You've got to be what tomorrow needs!
ALIAS
McKenna Chase
AGE
21
Civilian
|
Post by Ashley McKenna-Chase on Dec 4, 2017 19:59:10 GMT
 Lazy Evening “Paul, right?” Ashley clarified, sharpie hovering in the air.
“Love of my life works too,” the frat boy fan said dreamily. “Just sign my face already!”
Ashley really hadn’t thought she’d skyrocketed to face-signing levels of fame, but apparently this six foot something dude emblazoned with Greek letters was an openly enthusiastic fan of happy, melodic country pop. He was currently crouched in front of her so the sharpie could actually reach his forehead, as requested, and Ashley signed a quick ‘McKenna ♥ Paul’ as best she could.
To his credit, Paul immediately backed away – his face still overcome with awe in the same kind of endearing way a six-year-old looked at people dressed as Disney princesses – and left Ashley to navigate her way into the club. It was full to the brim with gaggles of sorority girls, all at various stages of completely-out-of-it, surrounded by plenty of guys in same similar states… maybe even worse. It was exactly what Ashley had expected. She was mostly just here to check in with Dana and Cory, maybe try and catch some other friends depending on who was in attendance.
The place was rammed, so she’d have to find them purely by chance.
As it happened, the first person she ran across was Cory, who was leaning against the bar like she owned it while she waited for a drink. Ashley waved from behind a duo of particularly tall, model-esque girls and slowly pushed her way towards Cory, apologising profusely as she did so.
“Hey!” she said, finally reaching Cory’s side. “You made it!”
Ashley took a second to remember who Cory would be buying spritzers for, and then she grinned understandingly. “Girl has terrible taste in drinks, trust me. She might even think you’ve put something extra in to spice it up. Just put a pretty straw in and it’ll be cool.”
Dana was having the time of her life picking dance battles with unwitting strangers, and Ashley watched as Cory did her best to communicate by improvised sign language. Dana seemed to understand, though she didn’t catch a glimpse of Ashley just yet. Ashley would have realised immediately if she had because alcohol turned Dana’s enthusiastic shrillness setting up to 11. Big time.
“I know right? Adorable,” Ashley laughed, picturing Dana actually pouncing on her like some uncoordinated, inebriated kitten. “And hey, I can never turn down Dana’s invites. Marcus… Uh…” Ashley pondered for a moment – she hadn’t heard from him recently. “He might be here, I dunno. I’ve pretty much arrived, signed a dude’s head and run straight into you! Why, you wanna see him?”
She looked over to check on Dana and realised swiftly that Dana had tired of her waiting for her refreshments and had joined a crowd of people around a table who – judging by the raised hands – were just starting a rousing game of Never Have I Ever.
“Oh man,” Ashley said wryly, nodding her head in Dana’s direction. “You should see this. Dana aaalways loses.”
|
|
|
|
Dec 12, 2017 23:33:41 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2017 23:33:41 GMT
live fast, die young "Yeahhhhh, I made it," she mimicked in a bit of a less enthusiastic tone with a knowing smile through tight lips and teeth together to obviously elude to the semi-hostage position she was under with the very drunk, very lively Dana. Once she had her first drink, Cory knew the night would be long. But hey, she'd hopefully get a hell of an ending. "Someone's got to take her home and keep her company, right? Felt like you deserved a break," now they could relate to the woman's very contagious enthusiasm and the ridiculous aftermath.
"A straw?" her eyebrows went up on her forehead and she let the bob of her head hang with a decent amount of weight as she took the glass and reached into her jacket pocket with her free hand before pulling out nearly a dozen packed-in bendy straws of various neon colors. "What do you take me for, an amateur? I'll have you know that I've got Dana-Duty down to a science, girl," when the bartender slid over the beer she'd ordered for herself she grabbed it and elbowed McKenna playfully with a winged-out arm.
The second she turned around her entire body clenched in preparation for a screech when seeing the very close-by blonde that'd rushed over. Sure as hell, she practically tackled McKenna with her shouting over the music and 'MacDaddy' chanting, leaving Cory blinking at the singer apologetically until she was subject to some attention herself. Dana wrapped her arms around the side of Cory's neck and hung her weight, causing her to falsely tilt with her a little. "We're going to the back lounge to play a game, you two need to come play! Oooo, is that my drink? Oh it's so pretty, oh my goooosh!" she snatched it quickly from Cory with a, "thanks boo!" and pecked her with horrible aim halfway on the nose and cheek before bouncing away towards the crowd she'd gathered with.
