Chapter 9: Tyler's Invitation
General POV
Three weeks into the plan, the six girls were doing very well for money. They had managed to get to $1100 using the power of red panda pics and merchandise! There's only one week left and they needed at least $100 more before they could finally reach their goal and see 4 Town. None of us were very stressed about needing more money because we knew that if we continued with the panda pics and merch, we would get there in no time! Well, not all of us were chilled about it...
One day, the six of them were sitting on the bleachers by the basketball area at lunch, making panda keyrings and keychains to sell for merch. Mei and Kendra were counting the money and writing new merch ideas to get money, Priya was making the heads of the keyrings, Xia was gluing the ears on, Abby was gluing the eyes on and Miriam was putting them ready in the box.
"Check out Number 12, he's got delts for days," Miriam sighed as she looked over to the basketball team.
"Forget that, I need lunch, I'm starting to black out!" Abby shouted before dramatically pretending to pass out.
"I am pretty hungry myself, I am craving for fudge brownies right now," Kendra suggested.
"I think I'm getting carpal tunnel," Priya groaned.
"No pain, no gain, Priya!" Mei said while quickly counting through the money, "Come on, chop-chop! Five, ten..."
"Girl, relax!" Miriam told her.
"True," Xia agreed.
"Yeah, we're doing our best!" Abby explained, sitting up.
"It's not enough!" Mei exclaimed as her panda ears, tail, hands and teeth appeared, "The concert is this Saturday and we're still a hundred short! Ugh! I knew we should have charged more for photos! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
"Mei, calm down, it's in the bag," Kendra told her.
"But-" she started.
Miriam pretended to zip Mei's mouth shut.
"What's the point of getting to the concert if you're too exhausted to enjoy it?" she smiled, "Now, take a break and help me appreciate some boys."
"Okay," Mei grinned as her panda features poofed away from calmness.
She, Kendra, Miriam, Kendra, Priya, and Abby looked at the boys and sighed. Of course, Xia wasn't the sort of girl who found many guys cute, she only had my eyes set on one person. So she didn't like any of them but she waved over to the basketball team.
"Looking good!" Miriam grinned.
"Nice calves!" Abby complimented.
"Your layup shot yesterday was excellent!" Kendra added with a thumbs up.
"Are you a triangle? Because you acute!" Mei smiled, causing the rest of the group to laugh and applaud at her cheesy pick-up line.
"You guys are so weird," Tyler remarked from behind the bleachers.
The girls sat up in shock, they weren't expecting to hear him. They turned around and looked through one of the gaps and there he was. He was standing smugly while playing with a toothpick.
"Hey!" Miriam hissed at him.
"Tyler?" Kendra raised an eyebrow.
"Are you spying on us?" Mei asked angrily.
"I wanna talk to you, Mei, and possibly you as well, Xia," Tyler told us.
Xia blushed because she never thought he'd want to genuinely talk to her without teasing her or her friend group. Nevertheless, she stopped blushing.
"Sorry, we're not available," Xia responded.
"Fine," he replied, "Wonder if your mom knows her 'precious little Mei-Mei' has been flaunting the panda all over school and her cousin was in on this too."
The six of girls looked back at him and gasped. He. Wouldn't. Dare!
"By the way, Xia, if you speak to me, I'll tell your parents about Mei showing the panda but not you helping," he told me.
"No, I'm not letting my cousin get in trouble," Xia defended.
"Okay, I guess you're both getting in trouble..." he smiled smugly and continued playing with the toothpick. Mei stomped down the bleachers and poofed into her panda form angrily. She jumped out at Tyler, causing him to scream and fall over, dropping his toothpick.
"That's none of your business!" Mei yelled at him.
"Mei, stay calm!" Xia reminded, not really wanting him to get hurt.
"One more step and I'm telling her everything!" Tyler shouted at her, defending himself and we both stood in shock, "Now put that thing away and hear me out!"
Mei poofed back to her normal self but still glaring.
"What do you want?" she asked, annoyed.
He pulled out something from his hoodie pocket. It was a piece of paper, wait, a party invitation?
"I wanna throw a sick birthday party, an epic one!" he explained.
Me and Xia's faces went from annoyed to confused.
"What?" Xia questioned, "I thought you hated us or something! Why would you even invite us anyway?"
They both looked back at Miriam, Kendra, Priya, and Abby in confusion. They shrugged in response.
"It's this Friday," Tyler told us, not answering me, "Mei, if you're there, everyone will come. Simple as that."
"A party?" Mei questioned, still confused about his plan.
"Look, I've done you guys a favor keeping my mouth shut," he reasoned, "All I'm asking for is one back."
Xia looked at Mei, internally saying hoping she will agree to this as this would be a good time for her and Tyler to converse without any form of insult or teasing whatsoever.
"We'll... do it," she told him and I grinned, "But it'll cost you 1, no, $200!"
