stop was the jewelry cabinet. There was a few rings and bracelets that I really liked.

Only one of the rings fit me and the other was just a little too big when I asked Megan if it would be worth getting resized she said it would cost twice what I was paying for it to have it resized so I ended up just getting the ring that fit me and the bracelet.  Which I paid for using my debit card and put them in my purse.

We then grabbed a shopping cart and divided it between the two of us. The first stop we went to was the jeans section of the store. They seemed to have a lot of the larger sizes but there really wasn’t much of a selection for our size.

I did find a few pairs of jean shorts which I grabbed, as well as a couple of skirts. Megan found herself a really nice skirt and blouse that looked like new, she put it into the cart and the two of us continued on. We started sorting through the t-shirts and blouses looking for anything usable and found a few other Items that we both grabbed and placed inside of the cart.

There were a couple other items Megan and I had bought but otherwise, it was a disappointing trip, but that is sometimes the way of things when shopping at the Thrift Store, next week they will have more to choose from I thought as Megan and I paid for our items.

“So where to now sis?” Megan said looking over at me.

“Feel like an ice cream, It’s my treat,” I said seeing a sign a few blocks down that said. Cold Stone Creamery.”

“Strange name for an ice cream place.”, Megan said grinning.

“Let’s just hope they don’t give you a stone cold stunner if you don’t pay,” I said thinking back to when I used to watch wrestling. There was a guy and that is what he called his finishing move.

“Only you would know that Ashley, but ice cream sounds good.”, Megan said grinning

“Yup beauty and brains, that’s me,” I said grinning.

 

            Megan just shook her head, and the two of us made our way over to the Cold Stone Creamery. Once inside I ordered too large rocky road ice creams, rocky road was Megan’s favorite ice creams, and also one of mine.

Considering that most of the kids with the exception of Megan and I were in school the place was not very busy, so it didn’t take us very long to be served. The two of us took the stools over by the main window that looked out onto the street.

Traffic was starting to pick up again, it was around noon after all and people were going on their lunch breaks, many were likely headed to a restaurant to grab a bite to eat. I thought to myself as I took a bite of my ice cream and enjoyed its chocolatey goodness.

“So have you giving any thought to what you want to do once we start school again? I know for myself I would like to join the Cheer Squad, that’s if they will have me this late in the year.” Megan exclaimed.

“I haven’t really given it much thought, I would imagine though I will spend most of the semester sitting under a tree reading,” I said grinning.

Megan laughed, “Yeah, right that was the old you, but seriously have you giving it any thought?”

“If anything I think that I want to concentrate on my music, you know me, boy or girl I am not interested in playing any sports. There are just too many bad memories of what dad put me through. I might consider joining the school newspaper or something like that but honestly, I don’t know yet Megan.”

“I suppose with everything related to your transition, you may be busy with other things,” Megan exclaimed.

“That’s true Megan, I have a long way to go, and I don’t really have a time frame set as to when I will start,” I said looking over at my sister.

“Does the thought of having the operation scare you, Ashley, I would be scared.”

“Not really Megan, but it doesn’t mean I won’t be when the time comes to have the operation,” I said honestly.

“What about Adam, are you planning on telling him the truth?” Megan said looking me in the eyes.

“Yes, I am planning on telling him, if the relationship starts getting serious, but for the moment I am going to keep the truth to myself and see where things lead with him,” I explained.

“It’s kind of a rough place you are in Ashley; anyone you open up to could really hurt you,” Megan exclaimed.

“Yeah, but what is the alternative stay single for the rest of my life.  it’s not fair that everyone around me is allowed to be happy and I am miserable.” I said sadly.

“You’re right Ashley, you deserve to be happy too,” Megan said reaching over and giving me a hug.

“So, I take it you really like this guy then,” Megan said with a grin.

“Yes Megan I really do; I knew the moment we kissed that it was more than just infatuation,” I said grinning.

“Is he a good kisser”, Megan said with a smile.

“Good enough to take your breath away and tie your stomach up in knots,” I said blushing.

“Wow, that’s intense was he your first?” Megan said with a grin.

“he was my first in either mode,” I said looking Megan in the eyes.

“You will never forget it Ashley, the first kiss is something a girl never forgets,” Megan said grinning.

“I know we spent most of our date making out,” I said with a big smile.

“Wow, my little sister is doing better than I am with the guys. I am kind of jealous.” She said with a grin.