Cory corrected her posture and let out an airy chuckle with a grin to McKenna. "Guess that's our summoning. Get whatever you want at the bar, even if it's a soda or something, I'll cover on my tab tonight," she offered. Might as well. Besides, something about the singer either not thinking she could afford it or wasn't willing/polite enough didn't sit well with her. Call it pride (because that's what it was). She'd pulled out her phone to answer a text from an old customer who wanted some better flavors while waiting for McKenna to get what she pleased. "Ready? Well, as you can be," she took a swig of the bottle and made her way through the crowd.
Whenever they were confronted with a taller person (nearly everyone) that they would've normally had to move around, Cory's shoulder very conveniently made them look a little more drunk than they actually were to make their path to the back lounge much easier. "What are they even playing? Might want to shield your eyes," she half-turned and joked with a giggle, putting her hand over McKenna's face for a second as they cleared the floor into a black-light lit hall. |
|
You've got to be what tomorrow needs!
ALIAS
McKenna Chase
AGE
21
Civilian
|
Dec 18, 2017 15:56:34 GMT
Post by Ashley McKenna-Chase on Dec 18, 2017 15:56:34 GMT
Lazy Evening It seemed that Dana had managed to spot her after all, and Ashley had a split-second to react to the incoming drunken cannonball. Considering her level of inebriation, Dana still had remarkably good aim. It wasn’t easy picking out a small brunette from a crowd of people pressed together as they waited for drinks. A couple of them had probably received some elbowing as Dana made her way through, but you could forgive her for that once you heard the sheer joy in her “MACDADDY” yells.
“A game! For sure!” Ashley’s eyes sparkled mischievously, already knowing what game they were about to play and just how sorely Dana was surely going to lose. There were some people who were the “try-anything-once”-type, and then there was Dana, who was more of a “try-absolutely-everything-once-even-if-it-kills-me” queen. It made for some great entertaining stories, but Ashley was hardly tempted to try the lifestyle for herself. Observing from the side-lines was dramatic enough, thank you very much.
They didn’t rush off immediately – Cory generously offered to buy Ashley a soda before turning her attention to her phone – so she took the opportunity to get herself a cranberry juice (“That’s right, nothing else! I mean it, no vodka!”) before they went to join Dana’s friends. Or maybe they were complete strangers – Dana had a knack for forming fast friendships.
“Thanks, Coryelle,” she said cheerily, raising her glass. “And duh, I’m totally ready. You might be a pro at Dana-duty but I wrote the book on it.”
Sure enough, the group’s fingers were all raised once more for a game of Never Have I Ever. Dana was perched on some guy’s knee, her legs kicking lazily back and forth. Ashley giggled and pulled Cory’s hand down from her eyes so she could see.
An argument was taking place on the far side of the table.
“You have not dated my little sister!”
“Dude, look at everyone’s fingers, she gets around.”
Ashley cringed, half-anticipating a fight to break out, but the two seemed to suddenly resolve their conflict over a shared interest in the large cocktail pitcher before them.
Dana wriggled excitedly, beckoning for Cory to come closer. “My turn, my turn!”
Ashley squeezed her way onto the seat opposite, ready to see what Dana was about to come up with. She recognised the guy from Instagram posts that Dana had shown her – this was somebody Dana really wanted to impress. And that meant she was going to bring up something that she thought was particularly wild so she could confess to it. The group watched in anticipation as Dana pulled an exaggerated thinking face.
Then, her eyes lit up.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2018 0:51:48 GMT
live fast, die young "No problem, chica," Cory had no problem respecting a liquor-less drink especially when someone was underage. No need to get screwed up too early. Even she'd waited to drink until she was twenty-one. Imagine that; a pothead with some kind of moral. The logic may have been a little backwards, but there were still some old fashioned rules that her mother had taught her to stand firm on. Never cheat, never hurt good people, never bake a half-assed cake. Those kinds of things.
The joking giggles were exchanged reciprocally as they walked into the lively room where she saw a very drunk Dana bouncing like an excited kid on some dude's knee. "Sorry man," she apologized with a responsible half-smile and followed Dana's beckoning to sit beside her so she could slide over onto Cory's lap. She was more concerned about the near-fight about to break out and cast McKenna a careful look before they seemed tipsy enough to just want to keep drinking. Phew, punching and puking conflict avoided.
