Finding Ashlynn Read Online Free Page A

golden hair. Ironically, she liked the look. It made her less… scary, she supposed.
    Her combat boots were traded for a pair of black dress flats. A slim-fit, black, girly tee replaced her normal ratty tank top. She still went with the skinny jeans, but this pair didn’t have rips all along the legs. Last but not least, she sprayed on some of the perfume her mother had left behind. Ash treasured the bottle and used it very sparingly—really, only for special occasions—and tonight would be special. Hopefully.
    When Ash pulled into the parking lot, she immediately spotted Stella’s car, and her heart started to beat a little faster. She knew Jenna had ridden with Stella last week and just knew Jenna would be in there waiting, looking completely adorable like she had last Friday night. Ash still had it in her mind that she was going to right the wrong from last weekend. She wasn’t going to pull the sad, emo, poor-girl card this time. This time, she would totally talk to Jenna and maybe, just maybe, they could actually hang out and really get to know each other.
    She bebopped through the door and into the community center, humming the new tune her band had worked up a few days ago. It was catchy as hell and so much fun to play, and as that perfect little testament to her musical prowess wound through her mind, so did the words she would speak to Jenna.
    Ash thought she would say something funny, just to hear Jenna laugh. Then, when the laughter subsided, she would say something serious, something that would appeal to Jenna’s intellect. Finally, she would top it all off by asking Jenna out for coffee or something, because Jenna was totally the kind of girl who appreciated good coffee.
    Freakin’ perfect!
    Only when Ash finally made it down to the room where they held their meetings, she didn’t spot Jenna. The advisers were there. Stella and the boys were there, but no Jenna. Ash’s heart slipped down inside her chest and collided with her stomach. Her perfect plan was all of a sudden ruined.
    Quietly sitting down next to Stella, Ash did her best to stifle her disappointment before she asked Jenna’s BFF why the girl of her dreams wasn’t here tonight. Ash didn’t want to come off as some freaky stalker, so she had to ask with tact.
    “Why isn’t Jenna here?” she finally asked in a demanding sort of whine.
    There goes that tact.
    “She has SATs tomorrow morning, so she wanted to spend the night studying,” Stella said. Ash tried not to pout but apparently didn’t do as good of a job as she thought she had, because Stella immediately grinned and reached for a piece of paper. “She won’t care if I give this to you.” She wrote a number down on the paper, then put it in Ash’s hand. “Call her. I know she’ll want to hear from you.”
    “Really?” Ash perked up.
    “Really.” Stella’s smile widened.
    The remainder of the meeting was pretty much a blur. Ash didn’t hear or take part in any discussion like she had the first night. Even their silly ’round-the-circle games were nothing but background noise. She couldn’t stop thinking about Jenna, eagerly waiting for the moment she could break free of the room and sneak in a call. If she left now, she couldn’t come back in. That was the rule, and well….
    Screw it! Talking to Jenna is more important.
    She popped up from the bench she’d been sitting on, grabbed her backpack, and started for the door. One of the advisers calling her name stopped her. She turned back around to find the entire group staring at her like she was a great big elephant and all the fine china just exploded all over the floor… or however that saying went. Ash was used to performing and having people watch her, but this intimate group thing—and the looks on their faces—had a way of unnerving her.
    “I’m just… I’m, um… gonna go,” she said.
    “That’s fine, but you can’t come back,” the adviser warned.
    “I know. I’ll come back next week.”
    Ash