3 Chapter Three

Ashlyn sat on a large sofa in the unfamiliar living room downstairs. She was still shaking slightly as she gazed around the room, staring at the wall decorations and the furniture. She was now clothed in an oversized hoodie and a too-big pair of jeans. Phil had left her there while he went and picked up the rest of the kids from school. She felt self-conscious; wondering if they would even like her. Or… if she would like them. Were they nice or mean? Were they friendly or snobby? Were they polite or rude?

There were no lights on, but the sunlight from the big window behind Ashlyn lit up the entire room. Along with the big tan couch that Ashlyn was sitting on, there was a matching loveseat to the side and two matching chairs. There was a brown coffee table in front of the couch, and on the wall in front of Ashlyn there was a decently sized TV, along with several gaming consoles. On the walls were many pictures of who Ashlyn assumed were the other kids who lived here. There was a wall that had several pictures of Phil and all the kids. She quickly discovered that each picture was taken a year apart, based on the small dates in the right hand corner of each picture frame. Ashlyn moved to the most recent photo, which was taken almost a year ago. She stared at every single person in the photos intently.

Phil looked the same, though his hair was slightly less grey. He had his arm on the shoulders of a tall boy to the left of him. The boy looked a few years older than Ashlyn. He was taller than Phil, with rich dark skin, long dreadlocks, and big brown eyes. He had a very bright smile on his face and he looked extremely happy. He had to have been the oldest of all the kids.

On the other side of Phil was a tall girl with platinum blonde hair in a messy bun. Her piercing grey eyes were quite striking, but they also almost seemed to… sparkle… with pure joy and playfulness. She had a wide smirk on her face and she looked like she was a very confident person, based on the way she was standing.

Next to the black boy was a short Hispanic girl with beautiful brown skin, short brown hair, and sad brown eyes. She had slightly chubby cheeks and small dimples around her small smile. The smile looked like it was forced, which it probably was. She looked uncomfortable being in the picture. She seemed to be pretty shy.

At the blonde girl's side was a short, quite skinny boy with dirty blonde hair. He had a big smile on his face and it really brought out the glow in his green eyes. The blonde girl had an arm around him, which made Ashlyn assume that the two were close. However, one thing about him stood out to Ashlyn the most. It was his scar. It was almost two inches long and it stretched from his jaw to right below his cheekbone. It was faded, but still very prevalent in his facial features.

Next to the sad Hispanic girl was a slightly taller girl with long, curly red hair and freckles dotting her entire face, along with her arms. She had big blue eyes that gleamed in happiness and she was enthusiastically making peace signs at the camera. She seemed like a total goofball, and Ashlyn wondered if she was the youngest.

On the side of the blonde boy was Dustin. However… he looked a lot different in the picture. His hair was a lot shorter, and he looked… full of hope. Ashlyn didn't know Dustin very well yet but from what she had gotten from him so far, he seemed sad and gloomy. Ashlyn wondered what had changed.

When Ashlyn saw the boy at the other end, next to the red haired girl, she gasped in shock and ran over to the pictures to get a better look. Ashlyn knew this boy. She could recognize him from anywhere. He was very tall and well-built, with messy black hair and dark blue eyes.

Dustin, who was in the other room, heard Ashlyn gasp and he ran in to check on her. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Ashlyn started to cry for the second time that day. "Dustin… what's the name of that kid?"

Ashlyn carefully pointed to the boy, and Dustin's eyes darkened ever so slightly.

"Him? That's Ethan," Dustin mumbled.

"Ethan… Wilder?" Ashlyn asked with hope.

Dustin stared at her in surprise. "...Yeah. Do you… know him?"

Ashlyn nodded quickly, a huge smile growing on her face. She started to bawl and Dustin did not know what to do.

"Ethan was my best friend on Earth… I… I lost him a year ago, and… I was certain I would never see him again… Of course he's here, that would make sense… Oh, Ethan… I can't wait to see him again..." Ashlyn cried, sinking back into the couch.

Dustin sat down next to her somewhat awkwardly. Ashlyn just cried tears of joy. She could not wait to see Ethan again. She wondered if Ethan had been missing her as much as she missed him. Of course he had. They were closer than close and they had been separate ever since Ethan's sudden and tragic death.

"Ashlyn… I'm sorry, but… well… like Phil told you earlier… uh… most people don't remember their pasts… I'm… I'm sorry, but… he won't remember you when he sees you…" Dustin said carefully.

Ashlyn froze in realization. Right. How did she not realize that sooner? Ashlyn quickly wiped her tears as the happiness faded. More tears came but they were tears of sadness.

"Right. Of course. I… I forgot," Ashlyn mumbled.

"I'm sorry, Ashlyn… I just didn't want it to hurt you when you saw him again and… and he treated you like a stranger."

"No, I understand. Thanks for telling me."

"...You and Ethan were friends?"

"Yeah… best friends, actually. He and I were pretty much inseparable, and we were since we were little…"

"I… really don't see you two being friends…"

"Why not?"

"Well… you're really nice, and… and he's kinda… kinda… awful."

"No, he's not…"

"Yes. He is."

"There's no way."

"Ashlyn… some people with no memories can become hardened. They get… upset. Angry, even. They become overwhelmed that they remember nothing and they usually just… turn horrible. Well… Ethan's not that bad… not as bad as some of the people I've seen… but he's really cruel. To me and to most people here in this house. The only person he isn't awful to is Phil. He's hurt us all several times. He's a bully. He's violent on the occasion. He's just… kinda scary."

"Oh… that's terrible… that's not like him at all…"

"How was he on Earth?"

"He was… he was amazing. He was gentle, caring, loving, playful, happy, funny… and so many other things. He was rarely angry."

