No Rules To Love

Chapter Twelve:

"Yeah, okay. Whatever." Ashley chuckled. I was grateful when she left it at that, without adding another observational comment.

***

I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed. After I flattened my grey dress out, making sure there were no creases in it, I placed some black stud earrings into my ear lobes. I made sure my hair was looking acceptable because I had left it down to fall around my shoulders. There was a risk of flyaway hairs and I didn't want that. I inspected my face in the mirror. I was — strangely for me — wearing make-up (not a lot; only light foundation and some mascara). I still wasn't quite used to the concept of wearing it as an everyday thing. But Ashley had begged me to put some on because it was a special occasion.

And what was this special occasion, you might ask? Well, today was the day we were finally graduating from Mountview.

I couldn't believe my graduation day had finally arrived. It seemed only two minutes ago when I walked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed into Mountview. Where I walked one step closer to my career.

Now it was three years later, and I had matured an incredible amount since then. I'd gained so much experience performing on stage and I had put loads of shows under my belt. I was auditioning for an actual West End show in a few days. Things had completely changed, and I was excited to see where my life would take me.

A knock on the door brought me out of my reverie. I took one last look at myself in the mirror before turning around and opening my bedroom door.

Ashley stood there, looking stunning as per usual, and she was grinning at me. Ashley had left her hair down, like me, and she had styled it perfectly into stylish waves. She had completed her make-up to perfection, and she made it look darker — as she usually wore it more naturally. But, as she said, it was a special occasion.

Her dress was a navy-blue colour, and it was a similar style to mine. Fitted, and it covered her hourglass figure, with a black belt, it suited her perfectly. She wore high heels, which made my feet hurt just looking at them. Ashley was quite pleased that I was wearing heels, but they were nowhere near as high as hers.

Ashley's eyes widened when she saw me, and her grin grew even bigger.

"You look gorgeous!" She gushed, pulling me in for a hug. "You will turn so many heads today! I mean, you were gorgeous beforehand, but now look at you! It's a wonder what only a little bit of make-up can do for you! You look fantastic!"

I placed my hands on Ashley's shoulders. "Calm down. Breathe. Breathe." I said, talking in deep, soothing tones. I knew Ashley would get a little nervous before this and when Ashley got nervous, she babbled. So, it was my job then to calm her down. Or give it a good go, at least. I wouldn't always be successful.

"Sorry," Ashley mumbled, and took a deep breath, letting me know my efforts had been fruitful this time. "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded my head, and we exited my bedroom. We both grabbed our clutch bags and headed out of the door. It was warm outside, so we ditched the jackets and coats and wanted to brave the weather.

We stepped out of our apartment and locked it behind us. As we were taking a couple of steps towards the lifts, the door of the apartment across the hall opened. Out walked Hunter, smiling and looking excited.

Clad in black dress pants, with a white, tight dress shirt and a black blazer falling across his shoulders, Hunter was looking good, as usual. His hair was in its usual gelled style, with a slight quiff at the front.

"Hey girls." He shot us a smile and his eyes raked over both of our outfits. It wasn't as if he was checking us out in a creepy way, but he was appreciating the effort we had made. "Are you off to graduation?" He asked us.