Chapter 5A

        Should I try to escape? I thought. Well, the windows are bolted shut, and the door’s locked…
Wait a second…
Hold on…
What if the door was open? What if Roy left it open? I thought back to it again…
He said slowly. “Just remember…the door’s wide open…”
“No it’s not!” I yelled.
But he just turned, walked straight out the door, and slammed it shut. I could hear his footsteps retreating away, one last time…
And then it came to me. Roy hadn’t locked the door. In fact, he’d told me it was open. I’d thought he’d been talking about it in a metaphorical sense, but perhaps he was telling the bold truth and leaving it hidden in plain sight…or hearing…
What are you doing, Ashely? THE DOOR IS OPEN. ESCAPE! And I ran to the door and was about to turn the knob when it all came crashing down.
However clever Roy’s ‘riddle’ had been, he had forgotten that I had no idea how to get out of this place. I didn’t even know what floor I was on. I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my sweater and leaned against the door with a sigh. The crumpled paper was still in there, and it scraped my knuckles, giving me a paper cut. I began to curse and angrily pulled it out and opened it, ready to rip it up with a vengeance.
But when I opened it, it wasn’t an interview…it wasn’t even an interview response. It was a grid with numbers and letters and words. Wow, Roy’s an idiot, I thought. He couldn’t even give me the correct paper to give to my slave-traders.

        Then it hit me. That piece of paper…was a map. A MAP. I just had to find where I was and leave and…why would Roy save me? Well, it didn’t matter now. I flung open the door and sure enough, the guard was knocked out. I knew there were probably cameras everywhere, so I ran as fast as I could, using the map as a guide, seeing the numbers on the halls and finding my way to the stairs. I jumped down each flight, flying down until I saw the number one on a door. I burst through it, my feet tingling, my heart racing, with no thoughts but GET OUT. I saw a door, I saw a huge window to the cold snow-coated outdoors, and ran to it. I could hear heavy footsteps on the stairs, coming to take me, from myself. And the door wouldn’t open. It was jammed. I banged it and banged it and it wouldn’t open. And smashed it with my feet, the footsteps getting closer, desperate now, tears running down my face, they were probably on the second floor now, about to come and see me…

Chapter 5

Days passed. Roy came in, asked questions, watched me sleep, the room got colder and colder and I felt worse and worse, eating cereal for practically every meal and singing old 90’s songs in my spare time. It wasn’t just boring. It was far worse. Because I knew that when this suffering was over, more suffering would begin, as I would be some slave-wife-person and I would probably die and never see my family again.
It was a frigid Wednesday morning when everything seemed to change. Roy came in and sat down like usual, and I prepared for 3 hours of sitting around, when he spoke.
“They’re going to take you away from here,” He said in a hoarse voice.
I should be surprised, I thought. “What?”
“You’re going to be put into a slave trade.” He said each word slowly, as if he couldn’t believe it. But I knew he’d been processing this for a week now.
“WHAT?!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs, doing the best acting possible. Then I began to breathe heavily. It wasn’t that hard to pretend to be scared or startled. It was today that my life would change forever. Or end. I was ready. But not ready enough.
Roy handed me a thick white sheet of paper that was folded 4 times. “This is your… interview response. You have to give it to the…to the people that take you.”
I took the paper and stuffed it into my pocket without reading it, crumpling it. Roy winced.
Why was he so upset about some dumb piece of paper that I had to give to my slave-traders?
“I’m sorry.” His voice was almost emotionless, but his eyes flickered. Did he actually care, or was he a talented actor? And why would he be apologizing to me? It’s his fault I got into this mess in the first place.
“They’ll be picking you up in the next 5 minutes. It’s my fault this is happening to you,” He said slowly. “Just remember…the door’s wide open…”
“No it’s not!” I yelled.
But he just turned, walked straight out the door, and slammed it shut. I could hear his footsteps retreating away, one last time… I stood there stunned, not knowing what I should be feeling.
It’s all over, I thought. I’d never see Daddy or Betti or Layla or Mackenzie or Charlotte or mystery guy or even Roy again.
I decided the best thing to do was sit and wait. I took deep breaths, wondering if I was being watched. Well, obviously. There must be some sort of recording camera or device in here. I didn’t want to seem too nervous or upset, it would only give them pleasure.
What the heck did Roy even mean, ‘the door is wide open’? Who was he, some old Japanese haiku-writer? I went back in my mind to our exchange, him coming in, handing me the paper, saying ‘just remember, the door’s open’, and leaving… who did he think I was?
Time seemed to pass slowly, the minutes going by like months. I couldn’t figure Roy out. He seemed like this horrid guy, and then he gave me advice on how to be as a person.
Yeah right, like that door was even open. I couldn’t go back to anyone ever again, so how could I change as a person with the snap of my fingers?