“Don’t worry Megan, once you start school you will have plenty of guys wanting to get in your pants,” I said giggling.

“You are right there Ashley, there is never a shortage when it comes to guys looking to hook up with a girl,” Megan said with a smile.

“Anyway we should start back home, and I also wanted to take a look at some of the shops along the way.”, Megan said looking over at me.

Megan and I returned home about 45 minutes later. The shops in the shopping district turned out to be better than I thought they would be and before I was done, I had spent almost $60, on a lot of stuff I probably didn’t even need.

 

Meanwhile back in Boston

 

 

            It had been a botched deal for Philip Roberts, and his merry band of men, but unlike Robin Hood, one of the men he was working with got trigger happy and they were lucky to get away.

They had only netted $100, 000 to split 5 ways. There would have been a lot more money if it wasn’t for Lenny messing everything up, they didn’t have time to stick around once the alarm was triggered. Philip would have to be happy with his mere $20.000. At least until something else could be arranged, after dividing up the money everyone but Jimmy left.

“Well, that was a complete waste of time,” Philip said to his friend.

“Yeah, I would say so, want a beer?” Jimmy said getting up and heading over to the fridge.

“Sure Jimmy, but I think we need to rethink our team, Lenny is way too unstable.  If we leave him on the team, he’s going to get us caught or killed.” Philip said taking the beer and opening it.

“I agree with you there Philip, he’s off the team. What do you think about the other guys though?” Jimmy exclaimed.

“Pete is fine, he was pretty calm and handled himself like a professional as did James. I am fine with the both of them.” Philip said looking at his friend.

“So Philip were keeping everyone but Lenny then,” Jimmy exclaimed.

“Yeah, can we trust Lenny to keep his mouth shut, or are we going to need to deal with him,” Philip said calmly.

“I think it would be best to tie up whatever loose ends exist,” Jimmy said with a grin.

“Alright, I will leave the details to you, Jimmy, try to make it look like an accident,” Philip said with a grin.

“Well, he’s a heroin addict, so I suppose an overdose isn’t something that is not expected. It happens all the time to Junkies.” Jimmy said with a smile.

“Good plan,” Philip said then swallowed down his beer.

“I better get going, I have a lot of things that need to be done and $20000, will be a good start.”, Philip said with a smile and then left Jimmy’s apartment.

As Philip left the apartment, he thought to himself, I will be back with my family soon and this time, things will be different. He would make sure they never dared walk out on him again. he thought to himself as he exited the building.

 

Chapter 21

 

 

            Megan and I had been home now for a few hours and I was honestly starting to really miss school. At least being in class made the time fly, but this sitting around the house was really starting to get to me.

“I am going to run upstairs and check my email, and put my goodies in my bedroom. You can join me if you want?” I said to Megan.

“No, I think that I am going to just watch a bit of television,” Megan replied.

“Suit yourself”, I said with a smile and made my way up the stairs and into my bedroom.

Once inside I clicked the power button on my computer and left it to finish starting up, I took all of the clothes I had bought at The Salvation Army Thrift Store and placed them in my laundry hamper and then set my new jewelry in the first drawer of my new desk/makeup table.

I then grabbed the bag from the laundry hamper and made my way back downstairs and into the living room and asked Megan if she had anything she wanted to be washed. Megan smiled. “Yes, give me a few minutes Ashley and I will bring it downstairs.”

“Alright Megan, I will be in the basement,” I said with a smile and then made my way down the stairs and started sorting my clothes into a few piles.

I put all the whites into the washer first and then as I waited for Megan I grabbed a coke from the bar fridge. Megan arrived a few minutes later carrying the laundry bag from her bedroom. “You sure that you don’t mind, It’s not just my stuff in here some of it belongs to Amy,” Megan explained.

“It's, not a big deal Megan just leave the bag and you can return to your show, I can sort it myself,” I said with a smile.

“Alright, sis, and thanks,” Megan said then made her way upstairs.

After Megan left, I turned on Uncle Brian’s stereo and set the radio to the country channel and started sorting Megan’s and Amy's clothes and added them to the piles on the floor.

 I took all the whites and put them into the washer which now made a full load. I then poured in the laundry detergent and started the first load. I made my way back upstairs and into my bedroom and grabbed my laptop, and brought it downstairs and set it on the bar and took a seat in front of my computer.

