Early

Maddie arrived at the destination Alex sent her through text. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure if it was the pink house on her right or the blue house on her left. She drove slowly between both, stopped and tried calling Alex. A tall, grizzled man came out from under an old car and wiped his hands. He waved and approached their car. Renee screwed the window down without thinking. Maddie was still listening to the phone ring, ready for the second Alex answers.

"You girls lost?" The mature gentleman asked. He looked almost annoyed but his voice had a tenderness to it.

"N-no, sir. Well, uh, we're actually looking for someone. Do you know Alex?" Renee managed to squeak out, a little nervous in the presence of a foxy older man.

"Alex? You mean my daughter?" He asked questioningly.

"I think so. Today's her birthday, right?"

"Hmm. Yeah, you're right. I'm just surprised since I've never seen your faces. It's not often she invites new people to the house. Well, don't mind me. I'm just working on this old jalopy. You can park right next to the next fence. Alex and Megan are right in the back setting up. Maybe you girls can give them a hand." Alex's dad suggested. Renee turned toward Maddie.

"Park right over there, hon." Maddie looked up at Renee a bit defeated. She sighed and hung up the phone before parking parallel to the white picket fence. Before they walked to the back, Renee quickly shuffled toward the working man.

"Thanks, Mr...?" Renee asked with an outstretched hand and a shy, seductive look. The older gentleman gently grabbed her hand.

"Mr. Wright. But you can call me Steven." the man answered with a smile. Renee shook with a tight lipped smile and beaming eyes, holding in a giggle. She waved back at him as she skipped away and rejoined Maddie.

"Renee...could you not?"

"Not what?" Renee asked but before Maddie could answer, Megan called out to them.

"Hey! You're early!" Megan exclaimed. "And Alex here was worried you wouldn't show. See, sis? I told you she'd come." Megan said proudly, as if this was all according to her plan. Alex walked out holding a big box of decorations and set it down next to the gazebo. Her chest bounced vigorously from dropping the heavy load.

Alex was a rocker type. She had long, messy, dark brown hair and wore heavy eyeliner whenever possible. She was about 5'7" with an impressive bust and wide hips. She had a lean figure but filled out her swimsuits nicely. She even had bikini tanlines similar to Renee's. She was wearing a black spaghetti strap over her bikini top and grey shorts. She had a dream catcher tattoo on her left shoulder that normally wasn't visible at school.

"Well, I'll be. You were right again, sis. You think you can finish the rest of the setup on your own?" Alex asked with a nonchalant smile on her face.

"Leave it to me." Megan quickly answered as she picked up the pace. Alex walked right up to the redhead.

"Hi, I don't think we've met. You're Madison's friend, right?" Alex went in for a hug which Renee reciprocated.

"Hey, I'm Renee. Maddie's my bestie so I'm just tagging along."

"Besties huh? How long have you guys been friends?"

"Since freshman year. It's actually kinda funny how we met. So I was in study hall right--oof!" Renee felt an elbow to her arm. She turned to Maddie who quickly switched from an annoyed grimace to a lively smile.

"Hey, Alex!"

"Hi."

"...Ugh, we almost got lost coming here but your dad helped us out."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I even tried calling you but I didn't get an answer. Do you have your phone on you?"

"I do but it's on silent."

"Oh, okay." Maddie was scrounging for things to say but she was afraid of coming on too strong with compliments. Renee could feel the awkwardness radiating off of her and decided to cut the tension herself.

"So who else is coming?" Renee asked, **** to revive the conversation.

"Just a few close friends. I wanted this to be lowkey, ya know?" Alex answered sincerely.

"Oh, I totally get that. I don't really like big parties. Chill get togethers are such a vibe."

"Right? It's way more fun and way less loud." The two girls share a laugh as Maddie is still trying to recover from bombing earlier. Just as she was about to interject into the conversation again, Megan appears.

"Excuse me, honey. Madison, right? Can you help me put this up?" Megan asked while holding up a long string of lights.

"Um...s-sure." Maddie reluctantly agreed. Megan lead her by the hand and Maddie looked back at Alex and Renee chatting away.

Every time Maddie finished one task, Megan had another one for her to do. This went on for about half an hour while Renee and Alex sat on a large lounge chair. It was big enough to hold four people but the girls sat awfully close. Alex kept sneaking glances at Renee's cleavage and thighs as Renee talked about her most exciting hockey moments. Alex was telling a story about how her and friends got into a car chase when she was interrupted by her blaring Linkin Park ringtone. It was so loud that all three girls jumped a bit and turned their heads when it started playing.

"Hold on, I think they're outside." Alex started walking towards the front as she answered the phone. "What's up?...Yeah, that's her truck...just park next to her and tell Vaughn to park across the street...alright, one sec."

Alex opened the back gate to greet her friends as they came in. Stephanie and her boyfriend Leroy and Aria came with Vaughn. Everyone hugged Alex before they walked into the back to see Maddie and Megan finishing the decorations.

"Oh wow, you really invited her. I thought you were joking." Aria said with a snort. Renee's mood immediately soured.

"Yeah, I'm surprised she invited me too." Renee retorted, clearly aggravated.

"Oh no, not you Renee. I mean the other one. What was your name again, sweetheart?"

"Maddie..." the poor girl said dejectedly.

"Aria. Could you not be a bitch for five seconds?" Stephanie growled at her.

"What? I'm just saying what we're all thinking." Aria protested. Alex squashed the dispute.

"Just be chill, Aria. Megan, grab the cooler. I'll get the speaker."