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

so important for her to get that role. If she had won that role, she would have got fame. She would have been payed alot by Mr Harry. And then she would have been cast in other movies too. She would have made it big, improved her future. they would have been able to afford a good house. Help themselves."

   I realized, with a shock, that I was crying myself. I had never thought that Ashley had such a troubled life. Jake continued again,

"And then her mother lost one of her jobs. And they started starving. I offered to help her, I WANTED to help her, remember? I told you to?" I nodded,"But Ashley would not allow it, she did not want anyones charity. That was whys she was so desperate. When she lost that role, she realized that she had lost the last chance she had of helping her mother and her brothers."

   "Oh."

Oh! Poor, poor Ashley.'Never judge a book by its cover' I had judged Ashley by what she appeared to be. Never once realizing that there was a hidden life under that hard mask. I had mistaken her.

  "You see? She had her reasons."

Jake said and looked at me.I nodded, and placed my head on his chest; looking at the shabby cottage before me. Yes, she had her reasons. She was wrong. They had both been wrong; Ashley and Mandy. Byt they were right too, I realized. yes, they were right too...in  their own way.

Chapter 30

How could I have known? Understood the hidden meanings? I had mistaken Mandy, and now it was revealed that I had mistaken Ashley too, had I ever done anything right in my 17 years of life?

   "I...I am..but, but she never said anything!"I said.

"I told you,"Jake started,"She had her self pride, she wanted to do everything herself. She was very angry with me when she found out that I had told you she was having financial problems. You told her, I suppose?"

   I nooded.

"She was angry. We fought alot. Somehow, she only trusted me; trusted me to keep her secret safe. We had gone through alot together. She felt she could trust me."

   "I know."

I didnt want to hear any of this. Sorry, as I was for Ashley, I didnt want to hear repeats about her and Jake's trust in each other.

"Come on, Jake, let's goo back. I cant stay here a moment longer."

I started walking back, Jake caught up with me.

   "So you cant even stay here for a few minutes; Ashley LIVED here."

"I know. I am sorry for her, Jake. I misjudged her, but what do you mean by all this?"

    "You gave evidence against her." It was more like an accusatry statement then a question.

"I did the right thing, Jake."

    "By doing the wrong thing, you can save a person's life, Steph."

   "What about the life that I lost? What about Mandy?!"

  "Can you bring her back? Will, by making Ashley go to prison, you bring Mandy back?"

       "No, but her soul will rest in peace."

"Steph,"Jake looked like he was trying to control himself,"You know as well as I do that Ashley did not mean to bring Mandy any real harm, apart from some bruises. You were THERE. You saw it yourself."

  Jake looked into my eyes, it felt impossible for me to tear my eyes away, because what he was saying was true. Completely true. Yes, Ashley was the reason Mandy was no more, but Ashley hadn't meant to kill Mandy. She wanted to hurt Mandy somehow but not kill. I turned my eyes away from Jake's atlast.

  "The court will decide that." I started walking towards the busstop.

"But you will give evidence against her?"
"Give me some time to think, Jake!"I cried, "You have told me alot today, I need to think about that before I come to any conclusion!"
Jake looked at me and then sighed,
     "Oh. Alright, come on."
We both got on the bus, soon we had reached the bustop near Mandy's house. We got off.
  “Where are you going?” I asked,
“Back to the hospital,” Jake replied.
    “Oh. I am going back home. Mummy and Father must be back by now.”
“Good. See you later. And Steph ?”
  “Yeah?”
“Think about what I said.”
“Okay.”
We parted our ways. I walked back towards my house. If Mummy and dad wouldn’t be back then the house would still be locked. I climbed up the stairs and opened the door, it was unlocked.
    “Mummy?”
“Steph!”
    Mummy came running out of somewhere, quickly followed by father; and they both hugged me.
“Are you alright, Steph?” She asked, touching every part of me that she could reach.”
 “Yes, yes, mummy. I am good.”
“Is..did we miss the funeral?”
  I felt myself stiffening, ”No, you didn’t. Its tomorrow.”
“Oh. Did anyone bother you about it, Steph? I saw your interview on the Tv.”
“Interview. As if!”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing, Mummy. Look, I am sure you must be tired, lets all rest now.”
    Mummy looked unsure but then nodded,
“Ok.”
I ran up the stairs, past father, and up to my room. The last time I had been it things had been so changed,   so changed. Mandy had still been alive. All had been well.
Ring.Ring.Ring.
I looked around and then realized that my own cellphone was ringing. I received the call.
“Hello?”
“Miss Moore?”
“Yes.”
“We are from The Express Tribune,”I sighed, not one of those again.”Would you like to give us a special interview regarding the death of-“
   There. I had cut the call. These reporters had been pestering me ever since yesterday. I flipped my mobile over and took out the sim and threw it into the dustbin. There, it was gone now. Stephanie Moore, best friend of Murdered Mandy McHugh was dead too.

