"Where's Mom?" I asked Ashton and James as I went to the kitchen to make some toasts.

Ashton looked at me and said something with his mouth full. "Smhes smhell smephin'."

"Huh?" I asked, not being to able to understand what he said.

"He said," James started as he finished his milk, "she's still sleeping."

I looked at Ashton, and he nodded his head.

"So who's going to take us to school?" I asked him.

Mom's the one who always sends us to school, because well, I still can't drive, thus no driver's licence, and Ashton probably hasn't got his driver's license yet.

"I am," he said proudly, taking my mom's keys, trying to toss it in the air and catch it, but he failed.

It fell on his face, probably bruising both his face and pride.

James started laughing loudly, and I tried my best to shush him because Mom's still asleep.

"You've got your license?" I asked, not believing his words after James managed to lower down his voice.

Ashton nodded his head with a wide smile plastered on his lips. "When?"

"I did it while ago when you went out with Michelle, I think," he said as he shrugged. "Surprise!"

"Yay, finally," I said, clapping my hands while rolling my eyes.

He smirked at me as he looked at my toast. "Hurry up and finish your toast, I can't wait to drive."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"Hey," I heard Nate's voice greet me as I was taking my books out from my locker.

I looked up from the locker and I was greeted by his grin. "What's up?"

Without any reply, he hugged me. "I heard that you and Michelle got back on good terms."

"Yeah, we've apologized to each other," I said, smiling against his neck.

He's 5'8, and I'm 5'6, so the difference isn't too much.

He squeezed me tighter, probably cutting off my blood circulation.

"That's great!" he exclaimed. "We could hang out together again!"

I mirrored his expressions. "Of course!"

My eyes scanned the crowd to find Michelle, but she's nowhere to be seen. "Where's Michelle?"

"Hm," he said, trying to search for her, "I'm not sure."

I rechecked if everything I need is already in my bag, and I heard Nate asking me, "Want to walk to class together?"

After I slammed the locker shut and locked it, I smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah, sure. We're going to the same class anyway."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Classes passed very quickly, and soon, I found myself sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for Nate and Michelle to come and join me.

It's been twelve minutes since I've sat in here, and there are no signs of them.

When I exited History class, Michelle told me to save her and Nate a table, and she scurried off to God knows where.

Another minute passed, and I finally saw them both walking in my direction with a tray on their hands.

Michelle wore a brown turtleneck sweater and a pair of boyfriend jeans with a matching brown coat. Her hair flipped gracefully as she laughed to what Nate said.

Her three-inch heels made her taller than her 5'3 height.

I sighed silently as I looked at my gorgeous friend. I look like a sack of potato compared to her.

Make her wear a potato costume, and she'll still look beautiful as ever.

"Hey," a cheerful voice chirped, interrupting my thoughts. "What's wrong?"

I looked up to see both Michelle and Nate sitting down, looking at me worriedly.

"Huh? Oh, hey," I said, erasing the previous thoughts away. "What took you both so long? I was slowly dying!"

Michelle gave a sheepish smile, and Nate somehow refused to look at me, making me raise my eyebrow.

I sighed once again and started eating the now slightly cold Mac and Cheese.

"So Ashton's finally got his driver's license?" Nate asked, sounding like he does not believe his words.

I nodded my head as I looked at his shocked expression. "I know right! He just told me this morning, I was very shocked."

"Well good for him," Michelle exclaimed with a bright smile on her face before morphing into a small smirk. "When are you going to get your license?"

I looked at Nate who had a flash of wretched expression on his face, but quickly realized and showed a neutral expression before Michelle could catch him.

I, on the other hand, try to look as calm as possible; laughing at her question.

"I-I think I'll have Ashton as my driver for now," I said, trying to joke, lightening up the mood between Nate and I.

He cracked a grin and Michelle rolled her eyes.

I found myself chuckling as well.

It feels good to be with my friends again.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"Hello children," Mom said as soon as we entered our house. "How's the new driver?"

"He's horrible and very slow," I said, unfortunately at the same time as Ashton said, "He's awesome and very cool!"

All James said was, "Eh."

She looked at each one of us a smile for more than a second, making us-- me a bit crept out.

"Are you alright, Mom?" James said, breaking the silence as he started walking to his room.

"I've got a news for all of you," she started, completely ignoring his question. "Don't change your clothes or anything; we're going out!"

"Where?" Ashton and I asked in unison.

"The Anderson Cooperation will be celebrating their anniversary tomorrow, and all of us are invited!" she announced happily. "So we're going to the Mall to buy some formal clothing!"

The Anderson Cooperation is a company that my dad works at.

They don't hold parties like this every year. Last two years ago and last year, they had a staffs' retreat and they're only allowed to bring their spouses or partners.

I'm guessing this year they'll be having a formal ball party.

"Oh, yay," Ashton cheered despite his voice didn't show any signs of excitement.

"So, everybody, just leave your bags here, and let's go!" Mom exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together.

I dropped my bag on the sofa, slowly took my coat from the hanger and went inside the car.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"Come out, darlings," my mom called out to James and Ashton, who were both trying out suits in individual fitting rooms.

I could hear them groan as they stepped out of their rooms.

I think they didn't actually look that bad. They both wore the same suit. The only difference was the size.

They wore a white shirt inside, decorated with a red velvet tie and a black blazer with black pants and a matching pair of loafers. They looked even better than usual. (It's not that they look good because they're related to me, I swear.)

Mom's face broke into a grin. "Perfect! Looks good on both of you."

Both of them looked surprised and sighed in relief.

They looked surprised because Mom would make us spend hours in clothing stores because the clothes don't 'match' us.

This is their first choice of suits, and Mom already likes them.

Next destination is a dress for me. Mom said she's got her dress already.

I hope I'll find something that 'matches' me.

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Hello! It's been a month since I've uploaded. So much has happened and I didn't get to write.

This chapter is just a short filler, and hopefully, I'll be able to write more on the next chapter.

I finally made you appear in this chapter, eh, Nate?

*Nate suddenly appears*: better add me on the next chapter too

Author: well, i'm not sure if you'll be on the next chapter or not, but i'll..try

Nate: *narrows eyes at author*

Update: next two weeks i guess?