TW: Underage Drinking & Smoking

3RD PERSON POV

December 21, 2017

3:45 pm

Mei walked out of class she quickly walked to her locker. She had stayed a little to clean up the class with her teacher. Right as she got there, she got a text from Jaeden

call me when you can. i got big news :)

Mei quickly put away some books and took out some other things. She stopped rushing when she saw a letter. She picked up and read what was on the front

To Mei Hashimoto

She tossed the letter into her backpack and closed her locker and stood up. She put on her backpack and scrambled to get her phone. When she did, she immediately called Jaeden. "Pick up pick up pick up," She whispered

"Mei!" Jaeden greeted her through the phone

"Hi, Jaeden. How are you?" Mei asked. She played with the bottom of her skirt. "You said you had news for me?"

"Well, I'm dating someone now!" Jaeden sounded ecstatic

Mei's heart dropped. She couldn't form words anymore. She stopped walking. "Who is it?" She asked, trying not to sound upset 

"Lilia. I told you about her. The girl I like who I hoped to ask me out. Maddie's friend?" Jaeden told her

"Oh yeah. I. . . I gotta go. My ride is here. I'll talk to you later, alright?" Mei gripped onto her skirt tighter

"Alright. See you-" Jaeden was cut off short by Mei ending the call

"Fuck. . ." Mei muttered with a distressed face. She didn't know if she should cry or not. It felt irrational to be upset because it wasn't like they had something between them. They were just friends whose friendship started because Jaeden saw her in a dream. She started fast walking throughout the halls. She didn't know where she was going. She had no after school activity. All of her friends had to leave immediately or go to a club. Her parents, or well the family chauffeur, was going to pick her up at 4

It felt like her whole world was ending. Her heart was beating fast and the only sounds she could hear is the sound of her footsteps, her breathing, and her heartbeat. Her eyes darted around the large empty hallways

Her phone vibrated

Mei stopped. Her heartbeat slowed and her breathing regulated. She picked up the phone

"Hey Mei. It's Aidan," Aidan started

"Oh, hey Aidan. How's Canada?" Mei asked him. She set down her backpack on the floor. She leaned up against one of the walls. She slid down it and sat on the floor

"Well, it's Canada," Aidan sighed. "I miss you which is stupid because it hasn't been that long and we've been apart for much longer," In Canada, Aidan sat down on the couch in his apartment

Mei let out a soft laugh. "I miss you too. Did you. . . Start filming yet?" She leaned her head onto the wall

"Not yet. Filming starts in January. By any chance did you get a letter in your locker?" Aidan asks. He tapped his foot on the ground in a nervous or impatient way

"Uh, yeah, I did? Why? How do you know?" Mei opened her backpack. She took out the letter

"It's from me. I sent it to the school and told them to put it in your locker today before school ends," Aidan said

She read it out in a voice-only Aidan could hear:

Dear Mei,

This may not come as a shock to you, but I love you. You're on my mind 24/7 and I wish for nothing more than to make you mine. After all these years of knowing you, I would've never thought I'd work up the courage to actually ask you. Will you be my girlfriend?

-Aidan

"Oh. . . Aidan. This is sweet, but, I can't give you an answer right now. Can you just. . . Let me think?" Mei asked. "Don't get me wrong. I like you too. It's just. . . You. You asked me this at the wrong time. I don't know what I'm feeling today, but I know it isn't a positive feeling,"

"Take as much time as you need. I'll talk to you later. If you wanna talk. I'm here. Bye, Mei," Aidan said with a sigh

"Bye Aidan. Have fun in Canada," Mei said. She ended the call. This was gonna be a long Winter Break

TIME SKIP

December 24, 2017

2:00 pm

Jaeden and Mei sat down in his room. Mei was there to give Jaeden his Christmas present. She slid the present over to him. "You could open it now. Or tomorrow. It doesn't really matter," Mei said to Jaeden

Jaeden stood up and got a present from his desk. "I got you something too," He placed the gift in front of Mei before sitting in front of the present Mei got him

