Massive apologies for the lateness of this chapter on Fanfiction, I had posted on archive of our own but totally forgot to do it here. 3-4 chapters are coming however, so I guess that could be decent compensation!

January 10th, Friday, 1998.

Good afternoon, Galileo!

And not a pleasant one at that, Gretchen! Quite a chilly day! Temperature's dropping, it might very well shower while you're inside the museum! No storm warning, but you could get drenched when you leave!

Not to worry, I have my emergency inflatable raincoat!

Good thinking!

I've been doing a lot of that recently, if I do say so myself!

Speaking of that, while I do agree, did your friends share in that sentiment?

Well…

'So long, guys! See you tomorrow!', Gretchen waved goodbye to her friends, whistling "Dem Bones" to recite her skeletal knowledge. However, when she opened her eyes after taking that first joyful whistle, she was surprised to see her friends right in front of her.

'Um, the other way is… That way.', Gretchen pointed behind her, but the gang all shook their heads.

'First you act all suspicious yesterday…', Vince started, raising an eyebrow.

'Now you're going to the new museum, even though none of us can go with you? What gives, Grundler? What's going on?', Spinelli pressed on, suspicious, looking back, forth, and sideways.

Gretchen, smirking, couldn't help but tease them a little further. Walking past them, she called out 'Can't a girl go with someone to the new museum without an interrogation?'

'Ha! So you ARE meeting someone!', T.J. accused, before backing down, realizing how weird that sounded. 'Not that we mind!'

'Yeah, we've all got other friends and all!', Gus agreed, also worried Gretchen would take it the wrong way.

'It's just you really have been acting mighty peculiar. What did you mean by making our future recesses more pleasurable, Gretchen?', Mikey asked, curiosity peeking out of every part of his body. The whole gang felt this way, nodding enthusiastically like dogs being offered a fire hydrant shaped bone that smelt like a mailman.

Gretchen turned around, scratching her chin. What was the best way to tell them? Smugly grinning, she patted all their heads. 'Oh, treasured companions, let's just say I've more than contributed my part to our tight knit group! Safe to say, the Ashley's will NEVER bother us again!'

'Huh?', the gang questioned, startled, shrugging. Gretchen mounted The Grundler Comet in the meantime.

'Wait, what's that got to do with the museum?', Vince asked, scratching his head. 'What, are you gonna trap them inside one of those Egyptian tomb things?'

Gretchen chuckled and shook her head. 'Nope, Ashley A has to come back from there so she can get the others to stop being jerks to us!'

Everyone gasped now, too stunned for words. 'A..A…A…'

'Indeed, A!', Gretchen laughed at her own joke, and waved goodbye. 'Wish me luck!'

A few moments later, the gang all looked at each other in shock. 'Somehow, I'm more confused coming in than I was coming out.', Spinelli remarked.

'Maybe if we pinch ourselves, we'll wake up!', Gus suggested.

'Worth a try! Come on, everyone!', T.J. motivated, and everyone did so.

'OW!'

A moment passed.

'...I wonder if this is what "being on drugs" is. No wonder our parents keep nagging about that.', T.J. wondered aloud. Everyone agreed.

Oh my! You really enjoyed that, didn't you, Gretchen?

What can I say? It's kinda fun to be the surprising one for a change! But I gotta stop for now, Galileo! Don't wanna miss any minute of educational splendor!

With an Ashley. Dear me, Gretchen, aren't you the pioneer? Gee, thanks, Galileo! Yeah, it's quite abnormal for me too! I must admit, I've been slightly worried about it.

Do elaborate.

Well, she's still Ashley A! What if she just whines about how boring it all is?

A marked possibility.

Or what if she makes fun of me? Sure, she was… Not completely what I expected yesterday. I was sort of pleasantly surprised you could say. But that very well could have been because she needed you to get her friends back.

Precisely!

And she's gonna have to stop bothering me and my friends from Monday onwards! She might wanna sneak in one last hit!

Are you quite certain of your hypothesis, though? As you say, you were quite pleased by yesterday.

I was! She was… Different. But that doesn't mean she wasn't displaying shades of jerkiness, and that could very well continue today.

Well, think of it this way. Whatever happens, the pinkie promise stays. She and her posse won't bother you anymore.

Good thinking, Galileo! Why, I'll probably never think of her again after this, even if she acts like a total grinch today! Oh, that must be her! I'll update you soon!

Live long and prosper, Gretchen!

Gretchen shut Galileo off, placed him in her backpack, and stood up, trying to get the attention of the strawberry blonde, only to widen her eyes when she realized that Ashley was wearing a whole new look.

One that looked suspiciously similar to hers.

Well, thematically. Ever the style icon, Ashley couldn't help but add her own personal pizazz and flair to an ensemble.

She too had a knee length dress, replacing her usual stockings with rainbow colored socks that emitted a glow even in slightly moody and misty January sky. However, the dress was not colored light blue, but rather dark gray, like her signature blazer.

Instead of a pink sash with a bow, she had a pink tie stretching down from her neck, which had a light blue bow tie above it. Her white Peter Pan collar stayed the same, but while she too opted for different shoes, she wore 1997 red and black "Air Jordans".

The biggest changes came with her face: Ashley still wore her pink headband, unable to part with it. But adorning her face were large glasses, not coke bottle per say, but large enough for someone to go "NERD!" at them, all Homer Simpson like.

'Hey girllll! I bet you're, like, wondering why a total stranger is greeting you!', Ashley smirked, self satisfied and ridiculously excited, like a 5 year old with Napoleon complex finding high heels with Barbie branding.

Gretchen, still quite confused, removed her glasses to clean them with her dress. Once she put them back on, she could confirm that yes, this was weird. 'Is this some Ashley's custom I'm not aware of? Seems awfully contrived to confuse someone you're meeting by disguising yourself.'

Ashley pouted, now suddenly feeling the moody weather. Crossing her arms, she made sure Gretchen knew how disappointed she was that she wasn't fooled. 'What a gross omen!'

'Just omen. An omen is meant to be bad, what you're stating is a double negative.', The genius couldn't help but correct, standing up from where she was sitting to inspect Ashley closer.

