Girl Trouble (Completed) - Ayesha Azhar (graded readers .TXT) 📗

Ashley.

"Hey, no handshake?"Jake said.

Ashley extended a hand."We’ve met before. Remember me, Stephanie?"

"Of course I do “I said.

"When have you both met before?"Jake said, pretending to sound hurt.

"Just some days ago, Jake, and how come you never told me that you knew Stephanie?"Ashley asked, glaring at Jake.

"Well, you never asked."

"I have now, and I want the full story, how long have you two been in touch?'

"We just met today, Ash."Jake said.

"Okay then, but remember, you said, friend, who’s your best friend?"Ashley said, smiling secretively.

"You of course, Ash"

Ashley jumped and hugged Jake. As I watched them, I felt a kind of twinge. That was how Jake and I had always been, but oh, anyways, I had Mandy now.

"Hey, nice necklace, Steph, where's it from?"Ashley said, pointing to my pearl necklace which I wore around my neck. I looked at it proudly.

"Thanks" I said."I love it too, its antique, from Paris, my cousin brought it for me".

"Wow, you have very generous cousins."Ashley chuckled.

What was that supposed to mean? But I didn’t care, Ashley seemed like a nice girl, I could solve all those mysteries about her being poor later, now I could only concentrate on having fun and I was soon laughing with Jake and Ashley, with no thoughts in my mind about Mandy.

 

 

"Mandy, how ‘re you doing?"I asked entering her bedroom. I had been waiting for her to call me, but she hadn't so I had come to check on her at her house. Her mother had let me in saying that she hadn't been quite up to the mark and had been in her bedroom all day.

"I thought I could help you practice for the audition."I added.

No reply. That’s what I hate the most about people; they only reply when they feel like it, and never when you want them to .And why wasn’t Mandy replying anyways? Fights like these were common between us because of Mandy's unfortunate quality of being so possessive.  Why was she taking it so seriously this time?

"Mandy? I’m talking to you."

"Yes?"

"Did you even hear what I said, Mandy?"

"I did, but I don’t care, Steph"

"And why’s that?"

"Because you’re with Ashley now, aren’t you, Steph? Why would you want to help me?"

"Please."

"Oh, don’t lie, Steph, I saw you, I saw you with Ashley in the California Dream Parlor"

"With Ashley? I was with Jake."

"Oh, really?"Mandy said in that sarcastic tone that I knew so well, "Then was it your twin whom I saw with Ashley and Jake?"

"Well....okay fine, but I wasn’t with Ashley really, I was with Jake and then Ashley came over, you see, Ashley is most unfortunately Jake's best friend. Jake told me quite a lot about Ashley, if you would like to know"

   Mandy looked at me. We both understood what I had meant by that. Despite her being angry at me, she smiled.

"OK. Tell me everything."

"Then listen, "I said."But close the door first, Mandy, we don’t want anyone else to hear this."

Mandy closed the door and then sat down on the bed beside me, "Shoot"

"But one thing, Mandy, you can never ever ever tell, got it?"Mandy nodded.

     Though Jake hadn’t asked me not to tell anyone, but still, this was not my secret to tell. I was getting to know Ashley quite well, and I didn’t want her to know that I was spreading stories about her.

        "Good, Jake said something about a scholarship, Mandy, according to him, Ashley’s really poor, though I don’t think so-"

  "Poor?" Mandy interrupted. " That can’t be, I mean you saw the way she dressed yourself, Steph."

       “I know, Mandy."I nodded," That was what I was going to say, I definitely don’t think that she’s poor, but anyways, Jake also said that Ashley always wanted to be an actor, she transferred to this school only this year, so she is a new girl too, which makes it harder for her to beat you because she won’t have as many supporters."

   ”Good," Mandy said.

  "Yeah, Jake said that she was really happy when she got that scholarship and got admitted in this school. What I can gather from all this, Mandy, is that Ashley must be really ambitious."

    "Yup, but about her being poor must definitely be a lie, Steph, how could she be poor?"

 "Who knows? Maybe she is, maybe she isn’t. Come on, let’s play some Snap."

"Okay, I’ll bring the cards."

And then we settled down to play a nice game of cards.

 

"Ok, so you need to put your hands up when you say this line."

It was later in the evening and I was still at Mandy's house helping her rehearse for her audition. Mandy dropped down on the bed, obviously tired.

"The audition is only a week away “she said wearily “And I don’t know a thing. I’m dead meat"

"Why do you always think negative?"I muttered .I was tired of all this complaining and groaning. Mandy was always complaining that Ashley did this, Ashley did that etc. I mean she lost her physics notebook and insisted Ashley had stolen it. Who in their right mind would think that?

"Ok, Ok, I admit I have been acting a bit too negative, but didn't you see what she did to me today?"Mandy said repeating her complains.

"And what did she do?"

"She took my physics book."
 "Come on, Mandy, you cannot possibly blame Ashley for that. What proof do you have?"I said .Mandy was seriously starting to get on my nerves now.

