Ashley kept pacing around in her walk-in closet. Not that she didn't have what to wear, she didn't know what to wear. She finally convinced her mom to let her go with Faye and Franz to the party. It was a lake side party, an hour drive to the venue. It was actually a birthday party of one of the twins' friends. It took a whole lot for her to convince her mom that it was safe and supervised. After everything, her mom told her to go with a bodyguard who would bring her back by 9pm immediately.

"I have no idea what to wear." Ashley kicked a shoe out of her way. "It's a birthday party so I have to wear something nice. Skirt? I guess that would work." While she kept contemplating, she heard a knock on the door. "Come in." Ashley yelled out. When she heard the person come in, she spoke again. "In the closet. Mom, I have absolutely no idea what to wear tonight." She said, thinking it was her mom.

"Nice closet." Faye said walking into the closet. 

Ashley abruptly turned around, "Oh, hi-hi."

"Hey neighbor." Faye waved. "I hope you don't mind, your mom let me in." Her eyes looked around the whole place.

"Of course I don't mind." Ashley smiled.

"And um, hope you don't mind if I take a look around your closet." Faye smirked at her.

"Sure!" Ashley couldn't say no.. Never!

"Can I also pick your outfit?" Faye grinned.

Ashley gasped. "Even better!"

"Okay so we have..." Faye was more than excited to show off her fashion skills. "Oh wow, so many designers, don't know where to start." She said, pulling out outfits from their respective racks and placing them on a closet island.

"Thanks to my mom." Ashley followed Faye from behind as Faye ransacked and brought down the whole wardrobe... Literally.

The two girls were finally done. Faye had picked out a nice mini black leather skirt with an asymmetrical yellow bodysuit, fishnet hose and black knee boots.

"You look amazing." Faye said, while applying a little lip gloss on Ashley's lip.

"It was all your idea." Ashley said, anticipating her whole look.

"There." She used her finger to remove the excess gloss around the corner of Ashley's lips. "Fantastic. And we are all done... Ta-da!" Faye stepped aside.

Ashley immediately went to her full length mirror. She looked.... Hot? Ashley batted her lashes at her pretty self.

"Rate my work, 1 to 10." Faye smiled.

"10!" Ashley really liked how she looked. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun, the mascara made her hazel eyes pop.

"You're so pretty." Faye complimented her.

She laughed lightly, turning to Faye. "And you're prettier." Ashley complimented her back, waving her hands carelessly at Faye's outfit. A metallic silver mini dress with a v-shape neckline and short slit.

"Okay, so," Faye gets out her phone from her breast. "Party has started, we have to get going."

"Is that where your phone has been all these while?" Ashley looked flustered.

"Yeah. No pockets." Faye winked at her.

Ashley heaved a sigh when she saw a small pocket on her skirt. She wasn't about to place her phone in her breast?!

They met Anna on their way out.

"Be careful girls, please." She said, looking at them. "Stay away from trouble, call me as soon as you get there." Anna told Ashley.

"I will." Ashley nodded.

"Don't do stupid stuff, you know how your grandfather gets when..."

"I know, I know." Ashley rolled her eyes. "I'll be good. I promise." She went over to give her mom a quick peck on the cheek.

"Be back by 9, nothing later than that." Anna told her daughter.

"Okay mom. Bye now." Ashley waved.

"Bye Mrs Ontario." Faye smiled at Anna.

"Look after Ashley for me, will you Faye?" Anna smiled back at her.

"Will do." Faye assured Ashley's mother before turning to leave with the Ashley.

"Take care girls, and call me!" Anna yelled at them.

"Yes mom!" Ashley yelled back without turning to look at Anna. "Where's Franz?" She asked Faye.

"We'll meet him there." Faye answered her.

.................................................................................

They arrived at the venue, it was a nice cabin but what do you expect when a bunch of teenagers raid the place? Chaos!

"Oh." Ashley said, walking towards the entrance. There were a lot of people outside. Most were dead drunk, others were making out intensely, some others were screaming on the top of their lungs to the blaring music.

Faye chuckled seeing Ashley's facial expression. "It's your first party, you should enjoy it." She said, pulling Ashley along. "Come on, you're gonna meet most of my classmates."

Going in, Ashley could barely hear anything. The lights were awfully dim. It was how her sister described. Drunk people, weed, music and more drunk people. She wasn't exactly sure it would be fun.

"This is Shirley, Kezia and Reese." Faye said, pointing at her friends. "Girls, Ashley."

"Hey." Ashley smiled at the three girls. Both Kezia and Reese had long blonde hair, while Shirley's was auburn.

"It's nice to meet you." Shirley grinned, going forward to hug Ashley.

"Oh." Ashley received the unexpected hugs from the three girls.

