"You didn't tell me that our new neighbors were the MidWests." Ashley said as she got into the car with her mom.

"You didn't ask." Anna pulled out her phone as soon as she sat. "Jackie just texted me that there's an emergency at the restaurant. I wonder what it could be?" She typed furiously on her keyboard. "I'll tell the driver to drop me off at AnStin while you go home to freshen up."

"Do you even know who the MidWests are?" Ashley questioned her mom.

"Yeah obviously they are our neighbors." Anna stated obviously.

"They are more than that. They are big time celebrities, all of them. Their father is an A-list actor, very popular. Their mom owns a world famous make-up brand, ALIE make-up line. I use ALIE cosmetics! Don't let me even get started with their kids who are social media influencers and content creators on their part." Ashley spoke with enthusiasm about the MidWest family.

"Sweetie, you don't even use make up." Anna chuckled lightly.

   "Well, yeah, still doesn't change the fact that we have icons as neighbors." Ashley was over the moon.

   "Yeah, I know. I once had a tiny crush on Alex MidWest when I was younger, don't tell your father I said that." Anna placed her phone over her ear. "Hi, good afternoon, this is Mrs Ontario. Yes, there was a reservation at your restaurant earlier today...."

Ashley reached for her purse when her mom started a phone conversation. She took out her phone, going over Faye's Instagram page. Faye was looking even more flawless in person and her hair looked fuller in pictures or videos.

Did she wear hair extensions? Ashley thought to herself. She scrolled down, seeing Franz's photos. He looked very handsome with his fine brown eyes and nice curly hair. God, Ashley couldn't count how many times she slid into his DM for months, probably years!!

"Do you remember the Websters?" Anna asked out of the blues.

"Websters? Well, yeah, maybe? Isn't
Isla's best friend's surname Webster? Victoria Webster." Ashley didn't want to know why her mom suddenly thought of them.

"Yes." Anna nodded in agreement. "So we would be staying out late for a family dinner tonight." Anna told her daughter.

"Oh. Cool. Have fun." Ashley said dryly without having to look at her mom, leaned back against the seat.

"What I mean is both our families are to be at the dinner. Including you and your sister."

Ashley dragged her eyes away from her phone to look at her mom. "Huh? You mean a family dinner with another... Family?"

"Exactly." Anna smiled at her daughter.

Ashley sat up, frowning at her mom. "Why?"

"For our families to.. You know... Blend and-"

"That's not a good reason for me to go." Ashley rolled her eyes. "If I can't have a good reason, then I'm not going."

Anna took in a deep breath, taking her daughter's hand. "It's for the good of the company. We're trying to secure our company's future."

"By going for a family dinner?" Ashley slipped her hand from her mother's touch.

"The Websters just need to see us as one big family, for old time sake." Anna made a begging face. "Your father is counting on you.... An-and Isla."

Ashley scoffed, eyeing her mom suspiciously. "Still makes no sense. But whatever." She reluctantly agreed.

"Great, this means a lot to your dad and I!" Anna immediately began dialing her older daughter's number. "And honey, wear something nice tonight and um, maybe put on a little makeup?"

"Mom!" Ashley's mouth flew open, as she stared at her mom with a frown on her face. She knew her mom was up to something.

Anna placed her phone over her ear. "Shush! I'm trying to talk to your sist- hey peaches? Yeah? Sure. When will you be arriving? With Victoria? Oh, okay. Don't be late. Have you...."

Ashley was having a weird feeling about everything her mom had just said to her, topping it was now the makeup thingy.
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She stood by the pool at the backyard. "Sandy, where are you going with that?" Ashley asked when she saw the caretaker holding a Frisbee and baseball.

"Oh this? It's nothing. I just want to return this to the neighbors. Those teenagers keep throwing stuffs here, pretty damn annoying. Or rather to annoy me." The caretaker shook her head.

Ashley glanced up at the house. "Speaking of neighbors." She walked up to her. "Have you... Have you spoken to them before? Are they nice?"

Sandy looked up at the house too. "Too wild and noisy. Love throwing wreckless parties. Their parents are hardly ever around, traveling, business trips, leaving the teenagers on their own. One time another neighbor called the cops on them for noise pollution." Sandy clicked her tongue before turning to Ashley.

"Really?" Ashley couldn't believe it. She looked at Sandy.

"Those kids are big trouble, so if I were you, I'd stay clear away from them." Sandy advised her.

She nodded, then an idea suddenly popped in her head. "Can I do something for you?"

"That would be?"

"I'll help you return the items and save you the stress." Ashley offered with a smile.

"Oh no dear, it's -"

"No please let me." She stretched her hand to collect the items from Sandy. "I insist. I won't stay out long, promise."

Sandy reluctantly agreed, handing the items to Ashley. "Be careful then."