Ashley huffed. 'It is TOTALLY a double negative! If people know I'm here, my life, all life, will be ruined!'

The eyebrow raise was inevitable, as was the slightly impatient and insulted foot tap. 'Are you mocking me?'

Ashley gasped so loud a flock of pigeons flew off, wing flaps echoing in the clouds. She placed a hand on her heart, as if she had been stabbed with the coldest icicle. 'Gretchen Grundler! Would I EVER mock you?!'

'...'

'...Okay, fair. But I would own it!', Ashley retorted, insistent, pointing wildly at Gretchen's nose. Gretchen nodded slowly, thinking over the evidence. 'True.'

'A ha! Innocent!', the fashionista celebrated, performing a tiny victory dance she copied from Mariah Carey.

'Look, that's all peachy, but why are you disguised in the first place?', Gretchen asked, demanding an explanation. Even if it wasn't mocking, it was still very odd to do such a thing in the first place.

Ashley rolled her eyes, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'Ugh, aren't you supposed to be smart or something? Duh, I'm trying to preserve my reputation!'

'As an egomaniacal pink wannabe Machiavellian with delusions of grandeur?'

Ashley pursed her lips, unimpressed. 'I'm, like, kind of a big deal around here, if you haven't noticed.'

Gretchen face palmed, staggered by the ignorance at play. 'You're a great deal! Of frustration! Nobody cares! Also your glasses have no lenses, who's that fooling?'

'First of all, it would be SOOOO rude to point that out, social convention has my back and I totally thought of that when I did that, shut up. Secondly, what about The Ashley's?', Ashley countered, and she couldn't help a small smug grin when Gretchen couldn't muster a comeback. 'Remember, I promised them I'd never see you again. If they happen to hear or see this, I'd lose them and we'd be right back where we started.'

'Please don't mention that possibility, I need a healthy sleep schedule for my GPA.', Gretchen pleaded, shuddering from the thought.

'Right, I went too far.', Ashley apologized genuinely, clasping her hands together in a sort of prayer. 'But it's good to see we are on the same yacht when it comes to our agreement!'

'Oh, for sure!', Gretchen replied cheerily, straightening her glasses. 'While I do attest that your hypothesis was correct and that we managed to combine quite well, we are just not suited to mixing.'

'Agreed, I would be wearing far crappier clothes for something so dirty!'

'...What I mean is, is that while I am happy I could help you, and begrudgingly admit you're not as monstrous as I thought you were, I'll be more than satisfied to part after this little rendezvous and never see you again! Not in a negative way, more, well, an amicable way.', Gretchen explained her thoughts.

'Yeah, like, it wasn't a total nightmare, but this is, like, how things are supposed to be. Back to normal and all that! You go your way, I go my way. It's like going on a rollercoaster. I'm glad it worked out, thank you for not killing me, now let's never meet again so I can keep my lunch inside my tummy.', Ashley voiced.

'Precisely!', Gretchen nodded.

The two then nodded agreeably, shaking each other's hands in confident resolution.

'Well…', Ashley trailed off, staring at the museum.

'Well…', Gretchen eagerly started, staring at the museum.

'Right. First we gotta do this.', Ashley grumbled, sighing as she realized what she was actually here to do. 'All right, might as well get it over and done with.'

'Oh, don't be such a J. Robert Oppenheimer!', Gretchen playfully scolded, happily marching off into the place.

'...Who the whomps is that?!', Ashley protested, throwing her arms out wide.

'He created the atom bo…'

'I WAS BEING RHETORICAL, I DON'T NEED ANOTHER SCOOP OF GEEK ON MY NERD MUSEUM ICE CREAM! UGH!', Ashley whined, before seeing people stare at her quizzically, judgmentally, she thought. Quickly, she desperately dove for a distraction. 'Because I know all about that guy! He's in my top ten atom scientists, he's so cute when he, um, atoms! SQUEE!', Ashley lied, before hurriedly rushing into the museum, more than a little flustered.

Gretchen, stifling a laugh, nudged her when she passed through the large glass doors into the plain white lobby. 'I don't think you want to know how inaccurate that statement was.'

'I don't think you want to know the words I'm thinking right now.'

'I never want to.' Ashley stuck her tongue out in protest. Gretchen did so in return. Both tried to be the one who stuck out the furthest, but they were equally matched, to their misfortune.

Suddenly, they jolted to attention, as the museum guide reminded everyone why they were there.

'Hello, and welcome to the brand new Grand Street Museum of Science and History!', the guide, a frazzly haired ginger lady with a way too large name tag titled "Valerie", wearing an outrageous homemade dress with pictures of the sun and moon on it, announced with more vim and vigor than most people can amount their entire lives in just one sentence.

'Catchy name.', Ashley muttered, smiling at her own joke. Seemingly, the guide didn't hear her, as she was still quite enthusiastic about the whole endeavor. 'Today is quite the special day, as this is our grand opening as well! Think about it, children! You'll get to see all kinds of marvelous things before anyone else!'

'Lucky me.', Ashley muttered again.

'Oh, if only my class was here! Then again, we're sort of up and personal with the things here as it is! They've already been to… Oh, but that's a story for another time.', Valerie grinned, eyes twinkling like she was hiding a secret. 'And here I am, holding you all up! Go, go! The wonders of the universe are there for the taking!'

'I'll take a one way ticket outta here.', Ashley muttered a third time, smug at her subtlety. No one heard her!

Except for Valerie, of course. But instead of being angry, she simply smiled to herself. 'I do love a challenge, don't I, Liz?', she asked the lizard hiding under her jungle explorer hat. 'Keep an eye on that one girl, the strawberry blonde with the attitude. I think she might need a little lesson in opening her mind.'

Meanwhile, Ashley and Gretchen loitered around in the main lobby, a so called "brain center" designed to appear as a command center for the most important organ of the body. Everything was fleshy pink, with screens displaying the different rooms they could travel to by neuron karts. A map designed to look like an ancient parchment or scroll hung up near the middle of the room, in case one got lost, or to get a little more information on each of the rooms one could go to. While Gretchen studied it with a lot of 'ooh's!' and 'aah's!', Ashley sighed and stared around, shivering like she was a penguin in the middle of an iceberg with flippers made of frozen bags of peas, as one finds commonly in the arctic.

