Political Science 101

Chapter Sixty

ASHLYNN BRADLEY did not keep any secrets from her father ... except one. As an astute observer of the world around her (coupled with being an accomplished eavesdropper), Ashlynn was always aware that her friendship between her father and Ray Doyle had more-or-less fallen apart. Having known Ray all her life, Ashlynn had taken to calling him "Uncle Ray" as a child. And even into high school, the moniker remained whenever she saw him (which, as of late, was rare).

Along with growing up with Uncle Ray, Ray's son, Will, was also a frequently seen face throughout Ashlynn's childhood. They'd been raised somewhat side-by-side like cousins and they were both close to one another in age, but what neither Ray nor Mitch (nor almost anyone else, for that matter) knew was that over the years, a unique bond between Will and Ashlynn had grown.

The two of them talked and texted daily — almost hourly — both nearly wearing-out their cell phones in the process, all-the-while concealing how close they'd grown and the extent to which their relationship had progressed.

They rarely saw each other in-person because of their geographical situation. Granted, both lived in the "St. Louis area," but that covered more distance than one might think; the St. Louis Metropolitan Area (known as "Greater St. Louis") covers nearly 8,500 square miles between Missouri and Illinois with suburbs in every direction. Therefore, although they simply lived "across town" from one another, the driving distance was still nearly an hour.

This is exactly the issue which kept Will and Ashlynn from seeing each other more often. Ashlynn and her father lived in the large St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Missouri (where both families once lived). However, upon separating from Ray, his ex-wife Samantha moved her and Will farther east, farther from Ashlynn onto the Illinois side of St. louis to the suburb of Belleville.

Tonight, there was only one more thing Ashlynn wanted for her birthday. She wanted to see her boyfriend, Will. And if she had to do it with Kelli in-tow, then so-be-it. Kelli had no idea where they were going as they cruised gradually down Interstate-70 with the setting sun at their backs. The music was loud (at the moment, playing "Intergalactic" by the Beastie Boys); Kelli was surreptitiously sipping beer from her disguised McDonalds cup; and Ashlynn was texting Will as she drove down the highway, trying to arrange their evening rendezvous.

"Where the hell are we going?" Kelli said, reaching over to turn the car stereo down.

"You said you wanted to pick up guys, right?" Ashlynn smiled. "Well, maybe I know a few."

"What?" Kelli said with genuine shock in her voice. "What the hell?" She was giggling through her bewilderment. "You know guys? How is that? I know everyone you know!"

"Oh, do you?" Ashlynn enjoyed having information that Kelli didn't.

"Oh, you bitch," Kelli said, still laughing, throwing her hair back and letting her dark blonde momentarily blow in the wind of the convertible top before wrangling it again.

Ashlynn had always been annoyed by Kelli's use of the word Bitch as a term of endearment. But trying to change Kelli was like trying to control the weather, so she just let it go and dealt with it.

"I knew it!" Kelli blurted with a cackle. "You have a secret life and a secret boyfriend!"

"Well," Ashlynn said, cocking her head slightly, "I don't have a secret life." She displayed a slightly mischievous grin. She hadn't told anyone about her relationship with Will with the exception of one person, Mitch's sister, Ashlynn's Aunt Sarah. For the most part, Sarah and Ashlynn hadn't been particularly close, but when Ashlynn desperately needed advice, Sarah was her best choice; a conversation that took place months earlier, the day Sarah met Ana for the first time. And Sarah kept Ashlynn's secret faithfully.

"Tell me about him!" Kelli said, visibly enthralled. "Wait, before you say anything, why did you keep this a secret?"

"It's complicated," Ashlynn said in a reluctantly cryptic tone.

"Complicated how?"

"I'm pretty sure our dads hate each other," she said with regret.

"Oh," Kelli said, seeing the seriousness in Ashlynn's face as she drove.

"Yeah."

"Dude," Kelli said, turning her whole body, "you're Juliet!"

"What?" Ashlynn said with an uncomfortable laugh.

"You know," Kelli said with excitement, sounding like she'd just cracked some sort of impossible code, "Romeo and Juliet, to feuding families, the fathers hate each other, the son and the daughter from the two families fall in love! You know!"

"You actually read that?" Ashlynn said, a bit surprised that Kelli would have had the initiative to read the play, which was required reading for all freshmen in high school.

"Well," Kelli said, "not exactly. I watched the movie freshman year. Leo DiCaprio is hot."

"Of course," Ashlynn said, making it sound like she meant, Of course, Leo DiCaprio is hot, but actually meaning, Of course, you only watched the movie.

"But anyway," Kelli rambled on, "you have to tell me about this guy! How long have you known him?"

"All my life."

"All your life?"

"All my life."