The two of them began to open their gifts. Jaeden got Mei a black and white penny board. Mei gave Jaeden pins and two button-ups

"Holy shit! Jaeden this is amazing!" Mei admired the penny board. "The thing is. I can't ride it, so does my new penny board come with free lessons from the one and only Jaeden?" She asks

"Of course it does," Jaeden laughed. "Thank you for the button up and the pins. I love it," He really did and he was definitely gonna wear one of these to an interview. "Does this also count as my birthday present?" He asked

"Oh no, I have something great planned for your birthday," Mei reassured him. "Thank you again," She went beside him and hugged him

Jaeden hugged back and the two of them sat in silence for a minute. The silence was broken when Jaeden asked, "Wanna steal some cookies from the kitchen? Maybe get some hot chocolate too? With marshmallows," 

"Uh, of course," Mei stood up and the two of them went to the kitchen

"Hi mom," Jaeden greeted his mother as he passed by her on his way to the kitchen

"Hi, Miss Jaeden's Mom!" Mei greeted Jaeden's mother. She bowed a little before following Jaeden into the kitchen

Jaeden got out the milk while Mei got the mugs

"Have you been feeling alright lately?" Jaeden asked. He was concerned for Mei since she barely called him or texted anymore. It was his idea to meet up to exchange gifts

Mei had already spaced out. She was just staring at the mugs which she placed next to the cookies

Jaeden tapped her shoulder. "Mei?" He questioned 

"Huh?" Mei turned around and looked at Jaeden. "Oh, yeah, I'm okay. I've been. . . busy. My parents hired an assistant to help them with their schedules, but that's just them. We clean together from time to time. I've also been doing some holiday shopping. So, basically, I have chores, holiday shopping, and schoolwork,"

While Mei was talking, Jaeden was listening and making the hot chocolate. When she was done Jaeden placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of Mei. "I'm glad it doesn't have anything to do with Lilia. Lilia wants to meet you by the way," He said. He took a sip of his drink

"Yeah. . ." Mei sighed. She took a sip of her drink

"I heard about you and Aidan by the way. What are you two exactly?" Jaeden sat down on one of the barstools by the counter

Mei sat down next to him. "We're still friends. Nothing more, nothing less," She stared into the hot chocolate and watched the marshmallows float around 

Jaeden just nodded. The two of them drank their drinks in silence. Mei eventually left, getting one last hug before leaving

TIME SKIP

December 31, 2017

8:00 pm

Mei and her friends were having a New Years' Eve Party at her house. Just Mei, her friends, and their parents. The parents were downstairs drinking and all the kids were in Mei's room, messing around, talking, eating, drinking

"Okay, okay, okay. Settle down, children. I brought you all something," Gene smirked. He brought out a bottle of rum from his backpack

"Holy shit!" Mei, who was sitting on her bed whisper screamed. "How did you even get that?" She looked at the door to see if it was locked 

"Come on, it'll be fun. And just a little come on. It's sweet!" Gene took out some cups

"Fine, whatever," Mei said. She prayed for forgiveness to her ancestors. She set down her phone and walked over to Gene

Each one of her friends got a shot of rum and took it at the same time. At that moment, Mei, Camilia, and Seamus got their first taste of alcohol

When it went down, Mei felt her throat burn. Like she was drinking straight fire. She started coughing. Gene patted her back. "Thatta girl," He congratulated her. "Want some more?" He asked

"Hell yeah," Mei held her cup out for more

After that, they all got a little tipsy

"I wanna show you all something," Mei told all of her friends. She went into her walk-in closet. She opened a door inside the closet and revealed a ladder. She climbed the ladder, her friends following. They all ended up on a balcony at the back of the house

The balcony had a swinging chair, plants, another chair, a table, and an umbrella for shade. Mei's house was in the hills so, from the balcony, you could see the city of Los Angeles. As well as her backyard, which had a pool, hot tub, fire pit, pool chairs, a garden, and grass to relax in. This is what rich actors do with their money