Once I was seated I opened up youtube and went to the, My Channel page, I was surprised for being a new account it had been pretty busy. I was also surprised when I saw how many comments had been left for me.

Most of the comments were quite positive, although some were quite crude and had nothing to do with the videos I had posted, those comments I just ignored and continued reading, for the most part, people liked what they heard and others were asking me to sing different songs.

I had somehow managed to build a small fan base, that was still growing. I thought to myself as I replied to a few of the comments and also copied and pasted many of the song suggestions into word. I would look at the songs later and see which ones I could play and which ones I couldn’t.

There was a couple of songs on the list, that I knew already so I would do them first. I thought to myself. When a message came in on my cell, when I looked I saw it was 3 pm and the message was from Adam.

“Hey baby, how’s my girl?” he said with a smiley face.

“Good, just doing laundry. How’s my handsome man.” I said with a grin.

“Great now that school’s done, and I am talking to you.” He said with a happy face.

“Give me a minute and I will call you on the house phone,” I said sending the message.

“I then picked up the house phone and dialed Adams cell.” The phone only rang once before he answered.

“Hey Baby”, Adam said cheerfully.

“Hi Adam, so how was school?”, I said then took a sip of my coke.

“Terribly boring, so when will you be starting school?”, He asked.

“Soon, I hope Adam were still waiting for our transcripts to arrive from Boston and my Doctor is sending a letter to exempt me from Physical Education,” I explained to him.

“That's right, you’re going to need that letter, have you heard anything back from the doctor yet?” Adam asked.

“Nope, I am still waiting to see a specialist, and once that happens my family doctor said that I would likely end up having to go for a bunch of tests,” I explained.

“Well, if you need a ride or anything let me know,” Adam replied.

“Thanks, honey, I will remember that,” I said with a smile.

“So, I take it that you can’t get out for a bit today.” Maybe tonight but you can always come over if you want.” I said with a grin.

“I would like that Ashley; I will be there in about 15 minutes,” Adam said sounding excited.

“Alright, I will see you in a bit honey,” I said excitedly and then we ended the call just as I heard the buzzer go off on the washer letting me know it was ready for another load.

 

            After placing everything in the dryer I started on the colors, once the washer and dryer were running I made my way upstairs and into the living room.

The room was empty Megan must have gotten tired of watching the television and went upstairs to her bedroom.  I made my way over to the front door and opened it and stepped outside and waited for Adam to arrive.

I didn’t have to wait very long when I saw Adams motorcycle pull into the driveway. Once off the bike he came over and met me with a kiss.

“Glad to see you too,” I said giggling as I took his hand and led him into the house.

“Are you the only one home?” Adam asked.

“Megan is upstairs in her bedroom, and I would imagine that Amy should be home anytime now. Let’s head downstairs I am doing the laundry and I need to keep an eye on it.” I said with a smile.

“This is nice.”, Adam said as we entered the basement.

“Yeah, my Uncle converted it into a rec room and as you can see by all the guitars he’s a musician,” I said grinning.

“Wow, he has some nice guitars.”, Adam said going over and looking at them.

“Yeah, his guitars make mine look pitiful,” I said with a smile.

“I didn’t know you played guitar, I knew you could sing though, why don’t you play me something, Ashley,” Adam said taking a seat at the bar.

“There are a few videos of me posted on youtube, here I will pull them up,” I said going over to the computer and I clicked the first video.

“Can I get you anything, Adam?” I said opening the fridge. “There’s coke, Root Beer, and some Ginger ale. “I said looking over at him.

“A coke would be great thanks”, he said as he continued watching the video.

After I opened the can of Coke I handed it to him, “This is unbelievable Ashley, you have an amazing voice and god girl you can sure play the guitar.” Adam said turning up the volume.

“Thanks, Adam, but it seems you’re not the only one that likes what they hear just look at some of the comments,” I said with a smile.

“Yeah I see what you mean Ashley, it seems you are a hit, although some of these comments are really crude, I do like some of the suggestions for songs though,” Adam said shaking his head and clicking the next video.

“So do you play?” I asked Adam, taking the seat beside him.

“I play guitar also, and I can sing, but I am nowhere near your level Ashley,” Adam said as he watched the video of me.

“I bet you have a wonderful singing voice, why don’t you do a song with me later, there are a few songs on the list that can be done as a duet.”, I said with a smile.