"Yeah, your turn?" she laughed at the sloppy way Dana tried to situate herself on her lap. Then she tried... turning herself around? "Woahhh, okay. Let me help here," with a chuckle, Cory put her arms on Dana's hips to keep her upright so she could turn about and nearly straddle over her lap. "Oh. Hello," she smiled at her - just inches from her face. The liquor smell was strong but it was too everywhere for it to matter. "Never have I everrrr," she leaned inwards and rather slyly to Cory, their foreheads now together. "Never have you-?" Everyone was either dead-eye locked onto the openly seductive way Dana was planted onto her or rolling their eyes. The jock beside them was the former of the two. "Never have I ever been with a hot chick all night." While the drunken, slurred words made her smile and chuckle again, the cute way she swerved in was too irresistible. "You party too late. We can fix that."
There was quite the uproar in the room while one man kept his fingers up in embarrassment and one young woman bit her lip while subtracting one from hers, but Dana paid attention to none of that. She'd closed the small gap between their lips and locked hers onto Cory's. Obviously the more sober and reserved of the two, Coryelle kept her eyes shut and stayed a bit more subtle and publicly respectful than the over the top quiet moaning Dana was starting. When she opened her eyes to make sure that Dana wasn't about to slide off and onto the floor, she saw her eyes open and staring sideways-... to the jock. Immediately, Coryelle pulled her head back.
"Uh, hold on, what?" She looked back and forth to the two that had obviously been exchanging looks during the whole make out session. "Were you checking him out?" The man was quick to look guilty and apologetic, obviously trying to come up with some way to explain the situation, but Dana pouted her lips and tried to lean forward to kiss again. "Noooo no no, hell no," she put a hand to the drunken girl's shoulder and held her back. "Awww come on boo... he likes it." Errrr! Red flag, wrong answer! Dana was off of her lap and onto his faster than anyone in the room could down a shot. "Oh FUCK that!"
Cory was on her feet and headed to the door, quickly turning about only to raise her arms in vindictive victory. "NEVER HAVE I EVER CLIMAXED WITH DANA!" An underlying gasp and 'oooo...' hummed lowly around the group before a few started laughing. Cory's face was reddened with rage and disgust, the jock pale-faced with terror, "And you!" she pointed a finger at him, "Get ready to spend your whole damn paycheck on that mess!" With that, she turned on her heel and marched out without another word to leave the group to clean up Dana's ruin. |
|
You've got to be what tomorrow needs!
ALIAS
McKenna Chase
AGE
21
Civilian
|
Post by Ashley McKenna-Chase on Jan 3, 2018 20:44:12 GMT
Lazy Evening Ashley had to look down to make sure her jaw hadn’t dropped to the floor.
What… what just happened?
One second Dana and Cory had been going at it in front of the whole table, the next Cory had dumped the girl onto Instagram-dude’s lap and jumped to her feet. The world had slowed a little as she raised her arms to scream her revenge; Dana was squirming a little uncomfortably but not actually making any attempts to back herself up. Ashley was a little sad to see it confirmed that Dana had just been using Cory for the attention, but she was sadder still to see the heat in Cory’s cheeks. Hot rage burning on the coals of being just another straight girl’s “experiment”.
Ashley stood up herself once Cory marched out, meeting Dana with her best disappointed frown. She hadn’t known the ins-and-outs of Dana and Cory’s makeshift relationship – only that it hadn’t been anything serious – but it still wasn’t fair of Dana to have used Cory like that. She shuddered to think of how much Cory had spent on drinks for the two of them in their short time together.
“CORYELLE? HEY, CORYELLE!”
It was surprisingly difficult to battle her way back out into the main club, and once she was there it was even more difficult to spot Cory. She figured the young DJ wouldn’t have fancied hanging around, however, and so she made a beeline for the exit.
Bursting out into the night, she spun in a full circle and called Cory’s name once more.
“If you can hear me, come back!”
She searched her mind, trying to think of something that would suitably console Cory without patronising her. There was no way she wanted Cory to spend the rest of the night miserably seething by herself.
“Pizza and Nintendo?! Does that sound good?”