Ashley headed out to the MidWests house which was almost a 15 minutes walk to the main gate, and to think their house was just closer to hers. As she got closer to the main gate, a car honked behind her, making her slow down. When she noticed that the car wasn't driving away instead it was slowing down, she decided to pick up her pace.

"What's the hurry?" The male voice spoke but Ashley didn't bother to look into the white Lamborghini even when the driver had winded down the windows. "Slow down neighbor, I don't bite."

Ashley halted her tracks, bending over to see who was driving the car.

"Hey." Franz MidWest greeted with a charming smiling.

"Hi." Ashley gave a small wave, smiling too.

He glanced at Ashley's hand. "Those wouldn't belong to me, would it?" He chuckled at her.

She looked down at her hand before turning back to him. "Well this," she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I was only going to return them to your place."

"Thanks. So um... You wanna come in?" Franz jerked his head towards the tall gate leading to his house.

"Well that's...." She was about to accept then she remembered what Sandy had told her. If I were you, I'd stay clear.

"It's okay." He quickly said as soon as he saw her facial expression change. "My mom is at home, you have nothing to worry about. Sandy must have told you a lot about my sister and I, honestly that woman hates us. No offense." Franz joked.

Ashley chuckled. Screw it. She shook off Sandy's advice and reached for the handle, getting into the car. As he drove, she kept blushing furiously, turning every shade of pink. She kept looking down and playing with her fingers.

"Are you okay?" He asked, while trying to park his car.

"Yeah." She nodded slowly, biting her upper lips.

He was sure that she wanted to say something. But when he wanted to talk, her voice came out first.

"I like you." Ashley blurted before her brain processed what she said. She gasped when she realized what she said. "Not... Not you. I mean your videos, they are amazing." She laughed nervously while trying to maintain eye contact with him.

"Thank you." He only smiled.

"Sorry." Ashley knew how awkward she was making everything. "Plus I like your house." She decided to add.

Franz chuckled, nodding. "Thank you, but I do know it's nothing compared to yours." He said before getting out of the car.

"Right." She whispered to herself. This was more embarrassing than awkward. She thought as she too got out of the car.

She glanced around. The place was indeed beautiful, but nothing she hadn't seen before. Celebrities, business moguls and the likes all had extravagant taste when it came to housing.

"Come on, let's go meet my mom." He told her. "She's at the gym."

"Really? You want me to meet her?" Ashley blinked back in surprise.

"Yeah. Mom hasn't stop talking about the neighbor's other daughter, she'll be happy to see you." Franz assured her.

"Me? She talks about me?" Ashley batted her lashes at him.

"Ye-yeah. I mean she talks about everyone though." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay. Well um, here." She held out the items for him to take from her. "I don't want to forget to give you these."

"True." He collected the items, throwing them into his car. "Shall we go?"

Ashley nodded, following his lead. They walked down the other end of the big mansion, heading to another building. They both walked in silence until Ashley decided to speak.

"I'm Ashley by the way. You know, just um," she cleared her throat in other to get rid of her nervousness. "Putting it out there."

"Forgive my manners." He turned to her, stretching his hand. "I'm Franz, Franz MidWest."

Ashley shook his hand. "Yes. I'm a big fan." She said before letting his hand go. "I follow you and Faye on Tiktok, IG, snaps... Name it." She said to him.

He chuckled lightly. "I'm honored."

She immediately added. "An-and I sent you DMs too, a lot of them." Ashley was only shooting her shot.

"Wow, really?" Franz seemed interested in what she had to say. "I didn't know that. Remind me to check all my DMs later." Franz took a mental note before opening the door. "Come in." He allowed her in first.

Ashley looked around the well equipped gym with the most standard apparatus, just like the one in her home.

"Mom?" Franz called the attention of a woman who was treading on a treadmil with her body backing him.

"Yeah?" The woman answered.

"Um, there's someone here I'd like you to meet." Franz smiled, surprising Ashley when he pulled her close to him.

The woman was dressed in sports bra, leggings, black trainers and her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She soon slowed down the treadmill, picking up a water bottle and having a sip.

"Who would that-" The woman had turned around. She paused, looking back and forth at her son and the girl with him. "Oh, hi." The lady smiled at Ashley.

"Good afternoon Mrs MidWest." Ashley smiled back, looking at the fine young woman.

"Hey Franz, isn't this..." Her eyes shifted to her son.

"Yeah. Her name is Ashley." Franz nodded, knowing what his mom had wanted to ask.

"Hey dear, how are you?" The woman walked up to Ashley with a gleaming smile on her face. "Sorry, I'm all sweaty and sticky, I would have given you a hug."

"No, it's fine. It's nice to meet you Ma'am." Ashley told her.