“What do you have in mind Ashley?” Adam said looking over at me just before clicking the last video.

“How about, “say something”, by, A Great Big World,” I said looking over at him.

“I don’t really know the words to the song but there is also, “Little Talks”, by, Of Monsters and Men. I have heard that song so many times I think that I know all the words to it.” Adam said with a smile.

“Alright, that works for me,” I said with a smile and then set up the computer to record the video of us.

“What are you doing?” Adam asked me.

“I am going to record the video,” I said with a smile.

“What if we suck.”, Adam said frowning.

“It will be fine Adam if you don’t like how it sounds, we don’t have to post it online,” I said looking over at him.

“Alright, that’s fair enough.” He said calmly.

“Do you want to play or do you just want to sing,” I asked Adam.

“I will let you play it, Ashley,” Adam exclaimed.

 

            I walked over to my laptop and pulled up the lyrics and sent them to the printer. “I will be right back I said then made my way upstairs to Amy’s bedroom. By the time I arrived the two copies were just finishing printing.  What is this Amy said picking up the two pages that had just finished printing and looking at them?

“Little Talks, I love that song”, she said with a smile.

“Me too, are you planning on doing it.”, Megan exclaimed

“Actually Adam and I are going to do it.”, I said with a smile.

“Adam is here?” Megan said looking surprised.

“I guess you didn’t see his motorcycle parked out front,” Amy exclaimed.

“Would it be alright if the two of us joined you, I would love to hear how you guys sound together,” Megan exclaimed.

“Sure, I guess that would be alright.”, I replied.

“Adam is in the rec room; I will meet you guys down there. I have to grab a few things from my bedroom.” I said then left and made my way upstairs.

I was not sure how Adam was going to feel about having Megan and Amy there but I didn’t really think it was all that big a deal and maybe it would give Megan a chance to get to know him considering the two of us were going out.

 

Chapter 22

 

           

            After grabbing my guitar, I made my way back downstairs and into the Rec Room, and found Megan and Amy talking with Adam.  I set my guitar down next to my uncle's guitars and spent the next few minutes setting up the amp and microphones and then ran a patch cord over to my laptop.

I spent the next few minutes playing with the switches until I had the sound that I was looking for. Now that the Amp and microphones were setups I plugged my guitar into the amp and did a quick test to make sure it was ready.

The last step was to run the recording software and place the laptop so that it was pointing at the two of us. Once I was finished I turned to Adam, “We're all set”. I said with a big smile.

Adam came over and took the microphone beside me and I looked over at him, “are you ready.” I said with a smile.

He nodded and smiled at me and I started playing, “Little Talks”, on the guitar and soon started singing Adam came in shortly after me. He had the lyrics in front of them but rarely used them as the two of us sang together.

Adam was right about one thing, he could sing and was honestly a very good singer.  As I looked at Megan and Amy I could tell they were enjoying themselves also and by the time we finished the song. I knew that Adam and I would have to do more duets in the future. I loved how the two of us sounded together.

“Wow, you guys are awesome together.”.  Megan said with a big smile.

“Yeah, Megan is right you guys sounded great,” Amy exclaimed.

“Thanks, but it was Adam that said he wasn’t that great a singer, what a liar,” I said looking over at him and grinning.

“You’re the one with all the talent Ashley, I just followed along.” He said with a smile.

“Well I think the two of us sound good together”, I said grinning.

“Ashley’s right the two of you sound pretty good together,” Megan replied.

“You do have an awesome voice, Adam,” Amy exclaimed.

“Thanks, guys, but I still think the real talent here is Ashley,” he said looking over at me as we heard the buzzer for the washer go off.

I just shook my head then played back the video, and streamed it to the television. Then went over and emptied the dryer and placed the clothes on the sorting table and then moved the clothes from the washer and placed them in the dryer and ran the last load of clothes through the wash.

As everyone watched the video I started sorting and folding the clothes that had come out of the dryer, and placed them in three piles, Mine, Megan’s and Amy’s.

 

            Meanwhile, Megan, Amy, and Adam were having a talk of their own as Adam showed the two of them the youtube videos I had posted earlier today. As I was working the phone rang and I answered it.

“Hello”, I said answering the phone.

“Hello, this is Dr. Anderson’s Office calling, could I speak to Janet Roberts.”

“She’s out at the moment, my name is Ashley is this about the appointment that Dr. Barbara Stein was setting up for me?” I asked her.