Ashley still hadn’t spotted Cory, so she started to walk down the pavement towards the taxi rank. “C’mon Coryelleee, you know you can’t resist whooping my ass at Mario Kart..!” |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2018 6:20:08 GMT
live fast, die young If she was being perfectly honest with herself, she hadn't been nearly as careful as she usually was about taking care of the environment around her; save for a very quick glance to both sides before clearing the gap between the damp pavement at the back door and the threshold of the entrance by the sidewalk. In no time thanks to both her speed and outlet of anger, she was a story and a half above the ground. Hearing McKenna's voice made her crumple her face with an unknowing sensation of what to do - a bit guilty after realizing she'd just been caught in the middle of that showcase.
Every time she called her name she winced a bit tighter until she let her shoulders drop limply with a large and heavy exhale at the acceptance that now - with McKenna just beneath her - she'd have to respond. It wasn't in her to just to let her friend run about feeling useless. Plus, in all actuality, that was just the distraction she needed. So, after the short few seconds it took to mull it over, a "Yeah, you're really bad at it..." came from above. Cory's face was tired and slightly pouting but... upside down. She hung from the gutter by her legs, arms dangling downwards and hair spiked oddly from its falling shape.
"Can we get Loumelli's? I like that chicken stuff we got last time. The creamy one," she curled upwards with the tension of her stomach and gripped the gutter with a hand to let her legs free before climbing down a foot or two and dropping the following six with a hefty 'thwmp'. Though a natural show-off, her posture said anything but. It was just convenient and she didn't quite frankly have the patience to crawl all the way down and worry about what other people around her thought. She'd take the 'gutsy' label for now since it wasn't really untrue. It also added a nice 'I'm definitely not ready to talk about what just happened yet' barrier as a perk.
"Did you drive? I can," she offered, reaching for the keys in the pocket of her jacket and nodding her head a bit down the street to a motorbike parked at a thin, designated stall. "Did you want to come over to mine?" It still felt necessary to ask almost as an apology knowing that McKenna surely had something twenty times the size and a hundred times nicer than the less-than-great one-bedroom Cory lived in. She'd become less apologetic when they entered nowadays, but it was a slow process. |
|
You've got to be what tomorrow needs!
ALIAS
McKenna Chase
AGE
21
Civilian
|
Jan 24, 2018 22:03:42 GMT
Post by Ashley McKenna-Chase on Jan 24, 2018 22:03:42 GMT
Lazy Evening Unsure whether or not she was hallucinating Cory’s harsh words on Ashley’s Mario Kart prowess, it took a moment for Ashley to realise that, yes, the agreement had definitely come from somewhere above her head. She tipped her head back, back arched comically as she searched. Simply turning around and gazing up at the building would have made just too much sense, apparently.
Then her mouth dropped open and she nearly collapsed back against the pavement, spinning so she could gawk even more obviously at her friend dangling from a gutter. Upside down. No hands.
“Wha- whuh… spider monkey!”
The words tumbled out of Ashley’s gaping mouth without bothering to consult her brain, and they were still slowly registering for her as Cory continued her casual discussion while she performed amazing feats of strength and dexterity.
“…Yeah, the creamy one was awesome…”
Her voice was a little faraway in tone. Ashley was still getting her head around the fact that Cory was almost definitely a spider monkey in disguise, but the mention of food managed to break through her reverie.
At least Cory had responded to her, rather than hiding up on that gutter and brooding alone about Dana’s complete lack of respect. Ashley probably would have tried to track Cory down regardless to make sure she was okay, but dropping down on her voluntarily made things a lot easier – even if it had been rather alarming.
“No, no I don’t drive,” Ashley said. “Well, like, I can, but I don’t.” She laughed, blushing a little at the admission. She eyed the motorbike, curiosity piqued. “You got a spare helmet?”
Cory’s invitation back to her place was hardly enthusiastic, but Ashley didn’t take it personally. It was more like Cory couldn’t believe Ashley wanted to visit her flat in the first place. Which, of course, she did.
“Duh! We can kick back and enjoy some good old Nintendo. I swear, I’ve practised since the last time we raced, so you can quit acting like it’s a sure win.” Ashley offered her a teasing grin, knowing full well that Cory had every right to act that way. Her Mario Kart skills certainly hadn’t bloomed overnight, but she wasn’t about to let Cory think otherwise just yet. Hey, maybe if she’d thought positively enough, it might just come true.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2018 22:22:34 GMT
live fast, die young The awkward babbling that eventually led to McKenna's declaration of Cory's acrobatic prowess (or just pure adrenaline and gutsy carelessness) had her giving a tilted smirk and a nonchalant, "Yeah, always been one. Hear it a lot," she shrugged a shoulder and strode down the sidewalk with absolutely zero hesitation to wait another second at this God-forsaken place. She was ready to get out for good - the faster the better. The key ring flipped around her index finger with a smooth pattern of circling while listening to the singer to continue the conversation mid-walk. "Did gymnastics since I could, like, walk." Good cover with no lie.