"Nice to meet you too Ashley and please call me Natalie." Natalie glanced at Franz then back to Ashley. "Wait.... Are you his... Girlfriend?"

Franz and Ashley sharply turned to each other before looking back at Natalie to object.

"No!"

"What? No..."

"Mom why would you even think that?"

Franz and Ashley disagree in unison.

Natalie held her hands out to stop them from talking. "I only asked a question. Besides she's an Ontario and she's already going to-"

"Stop." Franz stopped her from saying further which earned him a look from Ashley. "Um, my sister is here too, I'm sure you'd want to meet her too." He knew his mom wouldn't stop talking and asking questions, so he had to stop her.

Even though she found Franz and his mother's conversation weird, she just let it slide. "Yeah sure." Anna smiled.

"Would you stay for dinner?" Natalie asked Ashley.

"That would have been very lovely but my mom has plans for dinner, I'm sorry." She politely rejected the offer. "But thank you." Ashley gave her a small smile.

"Oh okay. Maybe some other time." Natalie said hopefully, with a grin.

"Yeah.... It was nice meeting you again." She finally said, with a small wave before turning to leave the gym.

"You too sweetie, do stop by again." Natalie said to her.

"I will." Ashley turned back to glance at Natalie with a smile before walking out of the gym with Franz. "Your mom is... Nice." She told him.

Franz chuckled. "She is." He told her. "Now... Where is that Faye?" He asked rhetorically.

They both got into the big house and headed up the stairs.

"She's probably in her room." Franz said walking down the corridor.

As they passed by a door which was ajar, Ashley caught a glimpse of someone in the room. She took a step back to get a peek at whoever but the person had his back turned to her. As the person turned around, Ashley hurried away to avoid being caught.
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Ashley spent time with the MidWest twins, finding them very interesting. She had a lot in common with Faye and she was assured by Faye that they were going to be good friends. Ashley was more than excited to hang around the two popular teenage celebrities.

"I wish you could come, you'd meet a lot of people. It's the party of a lifetime." Faye said to Ashley as they walked towards the entrance.

Ashley was disappointed that she could not go for the party holding later in the evening because of some stupid family dinner. "Yeah. It was really nice talking to you. I really hope we see more often." Ashley smiled at her.

"Of course we will! You're my neighbor and sure there will be more parties to attend!" Faye said to her.

Franz joined them. "Do you want me to walk you home?" He asked.

"Thanks but that won't be necessary." Ashley declined the offer. She glanced up at a window and noticed someone staring at her. She couldn't see his face. "I don't mean to pry." She said to the twins. "Who's that up there?"

They both turned around and looked up at the window.

Franz laughed.... "That? That's Jason. For a moment I forgot he was here." He said, turning to his sister. "He could have come around to say hi at least."

Faye snorted. "He's shy." She then shouted to the person at the window. "Hey yo Jason, you have a new admirer here!!" She yelled out to him.

"What? No-no, it's nothing like that." Ashley corrected her.

The guy in the window walked away, disappearing from their sight.

"Don't worry," she turned to Ashley. "We're only pulling his legs."

Ashley was escorted to the gates, and after all the goodbyes were said, she left for her house. She was happy, excited and HAPPY.

"Hey mom." She walked into the kitchen, giving her mom a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey." Anna said as she chopped her onions finely. "Sandy told me you went to the MidWests." She glanced at her daughter. "You look happy..."

Ashley giggled like a child. "Well yes I am happy! Faye is really nice. Gosh she's even following me on Gram now." Her happiness knew no bound. "And her brother is very cool too. I am way too happy."

"Awww, I'm happy you're making friends." Anna smiled brightly.

"Faye invited me for a party, but I can't go because of that.... That... That... Family dinner you and dad planned out." She rolled her eyes.

"It's too early to start partying with people you barely know." She told her daughter.

"That's how I make friends. You don't expect friends to come down from heaven to meet me." Ashley sighed, turning to leave.

"Anyways, the family dinner won't be holding anymore." Anna announced to her.

Ashley turned around to look at her mom. "Really?"

"Yeah. Victoria's father called your dad, his wife's isn't feeling too good so they had to cancel." Anna told her.

"Oh." Ashley nodded slowly. "So no more family dinner.... Ever?"

"It's been postponed. Don't get too excited because it's still gonna hold." Anna reminded her daughter while grabbing a spinach.

A smile played on Ashley's lips. "On the contrary mom, the party I wanna attend is holding. You could still change your mind."

"I don't know these kids... Personally. From what Sandy said about them-"

Ashley immediately countered her mom. "Sandy hates them. Mom, mom, please! It's going to be my first teenage party, my first night out. Pleaseeeee, please mom.... Say yes, say yes."

Anna groaned, setting the knife aside to stare at her daughter.