Member-only story
Trashley: Twenty-Two
The Block Party
It was our second night in New York, and Ashley and I had just returned to our hotel room after seeing Hamilton and having dinner with my aunt and uncle. I hadn’t checked my phone in several hours and was starting to miss it.
I opened Twitter to find several messages waiting for me from an unfamiliar woman with a big smile and long, wavy blonde hair. I remembered a comment Ashley made when we first started talking that her ex-girlfriend resembled Anna Kendrick.
This woman resembled Anna Kendrick.
She told me that I was dating her abuser, Ashley. I didn’t know what that meant exactly or what form of abuse since there are so many to choose from– emotional? Mental? Spiritual? Financial? Physical? My spine shuddered at the thought.
“Who is this woman?” I asked, holding her profile picture up to Ashley’s face.
Ashley went silent for what felt like an eternity but was probably closer to twenty seconds. What was she thinking? Why was she studying this woman’s name and face for so long? Was she buying time? Just give me a fucking answer. Who is she?
I studied Ashley’s reaction. She finally squinted her eyes as if trying to place this woman’s face. She shrugged, “I… I… I don’t know her,”