'What's up?', Gretchen asked when she heard a tooth chatter. 'The heating seems to be working fine.'

'Look around you, Gretchen! I'm surrounded by… Geeks!', Ashley yiped, forlorn and disgusted, as a ton of nerdy looking individuals walked around, chattering excitedly about the new museum.

'Yeah, Ashley. We're at a museum. "Geeks" go to museums. As do tons of other people. This isn't anything that revolutionary.', Gretchen rolled her eyes at her companion's odd and frankly dumb behavior. 'It doesn't make you a loser for being here.'

'You and I have very different meanings for that word.', Ashley reminded, hiding behind Gretchen when one particularly weird looking nerd passed close by. Gretchen, sighing, moved Ashley back to where she was. 'I suppose so. It sort of begs the question of why you're here.'

'Hmm?', Ashley squeaked, surprised by the topic change.

'What do you mean?'

'Well, we didn't pinkie promise on this, and you're, well, not exactly enthused to be here. Understatement of the century.', Gretchen tutted, pointing at the fashionista, who was constantly making faces at the nerds to establish dominance.

'Millenium.'

'Pardon?'

'Millenium. Us Ashley's don't do anything small. Millennium is bigger than a century? Come on, Gretchen, it's pretty basic math.', Ashley smirked, shaking her head in mock concern.

'No, you're right. When you're annoying, you're like a million mosquitos.', Gretchen barbed, rolling her eyes again.

Ashley cringed. 'Yuck! I hate those things! Eww! Never say that again!'

'The point is…', Gretchen moved on, drawing nearer to Ashley, staring through her frameless glasses. 'Is that I don't understand why you came then.'

Ashley gulped. For whatever reason, it felt… Embarrassing to say it. As if showing a level of proper kindness would make her seem odd. She sort of had done that already with Gretchen before, but that was then, an extreme scenario. Gretchen had asked her real questions and she answered them, and vice versa. This was, by comparison, far smaller. Far more intimate, arguably. She didn't HAVE to, yet she DID. And that was arguably more kind than any of the things she had said.

'...Believe me, I didn't want to at first. This isn't my kind of thing. I'm a girl of finer tastes.', Ashley had to brag, even when she was shy and reserved and sort of avoiding Gretchen's glance.

'Hmm.', Gretchen motioned for her to go on.

'Ugh, fine.', Ashley moaned, though not nearly as annoyed as she usually would be. Crossing her arms and pouting, she told Gretchen via the floor her reasoning. 'Normally I wouldn't. Normally I'd find it funny to ditch you or leave you hanging.'

A quiet voice then granted a quiet kindness. 'But I guess I'm still not back to normal, because it didn't feel right to do that… To you.'

Gretchen couldn't help the tiniest, most imperceptible gasp. Ashley thought she could hide her face, but she was smaller than Gretchen so the genius could easily see how confused the popular girl was. Sure, Ashley didn't want to do this and it was kinda putting a damper on things. Yet… She was doing this. For…

'For me.', Gretchen thought, almost feeling touched. 'You know… I DID think you'd ditch me. It would have been very in character.', Gretchen suddenly said, struggling to hide a happily surprised smirk, nudging Ashley. Ashley, now unable to kill her smile, nudged back. 'And yet, here I am! You may be a genius, but you clearly know very little about me!'

'...Yeah. Here you are. I guess I still have much to learn.', Gretchen commented. 'Not as bad as you thought, huh?', Ashley shot back, playfully. 'And I suppose I could say the same. I definitely wouldn't have done this if it were someone else.'

'Well, I guess you could learn about me too.', Gretchen raised her eyebrows in jest.

Ashley smirked again, but warmer, almost happy to see someone actually feel a kindness from her.

Not a bad feeling.

Not a bad feeling at all.

Gretchen too smiled back, warm as well. Ashley was a jerk, but not to her. Not a lot, at least. That was… Oddly flattering.

Suddenly, the two jolted again, realizing what was going on.

They were bonding.

'Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to break our agreement!', Gretchen apologized, suddenly very small and regretful, panicking almost. She waved her hands around, like she was trying to reverse what happened physically.

Ashley too was panicking, so startled at herself she turned a little red in the cheeks, fiddling with her hair, rolling it around her fingers, stress grinding her teeth. 'No, we both almost did! An Armbruster honors her agreements, and here I am, not doing that!'

'Well, let's just pretend this didn't happen. We were simply… Being respectful!', Gretchen suggested, snapping a finger in eureka.

'Yeah! Schway thinking!', Ashley complimented, motioning a pair of scissors. 'Go away, connection! Snip snip! Phone line is dead! This number you are calling has been, like, totally disconnected! Bummer!'

Gretchen, struggling not to laugh at how funny and strangely cute that was, had to correct. 'Scissors wouldn't cut a phone line.'

'Really?', Ashley asked, curious, tilting her head. 'What would?'

'Pliers or wire cutters. Scissors aren't strong enough.'

'Huh. What sound do they make?'

Gretchen shrugged. 'Crack? Snap?'

'Okay, um, crack snap, crack snap, there, wire gone!', Ashley motioned again.

'Oh, no, bzzt, the wires are malfunctioning!', Gretchen joked, making it seem like she was being electrocuted. 'Oh no!', Ashley joined in, making bzzt noises too. 'I'm going to look like a barbie doll that lives in a toaster!'

The two cracked up after that, laughing loudly. 'What the heck are we doing?', Gretchen asked, wiping a tear. 'I don't… I don't know.', Ashley held her stomach from laughter. The two sighed, content, though from what they weren't totally sure.

'All right, everyone!', Suddenly, Valerie's voice rang out, alerting everyone to her.

The tour was about to start.

'Gather around me, we're all going to start at the solar system room for an up close and personal encounter with all our planet neighbors, from Mercury to Pluto!'

'The dog?', Ashley asked Gretchen genuinely, and Gretchen had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing out loud again.

The doors opened, and the group began to enter, Ashley notably the only one dragging her feet and looking like a sour candy that sprouted both legs and an ignorant lifestyle cultivated by mid to late 90's consumerism trends.