"Wow… then he's really changed…"

Ashlyn was silent. She was devastated that Ethan had changed that drastically, and that he wouldn't even remember her. It really hurt.

Dustin suddenly pulled out his cell phone when he got a text from someone, and he read it quickly. "Phil's on his way home with everyone."

"Alright. Hey, uh… Dustin?" Ashlyn questioned.

"Yeah?"

"How come you don't go to school?"

Something changed in Dustin's expression, and Ashlyn couldn't determine if it was sadness or fear. Maybe both.

"It's not safe for me there," Dustin said quietly.

"...What do you mean by that?" Ashlyn asked in fear.

"Just like it won't be safe for you… it's not safe for me."

"Do you… remember?"

"No, but… what I am puts me in a lot of danger. I'm… different."

"How so?"

Dustin opened his mouth to answer but they heard a car pull up into the driveway. Changing the subject, Dustin quickly said, "They're home."

Ashlyn suddenly got nervous, and Dustin could tell. "Hey, it's alright. They'll like you."

"...What about Ethan?" Ashlyn questioned.

"He'll like you too. If he liked you on Earth, he'll like you here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

The front door suddenly opened, and Phil walked in, followed by six teens. They were all of the teens from the photo. She could quickly identify each of them. She saw the tall black boy. She saw the tall blonde girl. She saw the short Hispanic girl. She saw the short blonde boy. She saw the young-looking redhead. And… she saw Ethan Wilder.

"Oh! Is this the new arrival?!" the redhead asked enthusiastically.

"Yes, it is! Everybody, meet Ashlyn Carr!" Phil smiled. "Tell her your names!"

"Hi! I'm Rhea!" the redhead said with a huge smile. She had a scottish accent.

Rhea looked different than she did in the picture. Her curly hair was a lot shorter now and she was a bit taller. She was wearing a shirt with a colorful 80's style pattern tucked into baggy blue jeans with short black boots. She had a jacket tied around her waist and she was wearing long dangly earrings.

"I'm Sebastian," the black boy spoke up in a much deeper voice than Ashlyn had anticipated. By the sound of his voice, he was British.

Sebastian's hair was a lot shorter as well, and it was curlier as well. He was seemingly the same height, however. He was wearing a blue t-shirt with a grey and blue bomber jacket over it, faded blue jeans, and a pair of simple sneakers.

"I'm Jasmine!" the tall blonde girl said with a smile. She spoke in an Australian accent.

Jasmine looked almost the exact same. She even had her hair styled the same way. She had on a black and white striped t-shirt with ripped skinny jeans and a pair of black Converse.

"I'm Corbyn," the small blonde boy grinned politely. He sounded like he was American.

Corbyn's hair was longer now, but other than that he looked the same. He was wearing a black hoodie with some sort of logo on it and a pair of jeans, with some beaten up tennis shoes.

"...I'm Tierra," the Hispanic girl said shyly. She had an American accent.

Tierra looked very similar to how she did in the picture, but she seemed more confident now. Maybe she was just camera shy. She was wearing a black t-shirt tucked into her baggy cuffed jeans, with a grey sweater over her shirt.

There was silence, as Ethan just stood there, staring at her in… confusion.

Phil gently nudged him, "Introduce yourself."

"...Ethan. I'm Ethan," he muttered.

Ethan looked a lot different than he did when Ashlyn had last seen him. He was even taller, more muscular, and his bright blue eyes had a certain darkness to them that really scared Ashlyn.

"Great! Now that everyone has been introduced, I would like everyone who has homework to please do it! Otherwise, feel free to do whatever you wish!" Phil said before walking out of the room.

Everyone took their shoes off and put away their backpacks in a closet by the front door. Ashlyn was immediately approached by Jasmine and Corbyn.

"Hey! Welcome to Mortopolis, Ashlyn," Jasmine said with a friendly smile.

Ashlyn smiled back. "Thanks."

"Phil… Phil told us that… that you're Immune…" Corbyn said slowly.

"...Yeah. I am," Ashlyn nodded.

"That's so cool! Man, I wish I could remember," Jasmine said. "You wanna hang out with me and Corbyn? We're gonna go upstairs to the loft."

"The loft?" Ashlyn questioned.

"Oh, that's what we call our attic. Don't worry, it's not your typical creepy, old attics. We've cleaned it up and turned it into a little space to hang out!" Jasmine explained.

"Uh… sure," Ashlyn nodded.

"Cool! Follow us," Jasmine waved Ashlyn forward as she began to walk upstairs.

Corbyn and Ashlyn followed Jasmine closely. Jasmine walked all the way up the stairs, up another flight of stairs, and then opened up what Ashlyn had originally thought was a closet, and started to climb up a ladder that was inside. The three of them climbed all the way up and Jasmine turned on the light. Ashlyn quickly decided that this was her favorite room in the house. Fairy lights dangled almost everywhere in the grey painted room, there were several couches and bean bag chairs, another TV with video game systems, bookshelves, a shelf full of board games, and a chess table. It was so homey in there, and it seemed to be very cozy.

Jasmine, Ashlyn, and Corbyn were quick to discover that Rhea was sitting up there, doing her homework. She smiled at them when they walked in.

"Hey, guys!" Rhea greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, Rhea," Jasmine smiled back. "We're just gonna sit up here and get to know Ashlyn… is that okay? Will we distract you at all?"

"No, I'll be okay!"

"Okay. Thanks, Rhea."

Jasmine plopped down onto a beanbag chair, Corbyn sitting next to her in another one. Ashlyn pulled up another one and sat in front of the two of them.

"So, Ashlyn… tell us about yourself," Jasmine said with a large smile.