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Chapter 4D

“Any siblings?”
“No.”
“How tall are you?”
“5’6.”
“Weight?”
I frowned.
“120.”
“What do you look for in a guy?” Still confused as to where these questions were going, I thought about it.
“Someone who understands me. Who isn’t afraid of who they are. Someone honest, and brave. Someone who can make me laugh and make me cry if they’re away. Someone who has manners, who loves uncontrollably, who will open my eyes to life. Someone who really cares about themselves, and about other people. Not just some conceited jock with no brains, basically.
Someone who can save me from desperate situations, but knows that I‘m strong, too. Someone who respects me, who loves to smile…” I took a deep breath after that speech.
“Wow, someone’s got high expectations.” Roy bit his lip to stifle laughter at his own stupid comment and wrote out my response. He had dark circles under his eyes, I noticed, as he turned to write. And there was stubble on his cheeks as if he hadn’t bothered to shave.
“Well, you were brought up like that,” He remarked casually. “Everything you could ever want, pampered and spoiled and now you’re…that.”
“Do you really think that?” I asked seriously. Why did he have to do that? Tear me down, make me feel awful about myself. There was more to me than that rich, spoiled, popular stereotype. I was going to die anyway, it didn’t matter.
He looked straight into my eyes, startled that I had responded in that manner.
“That’s what I see.” He stood up with his clipboard and papers.
I looked into my lap in a melancholy trance as he walked towards the door.
“People are more than they look like.” He swallowed.
“The door’s wide open for you to show everyone that you’re not like that,” He said quietly.
“You just have to walk through.”
 He stood there for a minute, gazing at me, and then left, and locked the door.
And how did Roy know so much about me? He was a darned kidnapper, a mean, hard, cold man who wanted nothing but money and hated the world. And me. So why would it matter to him who I really was? And why did it matter to me that he thought these things? Frustrated and confused, I lay back on the sofa and readied myself for tomorrow. What if I died tomorrow? I asked myself. I’d tried to push that question away, but it kept nagging. What if I died tomorrow, and I never got to spend more time with Daddy, or stand up to Mackenzie, or even be nicer to Charlotte, since she didn’t deserve what we said to her. No one deserved it. No one deserved to be kidnapped either. Or maybe not. I deserve this, I thought sorrowfully. I deserve it because I don’t deserve my dad or my friends or my popularity or my clothes or my makeup. I don’t deserve any of it because I suck as a person. And resolute that I was going to get what was coming to me, I cried myself to sleep.

Chapter 4C

“7432 Cherry Foster Estate,” I said resignedly, picking at a finger nail, dread coursing through me. Now, even if I did miraculously find a way out, they would know where to find me. And kill me.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” What kind of question was that?! What kind of slave was I going to be? Would I have to marry a Mormon or something?
“Yes,” I lied, trying my hardest not to make it look like I was. Roy was probably pretty good at detecting lies too. Well, maybe if they thought I had a boyfriend they wouldn’t want me to be a slave…? It didn’t add up, but I didn’t want them to know anything about me, so I didn’t tell the truth.
“Name?”
“What?”
“Name of your boyfriend?” He said in a bored tone.
“George.” I blurted out mystery guy’s name before I could stop myself. Great.
“And last name?”
Oh dear…what would his last name be? I couldn’t exactly make that up…
“I don’t know.” I said icily.
“And why don’t you know the full name of your love interest?” Roy picked at the corner of one of the sheets of paper.
“Um, it’s, uh, long, and hard to remember. Something German.”
Mystery guy looked pretty German, right? His blue eyes, light skin…
“Are you in love?”
In love with mystery guy? Heck no. I’d never even talked to him. But should I lie? And what kind of question was that, anyway? I wasn’t here to visit a shrink.
“Yes.” I lied again.
“What do you value most in your life?”
Oh yeah, I should totally tell them that. So they could take it away. What’s something I really don’t value? I thought to myself.
“My fashion line.” I wasn’t totally lying; the fashion line did mean a lot to me, I worked on it pretty hard. But it wasn’t the most important thing in my life. What was that? A week ago, it might have been popularity. Or my money. Maybe my jeweled necklace collection. But things had changed. If I lost all of those things but had the people I loved and my home back, I would be elated. What I valued most in my life, was my life. And by that I meant everything that made me, me. And maybe I hadn’t always made being myself my first priority, being myself the right way. Maybe I did always let Mackenzie trample me and maybe I was judgmental and rude and arrogant and shallow and spoiled like Roy had said…but if I could go back, I would change that.

Roy snickered at my reply, and I faked an indignant glare. He was pretty gullible, I mused. But I was also being recorded, and other people could probably tell I was lying…or not be quite so happy to believe.

Chapter 4B

Where did I live? I couldn’t tell them where I lived! Well, who’s address would make sense? Someone who lived near the Swarovski? I immediately thought of Charlotte, but something inside me told me no. And then there was Mackenzie. She lived right behind Charlotte. She always toilet-papered her house for Halloween. No. I couldn’t say either of them. What if it put them in danger?
“If you’re thinking of lying, we already know where you live, we just ask these questions as a formality,” Roy interjected upon my wild thoughts.

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Chapter 4A

“Are you okay?” He asked, alarmed. I guessed that if I became fatally ill under his watch he would be blamed for it.
“Yeah, like you care.” I tried to relax, took deep breaths, and the sick feeling faded a little.
He sighed and looked away, and I wondered what he was thinking about. Why did people do things like this? Hurt people, kidnap people, steal, hate, lie. Why couldn’t everything just be perfect?
“I need the money.” He turned back to me then, his eyes searching my face, and he didn’t seem all that intimidating anymore, just desperate and lost.
I didn’t know what to say to him then, because I didn’t think I was supposed to be having a heart to heart with my kidnapper. So I nodded once, and looked away.

“You miss your friends, your popularity?” He inquired. He didn’t sound so obnoxious like last time when I’d broke down before him, so I responded.
“Yeah.” I thought, my friends, but I didn’t really care about the popularity. I would gladly be in Charlotte’s position and have my life back than die a slave girl.
“It wasn’t protocol to take you,” He said to me then.
“Oh yeah? You just wanted to inflict the pain?”
“No.” His voice was hard and cold.
“Then why-”
“It was protocol to kill you.” He stood up then, and glanced at his watch. “I think it’s time for the interviews.”
This didn’t surprise me as much as I thought it would. I had already heard him talking to his boss outside and trying not to have me killed. Killing me first would have saved them a lot of trouble. Roy must not be on very good terms with the organization, I thought.
I decided that I ought to feign a look of shock and horror anyway, as Roy didn’t know that I had heard his conversation. So I gasped and swallowed hard. It seemed pretty believable. Roy opened the door and shut it, and I heard him locking it from the outside. No more eavesdropping tonight. How would I ever get away?

And what were the interviews? Did every slave have to have some sort of bio? I hadn’t quite grasped it all yet. Would I have to do labor? I felt like dying right then and there.