But one couldn't ignore Valerie, especially when she stepped in front of you before you could enter so you could have a quick, private one-on-one.

'Um, the door is that way, duh!', Ashley whined, trying to pass through. 'Really? I didn't notice. Say, just between you and me, this is your first time at ANY museum, right?', Valerie kept her voice to a low, conspiratorial whisper.

Ashley, weirdly feeling a little embarrassed by the question, averted her glance as she coughed the answer. 'You're, like… Not wrong, I guess.'

'Mmm hmm, just as I suspected.', Valerie smiled, which confused Ashley. Why would she be happy about that?

'Well, what can I say, this stuff is so boring, it puts me to sleep better than Dr. Kevorkian.', Ashley emitted a harsh insult, eyes widening a bit as she realized just HOW rude that sounded, even for her. Backtracking, she bit her lip and looked around. 'OMG, I think someone might be copying me, that sound a lot like me, but it's probably someone else, not nearly as beautiful, glamorous, or chic, but you know, pretty averagely okay. I set a high standard after all. After all there were 345,116 citizens living in Pittsburgh last year, and this year if one follows the trends of population decline and urban departures to more glamorous cities over the last 10 years, it will steadily decrease to 341,217, give or take, which means that 3899 people all saw how perfect I am and chose to put me out of sight out of mind to somehow try and be something in life, a whopping 0.0112976506%, which may not seem like much, but it's actually a number closer to 1 percent than 2, which is still a major part of the population, and if it continues like this, by the time I'm off college and taking the world by storm as the most beloved cult icon since Lady Di (R.I.P) we'll almost be at 12.5 percent of Pittsburg that can't handle me, scandalous!', she announced, unable not to hair flip and strike a model runway pose.

Valerie's smile didn't waver. In fact, she almost seemed amused. 'Well then, I guess we'll have to make this one extra interesting for you.'

Ashley was again unsure of what the woman meant, but she guessed it was nice, so she waved her off as politely as she could. 'Totally obliged, ma'am.', she impersonated her mother as best she could as she walked into the room.

Valerie eyed her as she walked away, Liz popping up from under her hat to shrug. 'Well, Liz, I can safely draw my conclusion!'

As they watched, Ashley could be seen looking down at her feet, idling by, only to get grabbed by Gretchen who dragged her to the seats of the exhibit. 'She's clearly only here because that companion of hers asked her to! Unsure of their relationship, but that's the truth! Now, to see if we can change her mind about using her mind!'

Liz grunted, and Valerie was quick to correct. 'Settle down, my reptilian friend! I would never force a love of learning into anyone! If I fail, I fail! But I do believe that there's more to her than meets the eye, and that she could benefit from a little experimentation!'

Liz grunted again, excited.

'Silly Liz!', Valerie grinned like a megawatt lightbulb, walking over to the screening room behind the exhibit. 'The bus is for my students only! We'll just have to use my magic moving seats and 3-D illusion tech for this one!'

Inside the auditorium, Ashley and Gretchen sat on cushy black leather seats, which probably shouldn't have squeaked so much. While there, Gretchen couldn't help but ask 'How come the guide was talking to you?'

'Jealous?', Ashley smugly smirked, enjoying the attention, even if it WAS Gretchen. Gretchen detested the scientific phenomena of cheeks turning a certain shade of pinkish red when warming up from nervous/emotional stimuli, so you can imagine how she hated it even more now that it happened with Ashley of all people. 'What? No! I… I was just curious as to why you were keeping up.'

Which was true, but Gretchen hated the potential implication that she actually WANTED to hang out with Ashley. She didn't. Totally. Because she was EXTREMELY annoying. Except for all the times she wasn't but shut up.

'I guess she could tell how TOTALLY FABULOUS I am even when I'm disguised as Ashley R!', Ashley bragged again, fluttering her eyelashes and sighing. 'Such is the price of perfection.'

'...Ashley R?', Gretchen questioned, Ashley a tad annoyed that somehow that was her only takeaway. Still, she couldn't help but want to explain. 'Oh, well, that's my UNDERCOVER name!', she replied, toning the words mysteriously, trying to sound alluring. 'After all, no one can know that this unassuming yet still very sexy nerd ensemble is none other than Ashley A!'

'Sure.', Gretchen rolled her eyes, only to notice Ashley remove a surprising amount of paper, 4-5 sheets, overflowing with pink glittery writing, full of sparkles and little sketches of hearts and numbers. Ashley, perhaps because of the helmet comments, perhaps because she'd never see Gretchen again, felt brave enough to show her the pages. She didn't want to try and think about how free her heart felt and how light her shoulders were by doing that. Then she'd have to admit that maybe she sort of did enjoy this moment, right here, with this person of all people.

'See, I wrote all about her down here! She's my cousin from my father's side, hence the R, it stands for Richter!' Ashley began to diagram what she was saying with her hands, gesticulating and illustrating with her excited words and twinkling eyes, painting for Gretchen a person with writing. 'Ashley R feels like the black sheep of the family, because she's not from a rich background and she's not as pretty as other girls or as popular, and her style is missing, presumed dead. Because of this, Ashley A is frankly quite embarrassed of her, and only uses her to get good grades if no one else is around. The other Ashley's are disgusted that she shares their name, and if it weren't for Spinelli, she'd probably be considered the most shameful bearer of the name. Ashley R is very upset about all this, but she's tougher than people think, she's got a lot of self assurance now because she can't believe that Gretchen, the Gretchen Grundler, smartest girl in Pennsylvania, invited her to the grand opening of this museum, like, does she want to be her friend or something? Ashley R is excited about that and she's hoping that this could finally lead to some good fortune for her, maybe one day Ashley A will see she's part of the family in her own quirky nerdy way, that she is beautiful too, that…'

Suddenly, Ashley realized what she was doing, and she turned away, a little embarrassed, a little ashamed. 'Oh, sorry, I was just… Rambling.'

'Why sorry?', Gretchen, who was impressed, even transfixed by how much thought and care Ashley had put into her character, asked in confusion.

Ashley was suddenly very interested in the empty seat next to her. 'The other Ashley's don't like it when I talk too much about something silly and unimportant like this.'

