chapter nineteen
(not edited)

"GET READY ASHLEY, we're on our way right now." May spoke loudly through the phone. I had just woken up and I wasn't even sure if it was even ten o'clock yet, but I decided to forget about the time. It's the weekend, shouldn't I be sleeping in?

"What?" I groaned into the phone. I could barely open my eyes; I was so tired.

"Aw, did I wake you up?" May cooed. I chuckled into a smile and finally blinked my eyes open.

"Yeah, a little."

"Oh, good." May laughed. "That means you need to get in the shower right now and Kyle and I will be over soon to help you choose an outfit."

I was still confused.

"What?" I exclaimed a little too loudly. "What time is it?"

"It's nine in the morning and you better get your butt out of bed if we want to surprise Lulu in time."

"Oh." I mentally face palmed. "Right."

     "Did Ashley James forget about Lulu's surprise party?" She gasped. I chuckled and shook my head slightly.

     "Maybe a little."

     "Well get up and do something!" May laughed. "We'll be at your house in ten minutes!"

     "Okay." I practically jumped out of bed and hung up the phone.

     I made my way to the front door and unlocked it so they can let themselves in. I might be in the shower when the two of them come over, so I'm just making sure they don't ring the doorbell a billion times and wake my parents up.

     I took out a sticky note from a drawer in the kitchen and began to write to my parents: Hey mom and dad! I'll be hanging out with some friends all day. I have my phone. <3

     I was still incredibly tired, but I managed to make my way to the bathroom in a quick speed. I don't want them to get here and then have to wait on me for Lulu's surprise party. It's actually kind of weird, now that I think about it, that I barely even know Lulu but I'm going to her party. Is that weird or normal?

     I hopped in the shower and tried to do everything as fast as I could. I began by shaving, only because it takes the longest, and then made my way to cleaning my hair and body. When I got out of the shower, I realized that was probably the fastest one of my life. I should get an award or something.

     My eyes widened when I looked around the bathroom and realized I hadn't brought any clothes with me. I mentally prayed that May and Kyle weren't here yet, otherwise they'd see me running around my house in a towel.

     I wrapped a towel around my hair and body and then proceeded to open the bathroom door. When I saw no one or heard anything, I casually walked over to my bedroom next door.

     "Ashley!" I heard someone yell from the right of me and I practically leaped to the other side of the room. It was May Parker and Kyle, standing in the middle of my room.

     I was suddenly extremely self cautious. The towel around my body was a little small and I hope that they won't notice. Actually, I prayed that they won't notice.

     "Well, looks like you're clean." Kyle chuckled as May quietly turned her head and looked at the floor. "Want us to help you choose an outfit?"

     I chuckled into a smile and held the towel tight to my chest. 

     "Sure." I answered. "But I'm pretty sure it won't be that hard since May is in jeans, so I'll just do the same."

     May finally looked up from the floor and smiled at me as she raised her eyebrows. Her cheeks were a little pink - I'm not really sure why - as the smile stayed glued to her face.

     I smiled back and awkwardly played with my feet so I wasn't just standing there. Her eyes seemed to trail down to my feet and that's when the rollercoaster in my body practically exploded and I felt my entire face flush a deep red.

     "Okay," my voice cracked, "let's choose an outfit now." I turned around and walked over to my dresser as they followed.

     I pulled out a pair of black jeans with a hole at both knees, but I immediately looked away from them when Kyle pulled out a pair of blue boyfriend jeans that have a crazy amount of holes in them.

     "Wear these." He smiled and held them up into the air.

     "Oh-"

     "Damn, Ashley." May chuckled and cut me off. "I've never seen you wear these. They're so cute!"

     "Thanks-"

     "Come on." She took them out of Kyle's hands and held them up so she could examine them more closely. "I would kill to have these. You have to wear them."

     "Okay." I chuckled and felt a blush come on. May looked at me so I quickly looked away and stuffed the black jeans back in the drawer. I opened up my shirts drawer and began to rummage through it.

     "So what are we thinking?" Kyle asked. "Tank top? Or tee shirt?"

     I slightly chuckled at Kyle's extreme sense of choosing outfits, but I quickly let it go.

     May pulled out a simple black tank top and laid it down with the jeans. It was an extremely simple outfit, but I liked it. I liked it a lot.

     "I like this." May smiled and put her hands on her hips. "Go put it on!" She smiled and handed me the two items. I smiled as well before I shut the shirts drawer and opened up my underwear drawer. Oh, God, I hope they aren't looking too closely. I grabbed the bra I wear practically every day and a pair of panties that I really like. I quickly shut the drawer and made my way to the bathroom.

     I put everything on and then examined my outfit in the mirror. I couldn't help but smile. I never wear these jeans because I always felt so exposed, but now I'm kind of liking them a lot. Is it because May likes them? Is that why I like them now? I shook off the thought as I ran a brush through my hair and ruffled it at the part a little bit.

     I opened up the cabinet above the sink and got out my toothbrush and toothpaste before I stopped and stared at my makeup. I never usually wear makeup. It takes too much time and is a complete hassle, but today I actually feel like I should do something with my face. Maybe May will like it.

     I quickly brushed my teeth and then grabbed my mascara, eyeliner, and BB Cream. It took me about seven minutes to do all of them, but when I looked in the mirror I realized that I wasn't comfortable in the eyeliner. I took it off. My eyelashes looked long and thick and all my subtle imperfections on my face and neck were covered. I smiled.