"Ashley's my neighbor. And Ashley, these are my friends." Faye said to them.

"You want a drink?" Reese asked Ashley.

"Yeah." Ashley nodded, following them.

"So Faye, did you hear what happened to Fiona?" Kezia started to gossip.

"You won't believe it!" Reese chirped in, giggling.

Ashley felt out of place while she sat with the four girls who talked about boys, teachers, schoolmates. She couldn't even contribute to anything they talked about, she could only smile like a total idiot.

  Maybe she made a mistake coming to the party... Or maybe Faye was way off her league? Come on, look at Faye's friends!! They looked so pretty and classy and confident.

  Ashley wasn't any of those things. At her school, she was just a normal girl. Just one friend, who she talked to. She talked to everyone though, but she had one close friend, Maria. Looking at Faye and her friends talking and laughing made Ashley get sad, reminding her of Maria. Ashley didn't fit in with Faye's clique, that was for sure.

"I'm um, I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Ashley said adjusting her skirt as she sat with the girls. She had been in their midst for almost an hour but she hadn't said anything tangible.

"Okay. Want me to show you?" Reese offered.

"N-no, I can find it. You guys just keep um... Keep up your conversation." Ashley said with an awkward chuckle. She stood up.

"Be back soon." Faye told her. "Don't stray too far."

"Yeah." Ashley smiled, walking away.

She shouldered her way around the place. "Where is the bathroom?" She asked herself, walking up the stairs. Ashley unlocked a door, throwing it open, only for her to see two teenagers making out on the bed. Her eyes widened. "Sorry! Wrong room! Yikes!" She quickly slammed the door shut. "Oh shit." She shook her head, hurrying away.

She finally found the bathroom after a while. When she got in, she found girls literally humping each other on the bathroom counter.

"Oh no." Ashley froze, batting her eyes. "Um, I'm just gonna use the toilet." She said, pointing at the cubicle when the two girl stared at her. As soon as she entered, she whispered to herself, "why is everyone hungry for each other? Isla was right, parties aren't for the faint of heart." Isla said, throwing down the toilet seat.

As she eased herself, her phone rang from her skirt pocket. It was her sister.

"So how's your first party going?" Her sister asked, teasing her in a sing song voice.

Ashley sighed. "Honestly, it's not so great."

"How come? Thought you made a new friend, Faye is it?"

"She has her own circle of friends. They are much cooler than me. I feel weird amongst them." Ashley shook her head.

"Blend in Ash, you have to blend in. You should also get drunk too."

Ashley snorted. "Yeah, and mom would ground me for life."

Isla chuckled... "Don't you worry, I've got your back. How about boys? The party should be filled with boys, talk to them. You're too pretty to be single." She advised Ashley.

"Isla you know I'm not like you." Ashley sighed.

"What are you putting on?"

"Um," she looked at her skirt. "Leather skirt, hose. A bodysuit? Damn, do I have to be naked before I can pee?" Ashley groaned aloud.

"God, you're gonna be hot in that outfit. Do send me pictures, okay? How about make-up?"

"Yeah. Just lip gloss, a little mascara and-"

"Dude, get out there and enjoy your party! Mingle, okay? I can just picture you in that outfit you have on, grinding on some guy."

"Isla no!" Ashley cut her sister off. "I didn't come here for boys but to, you know, to make friends. The last thing I want is to get tangled with any boy here." She said to her sister.

"Okay. Just have fun. I'll call you when you get home. God, stop being such a damn loner! Love you." With that, Isla hung up.

Ashley ran her fingers through her hair. She was frustrated. Most times she wondered how she was related to her sister. Isla, her sister was different in many ways, confidence, attitude, much more. She was just care free about everything and made sure to follow her passion with or without their parents' approval.

She got out of the bathroom, heading back to meet Faye and her friends.

"Sorry, excuse m...." Ashley halted when he eyes met someone else's.

She wasn't expecting to see him now or later? What on earth was he doing there?

"Lu-Luna?" He mouthed as the speakers overshadowed his voice, seeming as confused as she was.

Ashley's face went pale, as she gaped at him. She immediately turned, trying to get away.

"Luna! Luna!" He called out to her but she hurried away. He went after her, trying to call her back. "Luna, Luna wait! Luna!"

Ashley had only one thing on her mind and that was to get away before he would catch up to her. She didn't want to see him, talk to him, look at him. She ran out the back door when she heard him gaining on her. She kept running not looking back, moving towards the woods, closer to the lake. She struck her foot against a stone and she fell over.

"Shit!" She sat up, groaning before finally standing. "Dammit." Ashley dusted her skirt. She looked around but only found trees. Had he stopped? She wondered.

Then she heard him call again. Ashley walked further into the woods where she stubbled upon a black hoodie hung on a branch. She took it, wearing it to serve as a disguise.