“Yes, I am calling with your appointment Ashley.” The woman replied.

“Well, you can give me the appointment and I will pass it on to my mother.” I said grabbing a notepad from a drawer under the bar.”

“Alright, the best I can give you is Friday morning a 10 am. If you can’t make the appointment please call, otherwise, you will be charged a $50 penalty.” The woman explained.

“There’s nothing to worry about I will make the appointment,” I said with a smile as I wrote down the information the woman gave me and then repeated it back to her to make sure that I wrote everything right.

“That’s correct, and I will see you on Friday morning Ashley.” The woman said ending the call and I continued folding the remaining clothing that was sitting on the table.

After finishing I joined the others at the bar and grabbed another coke from the fridge and took a seat next to where Adam was sitting and looked over at Megan, “that was Dr. Anderson’s Office, I have an appointment for 10 am.”, I said with a grin.

“That was fast,” Megan exclaimed.

“I thought so myself, I guess Barbara doesn’t waste time,” I said grinning.

“Yeah, my aunt isn’t one to waste time,” Amy said looking over at me.

“I guess not,” Megan exclaimed.

While the three of us talked I uploaded the new video to my youtube channel, and once I was done the three of us spent some time looking at some of the comments left from people who subscribed to my channel.

Megan and Amy couldn’t seem to get over how many had subscribed. I was also a little surprised because the number had doubled since I had last checked. I wondered what the count would be once the new video was made public. I thought to myself as the video continued uploading to youtube.

 

                        Adam stayed for another half hour before he had to head out. After saying our goodbyes, I made my way back inside and up to my bedroom and grabbed one of my new dresses and placed it on my bed and then grabbed a pair of pantyhose.

I took a seat on my bed and carefully rolled the pantyhose up my legs. I had never worn them before but had heard numerous times how careful you had to be when you put them on. Wearing pantyhose was a new but enjoyable experience. I loved how they felt as they rubbed up against my skin.

As I looked down at my feet, I could see the wonderful job Beverly had done as my toenails glistened a light shade of pink. The next job was to slip into my light blue dress I had very little trouble except with the zipper in the back but eventually managed to pull it up and felt the dress tighten around me.

Like the other dress that I had worn, a few days ago, this one was also very form fitting and showed off my curves nicely. I thought to myself as I ran my hands down my body. The last thing I needed to wear was my high heels, which kind of made me nervous.

The only time I had worn them was the day I bought them and I hadn’t really had much of a chance to get used to walking in them.

I spent the next few minutes getting used to walking in High Heels, It’s surprisingly wasn’t as hard as I initially thought it would be. I just needed to take shorter steps than I normally would. 

Megan and Ashley were right; it really wasn’t that hard at all but I wasn’t ready to walk down the stairs wearing them. I spent the next few minutes touching up my makeup and hair and then I was ready.

So I grabbed my purse and slipped on my Jacket and carried the shoes downstairs with me.

When I reached Megan’s and Amy’s bedroom, I called out to Megan,” Are you, ready sis.” I said poking my head into the bedroom.

“Yeah, that dress looks awesome on you Ashley,” Amy said with a smile.

“Thanks, Amy I love how it looks too.” I said with a smile and then took in what Megan was wearing.” Wow, Megan, that dress fits you perfectly.” I said grinning.

“Thanks, Ashley I see you have your new shoes, are you sure that you are ready for them?” Megan asked looking concerned.

“I can walk in them fine Megan, I just don’t trust wearing them down three sets of stairs,” I exclaimed.

“Yeah Ashley, I see your point,” Megan said agreeing with my choice.

“I will meet you downstairs, mom should be home anytime now,” I exclaimed and made my way downstairs and into the living room. I could hear a bit of noise coming from the kitchen and made my way over and found Aunt Helen, preparing supper.

“Hi Aunt Helen, I said entering the kitchen, did mom tell you that we are going to be going out for supper tonight,” I said looking over at her.

“My gosh, you look beautiful, and yes she texted me earlier today letting me know her plans, but thanks for telling me all the same, honey.” Aunt Helen said with a smile.

“Mom must be running a bit late,” I said taking a seat at the table.

“Rush hour traffic baby, your mother is not used to it yet,” Helen explained.

“So, how was your day?” I asked my Aunt.