The house was fairly large too. It had 2 master bedrooms with walk-in closets, 2 guest rooms, a game room, a sunroom, an office which has the entrance to a hidden mini library in it, a large spiral staircase, an at-home gym, a home theater, underground wine cellar, a fireplace, a big living room, a foyer, a big kitchen, and Mei had her own secret private balcony, and a secret room for when she has a panic attack, the entrance to that is a secret door in her wall she can climb into. She also uses it so she can't be disturbed and a place she can hide the most important things in her life

"You've been holding out on us," Lexi said

Sophie took out a cigarette and started to smoke, catching the attention of everyone else

"Don't be shy, pass one over," Seamus told Sophie. He took the cigarette and lighter Sophie gave him and started smoking. He took one puff and passed it to Gene

Gene took a puff and blew the smoke in Seamus' face with a smile. "Love you," He proceeded to say

"Jesus! Just kiss already," Luke told Seamus and Gene

Gene leaned in and puckered his lips

Seamus placed his index finger on Gene's lips. "Not today pretty boy," He laughed. He kissed Gene's forehead 

Sophie gave Alya a cigarette and Lexi busted out her Juul

Mei leaned on the rail of the balcony, facing her friends. She was happy all of her friends were happy. Seamus and Gene were in love, so was Lexi and Camilia. Luke had a guy he was flirting with on the side, Sophie chose not to love anyone, and Alya wasn't close enough to anyone to have a crush

Sophie approached Mei. "You alright?" She asked. She handed her a cigarette

Mei just took it and Sophie lit it. She didn't take a hit just yet. "Yeah. I'm alright. I'm just thinking," She sighed

"Alright, which guy is it this time?" Sophie questioned 

"Both. I'm still upset about Jaeden. But I can't blame him! Lilia is so pretty. I wish I told him something before. Now it's too late," Mei took a deep breath and took a hit of the cigarette. "And Aidan. . . Oh, Aidan. He's really sweet really. Maybe a little creepy and scary. So much anger in such a little package. Should I pursue him? I know he likes me, but would it work if I'm still not over Jaeden?" 

"Well, you never know. I think you should go for Aidan. You said it yourself, you didn't have a crush on Jaeden. Just a small connection that might lead to having a crush. Whatever you do, we'll be there for you," Sophie comforted Mei

"Go get your mans!" Luke said when they went to the other side of Mei

Alya went in front of Mei. "I see only good things for you two," She put a hand on her shoulder 

"Alright," Mei smiled. "I'll do it," Mei took another hit of the cigarette before handing it to Luke for him to finish it. She took out her phone and video called Aidan

Aidan answered immediately. "Hi Mei!" He had tacky blue ladder shades on. "I'm celebrating the New Year with the cast!" He flipped his camera and showed people partying in a hotel room. He flipped the camera back to him. He walked to the balcony to get some peace and quiet with a glass of apple cider

"Hey, Aidan. I'm celebrating with my friends. We're on my balcony right now," Mei showed them her friends and then the view she had. "I actually wanted to ask you something or tell you, really," She flipped the camera back to her

"What is it?" Aidan took a sip of his apple cider. He sat down on one of the chairs on the balcony

Mei's friends gathered together and waited with bated breath, waiting to see if Mei actually asks him out

"You know how you sent me that letter. I made up my mind and my answer is, yes," Mei's heart raced with every word. She proceeded to hide her mouth and nose in her shirt, trying to hide her blush

Aidan let out a happy laugh. "Holy shit you said yes. . . You said yes!" Aidan celebrated with a smile. "Aw, I love you, Mei," He told her

"I love you too Aidan," Mei blew him a kiss. "I need to go now, I'll text to later. Bye baby," She smiled wide

"Bye, I love you so much and I can't get anymore luckier," Aidan blew her a kiss

Mei ended the call. She looked at her friends. "I did. Holy shit I did it!" She pocketed her phone and all of her friends hugged her

"This calls for some celebratory food," Camilia said without her stutter. The therapy she goes to is really helping her

The others cheered and they all went downstairs to the kitchen to eat