A few minutes later, Roy came back in with a camera and a sheet of paper and clipboard. “What’s that for?” I asked, even though I knew.
“We’re supposed to interview you. Get to know more about you.”
“Why in hell would you want to know more about me?” I snapped, even though I knew the answer.
“So we can see if you’re going to tell other people or not, I suppose,” He lied through his teeth.
He was a good liar, swift at coming up with a reasonable response, and no change in his body language that would indicate his motives. I was always good at detecting when someone was lying, back at school. I would often know if one of the jocks was cheating on me just by the way he said he was catching a movie with his friends later. Mackenzie and the girls always said it was creepy, but I was a businessman’s daughter, I had to know if I was being cheated.
Today Roy’s black hair was more up and to the side, messier than usual as he had been tossing and turning and worrying about something. Maybe he actually had a conscience, I pondered, and felt bad about my imminent fate.
“Ashely!” He yelled, and I looked up, startled.
“What is your full name?”
“Ashely Solovan.”
“Where do you live?”

Chapter 4

“There’s no one here,” Roy called, and the closet doors slammed shut.
Relief flooded over me like a bucket of cool water. Roy hadn’t seen me. I would be okay. They would go away, I would get back to the room, and…probably become a slave girl? Soon my relief faded. But who knew what would happen. Maybe I could still escape. Or maybe Daddy would find me and save me. But I knew now that that would never happen. I doubted he even noticed I was gone yet.
The voices started to move away from me, and I softly opened the closet door and leapt out into the hall. Now that I knew what they were planning, I really did want to escape. But I also knew that if they found me, they would probably just kill me because I was too much of a hassle or something. And they’d probably be checking for me soon.
So I walked carefully back to the room I was being held in, deciding my best bet was to pretend I’d been there all along and find more information.
My body had this kind of sinking sensation in it, like I knew life as I had once known it was over. There wasn’t much of any hope left. I’d be some sort of slave girl and I would never go home again. I was finally starting to grasp my situation. I was numb with horror and fear and a little hatred. What was I going to do?

I lay down onto the soft couch, and before I knew it, I was asleep, and I had no dreams, just darkness and softness and the only comfort I’d felt in a while, and would feel for a while.
The door banged open sometime in that period, and it was Roy, who walked in and looked at me, pondering. I decided to pretend to be asleep, because I didn’t really want to deal with him right then.
“I know you’re awake.” He found a chair and pulled it up to sit by me on the couch. I turned over and lay against the back of the couch, gruffly.
“What?” I muttered.
“I just have to be here to watch you again.” He didn’t seem too happy about it either.
I sat up a little. I needed to find out more. And Roy could tell me.
“So, why do you work with them?” I asked, genuinely, because I really did want to know.
“Them?”
“Yeah, you know, the people that wanted you to find whatever was at Swarovski.”
“They give me money,” He said dryly.
“Why don’t you just get a real job?” I replied with a frosty glare.
“You should talk, your Daddy pays for everything for you.” He almost growled.
I tried to remain aloof, but it hurt. Was it true? Did I take everything for granted? Like it mattered anyway. Soon I was going to be dead.
“Maybe some people aren’t so lucky, Ashely.”
“You’re calling me lucky?  You haven’t been kidnapped,” Was what I wanted to say, but I didn’t.
I began to feel sort of delirious, and I lay back down on the couch, dizzy.
My face was getting colder and colder and so were my hands. I began to shiver in my sweater. I wanted to throw up.

Chapter 3F

This time, I wasn’t just going to sit around and let myself be held in captivity. I wanted out. Now. I was going home. And so I waited. 5 minutes. And then I walked up to the door, and pressed my ear against it. I could hear the steady breathing of the guard and I sighed. How would I ever get out of here?
And then the realization came. His breath was steady. Too steady. Was he really asleep? I took a deep breath. There was only one way of finding out.

I opened the door into the cool hallway, trying my hardest not to let it creek. And the guard didn’t do a thing, except snort in his sleep. Great. Now I just needed to find my way to the exit without bumping into the large quantity of people in the building. Delightful.
I closed the door behind me as softly as possible, and began to find my way through the immense building in bare feet. I was about to turn a corner when I heard voices. I caught my breath and squeezed myself into a narrow closet right by the corner. So much for a clean escape. I decided I probably wouldn’t have made it halfway out anyway, but It was worth a try. And I wanted to learn more about where I was and who was there.

As the voices gradually got louder, I recognized Roy’s voice and some other, sterner man’s with a  New York accent.
“What is the plan? I haven’t gotten my cash in a month. I know it wasn’t the best robbery, but I got what you needed. You can just send the girl home or something, I’ll get my money, and-”
“Roy.” His voice was deep, I thought. Very deep.
“We can’t send the girl home. That’s the problem we’ve been having. She’ll probably tell the police everything, and the organization could be destroyed. You caused us this huge issue and it’s for that reason that you’re not getting any money until this is resolved!” He’d started soft, and now he seemed pretty pissed. I tried to avoid any sharp intakes of breath, but this was big.
“We’re probably going to have to-”
“No way. We can’t kill her! She’s just 16! I’m not getting the death penalty!”
“No one will have to know that she’s dead, no one will find us. It’s the only way to keep it in, unless you want to have to hold her hostage for the rest of your life.”
“No! There has to be another alternative.”
“Well, there is.”
“What!?” Roy sounded incredulous.
“The good thing, is, I knew you would disagree. Which is why I talked to Jerry.”
“Jerry?”
“My friend in the slave business.”
Roy breathed in sharply, and so did I, at the exact same moment. And no one heard me. But WHAT?! The SLAVE BUSINESS? My head started reeling and I felt like I was going to throw up. My heart was beating so loud that I knew they would hear me. I had to do something.
“That’ll be some difficult work, ya know.” Roy’s boss sounded tired and defeated.
“We gotta get some papers on her, get to know her, find her a good price…” He trailed off.
“I’ll do it.” Roy sounded pretty defeated himself. “As long as no one knows where she is, everything will be okay.” It sounded like he was telling this to himself, rather than his boss.
I wanted to tear him to shreds. Now he wants me to be a slave? And what kind of slave? I shuddered. I had to get out of here. This was a nightmare. It had got to me a nightmare.

