Set in season 3
Ashley's pov
I wipe the tears from my eyes. If someone caught me crying, they'd ask me if I'm okay and I really don't want to talk to anyone right now. I hear a thick Cuban accent fill the laundry room so I kneel behind one of the dryers. She says goodbye to whoever she was on the phone with and sighs loudly.
She takes her time with her laundry. If I'm late my dad will kill me. I make a poorly thought-out escape plan and I stand up.
"Dios mio! How long..." She trails off and gasps. I suspect she saw my black eye so I run out. Tears fill my eyes and I can't see very well but that doesn't stop me. What does stop me is a tall man with black hair and a beard.
"Hey Pen! Alex said--" I cut him off by running into him. The Cuban woman isn't far behind. I'm guessing she followed me.
"Oh I'm so sorry about that I..." He trails off just like the lady did. He clearly sees my eye. I'm dizzy and scared I just want to leave.
"Are you okay? What's your name?" The woman asks me.
"Ashley." I manage to squeak out. My voice is soft and barely loud enough to hear.
"Are you alright Ashley?" She asks. I nod before thanking them and trying to get by the man.
"Who did that to you?" He asks as he moves in my way so I can't get by him.
"I fell it's alright." I reply with a small smile.
"How about we walk you to your apartment?" The lady offers. She knows about my father because she's knocked on our door multiple times to ask him to be quieter.
On our way to my apartment the two tell me their names and ask me simple questions like what school I attend and how my day went. As we near the door, we hear screams from my father. He's on the phone with my mom.
"Mr. Johnson is your father?" Schneider asks in disbelief. I don't answer.
"Can you wait here while we talk in private?" Penelope asks. My stomach drops. That's never good. Before they can move, the door slams open. The familiar smell of whiskey immediately fills the hallway. My father stands in the doorway, swaying slightly. He looks furious. I can't breath this is really bad I'm having a panic attack. I'm late for dinner and I have two strangers with me. He roughly grabs my arm and snarls at Penelope and Schneider.
"Hello Mr. Johnson. I was just wondering if--" He cuts Penelope off by slamming the door. He slams me against the wall, knocking the wind out of me. I slide down the wall and sit on the floor. He starts to yell about talking to strangers before there's a knock.
"Go away!" He yells drunkenly and locks the door. He takes a gulp of whiskey and sits on the couch.
A couple minutes later there's another knock on the door. This one followed by a police man asking to be let in. My dad sets the whiskey down and swishes mouthwash through his mouth for a few seconds before spitting it into an ashtray and whisper-yelling at me to go to my room.
I can only assume the policeman believed my father because ten minutes later, he stumbles into my room and starts yelling again. He throws the empty liquor bottle at me.
When he passes out a couple hours later, I think about the lady and how she seemed to want to help me. I bet she was the one who called the police. I sneak through the hallway and keep to the walls where it doesn't creak as much. I slide my socks against the hardwood floor, never actually picking them up from the ground.
My knuckles hit against the Alvarez's door. I don't even know what time it is or how I look right now. I'm shaking and dizzy and very afraid. After thirty seconds or so, the door opens to see a boy.
"I'm looking for Penelope?" My voice breaks.
"Mami!" He yells and lets me in. The lady rushes over and guides me to the couch.
"Ashley are you okay whats wrong?" She asks. I explain what happened hours ago. When I finish the story, I look to see her own eyes tearing up. Then I notice two other women at the dinner table. The girl looks about my age and the woman looks about 60 or 70.
"Why don't you stay for dinner? You can stay the night if you want. I'll sleep on the couch, you can have my bed." She offers. I hug her tightly.
"Thank you so much Penelope." She hugs back and guides me to the dinner table. There's a couple seconds of silence before I'm introduced to the family. The boy is Alex. The girl is Elena. The woman is Lydia. I thank all of them for letting me join.
"This is truly an amazing meal. I think the best meal I've ever had. Thank you so much." I tell Lydia with a smile. She tells me it's a secret recipe and dramatically explains its origin.
That night, Elena lets me borrow a pair of her Harry Potter sweatpants.
"I love Harry Potter. I'm a Hufflepuff." I smile and immediately regret it. That must've sounded so stupid. She doesn't care. She probably hates that I'm here.
"Me too!" She high fives me and laughs. Either it wasn't a stupid thing to say, or she just pity's me.
"Thanks again. I can wash them tomorrow morning if you want." I offer. She shakes her head with a laugh. Oh god I did something wrong.
"No it's okay! Don't worry about it." She smiles again. We talk a little about music and the posters on her walls. She talks about her "Syd-nifigant other." I love that gender-neutral name it's amazing.
"I'm pansexual" I blurt out randomly. I can feel a panic starting. That was such a dumb thing to say why would I tell her that? She smiles
"Thats awesome. Do you have a significant other?" She doesn't even miss a beat.
"No. If my dad found out he'd quite literally kill me. You're the only one I've told but I've known for two years. Sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" She asks. I shrug. We say goodnight and I go to change.
Before bed I clean up the kitchen and do the dishes.
I wake up with a start to loud music coming from the living room. My eyes fill with tears as soon as they open and for a second I forget where I am. That's the best sleep I've had in a long time. I look around to see my clothes from last night aren't there. I make the bed and walk into the living room where Elena and Alex are eating breakfast.