"Okay," he agreed, shrugging.
"One moment, please!" Xia told him as she and Mei ran back to their friends for a private huddle chat.
"Are you serious? You can't trust him." Kendra said doubtfully.
"He's lying." "It's a trap!" Kendra and Abby agreed to Miriam's words.
"Although, this sounds like a opportunity for you, Xia. Are you allowed to go on dates?" Priya asked, making Xia blushed.
"No! Of course not!" Xia yelled in a whispery voice.
"Guys! $200 will put us over the top!" Mei told them, "We have to do this. We'll meet at Tyler's. I'll do my thing, and then we'll bounce. Easy-peasy."
"But what about Mrs. Lee?" Miriam asked.
"Forget her!" Xia replied, "We'll be back before she even knows we're gone!"
"But-" Miriam started.
"Hey dorkbag, we're in!" Mei told Tyler, turning to face him, "But you only get the panda for an hour. And we're not bringing any presents."
"Deal!" he smiled and Mei shook his hand happily.
Mei's POV
The next day (which was Friday, the day of the party), everything was going to plan. Until Xia and I both had to leave... Ten minutes before the party, we grabbed our invitations, slipped them in our pockets and started putting our shoes on. Mom, Dad, Auntie Ai, and Uncle Chiang had finished making dinner when we passed them.
"Okay, we're heading off to Mathletes, see you later!" I lied.
"Wait, what about dinner?" Mom asked, stopping us, "I made all your favorites."
We turned and looked at the food, it was heavenly! Me and Xia both started drooling when we saw it but then we remembered that we would most likely have food at the party so we stopped ourselves.
"Thanks but Miriam's dad is ordering pizza," Xia lied as we were about to walk out the door, "Can you save us some leftovers once we return?"
"What if I come with you two?" Mom suggested.
Both of our eyes widened. Crap!
"What are you doing? Linear equations? Geometry?" she asked, "I have a double-jointed elbow! Look, I can make a perfect circle!"
She started spinning her arm around.
"Wow! Yeah, but it'll be super boring!" I told her, trying to stop her from coming, "Wouldn't you rather hangout with Dad, Auntie Ai, and Uncle Chiang?"
The three of us turned to see him look up while eating. Internally, I was saying: Please stay here, Mom! It didn't convince her.
"Let's get my flashcards!" Mom.
She started leaving with us while me and Xia looked at each other, panicking.
"I was the best at Maths in Grade 8!" Auntie Ming told us, "They called me the 'Uncommon Denominator'!"
"Cool, uh, Jade Palace is on tonight, can't miss that, right?" I suggested.
"Now who's the weak link?" Auntie Ming continued, "Priya and Abby seem bright enough but... Miriam and Kendra. I mean they're nice girls, but maybe they're slowing you two down."
Once again, me nor Xia didn't understand why Mom disliked her.
"Auntie Ming, you really don't have to come. We mean it," Xia told her, panicking as we almost reached the gate of the temple.
"Don't be silly, we're already on the way," she smiled.
That's when me and Xia both stood in front of her, blocking her.
"But we don't want you to!" we both blurted out accidentally.
We looked at each other, then her with our eyes widened when we realized what we said. Auntie Ming gave us both a sad look but before she could respond, we noticed most of the cats nearby running away from the gate. What was going on? That's when the gate burst open and we were blinded. Four women sashayed in the temple. They were all wearing stylish outfits with dazzling accessories and designer sunglasses.
"Wha..." the three of us gasped.
The four women took of their sunglasses and smiled at the two of us. They are all my relatives from my mom's side (aunties Chen and Ping, cousins Lily and Helen)! They all started excitedly patting us on our heads and pinching our cheeks. It was rather overwhelming but we plastered fake-grins on our faces.
"Aunties, what are you doing here?" she fake-grinned.
"The ritual, silly!" Auntie Ping giggled.
"They've lost weight!" Lily smiled.
"Nah, they've gained weight!" Auntie Chen grumbled.
"Mei looks like her mother!" Helen grinned.
"Mei looks her father!" Auntie Chen groaned.
"Ladies," someone said.
The four of them stopped pinching our cheeks and telling us things. It was Grandma Wu (Mom's mother). I knew that she was very strict and cold... this wasn't good.
Mom dusted off her clothes, anxiously. I knew that she didn't have the best bond with her mother.
"Mother," Auntie Ming fake-smiled.
"Greetings, Grandaunt Wu," Xia bowed politely and respectfully.
"Hey, Grandma..." I smiled nervously as she examined my face.
"Poor dear, Mei," Grandma Wu sighed, "It must be so difficult keeping that unruly beast at bay. Your family is here now, Mei-Mei. And we will take care of everything."
Me and Xia exchanged nervous looks but there was nothing we could do. We knew that we would be late to the party without a doubt. I felt worried that Tyler would get annoyed if we were late but we decided to leave as soon as we could... hopefully...