“What was that?” The deep voice asked sharply.
Oh god. No. No. No. Oh god.
“I’ll go check it out.” Roy turned around the corner, and I heard his footsteps getting closer, closer, closer, until he was right there. Right in front of the closet, only an inch of door between us. I couldn’t stop my heart from racing, my gasps for air, and then he was opening the closet and I was leaning back against the door because it opened to the inside.
I was still hidden, I realized. All he had to do was turn his head around and see me and I wouldn’t even know if he saw me because my eyes were squeezed tight. All I knew was that when deep voice-boss-guy found out I’d been listening he’d kill me for sure.

Chapter 3E

“Finally.”
I jumped. Roy was still standing there, checking his watch.
“Why are you still here?” I closed the door to the bathroom behind me.
“In case you decided to not take a shower and escape.”
He glanced at me up and down once, his eyes lingering on my face.
“Like I know the way out,” I muttered, following him barefoot down the halls, making sure to remember which hallways lead to the bathroom.
When would I get OUT of this place? Every second Roy talked to me I wanted to murder him. I missed our gang and Daddy’s morning presents and my fashion line. Although I was starting to forget my ideas for it after all. And it was so COLD! I felt a little better in my sweater though. The one thing I didn’t miss was the bet with Mackenzie. And a small feeling in the back of my mind told me I didn’t miss her all that much either, but I ignored it.

As soon as we got back to my holding room(which was the only room in a small hallway) Roy opened the door and walked straight in, pulling my in with him forcefully.
“Ow.” I sat back onto the couch and massaged my wrist as he shut the door.
“What do you want now?”
“I’m supposed to be watching you for 30 minutes every hour.” He smiled, knowing this would annoy me. I gritted my teeth.
“Why?” I finally surrendered.
“I don’t know.”
He seemed to know more than he let on, though. The way he looked away from me as soon as he said it, and fiddled with his watch.

A silence filled the room, and I lay back on the sofa. I didn’t know why I cared about how awkward it was, but I did. I wanted to fill the silence.
“Why did you rob Swarovski?” I asked. It was the only thing I could think of asking.
“Money,” was his automatic response.
“Sure. Do you really think I believe you? Why would you rob a tiny jewelry store for some cash if you work for some big organization?”
“How would you know that-”
“Um, because you’ve been told to do all of this stuff.”
He sighed.
“I can’t tell you. Why would I?”
I glowered.
“Fine. There was something we needed there.”
“Figures.” The silence blanketed the room again. I picked at a hangnail.
“Do you miss your home?” He snickered.
 And then my eyes filled with tears and my body started shaking and I was sobbing. What was wrong with me? And then I thought about the last time I saw Daddy’s eyes when he shooed me away at work with his expensive present and my maid, Lorrie, as she hummed show tunes while she swept and even Lindsay’s annoyingness and just how familiar it was made me sick. Why was I here? What was going on? Was this a dream? What was going to happen? And mascara ran down my face and my eyes turned red and I just kept crying. Roy stared at me the whole time, not saying a word. He was probably laughing inside. I wanted to kill him. That dirty bastard. I turned away from him, my crying slowing down.
“I think time is up,” He said quickly, getting up and racing out the door. It slammed behind him, one sound, in that one moment, like a wake up call. He hadn’t locked it again. And I opened my eyes, and I turned to the door, and I woke up.

Chapter 3D

“Having fun?” He asked.
“Go to hell,” I said, trying to stuff the black stilettos into the bag.
“You’re going to need those.” He sat down on the sofa next to me and watched my failed attempts.
“Why?” I asked incredulously.
“I don’t know, I didn’t pick out your outfits. But you will need them, I presume.”
I gave up trying to stuff them into the bag and leaned back against the couch with a heavy sigh.
“Why are you here?” I closed my eyes.
“I’m here to escort you to the shower, so that you can freshen up.” He seemed confident when he said this, but I could tell that he really didn’t know why I was being taken to the shower. I asked anyway.
“Why do you-they- care if I’m freshened up or not? You’re holding me off in my own room anyway. It’s not like you have to come smell me.”
“I don’t know.” His flat, but honest reply didn’t startle me.
I stood up, grabbed the tank top, the sweater, underwear, and the sweatpants, plus the makeup, and put it into a bundle. Even though the jeans were more fashionable, I didn’t want to give the impression that I was like, slutty or something. I wanted to be comfortable. No one at school was going to see me, anyway. He stood up too, quickly and lithely. He was built kind of lean and muscular. He seemed athletic. Did he play basketball or something?
“ASHELY.” His yell broke me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah?” I murmured.
“Come on.”
He opened the door, and I followed him. Sure enough there was a guard outside of my room, as well as a security camera. There was probably one in my room as well, now that I thought about it.

He grabbed my wrist tightly as we passed the guard, so as to ensure that I didn’t try to escape. Like he needed to worry. I didn’t even know how to get out the door, much less, escape guards.

As soon as we reached the shower, he leaned against the wall next to the door of the bathroom and gestured for me to enter. I did, and shut the door behind me, turning on the bright light. There was a huge mirror and a huge shower, too, plus a toilet. I went to the bathroom first, since I hadn’t gone in about a day. (They’d taken me once yesterday).
Then I undressed, set up my clothes on the toilet seat and my makeup on the counter, and took a long shower with the soap and shampoo. I felt much more refreshed when I stepped out, like I had a new outlook on life. Showers always seemed to do that to me. I had no idea where I was going or what I was doing but a nice long shower and I felt ready for whatever happened next. I threw on the skimpy lingerie, sweatpants , and the black tank top, plus the huge sweater, which I was definitely grateful for. Then I applied the makeup, minimally, and brushed my hair. Well, that was definitely an improvement. I didn’t feel like a raccoon who’d been stuck in the trash too long anymore.

