Ashley's Prima

4.

4.

"Did I tell you Tad started following me on insta?" Ashley bragged. Brooke walked over to see, and said, "That's great! He also follows Oreos."

Zoey snorted as she grabbed a bottle of water from Victor's fridge. They were in Ashley's kitchen on a Saturday, making weekend plans.

"Listen, I don't think I need to restate how bad an idea dating Tad is," Ashley gave her a flat look as she continued, "But instead of spending all weekend obsessing over him, you both should come over to my friends house for a girl's night!"

"Which friend?" Zoey asked.

"Madison." Zoey smiled. "Oh I love Madison, she's so cool."

Ashley started pacing nervously. "I don't know. I've never been to  a girl's night before. I don't know any of the rituals." Zoey and Brooke shared a look of disbelief.

"Rituals? Ash, we're girls, not witches." Zoey laughed.

"You know we're not sacrificing anyone," Brooke commented sarcastically. "We're just gonna hang out, maybe do a hair mask."

"Oh, I love hair masks!" Zoey clapped her hands together.

"What's a hair mask?" Ashley asked excitedly. Zoey shook her head sadly as Brooke commented, "The fact that you don't know, is exactly why you need to come to girl's night."

"Maybe I do need something else to think about," Ashley agreed. Zoey smiled. "Yes! This is going to be so much fun!"

"Perfect, you're gonna like my squad."

"I get to be a part of a squad? I am so into girl's night!" Ashley exclaimed. Victor walked into the kitchen, looking for something. "Tío Victor? Can I go to a girl's night at Brooke's friend's house?"

"We're probably just going to watch a movie," Brooke added.

Victor nodded. "A chill movie night with your girls? Oh, wait, be responsible," he said to himself, "There's no alcohol, right?" Brooke nodded, "Only in the nail polish remover."

"Ok, well as long as you don't drink that, then you're good to go." He turned to Ashley more seriously, "Just keep your phone on so I can reach you." He pointed at Zoey who was still seated at the kitchen island. "You too!"

Zoey nodded, "Always, tío."

"Alright," he began talking to himself again, "I'm responsible, not controlling. I'm killing it as a parent figure!" He high fived himself as he left the kitchen. Zoey shook her head and laughed.

"You're uncle just high-fived himself," Brooke commented as they began to leave the room. Ashley nodded, "He's lived alone for a long time." Zoey shook her head, "No, he's just like that."

They all laughed walking into the living room.

"Just thinking about girl's night I'm already forgetting all about Tad."

As she said that, Tad walked into the living room drinking water. He then lifted his shirt to wipe his face.

"Well that's not helping," Ashley whispered to Brooke and Zoey. Zoey rolled her eyes at Tad. He did that on purpose, didn't he?

"Hey," Hey greeted the girls. Zoey and Brooke replied normally, where Ashley replied over enthusiastically.

Two of the football players came out of Ashley's room holding the last of the work out equipment.

"Thanks for helping me move all of this, guys. Hey, curl that bench on the way to the garage and you can skip weights in practice!" Victor said, and immediately the boys started doing so.

Zoey laughed. They weren't going to get to skip anything.

"Hey, I didn't get to lift a bench," Tad complained. Victor pointed to the kitchen. "You can bulk up by taking out my trash." Tad ran to go do it.

"Has he always gotten the football team to do things for him just to skip things in practice?" Brooke asked Zoey. She shrugged and laughed, "Basically, yeah."

"Are there anymore football players in Ashley's bedroom or can we finally go in there?" Brooke asked Victor. He shook his head. "They're all done, and they'll never be in there again," he looked pointedly at Ashley.

Ashley gave him a flat look as they walked into her bedroom. Victor held Ashley back but Brooke and Zoey continued without her.

"So," Brooke settled onto Ashley's bed. Zoey sat at her desk chair. "So?"

"So what have you been doing to progress your relationship with Stick? If you want, I have plenty of ideas," Brooke said.

Zoey tapped her cheek. "I don't know, I haven't really been doing anything. It's just, I don't know, a little weird? Because yeah, I like him, but we've already been friends for so long that trying anything new is scary."

Brooke nodded. "I totally get how you feel. But you know, if you don't try anything at all out of fear of change, you'll never know what could happen."

Zoey smiled. "Thanks Brooke. I'd love to hear some of those ideas."

"Great!"

--

The girls walked up to Madison's porch. Brooke stopped them before they went in and turned to Ashley.

"Ok, Ash. Quick review of my new post, How To Fit In With A New Squad. What
the ABC's?" She quizzed.

Ashley paused, thinking quickly, "A: ask questions, people love talking about themselves."

Zoey laughed. "True."

"B, be relatable."

Brooke nodded along.

"C, connect by doing something together."

"And D?" Brooke tested. Ashley looked worried. Brooke laughed and set a hand on her arm, "Don't worry, you're gonna crush it, girl."  Ashley sighed in relief.  "Oh, I just thought of an E," she jumped. "Eeee! I'm so excited!" Zoey laughed and put an arm around her shoulders.

Brooke rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, Madison answered it.

"Hey, girl!" Brooke greeted with a large smile.

"Hey!" Madison brought her forward into a short hug. Brooke walked inside.

"Hey, Madison, thanks for inviting us," Zoey smiled and high fived her, walking in and greeting the two other girls.

"Hi, Madison, it's awesome to meet you. I'm Ashley," Ashley stuck her hand out. Maddie looked at it strangely before shaking it.

"It's great to meet you too, I'm glad you could come."

Zoey smiled nervously. This was sure to be fun.

"Do you guys want anything to eat," Madison asked. Zoey nodded. "Sure, what do you have?"

"Chips, cookies," Madison shrugged. "My mom went out and bought a bunch of stuff because of tonight."

"Chips are good," Zoey nodded. "Ash?"

Ashley nodded with nervous confidence. "I would also like chips. Because everyone likes chips, and I'm relatable!"

Zoey chuckled. Was she going to be like this all night?

"What kind of chips?"

"What kind of chips do you prefer?" Ashley asked. "Because getting other people to share their interests is a good way to bond."

Zoey sighed. Apparently, she was.