“Good but busy, it always is this time of year. You wouldn’t believe how many people put their tax returns in late and then scramble to get someone to get them done up. Either that or they did something wrong when they filed their returns and had to make alterations and send the returns back in.” Helen explained.

“Is it really that hard to fill out a tax return,” I asked my Aunt.

“It can be depending on the type of information you might have to add. If you are married, then you file together. You will need to add your information and your spouses, you may have one or more kids, so you need to add information for each child on the returns. That is just the main part of the return, you may have money locked away in savings bonds or what not which still has to be reported.” Helen explained

“Yeah, I can see why someone might have a problem there, doing it themselves and I can see a whole other issue if you own your own property,” I said frowning.

“You are right there Ashley”, My Aunt said with a smile as we heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway and about a minute later heard mom calling for Megan and me to join her.

“Talk to you later Aunt Helen,” I said giving her a hug and then exiting the kitchen and found mom waiting for us.

“Wow baby, you look really pretty.” Thanks, mom I said with a smile just as Megan came running down the stairs to join us.

 

Chapter 23

 

            The three of us drove for a half hour before we arrived at Delvickio's restaurant. Once we arrived. We made our way inside and waited to be seated, after about 10 minutes we were seated at our table and a waitress joined us a few minutes later. Mom ordered us a large Pizza and three Diet Cokes.

Once the waitress left Megan turned to our mother, “Alright as much as I love Pizza mom, but what did you want to talk to us about?” Megan said frowning.

“Two things actually Megan, the first being your aunt and uncle want us to stay, they have the room and I like the idea but I am not the only one that needs to live with it.” Mom explained.

“As far as I am concerned we are already home,” I said with a smile.

“I am happy where we are to, I don’t want to move if we don’t have to mom,” Megan replied.

“Well, I guess that is settled then.” Mom said with a grin.

“The second thing I wanted to talk to the two of you is about Boston, we left a lot of stuff behind, stuff that's very expensive to replace. I have been thinking about returning and packing up everything that we should have brought with us.” Mom explained.

“Are you crazy, mom you know that dad has most likely, been to the house looking for us,” I said in frustration.

“Ashley is right, mom going back is a big mistake were safe here and the last thing we need is for dad to follow you back, nothing we left behind is that important,” Megan exclaimed.

“Alright, I will leave things as they are but we really could have used some of the things that we left behind.” Mom said frowning.

           

            Our waitress returned a few minutes’ later carrying our order and placed the large pizza in the middle of the table and then returned with another tray carrying three glasses of Diet Coke and then left us to enjoy our supper.

I had to admit Delvickio's made an awesome pizza and I was glad mom had ordered a large one for us. I thought to myself, then looked over at my mother.”

“Dr. Anderson’s office called today, I have an appointment to see him on Friday morning at 10 am,” I said looking over at her.

“That was fast Ashley, I will make sure that I am free honey.” Mom said with a smile.

“I was surprised that I was able to get in to see Dr. Anderson so quickly too,” I said looking over at my mother.

“Amy figures her Aunt Barbara, put a rush on it,” Megan said joining the conversation.

“That was likely the case.” Mom said looking over at Megan.

“Barb did say that I had elements of both sexes, maybe there are risks if they wait too long to deal with my condition,” I said looking over at my mother.

“You might be right Ashley, Barb said it was best we dealt with this sooner than later.” Mom said looking over at me.

“Well, I don’t feel like anything is wrong anyway,” I exclaimed.

“You, might not notice honey, but anyway now that you have an appointment. It will be easier to have some of these questions answered.” Mom said looking across at me.

“I have to agree with mom, it will be good once we know more about what is really going on inside of you,” Megan said looking over at me.

“Well, I will worry about it when the time comes, so enough about me and let’s eat our pizza before it gets cold,” I said with a grin then took a bite.

 

            We arrived home later that night, I joined Megan and Amy upstairs in their bedroom while our mother said she had something she needed to talk to our Uncle and Aunt about. Megan and I just assumed it was about us staying permanently.  So neither of us gave it a second thought.

“So are we just going to sit around all night. There has to be something else we can do around here.” I said aloud.

“Yeah, I agree with Ashley. Let’s get out of the house for a bit Amy.”, Megan said agreeing with me.

“The only thing, that I can think of is the church youth group. They are likely playing volleyball or something else tonight.” Amy exclaimed.

“I guess that I wouldn’t mind going,” Megan said looking over at Amy.

“Are you going to join us, Ashley?”, Amy asked me.