When I opened the door, the cool air blew into my face at full force. I had gotten used to the humidity of the bathroom.

Chapter 3C

I realized after about a moment or so of sulking that he hadn't locked the door. And it wasn't that I totally flipped at this being my chance for freedom, because obviously there were other people in the house all on the look out for me, and i'd probably get caught if i tried to escape. Obviously Roy would leave the door unlocked for me on purpose. Which meant he was absent-minded. Should I open it? I wondered. But if I opened it and someone saw me they would never let the door be unlocked again.
So I didn't open it. But I remembered the door being open. I remembered it promptly in the back of my mind, my path to freedom left open by Roy's absent mindedness. And so I smiled. My first smile in what, 2 days? And I relaxed a little bit. I'd be home soon. Probably. Right?

It was cold the next morning when I opened my eyes. I’d been in the same clothing for a couple days now, and I needed to change. But I couldn’t do anything about it. I figured I smelled pretty awful too. I’d just have to wait for Roy or some other guard- worker- person to come in. In the mean time, I got up and opened the curtains. Curiously, I looked out the window, wondering where I could possibly be where it was so cold. It never got like this in September in LA. Snow blanketed the grass below, and I could see fields and hills far off in the distance. It didn’t seem that we were anywhere near civilization, and jumping out of the window proved pointless since it was bolted shut and I was a few stories up.
Suddenly, the door opened behind me. I drew the curtains hurriedly, and whipped around. It was that driver guy, with a huge brown sack. He threw it onto the couch whilst saying “get dressed,” and left the room.

I wondered what else could possible be in the sack besides the clothing, because it seemed pretty full of stuff to just be an outfit. So I grabbed the bottom of it and dumped the contents onto the floor. Out scattered mascara, lip gloss, eye shadow and foundation, plus a hairbrush, soap, shampoo, and perfume. Huh. Why would they care about my appearance? I decided not to bother with it much, I was just happy that I could freshen up a bit. I shook the bag again, and a pile of clothes flew out. A huge sweater, red lace underwear, tight black jeans, a black tank top, a huge black stiletto pair of boots, and a pair of sweat pants came out. Who did they think I was? I was just about to throw the black stilettos at the tv when the door opened once again. I looked up(I was now sitting on the hardwood floor) to see Roy with that distant half smile.

Chapter 3b

"What is it?" I asked stiffly, adjusting myself on the couch. I could feel his body heat emanating from him and suddenly I felt awkward and weird and uncomfortable and I wanted him to leave the couch or something bad was going to happen.
Fortunately, he stood up. Unfortunately, he grinned.
"Gotcha," He said. "There is no news."
I wanted to kick his groin or something painful, but he turned to leave.
"Do you enjoy it?" I said as he was halfway out the door.
"Enjoy what?" He turned halfway, and I could see his profile, the sharp nose, and chin, and black, shiny hair, one blue eye focused on me.
"Working here? Kicking cheesesticks around? Torturing me?" I pursed my lips and waited for a reaction.



He gave a fake laugh and kind of grimaced.
"Do you like being the rich, spoiled popular girl who gets everything she wants?" He asked.
People always said that to me. And it hurt. it felt like a punch in the gut. But I was used to it.
"You don't know a thing about me," I snapped. My voice wavered a little, and before I could mentally injure myself he replied, "Yes. I do."
"Excuse me-" I began, but he cut me off.
"I know that your dad owns a huge line of cars. I know that you have a friend Lindsay who's super hot and a girl Charlotte that you like bullying. I know that you're planning a fashion line and you went to Swarovski for some sort of gift for some bet. i know a lot of things about you, Ashely Solovan, and if you ask me how you will never know."
Then he left the room, slamming the door shut behind him, and I could hear his footsteps retreating into the distance.

Chapter 3A

"Eat." He waved it in front of my face. I grabbed it, and threw it across the room. It wasn't something I would have done if I was frightened, but since Roy seemed to be in a good mood, and they hadn't murdered me yet, I decided to try my best to put up a fight. If I became enough of a nuisance, perhaps they would let me go. And not kxll me. As I had found before, Roy and his pal the driver, were not killers. I didn't quite know who they were, but they did wear Chanel cologne. Was he part of a mob or something? No, that didn't add up...
"Don't be like that." His voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Why not?" I met his glare.
"It's the only thing you'll eat all day." He got up and put the water on the floor next to the plush sofa. Then he kicked the cheese stick towards me, gave me a lingering stare, and left the room, locking the door from the outside.

God, Roy annoyed the heck out of me. What an arrogant, careless, ruthless human being. I checked my face in my trusty mirror necklace. I actually looked okay, considering I'd slept in my makeup. I touched up my eyes and lips with a tissue. Then, hungry and defeated, I devoured that meager cheese stick like a raccoon. And I was still hungry afterwards. How delightful. I lay back down on the sofa and waited. I didn't know what to think. What was going to happen to me? Who was this mystery guy Roy, with those piercing blue eyes that looked like my cerulean sweater? Or his driver? Why did they take me here? Who did they work for? What was this house? A safe house or something? I had watched too much 24 last week. I decided to try to get the info out of Roy next time we unfortunately spoke.


That event happened sooner than I had expected, or wanted. He came back into the room that evening, and sat right down next to me on the couch.
"What?" I said sharply, trying to keep as much space between me and his chanel-scented darkwash jeans, tee shirt and jacket as I could.
"I thought you might like an update." He turned to me and smiled with one end of his mouth going up. It was a cute smile on someone who was not HIM. Actually it was kind of cute on him...
I began to imagine how cute that smile would look on mystery guy and lindsay and the head jock and by the time I got to Charlotte I mentally kicked myself in the shins.

