*Hazel's Pov*
"Get over here, Princess!" Asher yelled to me from across the park. I grabbed my mini cheesecake and my diploma and ran to him. The rest of our friends were gathered around him getting ready for the picture.
"Hey, Muffin! Is it time for pictures already? I was about to eat this." I frowned down at my plate of happiness as he slid his arm around my waist. Not to sound weird, but the silky fabric of our gowns was so comfortable! It was like freshly shaved legs on a bed with silky sheets!!
He patted my head and picked up my plate. "You won't have to worry about eating this."
"Why?" I tilted my head in confusion.
"Because I'll do it for you!" He stuffed it in his mouth faster than Lightning McQueen and my mouth slowly opened in shock as my eyes bugged out of my head.
Our friends looked at him like he just killed someone and whispered amongst themselves about the tragedy that was about to occur.
"Oh no..."
"Does he know what he just did??"
"It was nice knowing you, Asher..."
"Y-you....you ate m-my...." The anger built up in me and I saw him grow scared. He tried to run away but I jumped on his back before he could.
"Okay, get ready for the picture..." said someone in the background that I wasn't really paying attention to.
"How dare you?!!! Do you know how rude it is to eat someone else's cheesecake you imbecile?!!!" Between every work, I punched his shoulders. He spun around frantically and wiggled to try to shake me off.
Connor came behind me to try and pull me off of Asher. Anikah jumped into Julia's arms out of fear and accidentally made her hair a wild mess. Ian sat down on the floor and began to rock back and forth in fetal position. Honey started panicking and paced back and forth behind us. Liam and Violet were crying and rolling over from laughing too hard. Athena looked upon all the chaos with a hand over her mouth. Eli tried to calm the situation down by picking Asher up with me still on his back and threw us over his shoulder (though Connor did fall off and ended up just hugging Eli's leg). Ivy was the only one still posing for the picture with a big smile.
"3.....2.....1." *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click*
All of us completely froze in our places and looked over at the camera man. Poor man was just doing his job...
We all fixed ourselves and ran at him.
"Show us the pictures!!!!"
"What did they look like???"
"Can we have a redo??"
The camera man put his hands up in defense. "Hey, I only do seven pictures for each group. You're gonna have to pay if you want more. Just look at the pictures I took and decide if you're willing to pay $10 for one more picture."
We all sighed and stood behind him as he began to slide through the photos. Of course, in ever single one, we were a representation of pure chaos. We looked like absolute madmen in those pictures.
"Oh my god." We all said in unison.
I stepped back. "You know, I kinda like the pictures. They're a pretty good representation of what we're pretty much always like."
"You're right! We should keep them." Asher slung an arm around me.
"Okay, well how many prints do you need?" the man asked.
"Twelve."
"Also, I'd like to pay for us to have another picture." Liam looked around at our questioning expressions. "What? I want at least ONE normal picture to show my parents."
He gave the man the cash and we all posed again. This time, we just smiled and made peace signs and hugged each other. It was a really beautiful picture.
Once we all got our copies and the camera man moved onto the next group, we all gathered in a circle and sat on the grass.
"Well, we're officially graduates. Out of high school. God I'm so happy we're done with that." Asher let out a huge relieving sigh and leaned back on his elbows.
"Hey, don't forget. We still have four to five more years of college." Connor laughed from his other side and nudged him.
He rolled his head back. "Fuck, that's right."
"I mean, hey! At least you and I are going to the same college and everyone else will be really nearby." I smiled and lay my head in his lap.
"That's true. If I don't get that physical therapy degree, I quit at life officially." Asher played with my hair.
"Why do you want to become a physical therapist anyways?" Violet asked.
"I don't know. I guess I just like the thought of helping people get back to what they're used to. I want to be able to help them recover, you know?" He poked my cheek and I smiled at his answer. He was such a great person.
"I'm sure you'll get it. Lets hope I get that elementary education degree. Little kids are so cute and I just want to be the best teacher for them. Plus, I get to play with building blocks and color all day! Sounds like a win to me." I was so excited for my future career.
"I don't know, little kids are kinda brats." Ivy scrunched her nose.
"Which is why you and I will become the wine aunt and uncle and travel the world instead of having kids." Eli said as he kissed her cheek.
"I guess we'll have to battle it out cause that was my plan with Violet." Liam punched Eli's shoulder.
"Ian, what are you gonna do in your last year of high school without us?" Connor asked. Ian came and took the pictures with us, but he was only a junior. He'd have to go a year without us, unfortunately.