“No, you guys can go? I am sure that I can find something to keep me busy.” I replied.

“Are you sure Ashley?” Megan exclaimed.

“Yeah, I am sure,” I said calmly and then made my way upstairs and to my bedroom.

 

            I couldn’t really blame Megan and Amy for wanting to attend the youth group activities, but I wasn’t comfortable with attending any kind of church and decided that I would just do my own thing as I grabbed my purse and jacket and made my way downstairs and out the front door.

As I walked, I really wasn’t sure where I was going. I didn’t really have a solid destination. Eventually, I decided that I would head over to the mall and maybe do a little window shopping and made my way toward the mall.

After a short walk, I arrived at the mall, I was used to the mall now so finding my way around wasn’t really all that hard anymore. I didn’t really have any money to spend, I had gone through a major chunk of my money shopping with Megan.

As I made my way through the mall I saw a number of stores that were hiring and thought a job was exactly what I needed and used my cell to record the names of the stores that were hiring.

I would later contact them once I put together a resume and see if I couldn’t find something for a few days a week. I thought to myself as I continued walking. Eventually, I ended up in the food court and decided to head over to Starbucks.

Starbucks was pretty busy but there were still a few empty tables. I took a place in line and waited to be served. There were only a couple people working so the line was very slow but eventually I was served and made my way outside onto the deck. There were a few people there, but nobody I knew, until I saw Kira, sitting alone on the other side of the deck.

I had met Kira Jordan, shortly after arriving in Littleton, it was also the day I had first met Adam. The two of us had talked a bit that day. She was going out with James Marshall. I guess the two of them had been going out for quite a while, but as I looked at her I could tell she looked a bit upset.

As I looked at her I wasn’t sure if I should go over or not. I didn’t really know her that well to begin with, but I also knew what it felt like to feel completely alone. It was something I dealt with for most of my life. I thought to myself and made my way over to her.

“Hi Kira, I thought that was you,” I said as I approached her table.

She turned towards me, “Ashley right?”, Kira said looking over at me.

“That’s me, mind if I join you.”, I said with a smile.

“Sure, it’s a free country.”, Kira said looking over at me.

“Having a bad day.”, I said taking a seat across from her.

“You could say that,” Kira said sadly

“I know you don’t really know me Kira, but if you want someone to talk to I am here,” I said looking across the table at her.

“James and I have broken up, I caught him with another girl.”, Kira said with tears in her eyes.

“I am sorry Kira, guys can be such pricks.”, I said reaching out and taking her hands in mine.

“Ashley, I should have seen it coming, he’s been so distant lately. It’s like he never seemed to have any time for me anymore, and then I find him with of all people, my best friend. God, I could just die how could they do this to me.” Kira said in tears.

“Don’t say that Kira, no guy is worth doing something as drastic as that and that girl was not your best friends, friends don’t do things like that to one another,” I said as my own tears started to flow.

“I am not going to do anything stupid Ashley, I am just upset and pissed off at myself, for not seeing this coming. Tara always liked James, and I knew it, but James was with me how could she do this to me.” Kira exclaimed.

“Like I said, she isn’t much of a friend and James is just as responsible, if you ask me you can do better in both departments,” I said giving her hand a squeeze.

“You’re right Ashley, I deserve better. Thanks for being here for me, you really didn’t have to, god you barely know me.” Kira said looking across the table at me.

“I really couldn’t help it, Kira, I have seen that look in your eyes a thousand times before when I look in the mirror,” I said sadly.

“It sounds like you could use a friend too,” Kira said looking across the table at me.

“Yeah, I really could, are you offering.”, I said grinning.

“Sure Ashley, we can be miserable together,” Kira said with a smile.

“This sounds like the start of a wonderful friendship,” I said looking her in the eyes.

The two of us talked for a while longer, and really started to get to know one another Kira and I had a lot in common and decided that the two of us would have to hang out again sometime but without all the drama.

 

Kira and I parted ways after she gave me her phone number and I told her that I would text her as soon as I had my new phone and then I started for home. I arrived home a short while later, It had been a long day and I was feeling pretty worn-out and headed off to bed.

Later that night, Janet carried a small suitcase out to her car, she set the suitcase on the back seat and then climbed in. She knew that her children would not agree with her choice but felt she just couldn't throw everything that she had worked so hard for away.

 

 

End of part 5

To be continued in part 6