Ash has been in LA for three months. She has straight As and maintains a friendship with a lot of the big names. Jesse and she talk in first block, making fun of Mr. Leo often enough that he asks after class what they ridiculed. Twinkie and Sean are helping her pick out her car and say they'll help her crank it up if need be. Her mom is begging for her to let Gisele and Neela come over, the only two who have her number. Brian, Roman, Tej, and Suki talk to her in Spanish, even giving her a number if they ever need her. Han and DK still annoy her, but she's gotten around to talking to Han. She still hasn't given him her full name.
Now, Sean and Twinkie are still pressuring her into going to the races on Friday, even though it's only Thursday. "C'mon, Ash, you haven't been yet! I've seen you at football games for other schools, but you haven't gone to a single race yet," Twinkie says. "Don't make me give you the eyes, girl. I will give you the eyes." Ash twirls the spork in her cafeteria lunch, pushing it away and taking out a bag of Cheetos. She rolls her eyes.
Gisele takes a seat beside her. "What are we begging Ashlynn to do?" Gisele is the only one Ash answers to when she says her full name. Under the same token, Gisele is the only one who answers to Ash's affectionate name of "Gigi" after a character on some television show. She acts nothing like her, but the girl was the prettiest on the show, and Gisele is the prettiest in the school.
"Go to one of the races," Sean answers. "Girl still hasn't gone, not even once!" Ashlynn shrugs as Gisele gives her a questioning look. "I mean, she's so damn mysterious. We don't know where she lives, where she was before she came here, or even what happened to her dad. She answers questions about her mom, but nothing about her dad."
"I don't like giving out personal information, Sean," Ash says with an eye roll. Neela sits next to Gisele, coming in the conversation a bit late since she had to spend time with DK before coming over. "If you don't like it, too bad. Personal matters are what they are, man. Besides, you aren't too open yourself. Where's your dad?" It's a low blow, she knows, but he struck first.
"Somewhere, doing something."
Ash sighs. "You wanna know where my dad is, Sean? Talk to Brock."
"Who is Brock?" Sean asks. Ash gives him a look.
"My brother." Heaving yet another sigh, Ash says, "Fine. I'll go on Friday." Going on Friday means missing her flight, but her friends here are better friends than there. All they want to do is talk about the latest movie and boy news, all except one, but here, it's about the cars and being real. Sean and Twinkie high five. "But. I will be wearing jeans and a t-shirt. No negotiation."
The bell runs, and Ash goes to her fourth block hour with Gisele, Sean, Twinkie, and Han, who meets them at the exit of the cafeteria. DK bows mockingly at Ash, and she glares at him. He just grins and wraps an arm around Neela while they will away. "I have no idea what I did to him, but I hope for my sake that it's fixable," Ash says, rubbing her eyes.
"Hey, Han, guess where Ash is gonna be this Friday?" Twinkie asks, going in front and walking backwards. Han shrugs, not thinking much of it since Ash has made it clear she doesn't want to go to the usual Friday night activities. "She's finally attempting the dark side." Ash almost laughs at the way he says it, like she's going to rob a bank or steal a car or something.
Han looks at Ash to know if it's true, and she shrugs uncommittedly. "If I don't like it, I won't go back. Isn't that how things usually go with me?" Everyone gives her a look. "Shut up. Don't even start." Twinkie starts laughing, and she jumps on his back. He nearly falls, but he really does fall when Sean jumps on Ash. All three of them laugh, and Han and Gisele help them up.
Ash feels her cell vibrate. She stops laughing long enough to look at the message, asking if she and Nicky are still on for Friday. Gisele is looking at her like it's the moment of truth, and Ash knows it really is. She types in 'no. new place to go with gigi and twinkie' and hovers over the send button. She looks at Gisele and hits it.
Now it's official.
Ash is fully surprised when Friday comes almost too quickly. She's a bit nervous to be around so many cars, but knows she'll get over it soon enough. She has a band shirt out, the one she wore her first day, and another shirt that's low cut. She turns to Brock, who has to go with her to make sure she doesn't drink even though it's practically a school function. "Which one?"