Chapter 3

When I woke up, I knew immediately that I was not at home, safe, in my room, just waking up for a morning at school. I knew that I had been kidnapped by two angry robbers who seemed to be more than that. I knew that I would never win the bet at this point and worrying about it deemed useless. I knew that bad things were going to happen to me. That I might never see Lindsay's prom dress or the car Daddy was planning to give me. That instead of being in my queen-size bed I was on a blanket and my neck hurt. But all of seemed to weird, so impossible, I tried to make it a dream. I mean, what were the odds that I would get KIDNAPPED by ROBBERS at a SWAROVSKI? Maybe the universe was trying to tell me something. But whatever it was, I had no idea. I wasn't a religious girl. Daddy used to take my to church until he didn't have time because of work. And I never really liked going. But if there was a God, he was starting to get on my nerves.



"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" Roy's voice sang. I opened my eyes to a pretty much empty room. There were two chairs, in front of a small tv, and then the couch that I had slept on. Other than that the room was totally bare, like people had just moved in. There was a huge window behind the tv, with the curtains drawn. But it was still extremely bright inside, since Roy had turned all of the lights on full. I turned towards the doorway, trying to see more of the house, but the door was closed.
"How's it going?" He asked me, walking over with a a cup of water for me and a cheese stick. A cheese stick. Who did he think I am, a 3rd grader? Why did this even irk me so much?
And why was he so cheerful? He just kidnapped an innocent girl. What the hell was his problem?
"I just drank my morning coffee," He explained, reading my expression as he sat down on the couch next to me. He handed me the cheesestick.

Chapter 2F

“Wow, what a dilemma.” I muttered softly.
“Excuse me?”
"Well, if that's such a problem, just release me."
"No, you'll go running to your daddy and he'll tell the police."
"HER DAD!" The driver yelled. The car swerved. And I banged my head against the window. Everyone got all dizzy, and all I could hear was the whirring of the cars, Roy's urgent voice, and my own breathing. And then I saw black.

I had a dream about throwing bagels at a dog. I was at a sleepover, with the girls, and I had to go feed the dog but this fox kept getting in the way so I threw the bagels and the dog caught them.
In most books, the dreams always have some sort of metaphor like being trapped would be resembled by being smothered by a wild boar. But my dreams were pointless. They never told me anything about myself.

Chapter 2E

And then they walked me out of the store, shoved me into their "getaway" car, and we sped away from the store into the night. True story.
"What do you want from me?" I finally managed. The gunman was in the back with me, still holding his gun, and the other guy was driving.
"Well, you witnessed us shoot an innocent civilian and rob a jewelry store, so we can't just let you go. You saw my face."

"Look, I won't tell anyone anything about you. Honestly, I don't really care. I just want a watch for this guy so that I can win a bet and that's why I was at Swarovski and now I'm going to lose a bet and I'm being kidnapped and-"
"Stop freaking out." The gunman sighed and put his gun back into his pocket.
"HOW CAN I NOT?" I yelled then.
He ignored me, pulled out his cellphone, and dialed a number.
"I left a bit of a mess at the spot. Can you send a team?" He asked.
Then he nodded, and hung up.
"Hey, Roy. I recognize her face." The driver looked back at us.



My heart sank. Tons of people recognized my face. I was Vincent Michaels' only daughter, often in his car commercials because he was the owner of the Panther car brand. THE one and only. Crap. What if they used me as a hostage or something? Of course Daddy would pay, even if he was a little bit money-oriented right? Obviously, I'm his daughter, I say to myself. But I didn't want Daddy losing any money. Then I wouldn't be able to afford the limo, perhaps. OHMYGOSH!!!


"What?" 'Roy' said back. He turned to examine me, his face looming into my personal bubble. He smelled like Chanel. I wouldn't expect a guy like him to wear cologne, especially not Chanel. Maybe he wasn't an ordinary robber.
God, stop being a detective, I told myself. So I met his eyes with my own, as if to challenge him.

He kept staring at me, then turned away. “I recognize her too,” He said thoughtfully. “From tv or something. What if it becomes too public that she’s missing?”
He sighed and leaned back against the back seat.

Chapter 2D

It was then that the woman moved. She was still alive? I sighed with relief and relaxed a little. She'd only been shot in the thigh or the foot or something. These guys weren't killers. I slowly reached in my back pocket for my phone, only to realize I'd left it at the estate.
I wiped the tears from my face instead.
"That hurt." The man with the gun wiped blood from his face as I wiped tears.
I said nothing, my whole body shaking, goose bumps covering my flawless tanned skin. God, what would I do when they let me go? Obviously mystery guy would no longer be mine and-
"Tie her up," The gunman said quietly.
"What?!" I shreaked.
"We'll take her to the boss."

The boss??! This was like a horror movie. A really bad horror movie that I would laugh at with my popular friends and eat low fat Skinny Cows during.
I couldn't say anything, I was like, wayyy too scared. Suddenly I felt really, really cold, too. Like ice cold. More goosebumps. I was freezing. Why didn't I bring my Juicy sweatshirt? Ugh.
As soon as I was tied up, they proceeded to force me across the room to the door. One guy held a sack, probably filled with money and jewels. The other guy clenched my arm. I kicked the sack, kicked at the other guy.
"What the f-" He began to say, then thought better of it and pretended I didn't kick him at all. The sack fell out of his hands and onto the floor. He grudgingly picked it up.
"She's a fighter,ain't she?" The gunman said.

Chapter 2C

"Don't move!" The guy with the gun yelled. I stood frozen, watching as they shoved the woman out of the way and began to raid the register.
The man with the gun took off his mask and pointed his gun at me. OMG!
I clutched the sharp jewels and lifted my eyes to his.


He had light blue eyes, and tan skin, with black hair. He was pretty hot. I mentally punched myself for thinking that at a time like this.
"What's behind your back?" He asked, starting to walk towards me. His glare was icy cold, and I knew that I was going to die.
"Nothing," I choked out. He was almost at arms length from my now, and I knew that if I threw the jewels they would make contact.
Then, in a blast of motion, the woman who was waiting by the register raced towards the door. The robber with the gun whipped around and pulled the trigger.
As he turned away, my arm flew out and the jewels zipped through the air, landing on the side of his face.