'...I'm not the other Ashley's.', Gretchen reminded her, and Ashley turned her gaze back, her pupils expanding a bit. She struggled to fight her grateful smile. '...Yeah.'

Gretchen then tapped her chin in thought. 'You do realize that you didn't have to do this though, right? You're only being Ashley R today. You'll never have to again.'

Ashley A had to admit, that was a good point that she hadn't considered while spending most of her morning writing that down. Shrugging, she decided to be honest. 'Well, it was fun, what can I say?'

Gretchen, thinking back to Ashley's passionate explanation, hid a small, affectionate smile. 'It was.'

Interrupting their conversation, a large sign flashed, telling the occupants in large blue neon letters that "The Show is Starting".

'Oh, goody. Ugh, I wish this was something ACTUALLY interesting.', Ashley muttered under her breath, crossing her arms and pouting, some inappropriate words floating in the forefront of her mind.

'Oh, you might be surprised.', Valerie whispered into Ashley's ear, appearing out of nowhere.

Ashley, gasping, instinctually clung onto Gretchen in fear, as Valerie swooped into the air, carried by really well tied strings like in a play.

'Lights!', she cried out, and the lights switched off, bathing the auditorium in darkness.

'Camera!', she cried again, and complicated, expensive machinery turned on, advanced 3-D holograms beginning to emit.

'SEATBELTS, EVERYONE!', she cried one last time, Ashley now spotting the vehicular utility next to her. Turning to Gretchen, she asked 'Is that a normal museum thing?'

'No. Maybe it's metaphorical? You know, trying to make it sound more exciting?', Gretchen suggested, as puzzled as Ashley.

'Like, that makes sense! I guess we don't have to put these…', Ashley started, only for the seats to start moving super fast, speeds that Ashley had only experienced on the Grundler Comet.

'ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!', she screamed out, lips flapping wildly. Luckily, she reached her seatbelt and snapped it on, same time as Gretchen, the two panickingly staring at each other, thinking "Never ignoring a seatbelts order again".

'Yes, on! Onwards to new worlds!', Valerie quipped, as the seats kept spinning, seemingly ascending into the sky!

'ARE ALL YOU SCIENCE NERDS OBSESSED WITH GOING SO FAST MY BEAUTIFUL SKIN WILL MELT LIKE FRIKIN LAFFY TAFFY?!', Ashley bellowed as she and Gretchen kept spinning, faster and faster and faster until…

'AND STOP! WELCOME TO…', Valerie ordered, and the seats all stopped, now seemingly floating midair, surrounded by gigantic, larger than life and super realistic 3-D hologram depictions of…

'...THE SOLAR SYSTEM!', Valerie finished, the entire audience ooh'ing and ahh'ing. But Valerie had eyes for only one student right now.

Skirting around, she spotted Ashley, and a satisfied smile rose onto her lips. At first, Ashley was still regaining her balance (and hoping she wouldn't eject her caesar salad lunch). But once she felt like herself again, pushing her glasses up her nose to reset them, she noticed the presentation. And she was instantly entranced.

'O…M…G…', she slowly whispered, staring at the gigantic planets and stars all around her. Hundreds, nay, thousands of twinkling, sparking, shining little lights.

Looking around, Ashley naturally noticed the sun first, its bright, fiery ember attracting anyone to its presence.

'Look, the sun!', Ashley said in slight excitement, pointing at it as if Gretchen couldn't see it, which made Gretchen chuckle a bit.

'Yeah, I live here too.'

Ashley took it in grace, blushing a bit. 'Yeah, I just… I didn't realize they were gonna show it like this, it's so… Big! And… Kind of cool!'

'Yeah, I'm quite impressed by their assimilation of hologram technology, it's still quite in early production. I wonder if they contain any of the recent findings Dr. James Possible concluded in the latest issue of…', Gretchen went off, while Ashley kept looking around, surprised at how, well, amazing everything looked.

'The solar system, as I'm sure you know, is home to our planet, Earth, and the other planets that rotate around the sun!', Valerie informed, beginning to spiel about the age of the sun and other pieces of trivia. Ashley didn't know too much about the other planets, but she did know Earth, so she was quite curious to see what it looked like from here, did it look as lovely as the sun did, and WAIT DID SHE SAY WHAT SHE THOUGHT SHE SAID?

Shaken by that piece of information, Ashley felt she had to inform Gretchen, and so she tapped Gretchen's cheek.

'Gretchen! Gretchen!', she whispered, sounding outraged.

'What?', Gretchen asked, a little perturbed. 'I'm trying to listen to the guide!'

'But I think she's, like, totally bugging! She said that the earth and the other planets rotate around the sun!', Ashley blurted out, and Gretchen chuckled. 'You're apparently quite misinformed. A misconception from renaissance times. No, the sun does not rotate around the earth, it's…'

'No, not that! I thought the universe rotates around me!'

Gretchen needed a double, no, a triple take, plus as many blinks as she had freckles, before she could slowly exhale a '...What.'

Ashley, innocently confused, happily explained. 'Daddy told me that the universe rotates around me!'

'...Please tell me that's a joke.'

Ashley blinked, now looking a little sheepish. '...No?'

Gretchen sighed, covering her face with her hands. 'That is a level of ego and conceitedness that I didn't realize was humanly possible.'

'I guess that's something to be proud of…', Ashley trailed off, but even she knew that it now sounded quite crazy.

Shaking herself to regain composure, Gretchen pointed at the earth. 'Look at how our seats are moving. We too are rotating around the sun. All the planets in the solar system do. The only things that don't are all the other planets in all the other systems, that rotate around their own suns, attracted to the magnetic pull.'

'Okay, but why? I'm not as big as the sun, but I'm quite attractive.', Ashley boasted, snickering as she cupped her chin to show off. Gretchen stifled a snicker of her own. 'Magnetic attraction. Planets have iron and metal cores in them.'

'What? How?', Ashley asked. 'Isn't it all like, dirt and worms and stuff?' 'Well…', Gretchen began to explain.

In fact, she explained many things, quietly, as the tour showed them more and more things about space. She explained how stars were all bodies of gas, and how they lived and died.