Brock is in a sleeveless shirt with jeans that Jane approved her. She also doesn't know where they're going. She thinks they're going to a friend's house rather than "I like the bad shirt better. Less of a chance for guys to be staring." He turns to the other side and Ash pulls off the shirt she's wearing and putting on the band shirt. Her bra is visible on the sides, but it doesn't look like she's trying too hard. "Way better than the other shirt. Not bad tastes either."
"Thanks, bro," Ash says, jumping on him in the bed. "I guess I'll wear my sneakers then. Oh, don't forget that Nicky is coming next month, alright? Thank God we don't have school next week." Ash stretches out on the bed. "Do we really have to go? I'm comfortable like this." Brock pinches her sides, and Ash lets out a high pitched yelp as her phone rings.
"Yes, we do," Brock answers, handing her the phone.
"Hey, Gigi."
"Hey, where should we pick you up?" It's Han's voice, and Ash feels that she's on speakerphone.
"Uhm... Do you know where Cypress Bend is? It's a neighborhood close by, and it's within walking distance for both me and my brother." Han talks with a Gisele a little before agreeing on meeting at the entrance in thirty minutes. Ash gets up since it takes twenty minutes to get to the entrance on foot. Gisele vetoed the idea of Ash arriving in a mini van as soon as she brought it up.
Ash opens the door to have someone knock on her forehead. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Hey, why are you all dressed up?" Nicky asks, hands on her hips and in similar dressing to her friend. "Wait... Are you going to the races?!" Ash glares at her. "I mean, to the bases? Like baseball bases..." Ash never said her friend was an amazing liar.
"C'mon, idiot. Let's go." Ash takes her phone out, calling Gisele's number. "Hey, remember my friend Nicky? Yeah, surprise visit. She's coming too. Is that okay?"
"Han hasn't cleaned his car after our last-"
"Don't wanna know, Gigi. Don't wanna know. Just hide it. We're all still virgins, babe." Gisele laughs as hangs up. They rarely say 'bye' to each other because they end up talking again within the next hour for whatever reason they can come up with at any point in time. Same goes for Neela, and Ash is almost positive the same would happen for Jess, Sean, and Twinkie.
"So, I finally get to meet everybody!" Nicky says in an excited voice. "I can't believe it. After how much we've talked about everyone, I feel like I already know them. I hope a certain blonde is there." Ash blushes slightly, shoving her friend as Brock grins. "I forgot. Evil little brother out to get you is here and will use any form of information to do it." Nicky winks at Ash, and Ash only rolls her eyes to the sky.
It only takes a few minutes for Han and Gisele to arrive, and when they do, Ash and Nicky are on the ground wrestling. "Give me my stupid phone, Ash!"
"What this I hear about you datin' my girl, little man?" Ash asks the boy on the other end anyway, ignoring Nicky. He makes a weird sound, and Ash yelps as Nicky pinches her sides. "Don't touch me there!" The line goes dead and Ash just laughs, rolling over and handing the phone to Nicky as she blushes bright red. "You're welcome, sweetheart."
"You are a terrible person, Ash. I cannot believe you just did that!" Nicky gets up and jumps on Ash, Brock getting in the car calmly as Gisele gets out. "I cannot believe you! How! Could! You!"
"Remember second grade? That's how." Ash has a little trouble getting the words through because of her laughter. But it makes Nicky give her an incredulous look that seems so ridiculous to even her.
"We were in second grade! What does that have to do with now?!"
"What about seventh grade?"
"...That wasn't my fault." An argument ensues between the two, only getting worse when Gisele joins in on the argument and asks what's going on, so they tell stories and argue about what really happened. Han turns to Brock.
"Does this normally happen?"
"With those two? Just about anything and everything is normal. I'm Brock."
"Han." The girls continue on, with Gisele shaking her head at the duo as they go back and forth, flinging insults. Han and Brock watch for a few minutes before Han beeps his horn, making Nicky scream and jump into Ash's arms while Ash holds her like a teddy bear, leaving the rest of them laughing.
Of course, this lead to another argument...