Page 25 of If We Meet Again

Ashley dropped her phone; heart racing. Megan staggered backwards, the sheer panic fast-diminished and was replaced by amusement. The girls leant over the counter in hysterics.

“Honestly, I hate you both.” Ashley glared at her so-called best friends. “How long have you been hidingdown there?”

Madison shrugged, “Maybe twenty minutes.”

“We were very dedicated to the cause,” Emily chirped.

When everyone’s breathing returned to a normal rhythm, their attentions soon turned towards Megan, who had openly found the prank hilarious.

“Nice to meet you, Megan,” Madison grinned; a smile that made anyone feel welcome. Emily had always been more reserved. She proceeded with caution whenever a new friend or partner was introduced. The bond she had created with Ashley over the three years they had known each other was the singular most important thing in her life and she feared that would one day be taken away from her. Emily’s face was less inviting, a forced smile appeared as she greeted Megan.

“Hi, Megan.”

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you both.”

“Sorry about that, we are normally on our best behaviour, but we couldn’t resist.”

Ashley scoffed, “They are absolutely never on their best behaviour.” She winked at Megan to make her feel more at ease. The discomfort of meeting best friends was always unnerving in any situation.

“I actually found ithilarious.”

“See Ash, we are hilarious.” Madison grinned.

Emily eyed up the bag on the counter. “Are those Cronuts?”

Ashley swiped them away before she had the chance to explore the contents, “They’re not for you.”

“Please, it’s been ages sinceI had one.”

Ashley rolled her eyes, unimpressed by the child-like whining coming from herbest friend.

Megan politely intervened. “You canhave mine.”

“Seriously?” Emilyquestioned.

“Sure. I’ll share Ashley’s.” Megan winked playfully.

“I like her.” Emily snatched the bag from Ashley’s hand and proceeded to unwrap the precious pastry. “You cancome again.”

Ashley’s eyebrow furrowed, confused but also amazed at the way in which Emily interacted with Megan; it was notably more than the last girl she dated.

“Did you have a nice time anyway?” Madison enquired.

“It was really good. I’ll tell you about it in the morning because we’re going to watch a movie.” Ashley glanced towards Megan reassuringly. She smiled, seemingly happy with the plan. “With our one Cronut.” She glared towards Emily who was now completely oblivious, face filledwith cream.

“What? They’re just so good,” she said in a stifled voice.

“Anyway, night. Love you both.”

A chorus of good nights echoed back and forth as Ashley made her way down the corridorto her room.

“So, this is my room. As you can see, I wasn’t sure what to wear this morning.” She scurried from one side to the other, gathering items of clothing from the floor and abruptly hurling them into the open wardrobe. There was no organisation involved, she would deal with that another day. On the occasions that her bedroom was in an orderly fashion, she loved it. The exposed brick walls and large, black-framed windows made for a quirky space. The king-size bed floated alone in the middle of the room underneath a large abstract grey rug that gave the room a stylish touch, whilst adding the warmth it needed. The closet sat on the back wall; two grey, up-cycled bookcases filled with trinkets and pictures sat to the left. A matching TV unit placed at the foot of the bed with a large flat-screen TV finished off the room. The exposed brick walls were filled with artwork—one in particular caughtMegan’s eye.

“Who painted this?”

“Madison did.”

“You’re kidding? It’sincredible.”