20

ASHLEY

I was exhausted.

I pulled over in the driveway of my apartment and turned off the engine, grabbed the grocery bags in the backseat and my handbag, stepping out of the car. Genevieve let me off work early today. According to her, there wasn't much to do.

With the rate at which I had been getting a pass from her recently, if I were paid in dollars for it, I would be a millionaire by now. She keeps surprising me, and well, not like I was complaining. Truth be told, I needed to rest. It's been a rough couple of weeks.

I couldn't have been more glad of the kind of friends I surrounded myself with. They are the best friends a girl could wish for. I finally summoned up the courage to talk to my mom about the whole thing, and I couldn't have done it without their help. She was so hurt that I had been covering up for him. Dad wasn't left out either. His anger was unquenchable when he realized how he had been hurting me both physically and emotionally.

If anything, I was glad about the