Chapter 2B

I entered the local Swarovski, hoping to find a nice watch. I'd decided it was the best way to go for expensive and tasteful. And the guy seemed like he could use a watch, since he was new to the schedule and everything.
I browsed and browsed, looking for something that would work with his complexion. It was getting close to 9 and I still hadn't found anything, when the lady told me she was getting ready to close in 15 minutes.
I rapidly searched the walls, high and low, angry with myself for not being decisive. What if I didn't get the watch by tomorrow? Mackenzie would definitely have him wrapped around her finger by then.

Suddenly, I heard this huge crash, and I dropped the diamond necklace I was examining in shock. What kind of customer was in that much of a rush that they couldn't open the door properly? Riff raff, I thought.

Then, two men in black entered the store. One of them had a gun, not even kidding. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. So I grabbed the sharpest looking  jewels I could find and decided I could use them as defense. (Okay, maybe I just stood there for a bit, freaking out in my head, but who cares?)
Oh god, calm down, Ashley, I thought to myself as I backed against the wall in the far back. They just want jewels, no big deal, no one's going to hurt you.
I’d been in a robbed store once before, when I was really little, Daddy and I were shopping for a nice first day of school dress for me at Armani when robbers came. But Daddy had just kept with me and they’d left in like, 2 minutes. These guys seemed inclined to hang around.

Chapter 2A

"God, what happened to you?" Mackenzie asked as she met me in the hall after 3rd period for lunch.
I hadn't had any time to put makeup on that morning, barely enough to brush my hair. I'd slept in an hour late after a long night of thinking about my problems.
"Shut up, Mackenzie." I gave her an angry glare before checking myself out in my mirror-necklace from Swarovski. A gift for my half birthday, it glimmered in the fluorescent hallway lights. It was totally gorgeous and useful too.
I did look pretty awful. Like a zombie. Ew.


Mackenzie lifted her arms in surrender, showing off her solid gold watch as she did so. I was jealous of that watch, and I would have asked Daddy for it for my birthday, but he said it was sold out.
As soon as we set our stuff down in the cafeteria, I went to the restroom and worked on my make-up.
As soon as I returned, Layla handed me something. Some flyer about the Elite Party.

The party for just populars. Duh, I was going. I shoved it into my purse and smile as the bell rang.

As soon as the day ended, I raced home and put on my heels. It was already getting dark outside when I got to the door after redoing my makeup. I had to buy some sort of gift for mystery guy. It had to be expensive, tasteful, and something he would like.

Chapter 2A

"What?" Betti finally asked, glumly.
"His number."
"NO WAY. WHAT IS IT?" Layla asked incredulously.
"It's every girl for themself, Layla," Mackenzie reminded her. Then I heard a click. Macs had hung up.
"I gotta go, see you tomorrow." I hung up my phone too, and lay back on the bed, pondering.
It wasn't that George wasn't hot, or mysterious, or anything, but I was sick of this competition. I wanted it over! And Mackenzie was so annoying when she got like this. I'd have to go shopping tomorrow night. Gosh, what problems my life had. I examined my pink-shiny nails and found a chip. Tired and upset, I lay back on my queen-sized bed and went to sleep, without brushing my teeth.

Chapter 2

Home

It was pretty dark outside, and I had just finished my sketches for the fashion line Daddy was going to help me with. I was hella excited, but also nervous: tomorrow he was going to show the critics. It wasn't like the clothing wouldn't make it to the runway: because if they didn't like it, my father could always pay them a little something to change their minds...god I loved business...but I wanted to get good sales on it, and the critics would help determine how well the fashions would do in the business.

The phone rang just as I was getting ready for bed.
"Hello?"
"It's Macs. I'm putting you on four way," she said.


As soon as I heard the beep that meant all of our crew was on the line, I put my phone on speaker and fell back onto the bed.
"So how are you girls doing with the competition?" Mackenzie's snooty, pleased voice meant that she'd made progress. I had totally forgotten to go shopping for mystery guy, and I mentally slapped myself for it.
"I found out his name," Betti whispered, like it was some huge secret.
"What is it?" Layla practically screamed.
"George."
All of the girls sighed. George. Not a bad name, although I liked my guys more sophisticated. A name could tell you a lot about someone. Besides how they looked and how they did in school, popularity wise, of course.
I popped a piece of Strawberry-Creme gum into my mouth and chewed.
"Well guess what I got?" I could just hear Mackenzie grinning.
The line was silent.

Chapter 1E

"Ashes? Betti?" She turned to  us, a smile curling into her face.
"What do you think?"
"He IS hot," I murmured, looking down at my muffin.
"Fine. A competition, then." Macs lifted her latte and took a deep sip.
"Whoever he chooses, will accompany him to the dance. May the best girl win."

I was kind of pissed now that Macs had made this a competition. I wasn't even that interested in the guy, I just thought he was hot. And now I would have to face the humiliation of losing to Mackenzie over some mystery guy if I didn't want to join the contest.
How would I ever win? Could I find his address and leave him mystery notes? Sing him songs in AP Geometry? Shower him with gifts from the local department store? He seemed like the Calvin Klein type.


I decided to make plans to go shopping tonight. Maybe bribery would work.
After all, Mackenzie never said there were rules.
I sighed, and got up from the table, grabbing my bag. I would go buy him something tonight. But my big plans were to plan my fashion line and my runway show for the end of the month. I already had designed some dresses, but I needed more. Expensive material, real animal furs, the like. I couldn't wait to be rich and famous, and Mackenzie's silly competition was not going to get in the way of my dreams.

