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"You've been in a bad mood since you stepped out of the bus, this morning. Are you going to tell us what's going on?" Maya asked Aria as they left biology class.

Aria braided her hair into one long braid before untangling it again and repeating the same thing again. The bad car journey with her mother had dented her day and she wasn't cheering up anytime soon, what worsened the situation was that she had even less time now to figure out how to get enough vote to actually matter in the race for prom queen.

"I decided to reinvent myself last night," Aria started off and gained Julie's wide eyes of joy, "but my mother wasn't a fan off my choice of clothing. She thinks I'm trying to dress provocatively for...him and then she took away my morning shifts and some of my clothes."

"Oh man--tell me she didn't take that black bodycon dress, we bought at the mall?" Julie closed her eyes harshly.

"It's gone," Aria said and sagged her shoulders in disappointment, "everything decent that I had is now gone. Being a prom queen contender is going to be impossible if I look like this." She pointed to her blue jeans and a blouse she'd gotten for freshman year.

Maya and Julie fell silent while they waited for Aria to bring the next subject's books and they continued on to Maya's locker. The somber mood had spread to her friends and although it felt good not to be alone in what she felt Aria also needed them to motivate her to continue on. Eventually Maya slammed her locker clothes and stared at the two girls with a smirk - she'd gotten an idea.

"We need to throw a party with you as the official host. It's a lot easier to come up with party themes and they don't have to be attached to your identity, but you'll need to schmooze like a real politician to snag some votes." Maya said and shrugged her shoulders as she'd had this idea since yesterday.

A party wasn't a bad idea but with Catherine always at home it wouldn't be possible to have it at her own house. Aria tried to see a mental picture of the calendar firmly placed next to the fridge to figure out if her mother had anything planned in the foreseeable future, but with her concerns raised about Aria it was doubtful if she'd leave the house for anything but the necessary.

"I could never have it at my house, my mother wouldn't let me. If the party is going to happen it needs to be somewhere else, which might be difficult to arrange." Aria mentioned.

Maya straightened her stance and lit up, "Not if we have it in a public place, like the lake a few minutes from my house. It's secluded, easy to access with car and if your mom would get suspicious we can be back at my house within minutes."

Now that was an idea they could all work with. The three friends giggled among each other and tightened the circle they were in as they continued talking about this supposed party. There was a lot to be done in a short matter of time and Aria needed to make amends with her mother, quickly, in order to be granted to leave the house.

"Are you going to ask your crush to show up?" Julie wiggled her eyebrows outside of the classroom they were about to enter.

Aria pushed past her and took a seat, ignoring the question. The thought had yet to cross her mind but now that he was mentioned she couldn't help but smile a little. The fantasy she'd concocted was enough motivation to want to invite him but she doubted he'd say yes; and even if he would she couldn't see him again, considering she was no longer serving him coffee and biscuits in the morning.

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