"I'll call 'em up real quick so we can pick it up on the way," and not a second later did she have the phone against her ear with the low, static ringing humming against it. "Hm? Oh, you can wear mine," she offered with a wave of her hand to show a 'no big deal' sort of gesture. She didn't make a habit of not wearing her helmet on the bike, but every so often it was nice to feel the wind in her hair. Being a little bit less susceptible to injury was also a reason not to mind so much. "Hi, placing an order for pick-up," she spoke into the phone and, upon reaching the bike, swung a leg over the seat before reaching back to the helmet strapped on the back. She tossed it McKenna's way with a wink and waited for her to settle on while the order continued.
"Yeah, what's that one you guys have with the chicken and peppers, the sauce is like alfredo or something? Awesome, yeah, large one of thoooose annnnd... cheese bread?" she looked over her shoulder to her friend for verification, but it wasn't like she wasn't going to order it anyway. "And an order of cheese bread. Name's Cory. Sweet, thanks." her thumb reach around the screen to hang up and slide the phone safely in the deep pocket of her jacket - fingers now free to place the keys in the ignition. "Said it'll be twenty-five minutes, so we can swing by to pick it up and strap it on the tail. Anything else you want on the way to make you feel better about your Mario Kart skills tonight?" with a flick of her wrist, the engine rumbled to life loudly beneath them, her boot kicking down and back to shove the kickstand into place as she stood it up on her own. "You know not to lean with me on turns right? I won't go too fast." Not too fast. |
|
You've got to be what tomorrow needs!
ALIAS
McKenna Chase
AGE
21
Civilian
|
Mar 10, 2018 21:14:45 GMT
Post by Ashley McKenna-Chase on Mar 10, 2018 21:14:45 GMT
Lazy Evening Unsurprisingly, Cory was already well aware of her spider-monkey likeness. Also unsurprisingly, Cory wasn’t eager to stick around. Clearly Dana wasn’t about to rush out and try to make amends (which was probably the sensible option anyway) but Ashley couldn’t blame Cory for wanting to ditch the scene as quickly as possible. Ashley had to make an awkward little half-run to catch up with Cory. Even once she’d caught up, it was a conscious effort to keep up with the other girl’s pace.
“That’s cool, I’m jealous. It must be hella fun to just climb up the sides of buildings like that,” she commented cheerily. She was still quite aware that she was here to make Cory feel better after a pretty solid act of humiliation, so she was erring on the side of positivity rather than pressing Cory further. The gymnastics story was entirely believable, after all. “Would definitely be a fun workout!”
Cory phoned for the pizza as they walked, squeezing in an answer to her question about a spare helmet before the place picked up. Ashley frowned, about to protest, but Cory started her order and so she stayed silent for a moment. They reached Cory’s bike and Cory immediately slipped onto her seat, chucking her helmet at Ashley with a wink. Ashley took it with a smile, but just held it in her lap as she settled onto the space behind Cory on the bike.
She nodded enthusiastically at the suggestion of cheese bread – shocked that it was even a question.
“Alright!” Ashley said happily. “Great plan, Coryelle. The only other thing I can think of picking up is uh…” She held the helmet up in her hands. “Another one of these. You don’t know anyone you can borrow one from… anything? I don’t feel great with you not wearing a helmet.” She made an apologetic smile, feeling excruciatingly like a goody-two-shoes buzzkill. “I know you never crash in Mario Kart either but don’t wanna tempt fate, y’know?”
The noisy thrum of the engine was an intoxicating noise, and she couldn’t help an excitable smile eclipsing the awkwardness in her features. “I’ll try my best to be a good passenger, I promise!” She held up her little finger and grinned.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2018 7:25:09 GMT
live fast, die young Good. Pizza soon, cheesebread to boot, and a friend night filled with furry love from Nugget and the lovely squealing cartoon tires of Mario Kart. This was exactly what she needed. It wasn't often that Coryelle felt so... valueless. Man, did it suck. Thankfully, McKenna knew just how to work on shoving things back on the right track - or starting to, at least. "Alright! Great plan, Coryelle. The only other thing I can think of picking up is uh…" Cory's hand was already around the throttle when she looked back to her friend's inquiry. "Eh?" The helmet got shown between them. Oh, if she was honestly worried about- "Another one of these." Ah geez. "You don’t know anyone you can borrow one from… anything? I don’t feel great with you not wearing a helmet."