“Steph, wake up.”
“Huh?Mummy,” I sat up, “For how long did I sleep?”
    “Ummm, around 5 hours, I think.”
“Oh. I slept in the morning too. Whats happening to me?”
    “Steph, you did not have an ounce of sleep last night. Ofcourse, your body needs rest.”
“Yeah, probably. What time is it now?”
     “Around 8. Come on, get up. Arent you hungry?”
“Yeah. Loads. Is it dinner already?”
“Yes. Get up. I am waiting for you in the kitchen.”
          She got up and went out, I stared after her. My mind running back to Ashley’s shabby, small, cottage home.Here I was, I had everything. Loving parents, a good home, money. *I* didn’t have to work so that my family wouldn’t starve. I had everything given to me. I didn’t have to work for anything. And there was Ashley, having to live with the knowledge that her younger brothers went to sleep everynight with an empty stomach. Here, while we threw away the food when we didn’t feel like it, Ashley’s mother had to work odd jobs so she could give that same food to her family.
In a way, it wasn’t fair. Me having everything, but Ashley having to work for it. She had not wanted her life to be so. But I could still help her. Help her, if I gave evidence in favour of her. Like Jake said, I could do a wrong to do a big right.
          But that would be an insult to Mandy’s memory! Helping her culprit escape. I couldn’t do that to Mandy! I couldn’t!
         But what about Ashley? What about those two twin brothers who must now be waiting for their sister to  come home? What about Ashley’s life? Her whole life would be destroyed. And all if I gave evidence against her. It was all in my hands. Do wrong to one person, Mandy, while doing right for others, Ashley, her brothers, Mrs John.
What was right and what was wrong? Yes, Ashley had pushed Mandy, But that must have been destined. Destined for Mandy to be at the edge of the stairs at that time so that she slipped and went rolling down the stairs, hurting her head. It was all predestination.
It could have been otherwise, Mandy might have been standing at my place, and then she wouldn’t have been hurt at all by Ashley’s push. And everything would have been alright. Was this all destined? For Mandy to fall and die, and for me to learn the truth about Ashley?
What should I do now? It all depended on me. My one statement in the court would decide four peoples life.
“Stephanie!Why aren’t you here yet? Come down at once!”
“Coming, mother.”
I had better go now. Looking at myself in the mirror for a second(I looked a mess) I opened my bedroom door and climbed down the stairs, and into the kitchen. I pulled a chair and sat down.
“Steph? Are you feeling okay?”
“I TOLD you, mummy, I am okay! Really, it was Mandy who died, not me!”
Mother looked at me and then sighed.
“I know you have gone through a lot, Steph, I just want you to know that your parents will be there for you if you ever feel like talking to someone.”
“I appreciate it, Mummy, I really do. But I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But you have to, Steph! There is the funeral tomorrow, you cant just pretend as if nothing happened!”
“ok, Fine!”I snapped,”What do you want?”
“I know its hard, Steph, but there will be the court proceedings. You need to be sure of what you have seen.”
I stared at her,”You..you mean that I cant keep changing my statement?”
    “Exactly. I know Mandy was your best friend. But you have to do what’s best for you, Steph. You have your whole life ahead of you. We don’t want you to be in any trouble with the law.”
I nodded, ”I’ll be careful.”
   “You trust people too easily, Steph. I heard about that reporter-“
“Mummy, please! We’ll talk later!”
   “Steph, wait-“
“I am going over to Mandy’s.”
   “Not Mandy, the McHughs, Steph.”
“Ugh, Fine!”
“Okay, but you cant go alone.”
    “What? Now you are grounding me?!”
“No, Steph, I just don’t want you to be alone in your present situation.”
“MOM! For the last time, I am OKAY!”
I ran off towards the door, that was when I heard the sob. I looked back, mummy was crying!
“Mummy! Why…why are you crying?!”
    “Oh, Steph. I…I am so worried about you. So worried! As soon as Jake called yesterday, I wanted to come back immediately, to make sure you are safe!”
“Mummy. I am okay, please don’t cry.”
“I…I feel so insecure about you, Steph. The McHughs must be so broken, but..but I am only worried about you! You are my only daughter, Steph, I wont be able to stand it if anything happened to you!”
             I realized then what it was to a parent to loose a daughter. After what had happened to Mandy, it had made Mummy insecure, worried about me.
“I promise, mummy, nothing’s gonna happen to me. I’ll always be here with you. Always.”
    I hugged her, she wiped her tears away and smiled.
“I am so sorry, it’s so silly of me, but-“
   “It’s okay, mummy.”I hugged her,”I’ll be good.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I smiled,”I’ll call Jake.”
    “ Yes, you do that,” Mummy replied,” Jake’s a good boy, I liked him.”

I blushed and then bent down to hide my blush; with the excuse that I was calling Jake.

  "Hello, Jake?"

"Yeah. Who is this?"

  "It's me, Steph. As if  you dont have my name saved already!"

"Ooops!Forgot! Well, why did you call?"

  "Can