     I put everything back where it belonged in the cabinet and then made my way back to my bedroom. I grabbed a pair of white ankle socks and then walked over to the kitchen where I found Kyle and May.

     "You have an amazing breakfast selection." Kyle told me from inside the pantry. I chuckled and shook my head as I made my way over to the island to grab a banana.

     "Yeah, like what the hell, can I live here?" May laughed as she also rummaged through my pantry. I smiled and took a seat at the island as I peeled the banana and took the first bite.

     May smiled and turned around to me before she completely stopped in her tracks. I furrowed my eyebrows and brought the banana away from my face.

     "Wow," she finally spoke as Kyle turned around as well, "you look really good." She complimented. I blushed and looked down at the banana.

     "Thanks." I murmured before taking another bite.

     "Alright, so are we ready to go?" Kyle clapped his hands together and started to rub them. "We still have to pick up Olivia and Georgia Rae."

     "Yeah." May and I said at the same time. I stood up from my seated position and walked over to the front door with them.

     "Hold my banana." I shoved the banana into May's hands and put my high top white converse on. I then ran to my room and grabbed my phone before coming back to the front door. "Okay, thanks." I smiled and took the banana back from her.

     May sat in the back with me, even though no one was sitting in shotgun, which made me blush yet again. Like, my God, how many times can this girl make me blush in one morning?

     "May, you don't get the AUX cord anymore since you're sitting back there." Kyle started up the car.

     "Whatever." May smiled as she shrugged. "I'd rather sit with my best friend." She chuckled and looked over at me. I blushed and pressed my lips together before I looked out the window.

     "Ouch." Kyle started driving down the road. "That hurts a lot, you know."

     "I know." May smiled and sat back in her seat. I smiled at the two of them and continued to eat my banana as we made our way to a great day.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

"Ashley." May whispered beside me and poked my thigh with her finger. I inhaled a deep, shaky breath and put my fork down as I looked over at her.

We were all currently eating 'brunch' at Lulu's favorite place, which happens to be Denny's. Who even goes to Denny's?

"Yes, May?" I smirked and swallowed my piece of pancake.

"Did you tell Julia?" She furrowed her eyebrows together. I looked around and saw that the rest of the table was engaged in a whole different conversation, so I focused back on May and shook my head. Our thighs were practically touching because we had to squeeze everyone into one booth and my heart couldn't really handle it.

"I didn't see her at school." I shrugged and spread my hands out on top of my thighs. "Plus, I still don't really know what to say."

May clicked her mouth and nodded her head slowly before she reached for her glass of orange juice. I figured the conversation must've just ended there, so I went back to my pancake and tried to pay attention to what everyone else was talking about.

"No, but I'm telling you, this guy was a straight up freak." Olivia rolled her eyes and shoved her face with some potatoes.

Georgia Rae and Chase were cuddling really close with one another, so that concluded my theory of them being together. Fernando was on the edge of the booth and was trying to listen to the conversation but wasn't really that engaged. Lulu and Peyton were listening to Olivia, along with the twins, and Kyle was just trying to build a house with his waffles.

"What'd he do?" Peyton leaned forward and asked. I realized I had never heard her talk before, only because she was with Lulu the entire time at that party a while ago. I don't end know if I heard Lulu talk either.

Lulu's hair was now a dark shade of pink and it wasn't blue anymore. Her eyebrows were thick and bold and I wondered if that was natural or she filled them in. I shouldn't really care, though.

"Well, for starters, he grabbed my ass when I walked up to the front of the class to present my project. Then, when I was presenting, he was making all these weird sounds and faces so I pretty much threw up in my mouth and ran out of the class. And, guess what, I got an E. Just because I couldn't finish the presentation!" Olivia groaned.

"Shit." Lulu shook her head as her eyebrows remained furrowed. "He's an asshole. You should tell your teacher that and then maybe you'll get a better grade."

I don't think Lulu knows that this is her surprise party yet. I think we're going to do stuff the entire day and only tell her at the end.

May poked my thigh again, this time causing me to jump in my seat a little and look over at her. She was trying to hold in a laugh, I just knew it.

"What?" I smiled.

She leaned close to me, sending shivers down my spine due to her breath, and began to whisper.

"I need to borrow your pants sometime." She said quietly into my ear. I chuckled and tried to get the shivers away by moving my head to the side, but I accidentally managed to place my head on top of hers.

Oh, my God, oh, my God-

"Okay." I gulped and slowly brought my head back up before I turned and looked at her. She was smiling as well, a lot bigger than I was, before she looked down at my shoulder and then turned back to her food.

I have never been so confused.

I shook my head and then went back to my food before she leaned over one more time.

"Thanks, Ashley James." She whispered again. My spine felt like trembling under her breath. I turned my head to look at her but she was so close that our noses brushed with each other. Because of that, I quickly looked away and tried to hide my face the best I could so she couldn't see me blush like crazy. My heart was beating like mad and my stomach was doing somersaults. It almost felt like the pancake I just ate was craving for a quick way out.

     Today is going to be insane, I can just tell.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The amount of sexual tension right now is killing me. Is anyone else internally (or externally) screaming? Because I know I am.

The next (couple of) chapter(s) are going to be all about Lulu's surprise party and I'm really excited to share with you guys of what is to come! It's going to be great. Just you wait.

Also, dedication to @thefallback for the lovely fan art they made in the multimedia <3. If anyone else has something they want to send me, go ahead! Don't be shy! If you want to send it via email, just PM me and I'll be glad to share it with you.

I'll try my best to update on Thursday!

See you soon <3