'Eventually, a star gets so hot that it collapses in on itself, and turns into a tiny red dwarf star. See?', she pointed out, as the star began to shrink.

Ashley shuddered, seeing the process in front of her very eyes, reflecting through her frameless glasses. 'Wow. I had… No idea something so big could turn so small.'

'Yeah, it's the circle of life and all that jazz.'

'Ah, so that's why Pumba says that stars are big balls of gas!', Ashleys suddenly pointed out, happily surprised at remembering that. Gretchen, smiling again, nodded. 'Yep!'

'So then what? It just stays like that?', Ashley asked, scratching her head. 'It's not gonna warm up the planets well.'

'Oh, no, see, then it dies properly and turns into a black hole that sucks everything in its path, never to be see again, darkness personified!', Gretchen elborated further, as the red dwarf did just that, sucking things into its hole.

Ashley shuddered again, the idea of it frightening her, and she clung onto Gretchen again. Gretchen blushed a little, still struggling with any such close contact, but she patted Ashley's tense shoulders. 'Oh, don't worry! That won't happen for millions of years! We're never gonna see that happen!'

Ashley's shoulders relaxed a little, Gretchen's touch oddly soothing to the girl. She whispered 'You promise?'

Gretchen, chuckling warmly, nodded. 'I AM the school genius, am I not?'

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief.

But she hadn't breathed her last question. In fact, she had many, and Gretchen answered each other patiently, kindly, happily. Gretchen was used to informing others of scientific facts, but having someone seem actually kind of interested was different, especially from such an unlikely source. But for all of Ashley's complaining at first, she WAS interested.

She ooh'd at the different planets, how each one looked different, how they were apparently all named after Greek gods.

'Saturn would make for a good set of earrings. Because, like, the rings.', Ashley pointed out. Gretchen slowly nodded, having now thought about it. 'Yeah, I guess so! I personally like Jupiter the most, because of the red spot, and…'

'Because it's big?', Ashley smirked.

'...I do have a penchant for large celestial bodies.', Gretchen smirked back.

'What if Jupiter and Saturn are lovers?', Ashley suddenly said.

Gretchen chuckled. 'I guess they ARE close…'

'One's large and imposing, the other totally styling it out.'

'And the moons are their babies!'

'I am actually really into that idea.'

Gretchen clasped her fist as if it were Jupiter and floated it next to Ashley, putting on a deep voice. 'Oh, Saturn, how I love your voluptuous rings, you overload my hormonal drive towards an instinct of species preservation!'

Ashley, giggling and almost rolling off her seat, clasped her fist and moved it near Gretchen's fist. 'Oh, Jupiter, you're so big and strong, like, I bet you have all your permanent teeth!'

Now Gretchen giggled, and when they bumped their fists as if the planets were kissing, they laughed at the same time, dumb smiles pointed at each other.

She also marveled at the comets, learning that they weren't actually shooting stars, but rather falling meteors. 'They're still kinda pretty though. Even if they ARE hard on the outside.', Ashley remarked, thinking of how Gretchen didn't LOOK like any of her friends, yet somehow the feeling of fun and safety she had with the Ashley's seemed to creep in, hard as she was trying to ignore it.

Gretchen looked at Ashley as she said that, thinking of her complicated and confusing feelings for the girl next to her, how it should have been scientifically impossible for her to be likable, but it was slowly turning out to only be scientifically improbable. '...I know what you mean.'

But regardless of their slight confusion at actually having fun together, one thing could not be denied: Ashley A was actually hooked by the museum, actually interested to learn all these things she had no idea about, explore the universe she once thought rotated to her, but now she was busy rotating it to find out more.

And it wasn't just at the solar system exhibit.

When they looked at the dinosaur exhibit…

'So all those dinobores… I mean, dinosaurs… They all used to rule the earth?', Ashley asked, staring around at the imposing, towering, lifesize actual dinosaur skeleton residing in the museum, the land around them recreated with real grass and trees to set a serene yet disconcerting atmosphere, especially with the giant meteor above them.

'Uh huh!', Gretchen hummed, happily circling the meteor, analyzing it as much as she could.

Ashley gulped as she walked around the T-Rex, seeing its sharp claws. 'That one needs a serious medi. How come they're not around anymore?', she asked, wondering how anything that strong could just be gone. Surely she would have seen some by now. Heck, couldn't they have eaten her siblings before they apparently left? Talk about bad house guests.

Gretchen walked over to Ashley and held her hand up to the meteor, the rough and rocky surface bumpy to the touch. 'There are many theories…'

'Hmm?'

'...Rumors.'

'Ah!'

'There are many rumors as to how all the dinosaurs died out, but the leading one is that this meteor hit the earth and destroyed many of them on the spot, and that the rest died of starvation and freezing, because the ash the meteor kicked up blocked the sun for a while, and the fire destroyed most of the food they ate.', Gretchen lectured, making explosion noises. 'It's quite fascinating! I've been trying to find a way to study the actual meteor site, but the keep telling me my piggybank isn't gonna cover the costs.'

She suddenly let out a squeal of anticipation, bouncing a little on her feet. 'Oh, but imagine studying it! Imagine if we could find out exactly where it used to be in space, or what the strike area looked like before the hit! We could see what the world was like before something that important happened, it's like discovering a whole new planet!'

Ashley couldn't help but smile at that as she saw Gretchen's excitement. It was endearing, even if she didn't always get that excited herself. 'So… This one rock killed all the dinosaurs?'

Gretchen nodded as she began to walk away to the next exhibit. 'Pretty much. If it weren't for it, humans would never have evolved from apes, so it was very important for us!'

Ashley joined up, but not before slowly removing a coupon for Abercrombies and placing it on the meteor's body. 'Thanks, I owe you. Buy yourself something nice.'

Gretchen almost hated how endearing she found that.

And when they were looking at atom models…

'So you're saying our bodies are made of all of these? Is that why I'm so hot?', Ashley asked, tapping the large atom they were standing in. The two needed to figure out exactly where all the parts were supposed to be to get out.

'Not just humans! Everything is made of this, including the planets! We're all filled with atoms!', Gretchen explained, moving the Neutrons around.

