Perfectly Perfect (MAY)

[Ashley Shaw]

Seven thirty at night. The sun had set ages ago, and only the lights of the clam and much less crowded streets of downtown Pilot Ridge. The sky is blocked by a layer of candy-floss clouds, the colours of Lithium, gray and tinted with a slight greenish colour. Snow clouds. Would that add or subdue the atmosphere as he waited for one person to arrive. He was dressed rather formally, and was sure to bring a few hundred dollars with him, but he wouldn’t tell May that. She’d get angry at him. Maybe he’d tell a little white lie… he’d say he had $150 on him, truth was, he had double that amount. Just in case she convinced him to go somewhere fancy. But then again, Ashley wanted to keep things low tune, he’d make everything as subtle as possible in order to increase the effect. But… what exactly was the effect? He was stuck trying to figure that out. The romance? Tension? What was it he was trying to increase? It was hurting his head.
He stopped thinking about it. He’d only stress himself out more.

He fiddled with the rose in his fingers, rolling it between the tips, brushing the bright red petals almost lovingly. Roses were beautiful, very beautiful. But nothing would or could compare to the beauty he saw in May, or on May. He smiled to himself. Christmas had been a blast. A little weird, but he’d loved it. A new life with a new family. And they understood him this time around. Maybe second changes did exist.

[Mayu Yoshiko]

Mayu wasn't what you could call a girly girl. She didn't spend hours getting her hair perfect or trying to dress up to impress a boy. It just wasn't who she was. However, her older brother seemed to be a girl enough for both of them. So it was only three in the afternoon when she found herself being hauled away by a giant into the bathroom. Ant had apparently set them up on a date, May insisted she'd be able to get ready and he just frowned, and muttered something about her being too manly. It was a strange afternoon.

Her brother insisted she take a shower right then and there, and she complied. Mostly. May drew the line when he insisted on using a different smelling shampoo. Like it really matter? Red Currant Vanilla smelled weird anyway. So she did manage to take a shower in semi peace- using her OWN shampoo in a miracle occurrence.

Once she got out however it was off to Ant's House of Horror she was shipped. May had to sit still while he poked, prodded, and yanked her hair this way and that. Making her cry on occasion since is really did hurt to be put under torture like this. (Did her hair really matter that much?) When he was done the torture couldn't even stop. He made her sit still while he gave her a manicure and pedicure, complaining all the while.

She just wanted to sleep.

Mayu groaned while she waited for her nails to dry and he finished the last stage of torture: Make up. Her head turned to angle she didn't even know was possible while he worked his Ant-magic on her face. God, Ash wouldn't even be working this hard. All the while Ant assured her it would be easier after the first time. Like she ever wanted to go through this again. Never again!

Next she had to slip on these pair of heels that made her question how girls could ever walk in them. Honestly, the heels were about the size of her foot! (She's over-exaggerating) May slipped on her dress- somehow managing not to screw up her hair OR her makeup. Ant gave her a once over and pulled out a tiny little coffin necklace that made her groan all over again.

"Am I done?"

Ant gave her a wild grin- the kind that made you question his sanity- before turning her towards a full length mirror. May gasped and stepped closer to the mirror. Was that even her? Her eyes had never looks so big, or her lashes so long! For once she could understand the torture girls put themselves through. The men had better appreciate this!

"That's a yes?"

And with yet another wild grin the whirlwind left, leaving May alone as the clock hit seven thirty and the incoherent thoughts of a stressed teenager entered the vicinity of the household. Ash was here. Now Mayu was really freaking out, pulling on the edge of her dress and suddenly thinking Ant was retarded for making her look too fancy.

She started down the stairs, barely managing to keep her balance in theses shoes. Now would be a great time to mention her lack of time in heels. May opened the door and looked out at Ash shyly, half hiding behind the door. "Hey Ashy..." She took a deep breath and stepped out, feeling rather silly with her hair up in curls. It felt so odd! "Where are we going..?" May was blushing a bright cherry red, looking down at the ground. Ant was an ass. So mean. This was just too much!

[Ashley Shaw]

It hadn’t been to long when the door opened to his new home. He’d been at his dorm to pick out his suit, and to pack some more clothes for his move from his cold, bitter dorm with minimal bedding and into the warm, cosy home of May and Antosha, while also sharing a room with May. The bed was much more appealing to him than his previous home. And he didn’t just mean the beds, either. It was nice to have a family again, and this time it was almost perfect; all he needed was a mother-figure and he’d be set! He smiled to himself, looking up as he heard May’s voice ring out like a soft melody. He caught her eyes and his breath hitched, his heart beat sped up rapidly. He couldn’t believe this… he defiantly blamed Ant for this.
Oh jeez, he though, scanning her new appearance with amazed eyes, she looks… amazing.
He smiled as she looked toward the ground, obviously she was not very comfortable with this new style of dress. Sure, it may have been a little to nice, but he agreed no the less. If she couldn’t walk he had some flat leather boots in his car that Kent had given him. Hell, he’d only been learning for a few weeks, a month and a bit, and he was already passing everything. He guessed he could jump straight into the test, save himself a lot of money, since his day job wasn’t paying so well anymore, and he was only down to $500. He couldn’t live off of that. Lessons cost at least $50 a turn, and he’d had five or six already.

Ashley stepped up to May, tilting her head up to look at him. He smirked and twirled a curl.
“You look beautiful,” he assured her, kissing her cheek and holding her hand gently. Boy, this was awkward. He might start blushing in a minute. It wouldn’t surprise him if he was honest with himself: what teenage boy wasn’t awkward around girls? Apart from hookers of course, and he sure as hell wasn’t one of those, and he had no intentions of doing so. It would hurt more than just May, and who needs multiple girls if one is enough to break your entire world down and transform it into something beautiful.
“Where are we off to?” Ashley smiled and walked her to the car, opening the door for her, “downtown! A park, a restaurant, you name it! Or we can decide on rock paper scissors!”

