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Ash woke up to the hindrance of her alarm clock as per usual. A knock sounded mere seconds after. "Mistress, are you awake?" Came the fake cheerful voice of one of the maids. Ash sat up robotically, her face blank as she turned off the alarm.

"Yes. Come in." The maid entered. A plastic smile pasted on her face.
'Same as always.' Ash thought bitterly. All the maids cared about was the money her parents were giving them. And the sex her father was having with whichever one of them. She'd stopped caring after a while. She'd realised earlier on that it paid to keep to yourself in this house.
Ash watched the maid pick out her clothes and put them on the bed with what could be deemed carelessness, since those clothes were worth more than her salary. But again, Ash didn't care.

"Mistress, would you like me to help you with your bath today?" The maid asked after she'd practically thrown the clothes on the bed.
"No," Ash answered in a flat voice. "I'll just shower today. You can leave."
The maid bowed before stalking out the room.
Ash got up and went to the shower where she took a quick cold one before pulling on the clothes the maid had laid out for her. She tugged the hoodie over her head and plugged her ears with her wireless Bluetooth headphones. She turned to her Naruto playlist and turned up the volume all the way as she made her way to the breakfast room.

Fortunately, neither of her parents were seated at the table. If they had been, they probably wouldn't even notice her except to probably scold her about something. Ash grabbed a warm danish and bit into it. She made her way to the door, the treat in her mouth. Without sparing the maid a glance, she grabbed her lunch and stuffed it in her bag. She climbed in the back of the sedan and nestled into the seat to stare blankly as per usual out he car window with the ballads of Naruto blaring in her ears.

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The bell rang for first period, Math. Ash made her way to the class, a blank look on her face as per usual, until someone shoved her from behind.

She stumbled before she regained her footing. Laughter erupted behind her, the voice all too familiar.
"Did you trip or something McConnell?" Came the bastard's voice.
Ash turned around, her eyes cold and hard, her mouth set in a scowl. She stalked up to the boy, and slapped him. The hall rang out with the echoes of the slap as it descended into a dead silence. The boy, Drew was his name, turned back to her slowly, his head having been whipped to the side when Ash slapped him. Hardly giving him a chance to recover, Ash pulled him down to her height by the lapels of his jacket and spoke harshly in his face.
"Do that again Drew, and I'll do more than slap you." She growled before releasing him roughly and stalking away.

She didn't get far though, before her hair was grabbed in an iron grip and she was dragged back to Drew. Ash hissed in pain and attempted to dislodge the hand gripping her hair while Drew spewed curses at her. The hand threw her to the ground. She landed hard on her knees with a sharp cry. Drew kicked her in the ribs.
"Who the hell do you think you are bitch?!" He hissed as he placed his Jordan clad foot on the back of her head. Rage a conflagration in her veins, she threw Drew off balance and tackled him to the ground, landing punch after punch on him as her rage took control of her.
She was barely aware of the people trying to pull her off him as she continued to deal blow after blow until his face was a bloody mess. Finally, the others were able to pull her off him. She panted softly as she stared at him, cold satisfaction in her gaze.

"Don't mess with me you asshole!" She spat on him.

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Ash sat in the principal's office, awaiting the arrival of her parents and Drew's. She looked at her nails and her bandaged knuckles boredly. Drew wasn't in the office with them, rather, he was in the medic bay getting his face fixed. Ash wasn't sorry. She'd never be sorry for defending herself.
Just then, both her mother and her father burst through the door, with Drew's parents hot on their heels.
"Ash, are you alright?!" Her mother demanded as she took hold of her face to scan for injuries.

Ash's parents were truly a power couple, like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. They were beautiful just like them. Ash's mother had high cheekbones and almond shaped ice blue eyes, with pitch black hair that look glossy and shiny. Her skin was that of burnished gold.
Ash's father, was also a sight to behold. He was extremely handsome, with height in his favor, standing at six feet four inches. He also had glossy black hair but his eyes were dark, his skin pale, as if he didn't get enough sun. Ash had qualities of both parents, her eyes ice blue like her mother's, almost silver. Her hair hung in loose curls to her mid back. Her skin was a mix of both parents, a palish gold. She had the height factor from her father, standing at five feet ten at age sixteen.

"If that ruffian hurt you-"
"Ruffian?!" Drew's mother, Stacy, cried out indignantly.
"The only ruffian here was your retch of a daughter attacking my son!"
Ash's mother look at Stacy coldly, her nose up in the air as if she were the queen herself.
"Watch your tongue Stacy. I don't take kindly to people calling my child names." Her voice was hard and sharp enough to cut a diamond. Ash sat there in silence, her mind in shock. Her parents actually cared? Cared? She sat there turning this news over in her head as her parents argued with Drew's.
"Ms. McConnell, can you tell us what really happened?" Principal Oak asked after he'd calmed down both parents, drawing her out of her mind.

"Yeah. I was walking to Math when Drew attempted to trip me. I turned around and slapped him and told him not to do it again or I'd give him more than a slap. I walked away after that. Then somebody grabbed my hair, I don't know who it was. Then they threw me on the ground and Drew kicked me then put his foot on my head. I threw him off and started punching him until his face was bloody." She ended the tale in a flat tone and a shrug.

"I see. That story lines up with eyewitness accounts. But I will still have to punish both of you for fighting in school." The principal stated, wiping his glasses.
Both parents protested but he principal held up a hand which surprisingly stayed the four adults.
"You all know I'm right. But Mr. Dawson's punishment will be more severe than Ms. Smith's." He said before he sentenced Ash to one week suspension. Drew got the same, but with the extra addition of a month of detention and anger management classes.

Ash left with her parents trailing her.
They all piled into the sedan and Ash's father pulled out of the parking space and made his way towards his office.

"Ash, I know your father and I have had some issues, and you feel as if we have been ignoring you and neglecting you-"
"You have." Ash snapped coldly. Her mother flinched. So did her father. Sasha, her mother, looked down.
"I know. I just wanted to say that we're sorry and that even though you probably hate us, we still love you." She murmured softly. Ash was taken aback again. She hadn't heard those words in a long time.

The little girl in her that craved their approval rose to the surface in a tidal wave. Just that easily, her cold facade cracked.
"Y-you do?" She asked softly, hesitantly, the little girl within her needing to know.
Her mother smiled at her and placed a hand on her cheek from the front seat.
"Yes dear, we do."

Ash's father, Steven, smiled at her from the rearview mirror.
Ash managed a small smile back, still trying to process this.
Her phone pinged, indicating a notification. She unlocked her phone and check it.

What she read made her heart sink in her chest.
"No... " she whispered.

"What's wrong dear?" Sasha asked, seeing the distraught look on her daughter's face.
Staring into space, Ash answered in a hollow voice.
"Naruto finished today..."

A car crashed into them after that.

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