Ian smiled. "I'll be fine, guys. You're not all that far away so we can still hang out. Besides, I have Jason."
I pressed my lips together tightly. "Before I leave, I have to give him a whole speech on how he better treat you right or i'm gonna kick his sorry little butt."
"Shouldn't it be the other way around? You know, since he's your brother?" Honey asked.
I shook my head vigorously. "No, you see, I know them very well. Ian is the kindest boy you'll ever meet and Jason is a little devil."
Ian nodded. "But yeah, it'll be cool. And I'm pretty much guaranteed to get into the same college as Liam, Violet, and Athena.
"Hazel and I will see each other all the time now at family events, too!" Honey chimed in.
"Oh that's right! Your uncle Marcus is engaged to Hazel's mom, huh?" Anikah asked.
"That's right. " I smiled. "They're like perfect for each other. They both like all those weird older people things like listening to Carrie Underwood in the car and watching daytime talk shows. And he's a really great guy, especially to her." I shot Honey a warm smile.
"We're basically cousins now!" Honey beamed excitedly.
We all smiled because we knew we'd all still have each other no matter what.
For the rest of the afternoon, we just sat there telling old stories and memories we all shared together. We had been friends for about two years and I was dating Asher for about a year and a half so we had a lot of stories.
Like that time Violet got detention for punching Sheyla Donnor in the face. Or the time Athena sent a flying kick to a creep at a 7/11. That one time Asher and I finessed kids out of their money at a skating rink arcade. Or even the time Asher confessed his love for me and asked me to be his girlfriend on Christmas.
I know that last one sounds romantic and it is, but think about it. Our anniversary is Christmas. Of course we don't celebrate it on the day but I just find that detail so peculiar.
~~~~~~~
We all went to my house in the evening for our graduation party. All of our families were there but surprisingly it wasn't too crowded. My family was the biggest one here after all.
Everyone was eating and talking and singing along to music. It was a great time. I was sitting on the staircase with Asher as we watched everyone else and just talked.
"Hey, how have things been with your family lately?" Asher asked casually.
"Really great! We're doing so much better especially with Marcus around now. Him and Leo get along amazingly, too! What about you? How are things with your brother? Still tense??" I asked curiously.
"With Jax, everything's getting better actually. He's made more of an effort to hang out with me and he even defends me if my parents ground me." He laughed. "But yeah, we're doing pretty good."
"That's great! I'm happy for you, Muffin." We shared a smile and gaze for a few seconds.
I looked away and smiled. "Aren't you just so happy and excited? I know I am. We're going to college together in two months!!" I grabbed his shoulders and shook him around.
"Yeah, definitely. I'm just surprised it went by so fast. It feels like just yesterday you were moving into this house and I was throwing pebbles at your window to tell you to shut up." He shook his head.
"Yeah, you were so mean!" I laughed.
"Hey, I've changed! Besides, I never actually hated you. I guess I just had a very strong guard up."
"Oh trust me, I did too. But you had to go and knock it all down you slug." I leaned into his chest.
"Did you just call me a slug?? You know what, slugs are cute so i'm not even taking that as an insult." He put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed me until I couldn't breathe.
Before he could choke me to death, my mom made an announcement. She stood at the entrance of the kitchen with Marcus right next to her as she tapped a spoon against a cup. "Everybody! It's cake time!"
Asher and I looked at each other excitedly. "Cake time!!" We both yelled in unison.
Everyone gathered around as my mom passed out slices. Asher and I got ours and went outside to my front yard. We stood looking up at the stars and prepared to eat our cake.
I wanted to do something first. A little revenge. "Hey, Asher. I know you like cake a lot so I've decided to let you have mine."
His eyes went wide like a puppy. "Wait, really?? I never thought this day would come."
"Yeah here you go." I said as I shoved my cake in his face and rubbed it around until it covered every inch and even got onto his hair. "That's what you get for stealing my cheesecake from me, hehe!"
I laughed as he stood there in shock and I stopped laughing as I grew worried. Did i make him mad? I didn't mean to...
"Wait, Asher i'm sorry are you o-" I was interrupted by him smashing his cake in my face and rubbing it all around just like I did to him. He started laughing like a maniac as I stood there, processing.
"Hey! Only I get to do that cause you ate my cake earlier!" I huffed.
He mimicked me in dumb voice like little siblings do to each other when they're arguing.