Ashley grabbed the Electron, face reflecting off of it, intrigued. 'Wow. So, basically, we're ALL like sour candy, and there's that hidden thingy in the middle?'

Gretchen snorted, holding onto a Proton, face reflecting off of it. 'Pretty much.'

'And… These things, the, um… Proteins and Electrics…'

'Protons and Electrons.'

'Right, those. So, they are, like, positively and negatively charged, but when they combine the atom works?', Ashley remembered what the guide said, leaning on her electron.

'Exactly! You got it!', Gretchen happily congratulated her, leaning on her proton. 'We're all connected by the same thing, atoms, yet THEY are connected by opposing things!'

'So, opposites attract? That's weird. Nobody at school does that. We just, like, hang out with people like us and junk.', Ashley pointed out, as she got an idea and moved her electron forward.

'Hmm, that's a good point. I guess that's just a myth when it comes to people.', Gretchen replied, moving her proton too.

The two suddenly met, their particles colliding, making the atom light up and opening their way to the next exhibit. The atom's glow reflected off of Gretchen's glasses and Ashley's shimmering eyes.

'Maybe not.', Ashley thought, as the two smiled slightly at each other again, only to avert their glances. 'Maybe… They wouldn't necessarily hate… Being friends.'

Even at the engineering exhibit, despite how dirty it could all get, Ashley listened intently to Gretchen as she explained to her how a bike actually works. Ashley realized just how much work must have went into the Grundler comet. How much work went into everything Gretchen does.

'Kinda like how I work hard to look my very best, or draw. We're both creating something.', she mused, growing an appreciation for Gretchen's artistic field.

Finally, they reached the last exhibit: The Ancient Civilizations.

'Each one of you will be sent to a life size replica site of an ancient civilization! There, you could find some of the touchstones of each one, and learn what made them so special!', Valerie instructed, urging them to go and explore without her.

Ashley, now equipped with a fancy pink explorer hat with a blue sash, walked alongside a similarly dressed Gretchen (whose hat was blue with a pink sash), looking around the civilization they got assigned to: Ancient Greece.

'Eww. A whole city of sticky stuff? G-ROSS.', Ashley complained, walking on literal tissues to avoid getting dirty.

Gretchen rolled her eyes, more fondly this time. 'Not grease, Greece. You know, the country?'

'I think my mommy got some olives from there once. Are we supposed to look for giant olives?', Ashley asked, staring around in confusion. So far all she saw was seemingly unfinished architecture and animatronics in togas. Kind of underwhelming.

'Anything that catches our interest count! I personally would love to find one of Archimedes' screw!'

'It's just one screw. I can find one in the screw store or whatever it's called, what makes his so special?', Ashley questioned, a little braggy. Sighing, she filed her nails while they accidentally separated. 'While I usually love to say I told you so, I'm sorry to say, but this exhibit is kind of bor…', Ashley stated, only to freeze when she realized she was surrounded by utter darkness. 'Um… Gretchen? Did the greeks invent scaring the Jesus H. Christ out of me, because it's working.'

'Huh?', Gretchen asked, seemingly from far away. 'Where are you?'

'I… I don't know, it's really dark!', Ashley cried out, sounding scared. She could barely hold back her shivers, and a chill ran down her spine when she thought she saw the outline of a person standing above her, looking down. Slowly backing off, she whimpered and stuttered…

And then she fell backwards onto a hard seat, thankfully avoiding any actual pain.

'Ow…', she whimpered again, causing Gretchen to hurry up towards the sound of her voice. 'Are you okay? I think the lights went on the fritz.'

'Yeah, I… I think so. I got an owie, that's all.', Ashley wailed without crying, soothing her back.

It took all of Gretchen's willpower not to laugh. 'Owie?'

'Yeah, like owchie, but owie is for, like, a smaller pain… Are you mocking me?', Ashley asked suddenly, her annoyed stare visible even now.

'What? Would I mock you?', Gretchen asked, incredulous.

'...'

'Okay, fair, but I was trying not to.'

'Ugh, what-EVER. Just help me up, I'm sitting on something really hard. Also, I thought I saw some guy up there above us.', Ashley commented, while Gretchen tried to find her. While she did, she accidentally slapped the wall instead, pressing the light button that was somehow turned off, bathing the area with clarity and revealing… A stage!

'What the…', Ashley cried out, as Gretchen turned in surprise too. On the stage, multiple animatronic men began to sing in chorus, while a beautiful drawing of a palace sat at the end of the stage, with ceramics and gold and statues.

As the magical singing filled the room, Ashley watched, entranced by the visual, by the spectacle, by the art of it all. It made her feel something, something she had never felt before. She didn't understand a single word, nor did she know what story they were telling, but she didn't need to because the emotion she felt from seeing such a naked and honest display in front of her was…

'Schway…', she whispered.

As they left the museum, Ashley was excitedly telling Gretchen what she thought about the chorus, and Valerie, watching them go, waved goodbye. Noticing this, Ashley turned around, first surprised, then a little sheepish. Finally, she mustered a wave back.

Valerie's soft nod made it clear to Ashley that it was okay to be wrong sometimes…

'Wow. This is a heart attack in a bun.' Ashley poked the greasy cheeseburger with a toothpick, emitting even more oil and grease out of the patty. She cringed, thinking of her weight line.

'Ashley, we're 9. The only diet you need to think of is Diet Coke.', Gretchen retorted, taking a big bite of her burger and chewing away happily.

Ashley smirked and lifted her glass with an aloft pinkie. 'Maybe my glasses are stronger, because this is totally empty, like Menlo's brain.'

Gretchen chuckled at that, wiping her mouth with a napkin. 'He can be QUITE the pest.'

'Yeah, the little freak actually thinks he has a chance with me. Look, I dressed like him and still look a gogol better than him!'

More laughter filled the little diner they were sitting in, its blue tinge fitting the dreary, moody atmosphere outside, raindrops pitter pattering all over the street, an oddly melodious soundtrack for the situation, matching the oddly melodious relationship blooming between the two very different girls.

Ashley and Gretchen bit their lips as they thought about this, about how they weren't suffering, not even a little bit.