"Well, I don’t have any proof." Mandy said, her face turning into a frown, "But didn't you see how she was smirking at me?"

I had to agree with her at that. When Miss Juliana had scolded Mandy, Ashley had been smiling as if she was happy that Mandy was in trouble, but that possibly couldn't mean anything.

"Listen, Mandy," I sat down on the bed close to her and tried to explain."I have had lots of competitions and challenges myself but it doesn't mean you have to make the other competitor your enemy. You remember we both were competitors once and when I won, you went bonkers, but that was the start of our friendship. Challenges are scary, but they are fun to be. You take them too seriously"

"Whose side are you on, Steph? Mine or her?"

 Mandy stood up, hands on her fists.

"You’ve repeated this question so often, Mandy, I am considering going over to the dark side."

"You are ditching me for her?"

"How can you possibly think that?"I said my voice rising.

“You said it yourself, Steph."

"I only meant that as a joke, honestly, Mandy, can’t you see a joke?"

"No, I can’t, ok? So don’t joke about things like that."

 Well, Well, Well, how many things would I have to take care of while being friends with Mandy?

"Fine. I won’t, ok? I’m leaving now, it’s late."

"Good then, Bye."

"Bye."

I closed the door and went down the stairs. Mandy didn’t come with me to the door as she always did. I suppose she was still angry. I didn’t care much either. I was used to this now. Even though Mandy and I had been best friends since the last two years, she had remained the same; possessive, angry, and untrusting.

The distance between mine and Mandy's house is really less, only about a block, so I reached my house pretty soon. I softly opened the door .To my surprise, Mother told me one of my friends had called and was waiting for me in my room.

Who could it be? Not Mandy, of course. Then Jake?  I opened the door of my room and gasped when I saw the person inside.

         "Ashley!"

 

 

 

Chapter 3

 

 

 "Hey! Hi,Steph."Ashley smiled.

"What are you doing here, Ashley? And what were you looking for in my cupboard?"

  Ashley had been prying in my cupboard. I was sure of it; for when I entered the room, Ashley had suddenly moved.

"Cupboard? No, I wasn’t looking in your cupboard, Steph, I just wondered whether there were any photos of you and Jake together?"

"You came here, in my room, to ask me this?"I said, annoyed.

"Well, no, I came here to take you with me to Steve’s party. But forget that now, so are there any photos of you and Jake together?"

I looked at her suspiciously.

"Wait, I’ll have to check." I said" By the way, how did you know where I live?"

     "I asked Jake."

"How come he knew where I live?"

    "For God’s sake, Stephanie, you must have told him somehow."

  "Oh, ok." I said and opened my bedside drawer. As far as I remembered, there had been some photos of me and Jake together. But where they were, I had no idea.

"Maybe in there?"Ashley pointed towards the cupboard.

"How do you know that the photos are in the cupboard, Ashley?"

"I don’t, I’m just saying that they could be there."

 I opened my cupboard, and looked inside, after throwing out a lot of clothes and other things, I finally found them.

"Here, " I handed them over to Ashley.

"See, I told you." Ashley chuckled.

And how did she know anyways? But oh, forget that, I looked at my own and Jake's smiling faces in the picture and a smile came on my own face.

"When was this taken?" Ashley asked.

"Two years ago, I don’t exactly know when, but it was a circus, I think. We both went to a circus together or it must have been a fair."

"Oh, you both look good together, Steph."

"Ummm...well, I guess so."

What else could I say? Whatever was Ashley pointing at anyway?

 “Don’t you two have any pictures together, Ashley?" I asked, mainly to change the subject.

"Of course we have," Ashley nodded, "But come on now ,we’ve to leave, here, take these back, they are good ones."She handed me back the photos.

 I wasn’t going to take all the trouble of putting them in the cupboard now, I just thrust them in my drawer.

"Hey! Keep them in a safe place at least, they are precious."Ashley said.

"They are mine, and anyways I will put them back later."

"Ok," Ashley nodded, "Come on,"

"Where are we going?"

"Steve's party, don’t you remember? You agreed to go."

I did? Why didn’t I remember anything then?

"Excuse me, but I don’t even know any Steve ."I said grumpily.

 “But you will, soon enough.”

  "Why do you want me to go?”

I was about to say no but then I thought it might take my mind off Mandy. My face turned red with anger, thinking of Mandy .She had absolutely no control over her tongue. How like her to say that I was ditching her! Well, I would prove that right now. It would teach her a lesson to know that I was with Ashley, instead of her. So I agreed.

          As predicted, we hung out all of the rest of the day. It was mostly night but it was quite fun.Asley wasn't Ashley wasn’t so bad. Not as bad as Mandy made her sound. No, I shook my head , Ashley wasn't bad at all. She was quite nice. It was just Mandy blaming her, like she had blamed me even though I am her best  friend. Once again I fumed up. We had a big game of darts afterwards, Jake won easily, he was so good at it, he could aim with his eyes closed. Then Ashley stood up and talked everyone in playing truth or dare.

"Steph, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare"

My thoughts turned back to