Chapter 1D

I'd already dated half of them, and the other half...I just didn't want to try. Besides, I needed to focus my attention on my new fashion line. My dad said I could make one and he would sponsor it(he was pretty rich, he worked for this like, huge company) and I wanted to be famous one day, and this was a good way to start.
"ASHES!" Mackenzie obnoxious voice intruded upon my reverie, and I sat up in shock.
"I'm thinking of taking Gerard," She explained. Gerard was the leader of the football team, and he was pretty hot. But apparently he was some kind of womanizer, so I steered clear.
"Are you sure?" Betti gasped and slurped her skim milk.
"Yes. I need him on my resume." Mackenzie smirked. "I'll dump him after the dance anyway."



"Dump who?" A soft, familiar voice asked.
We all looked up. Charlotte the loser. Of course.
"Just go away, rabbit-lover." I giggled and so did the girls.
"Fine." Charlotte turned her wavy brown hair away from us and marched off towards the loser table. She was number 10 on the list, not too bad, but her fashion sense was hideous. And she just acted like a loser. She never even went to prom because it was too expensive. God, I was glad I never turned out like her.



Suddenly, the doors of the cafeteria slammed shut. Every face turned around, to see a new guy in the doorway. He wore a white v-neck tee, dark wash jeans and a gold medallion around his neck.
"Hot," I breathed, taking in his deep blue eyes, brown shiny hair and delicious muscles. He had to be mine.
"I know," Layla whispered. We all turned to Mackenzie.
"He's mine," She said firmly. I groaned.
"No, he's mine." Layla was the only person in our group who enjoyed standing up to Macs. Usually it ended badly, too.
But this time, instead of the usual anger, Mackenzie Woods had a mischievous glint in her bright blue eyes.

Chapter 1C

"You totally scared me!" I giggled and whacked her playfully.
"My apologies." She snorted and fished through her Fendi purse for some lip gloss.
I smiled as I spotted Layla, number 3, floating elegantly across the lawn towards us. The day was going to be perfect.


The classes passed fairly quickly, and soon lunch time had come upon us. I followed Layla, Betti, and Mackenzie into the huge cafeteria,where we claimed the middlemost table and deposited out bags.

Then we bought lunch, sat down, and began gossip.
"Did you see Charlotte's new sweater?" Layla popped a fry into her mouth.
"It has a rabbit on it." I snickered and took a bite of my blueberry muffin.
"Any cute guys?" Mackenzie demanded. Layla and Charlotte had already been in AP Geometry, and they had the cutest guys in that class.
"Jesse looks pretty hot this year," Betti murmured. I gave her a glare. Jesse was one of my ex-jock-boyfriends. I dumped him when I found out he didn't actually have blue eyes, but brown eyes. Besides, he was pretty boring.
"If no one's going for him, I will." Betti avoided my lingering stare and gazed at Jesse's jock table.


I sighed.
"Fine, you can have him. He's a total loser." I applied some lipstick and focused all of my attention on my muffin. How could Betti do this to me?! She was my BFF. And now she wanted my ex. Oh well. Jesse didn't like dyed hair on girls.
"Earth to Ashley!" Layla waved her perfect manicured nails in front of my eyes, which had glazed over as I thought about Betti and her stupid boy excursions.
"Yeah?" I looked up.
"Who do you want to take you to the Fall Bash?" Mackenzie asked impatiently.
"I don't know," I muttered, turning my attention to the jocks table.

Chapter 1B

"My limo's picking you up today!" She yelled.
"What?"
"Stay at your house. Be there in five." Then, she hung up. I groaned and began to trek 6 blocks back to the estate.


As soon as the limo stopped in front of Waterside High, Macs checked her makeup and then handed me some mascara. I applied it, fixed my luscious blonde hair, and we were ready.
She opened the door, and stepped out into the crisp morning, adjusting her silk Louis Vuitton headband. I stepped out behind her, and we surveyed our surroundings.
People were milling about everywhere, looking at their schedules, talking on their phones, and meeting up with friends. The first day after summer vacay, and already the teachers were screaming about no sitting on the lawn because of chemicals.

"Where are Layla and Betti?" Mackenzie whispered into my ear. Our two other friends were supposed to meet us at 8:00. But they were no where to be found. Suddenly, hands gripped my back. I whirled around, face to face with Betti Brookes, number 4 on the list with her dyed blue pixie cut and huge hazel eyes.

Chapter 1A

My cell phone rang as I was leaving the house for my long walk to school. I liked taking the quiet route by the gardens that our neighbors had, and I didn't want to be disturbed while I had my alone time with the flowers, so I answered hastily.
"What?" I snapped into the phone.
"Ashes!" Mackenzie squealed excitedly through my earpiece. I cringed and held my phone an inch away from my ear. Mackenzie was my bff, but sometimes she annoyed the crap out of me. She was gorgeous: soft wavy black hair, warm brown eyes and porcelain skin: number 1 on the list. Which was why we became besties in the first place. We were both popular, smart, pretty, and fashionable.
"Yeah?" I squealed back. If I didn't sound excited, she'd get upset.

Chapter 1

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! My alarm rang shrill and high as early morning sunlight filtered through my window and onto my white plush carpeting. School. I jumped out of bed and threw on a cute tank top, jeans, and flip flops. I brushed my hair and teeth and applied some lip gloss, smiling at myself in the mirror. I had long blonde hair, green eyes, and perfect, tanned skin. I was pretty, number 2 on the hottest girls list of 9th grade, and I had no trouble finding the right guy. But right now I was single, because I wanted someone different. I was tired of the same nice, hot, popular jock type. I wanted someone mysterious, sultry, funny and clever. But those types were never around.

Howdy!

Hello guys! So, if you're here, you're probably here because I sent you. Because you've been reading My Perfect Boyfriend; or you've just happened upon this place by accident, in which case, please stay for some tea&cookies and a little bit of my story!

I'll be posting new additions to the story and stuff that I've already written. Also, some cool new tidbits that have to do with the story. Basically, this blog is all about MPB. I hope you guys enjoy! 

This story is full of plot twists and character development, which are my 2 favorite things to write about. So if  in the beginning you roll your eyes and x it out, you may just be missing out on some cool action; because it's supposed to annoy you at first!

So sit back, relax, and read!