They both slid down to the floor, Ashley sobbing into Spencer’s cotton shirt, soaking it with her tears.

Meanwhile, at Kelly’s house…

Amanda sat on the couch waiting patiently for Kelly to emerge from the kitchen with their Cherry Coke. Her cell phone ran in her pocket. ‘Keep the blood in your head, and keep your feet on the ground. If today’s the day it gets tired today’s the day we dropped out, keep your-‘it was Madison. The only reason she had that ring tone set was because she didn’t have one to fit Madison, so she just used the cheerleaders’ favorite song from a few years ago. “Hello?” She answered.

“Are you Crazy?” Madison immediately began to banter into the phone. “I can’t believe you slept together! It’s going to get around because EVERYONE knows that she cant keep a secret about that. Then there you go-“

“Wait, wait. Madison, calm down. Who exactly did I sleep with?” Amanda asked confused. As far as she was aware, she hadn’t willfully slept with anyone since she moved to L.A.

“Kelly. I heard her talking to some friends about it today in the Quad before you came over.” Madison said simply.

“WHOA! Hold on. I never slept with-“Kelly walked into the room carrying two sodas and a bowl of popcorn. Amanda gave her a glare that could kill. “Madison, I’ll call you back.” She closed her phone and tucked her lips inside her mouth and she squinted her eyes at Kelly.

“What?” Kelly asked as if there was nothing wrong.

At the Carlin residence things were pretty calm and relaxed. Arthur was in the kitchen finishing up the dishes from dinner. Glen was taking a shower before bed while Clay stayed in his room and packed a few things into boxes. The entire dinner had been full of nothing but testosterone considering Paula steered clear of the family dinner plans. It had become a regular habit of hers to ‘eat out with some clients’.

The front door opened and Paula walked inside heading straight to the mirror in the front room and fixed the loose strands of hair that were a bit frizzy and messy. After she was done fixing her messy lip gloss she headed straight for the kitchen knowing that was where Arthur was. Upon entering she grabbed a soda from the fridge and opened it letting the hiss fill the room, scaring the unsuspecting Arthur Carlin. He hadn’t known she was there yet, so of course it scared him.