I mimicked him back and we went back and forth until he slid his arms around my waist and pulled me in for a kiss. I put my hands on his neck as I kissed back before pulling away.
"Woah, that tastes really good!" The cake on his lips had gotten into my mouth. "Is that red velvet?"
"Yeah I think so. Your mom chose a really good cake." He shrugged and smiled.
"Yeah, I thought so because when I tasted it, it tasted like red velvet but weirdly enough it didn't look like-"
I was interrupted by Asher pulling me in again and telling me to shut up in the best way possible.
Pulling away from the kiss, Asher picked me up and gently threw me on the ground. There was a soft thud when I hit the ground and an even louder one when he jumped right next to me.
He hugged me while we lay there and started rolling us around in the grass.
"Asher what are you doing?" I laughed and wheezed as he went over me.
"Look at us we're roly polies!" He said and stopped us when he was on top of me.
He looked down at me and moved some loose hairs out of my face. "Hey, I've been calling you Princess for a very long time... When do you think I'll be able to finally call you Mrs. Grey?"
My cheeks felt hot when he said that and my mouth fell slightly open. "i- uhh... You can start calling me Mrs. Grey when you propose to me with a ring pop like I've always wanted....and also when you beat me at a game of tag."
"I've beat you at a game of tag before!" He exclaimed.
"When?!" I looked at him with wide eyes.
"Remember that one time at that McDonalds when you shot me with a Ronald McDonald catapult so I chased you outside and tagged you?" He arched his eyebrow.
"Oh yeah....."
"Now that I think about it, when I caught up to you and tackled you, we were in this exact position." He laughed.
"Woah, you're right!" I laughed along with him.
He rolled off of me and sat next to me. "Stand up." He said.
"Okay?" I stood up and wiped my clothes. "Aren't you going to stand?" I asked him.
He smiled and repositioned himself so he was kneeling in front of me. "Well since we got that game of tag out of the way. Hazel Ambrielle..."
Oh. My. God. I didn't know that he was serious about the proposal thing!!!!
He pulled a blue ring pop out from his pocket, unwrapped it, and held it out in front of him. "We've had so many crazy adventures together and none of these weird things would've ever happened without you by my side because before you, my life was gray. You're my best friend and I know I can talk to you about anything and do anything with you next to me. You've completely obliterated me with your dimpled smile and the way your nose scrunches when you laugh and how your glasses get squished against your face when you accidentally fall asleep with them on. You're the only beauty and light I see in this world full of sadness and darkness. I love you more than the stars. Will you be my......partner for the history 101 summer project??"
My mouth fell wide open. "What??"
Asher gave me a sheepish smile. "I know we're still way too young to get married and we both have our ambitions so i'm not proposing yet. But I do want to tell you that I have every intention in marrying you someday. So take this ring pop as a promise, Princess. Besides I do need a partner for that summer project."
I cracked a smile and started laughing. "Okay, Mr. Grey. I'll make that promise to you." I held out my hand and he slipped the ring pop on my finger. I took a little bite off of the side. "Mmm, blueberry ring pop!"
"Ooh I want to try!" Asher took a bite off the other side right before kissing my hand. "How lovely."
"You sap." I laughed as slapped his shoulder.
"I'm no sap! I just happened to give you a blue kiss mark on your hand!" He defended. I looked down at my hand and surely enough, there was a blue kiss mark.
"I'll return the favor then." I stood up on my tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the nose. When I pulled back, there was a big blue kiss mark there.
"Hey, that's embarrassing!" He covered his nose self-consciously.
"Yeah yeah, let's go back with everyone else inside! I want to dance!" I hauled him back inside as he whined about his nose.
As we entered the house I looked at him and admired him. "Hey, Asher?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you." I smiled.
He smiled back. "I love you too, Princess." He kissed and we met everyone else inside again.
The End
A/N: The end!!! Thank you so much everyone for reading this book!! I appreciate you all and love you guys so much it's crazy that people actually like my writing hehe. Okay so I know I had ended it in the previous chapter but i decided to make some changes since i won't be writing the sequel anymore. I'm going to add a bonus chapter from their senior year which is what the sequel was going to be about. And i wanted to tie up some loose ends here! I'm really going to miss these characters but it's for the best because i'm realizing that their story is done. :) I'm going to be thinking up ideas and planning for possibly another book about something different with different characters. This is officially the end (besides the bonus chapters I will be uploading) so please follow me to get more notice on any future announcements or books I might work on!! Bye my loveliesâ¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸
â-your author Gen