"Ashley would you like toast and eggs?" Lydia asks.
"Oh no I don't want to be any trouble." I smile and stand there awkwardly.
"Don't be silly! I accidentally made an extra egg and toast come eat!" She winks at me. I know she's lying but there's already a place for me at the table. Her thick accent makes me smile. My mother was from Guatemala. I didn't know her very well but she had a very similar accent. I sit at the table and start eating slowly and quietly.
I see my clothes from yesterday folded neatly on the couch. It looks like they were cleaned.
After Alex and Elena leave, Penelope asks me to sit with her on the couch to talk. She explains that the police can't do anything without proof. She tells me to come over for dinner whenever I can and I can stay over whenever I need. She tells me she talked to Schneider but there's nothing he can do either. If my father hits me again, she wants me to go to Schneider or come over here until we can work out a way to get real help.
"I'm a horrible person for thinking this but..." I pause. "I dream of the day when he over drinks and dies. But maybe he's right. Maybe I'm not grateful enough for a father like him. He keeps a roof over my head. Some people don't even have that." I tell her. She shakes her head.
"No. Ashley look at me. What he's doing isn't right. You shouldn't have to go through that. I know he makes it seem like it makes sense. People like him make you feel crazy. They're so manipulative that you start to believe everything they say. It's not your fault." We hug again.
I've been coming over for dinner and breakfast every morning for the past year or so. Elena invited me to a domestic violence protest downtown today with her and Syd. I think it'll be fun.
Schneider drove me to school before summer started. We talked about things and he told me he's always here if I need him. When I have panic attacks at school I text him and he sends me pictures of dogs with wigs. Then he takes me out for ice cream after school.
lydia has been helping me do my hair and pick out outfits everyday. It's really nice to be able to have time to feel nice and pretty. Sometimes she takes me shopping and lets me help with dinner.
School has ended for the summer but my dad still has work. I only spend a couple hours over there now. Some nights he still wakes me up at 2 or 3 am because he needs someone to yell at. When he does hit me, Penelope helps me with the swelling the next day at breakfast. Things are really looking up. I mean, I still flinch anytime someone moves suddenly and I'm always paranoid he'll figure out what I'm doing and hurt me, or worse. But this is the happiest I've ever been.
Today is a Saturday so he doesn't have work. Maybe he'll pass out before the protest so I can slip away.
Elena's POV
"I thought she said she'd be here by noon." Syd comments as we get ready for the protest. It's 12:20.
"I'm sure she's just running a little late." I tell her. Syd doesn't know about Ashley's situation and I don't want to scare her.
"Mami? Ashley isn't here yet. She said she'd be here by noon."
My mom looks scared. Ashley is never late. She has the same rule as my mom "Early is on time and on time is late."
"I'll check on her." She grabs her keys and tells us to stay inside until she gets back. We do as we're told.
Penelope's pov
I knock on the door. No one answers. I don't hear anything from inside so I call Schneider. He comes down as quickly as he can and I explain what's wrong. He takes out the ring of keys he has for all of the apartments and starts to look for 404.
"Wait isn't that illegal?" I stop him. I looks at me, obviously afraid for Ashley.
"If anyone asks, Mr. Johnson asked me to fix a light bulb and didn't answer the door." He answers quickly.
Ashley's POV
I wake up in a hospital bed to see the Alvarez's, Dr. B, Schneider, and Syd surrounding me. I smile as they all greet me. I see a picture of the Pope and a cross by my bed and look at Lydia. She smiles and winks at me.
"Glad you're up!" Dr. Berkowitz says cheerfully and hands me a glass of water. Penelope leads everyone out after they give me hugs. He asks me normal questions like if I know where, who, and when I am. I answer with ease. Until he asks me what happened. I remember my father yelling and throwing me across the room. He leaves when a social worker walks in and talks to me for a while and tells me my father has died of a drug overdose. I shouldn't be sad. He was horrible. But for some reason I am. Maybe I'm just as bad as he is. Was. She also tells me that I'll have to go into foster care because I'm not 18 yet.
The family comes back in. I can tell they know what I was just told because they look even more empathetic than before. I ask about everyone's day before this. Elena and Syd tell me about the protest. They apologized for going without me while I was in the hospital.
"No I'm glad you went. There was no reason for you to sit in uncomfortable chairs and wait for me to wake up while there's a perfectly good protest going on." I smile. The both give me a hug.
Schneider walks in about an hour later.
"I have news." He announces. We all look to him. "I'm adopting Ashley." A huge smile grows on my face but I try and fail to hide it.
"You're kidding right?" I chuckle in disbelief. I look around at everyone. They all look as shocked as I do.
"No. I signed all the papers and everything. Is that okay?" He asks.
"Oh my god Schneider thank you so much. You didn't have to do that!" I smile and he hugs me.
"well, I always thought of you as a daughter anyway." He smiles.
"Schneider I am so proud of you!" Penelope hugs him. He looks happy. I just hope he made the right choice.
"You all know I'm rich. So I can take good care of you with Penelope's help if she's willing. I can pay for you go to college if you want. You can start therapy. We can get you whole new life. One where you're safe." He smiles again. I can't contain my happiness. This is amazing.
the end. I know this wasn't well written but I'll edit it later.