Cory squished her lips to one side and shook her head, still speaking back to her and looking at her from a strained at-the-side angle. "Don't worry about it, I'll go slow It's not too far." Ironic. The helmet was mostly just for show anyway, helped keep the annoying wind off of her face with the visor. She turned around more, nearly half twisted, and grabbed the sides of the helmet to lift it above the singer's head and slide it nice and snug downwards. With a grin, she flicked the visor down and gave a chuckle. "Just hold on, chica."
True to her word, she took her time with turns and starts after stops. Her speed was at or slightly below the limit constantly - though it killed her - just to ease McKenna's worry. It hadn't taken long at all to arrive at the pizza shop and Cory had made quick work of bungie-cording the two boxes to the back tail of the bike before making the next trip home. "See? Told ya. Safe and sound," her toe hooked around the kickstand and pushed it down towards the ground to hold the bike's weight.
"Been on a bike before?" her hands undid the cords to grab the pizza, still steamy and warm from the boxes, and waited for McKenna to get all situated before walking towards the apartments' back entrance. "Makes for good road therapy a lot. Just getting out, you know? Damn this smells good," per usual, when she realized perhaps she spoke on too serious of topics, she drifted subconsciously to another, far more shallow topic of discussion in a seamless and immediate fashion. She was fine. Her chest felt like it was burning up a million degrees. This was fine. She was gripping the boxes a little tighter than she meant to. Tonight would be good. She took a deep breath, angling the boxes to slide her key in the entryway door. Tonight would be fine. "Stupid-... go the fuck in." |
|
You've got to be what tomorrow needs!
ALIAS
McKenna Chase
AGE
21
Civilian
|
Post by Ashley McKenna-Chase on May 1, 2018 20:58:47 GMT
Lazy Evening Ashley pouted a little in protest as Cory insisted that she didn’t need to wear a helmet, but the expression was mostly a mystery behind tinted plastic as Cory quickly turned and pushed the helmet onto her head and flicked the visor down. Before Ashley could really formulate an argument, Cory told her to hold tight and she pulled away. She wasn’t exactly going slowly, but from what Ashley could tell she seemed to be taking some care with the ride.
It also really didn’t take too long to reach the pizza place. The smell was delicious, and Ashley was definitely having to hold back from turning in her seat to try and steal a slice as they made the second, equally swift, trip back to Cory’s flat.
She was still feeling a little pouty that Cory had ignored her demands to wear a helmet but, considering the situation, she was definitely not going to push it. Instead she wore the smile that she had for the most of the journey, having enjoyed her time on the bike despite her nerves. “No, that was my first time on a real motorbike. I’ve been on a couple of scooters but they’re not exactly the same – that was super fun!” Ashley added enthusiastically. She could appreciate where Cory saw the therapeutic value in it.
The rest of the evening was a delightful cocktail of Cory absolutely dominating in Mario Kart and the two of them demolishing the pizza in what could have been Guinness World Record time. Ashley had just taken a surprise victory over Cory through a series of extremely lucky items including two Bullet Bills and an excruciating final red shell, her first and only win of the night, when they decided to take a break before the competition got too fierce and they started throwing controllers at each other. All in good jest, of course. Ashley was enjoying herself thoroughly.
After talking for a little while, Cory suddenly grew a little serious and for just a couple of minutes Ashley was able to peek fully past the bravado that Cory wore like the world’s steeliest comfort blanket. Being treated like some plaything, some emotionless doll to use to impress boys, had definitely and completely understandably affected her. Ashley shuffled closer on the sofa, offering a few kind words but mostly just quietly being there for her, until Cory seemed to suddenly shake herself back into action and challenge Ashley to another race.
Ashley didn’t push it any further – not wanting to wipe the grin off of Cory’s face that signalled an immediate and crushing revenge was in the works for the next race – but there was an unspoken, newly heightened closeness in the air.
Then the race countdown began, and Ashley was distracted with preparing herself for total, kart-based annihilation.
|
|