"What do you think you're doing?" A voice asked, coming from her front.

"Oh geez you scared me." Ashley's hands gripped her heart in fear, closing her eyes.

"You're stealing my hoodie." He said, suddenly flashing his phone light on her face.

"Hey! Hey! Stop!" She hurried to him, using her hands to cover the light. "I'm not... I'm not stealing your hoodie." Ashley whisper-yelled at him.

"You're a thief, aren't you?" He tried to flash his light on her again but Ashley took his phone, tapping on the torch icon to turn off the light .

"Stop!" Ashley said in a hush tone, before glancing back to see if she was being followed.

"Hey, give me back my phone!" He yanked his phone from her hands. "Who are you hiding from? You stole from someone didn't you? I'm going to call the cops."

"What? For what?" She whispered at him with a frown. "I didn't steal anything, I was only borrowing the hoodie."

"You're a liar." He countered her back.

"I'm not a liar." Ashley said. She tired to go around him but he stopped her from moving.

"You're not leaving here with my hoodie." He told her.

"Please? I promise to buy you another one, maybe two? The very exact." Ashley said, eager to leave before the person looking for her finds hers.

"It's custom made." He told her.

"Really? But," she touched the sleeve of the hoodie to have a feel of it. "But it looks and feels like a normal regular hoodie." Ashley didn't see any difference between a normal hoodie and the one she was wearing.

  Just then, she heard someone call her. The same person she was running from. "Oh no." She panicked again.

He stopped her again when she tried to leave. "What did you steal? A Phone? You lying thief." He accused her.

"But..." Ashley was running out of options as footsteps and flashlight got closer. "You have to let me go, I promise I'm not a thief." Ashley begged the boy who restrained her from leaving.

"She's over-" He was about to rat her out when Ashley pulled him by the shirt and made him lean forward. "What on ear-"

She then took him by surprise as she locked lips with him. They both stood still and frozen in one spot. She had her eyes shut tightly while his eyes were wide open. The person who was looking for Ashley flashed his light at them but turned away when he didn't find her. After some seconds, Ashley pulled away.

"Is he gone?" She whispered hopefully.

He looked down at her with a small frown. "No." He said, encircling his arms around her waist and leaning in to kiss her properly.

Ashley's brain froze for two seconds but then she found herself kissing him back. Slowly, gently, smoothly. They were both lost in a different world, but before the kiss would go further, Ashley immediately broke away.

"So-sorry." She nervously stepped away from him, trying to fix her hair into her ear awkwardly.

He studied her for a second or two and then scoff. "You steal my hoodie and now you steal a kiss from me, do you know how expensive those are?" He was sounding cocky and arrogant.

Ashley cleared her throat. "I apologize for the taking you off guard but you, you kissed me the second time." She said, not making eye contact with him.

"You kissed me back." He smirked at her.

"I didn't." She objected. "If you didn't -"

"You can keep the hoodie." He said, preparing to walk away.

"Tha-thank you." Ashley thanked him, glancing up at him.

"No, thank your pretty face." He said giving her one last look and scoffed.

"Huh?" Ashley turned around to see him leaving. "I-I didn't get the name!" She called out to him.

"No need." He yelled out. "We'd possibly never meet again but if we do, you owe me." He said, taking long strides away.

"No wait!" Ashley ran to meet him but when she saw the person she was avoiding at a glance, she decided not to chase after Mr hoodie.
🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

"Aren't you just excited about starting in your new school?" Anna took in a deep breath, smiling widely at her daughter.

"Not really. I don't have plans on being noticed because I totally suck at making friends. I can feel it, I'm gonna be a loner." Ashley said to her mom.

"You sound like me when I was your age." Anna chuckled.

"No? Dad was always your best friend, and you both got married." Ashley said to her.

Her mom shrugged. "You're the version of me while your sister is the crazy version of your father. You know dear," she started to say. "Just be you and friends will come."

"I guess so." Ashley nodded in agreement.

"And damn, your skirt is kinda short. Was this given to you like this?" Anna raised a brow at her daughter's skirt that was raised above mid-thigh.

   The school uniform was an emerald jacket with the school's emblem emblazoned at the breast pocket, white collared shirt, short black plaid skirt with pleats and black knee socks.

"If it were to be in Geraldine's, the head mistress would cut out the skirt while you're in it." Ashley said to her mom. At her former school, once your skirt was 5cm above your knee, the head mistress would destroy it with scissors.

"I'll have to complain to the school to get you a more decent skirt." Her mom said, touching Ashley's skirt. "Are you ready?" She asked Ashley.

"Yeah." Ashley responded reluctantly.

"Come on now, it won't be that bad." Anna said pulling her daughter along, towards the entrance of the house.