[Mayu Yoshiko]

Mayu smiled to herself, putting a hand over her mouth as she looked up at Ash. Actually looking. Not just a glance. Yes, young man- she was checking out her man. And her man looked good. If a little formal. Like herself.. So everything was okay because of it. Right? Well it didn't matter. May looked around, her hair smelling like the trees with pink flowers- you know, Cherry Blossoms. She loved that smell, it just went with everything. "You look handsome Ashy." with that she leaned up, thankfully not that high, and kisses his cheek. Ant appeared then, in his typical appearing when need fashion and handed her a jacket- that was longer then her dress. Dear god.

May offered him a smile- a rare one, that she didn't hide. Yes she wasn't hiding behind her hand. Or her bangs.. Or any other object/body part she normally hides behind. It just wasn't one of those days. The kind where the entire world was- oh hey he opened the door for her! "Aw... Thank you Ashy!" she cried out, somehow walking down the steps without tripping on her face. It was like a girls natural state to be walking in heels. She felt more... gorgeous then she ever had before- though Halloween beat everything. There was no way anything under the sun that she could feel as good as she did Halloween, since she had spent it with Ash. And it was amazing. Even Ant had fun. Now there was a concept. Ant having fun. May smiled back at Ash, sliding into the car while thinking about halloween. Maybe though it was time to pay attention to her man... "Well, Mr. Prince... Rock, Paper, Scissors sounds so much more... Formal." She giggled, knowing she could beat the game easily. Rock. Paper. Scissors. KISS. No way to lose.

[Ashley Shaw]

He’d stepped into this with an empty mind. He wasn’t going to take in anything anyone said tonight. Just answer. Don’t start the conversation, he was in no place to be doing that around May. He didn’t feel like it was his place to force her to say anything at all. Then again, it was no-one place to do that. He just felt more… untrusting towards himself. He sighed, a moment ago he had been fine. Then he’d seen her and his heart had sunk like the titanic. What was all this guilt still doing hanging around him like flies on a corpse. His heart didn’t jump when she called him by his pet name, or when she’d smiled at him or when she complemented him. He wanted to smile and mean it, but right now it was hard to even consider it. But he had to try for May’s sake.

“Formal? You strange girl,” Ash tweaked a small smile, shuffling in the drivers seat, “Ok, I was planning on making a runner to the cinema and do a quick pick, but if you want to go anywhere else, I’d be happy to take you.” Ashley tore his eyes away from her as quick as he could. He couldn’t bare to look at her for more than a few seconds without feeling like he was going to burst into tears and hand her a gun to shoot him. That may not be a good thing to do, since he neither had a gun or the will power to ask her to end his life. He let out a sigh and decided to do the most appropriate date move, and leaned over to kiss her, stroking her hair.
He knew there was something she wanted to say, but whatever it was, he wasn’t sure he’d like to hear it. But then again, this was May. He didn’t want her to keep copped up inside herself all the time.
He guessed he’d have to wait until she wanted to speak to him.

[Mayu Yoshiko]

Mayu crossed her ankles awkwardly on the seat, trying to look prim and proper.. And really, who are we kidding? She was just trying to find a way to not be nervous. Dates were not really her specialty, honestly they weren't. It just.. wasn't. Unlike Ash, who clung onto the guilt like a lifeline, May was surprisingly trusting towards him. A firm believer in second chances, through and through. Yes, it hurt. Bad. And her heart was still hurting, because they had just started going out and then Ash went and did that. But May was willing to give him another chance, without grudges (even if she now was going to watch him carefully around both genders), simply because he deserved it.

Well, he had deserved it. Up until May went through his journal. It was a horrible thing to do, and broke rules of privacy. But she couldn't help it when he left it sitting out. However, after reading it she wasn't so sure about Ash's state of mind. He should have known better then to try and keep things of that importance from them! May shook her head, thinking that what she wanted to ask would best wait until after their date. God only knows how much they need normalcy now. "The cinema sounds great! Any particular movie you'd like to see, I'm up for anything... Without zombies hopefully?" She offered him a quick smile, light and carefree to show him that there were no grudges for Christmas.

[Ashley Shaw]

Ok, he was sorted partially. The cinema it was, unfortunately, he hadn’t checked what was on, so he literally meant ‘run in and pick a movie’. He was a lazy boy, true to his nature he hadn’t even gotten up early enough to do anything other than clean up and get dressed for this, but he hadn’t slacked off on her. He’d never do that, even though it seemed the least he could do for her.
He also noted the not-with-zombies. Was there any zombie type films on at the moment anyway? He’d only heard of Tron and No Strings Attached from the TV in the student lounge. He smiled to himself. Maybe they would just have to pick anything. He’d be damned if he became indecisive when they got there, he’d probably piss May off too, and of course that would be the last thing he wanted. They’d have to do rock paper scissors eventually over this one. Imagine that, two smartly dressed seventeen-year-olds playing rock paper scissors in the doorway of a cinema?

Ashley fired up the engine, giving May a glance, “no zombies, gotcha.”
For the first time that night he gave an honest smile and winked at her. Perhaps he could blank this all out tonight, for one time only. Then he’d let it consume him.
“But, I still don’t know what the hell is on, so, how about the first trailer that comes up on the screen is the film we see?” what a daft suggestion. Inventive no doubt, but it would be extraordinarily lucky-dip. If May wasn’t happy then he’d have her do all the choosing. But then again, he was trying to be a gentleman tonight, so he’d probably narrow it down for her or take her out.
Then an idea struck him. He sure as hell hoped the cinema had dance mats.