'I went to a museum. A museum! With a freak! And… And… It was totally schway.', Ashley thought, scared of the prospect. This was supposed to be some annoying errand, then goodbye forever. Instead, it had been one of the most fun days in Ashley's life. She felt so full of life? So excited? Like she had discovered a whole new world, one that contained Gretchen, a whole new kind of… Friend?

Gretchen too was fighting her mixed up feelings. 'I hung out with Ashley A. Ashley A! With an Ashley! And it was… Satisfactory. Dare I say, pleasing. Even so far as to say that the conclusion was that I had… Fun.' It made Gretchen feel dizzy, like she could throw up. This was supposed to be an excuse to go to the museum she was excited to see, then goodbye forever. Instead, it had been one of the most fun days in Gretchen's life. Ashley had asked her questions, listened, valued her intelligence, her interests. Sure, her friends respected her too, but this was different, it was almost like having a fellow science nerd for a friend. And Ashley's sense of humor and unique way of expressing excitement, even her differences were… Oddly endearing. Sure, Gretchen didn't care for fashion, but Ashley's love for it, for the theater they saw, for the songs she liked (like the "Anywhere For You" song from Backstreet Boys she had put on) was something Gretchen kinda liked seeing.

Like how she shared her world, Ashley was sharing hers.

But… But this wasn't right! This shouldn't be happening!

'Oh, this is, like, totally my favorite part, ugh, Gretchen it's SOOOOOO good?! And Romantic, le sigh!', Ashley said as she walked back from getting more napkins, and in the middle of the diner she started to dance, jumping around and twirling, singing with an invisible mic and going as hard as she could.

'I'd go anywhere for you, anywhere you asked me to, I'd do anything for you, Anything you want me to, Your love as far as I can see, Is all I'm ever gonna need, There's one thing for sure, I know it's true Baby, I'd go anywhere for you!' Ashley finished singing, bouncing up into the air with a 'Whoo!' and bowing to the one applauding cashier/waiter. 'Thank you, thank you, I know, I KNOW.', she then turned back and winked at Gretchen, bragging but in a way that wasn't annoying at all.

Gretchen buried her head in her hands.

Dang it. They were bonding.

Ashley then realized it too and immediately walked over to Gretchen. The two sat down and just stared awkwardly, well aware of what was going on.

'...Okay, look, I, like, gotta be honest… I had a far better time than I thought I would. That wasn't l-AME at all. That was… Radical and stuff.', Ashley admitted, trying to look away. She took a bite of her burger and grunted. 'Dang it, even this crunks hard! Why can't it whomp?'

'I know what you mean.', Gretchen admitted, looking away too. 'I had a great time too. No one ever really… Shares my interests.'

'Hmm?', Ashley hummed, now gazing at Gretchen, who seemed a little upset. 'I get it. I mean, everyone has their own tastes. But being the only genius nerd at school kinda blows chunks sometimes.'

'I've never had that problem. The other Ashley's, are, well, it's in the name.', Ashley replied, though she then pouted, thinking further. 'Of course, sometimes my brand of Ashley isn't gucci enough for them.'

'Yeah.'

The two ate in silence.

'...I really did have a great time. I… You surprised me, I guess. I really thought it wouldn't be fun but… It was. I kinda enjoyed being Ashley R.', Ashley smiled, fiddling with her glasses.

'I mean, she's still as stylish as Ashley A, in my opinion. She's just into science as well.', Gretchen pointed out pleasantly.

Ashley smiled to herself. 'Maybe they're more similar than Ashley A thought.'

Gretchen hummed. 'Maybe.'

'...Don't worry, though, I know our deal. I leave you and your friends alone, you leave me and my friends alone. I guess I just… Wanted you to know that I came because I had to, because it felt right, but like… It wasn't a chore, ya know?', Ashley explained, surprised at how much she wanted to reassure Gretchen. 'I guess I just really…'

The most natural, fitting word was like. Because she kind of did. She liked Gretchen. She was funny in her own way, interesting even when talking about subjects Ashley never thought of, able to talk to her on HER level. She even seemed to not judge her for being so Ashley.

'Yeah, I too, I… I suppose I just have a healthy amount of… I think that I…', Gretchen tried to speak, and she too felt this need, overwhelming desire, to say that she liked Ashley's sense of humor and snark, her silly moments, how passionate she was about everything, how secretly caring and artistic she was.

But they both chose a different word.

'...I respect you.'

It was a step, at least. The two stared at each other no longer as enemies or even necessary allies, but as sort of strange partners. They both found a healthy amount of understanding about the other, and while they couldn't commit to being friends, they could agree to respecting each other.

As they finished their food, the rain suddenly cleared. The clouds parted. And out came…

A rainbow.

A beautiful rainbow made of splendid colors, so magical and enchanting it could power a thousand suns. It stared down at the two girls, almost like it was trying to be there for them, to solidify the beauty of this odd relationship.

Gretchen and Ashley stared at it as they stood up.

Ashley took off her glasses, almost as a way to show it was Ashley A, not Ashley R, that was granting this gesture.

The two clasped each other's hands and shook, polite smiles and nods, a silent way of saying 'Yeah, you're cool. Thanks.'

When they finished, they took a deep breath at the same time, and…

'Welp, see ya never I guess!', Gretchen stated, waving goodbye.

'Ciao, Sayonara, Arrivederci, Aloha!', Ashley replied back, waving too.

And then they parted their separate ways.

'I can't lie, a part of me kinda wishes we could do that again. Oh well, back to normal!', they both thought as they walked far away from each other, the rainbow still shimmering off of them.

And they really didn't...

Until Monday that is.

'We're going to be doing a research project this week!', Ms. Grotke announced to her class, taking out a hat with slips of paper. 'And you'll all be assigned to different partners!'

'Great, a loser to do the work for me. I can continue hanging out with the other Ashley's.', Ashley smirked, winking at the other Ashley's.

'Oh, I wonder what thrilling city we'll get!', Gretchen thought, excited to do some work.

'First off… Gretchen Grundler… And…'

Ashley and Gretchen closed their eyes, smiling confidently.

'Ashley Armbruster!'

Gretchen fell off her chair while Ashley squealed in shock.

Yeah… That didn't last long.

This marks the end of what I'd call the first proper arc! Second arc begins now!