Something Great

Chapter 1

"Avuhhhhhh! Get uuuuuuup," Ralley whined, shaking her friend's heavy shoulder. She slept so fucking deeply ugh.

"Go away, bitch," Ava mumbled, pulling the striped comforter tighter around her slim body.

Ralley sighed, thinking to herself, What could possibly get her out of bed?

"It's almost time to take your bandage off."

"Almost."

"I made pancakes?"

"I'll eat later."

"We could go to the beach. It's literally in our fucking backyard?"

"Later."

"JESUS FUCK," Ralley shouted. She paused.

"Ashton DM'd me. He wants to hang out later."

Ava rolled over, peeking out from under her blanket.

"Really?"

"No, bitchface! Now get up! I wanna do a twitcam."

"It's too fucking earlyyyyy," Ava replied, rolling back over. "Do a twitcam by yourself."

"It's like half past noon and I don't wanna do it by myself." Ralley sat on Ava's bed, waiting for her to say something. She admired her new tattoo for a minute. Spending love like...

"Fine, if you're not gonna do anything, I guess I could always DM Calum and ask him if he wants to hang out," Ralley feigned, sighing heavily as she stood up and began to walk to the door slowly.

"Go get some," Ava said tiredly, without even opening her eyes.

"Oh, look. He says Ash will be there too," Ralley lied, pretending she was reading a message off her phone.

Ava sighed and threw the covers away from her, sitting up in bed. Her blonde hair was extremely disheveled, covering at least half of her face.

"I know you're lying, but I'm tired of you being a fucking gnat in my ear. Jesus."

Ralley smiled as she watched her best friend step out of bed and straighten her pajama shorts, pushing her wavy hair out of her face.

"Whatcha wanna do?" Ralley asked, walking out into the hallway. Luckily, Ava followed her.

"I need a smoothie and some sun," Ava answered, examining her arms, which to be fair, were already decently tanned.

"Shut the fuck up," Ralley joked, glancing down at her own creamy skin. She didn't tan well... And she didn't go out in the sun often. She didn't really mind though. She was on the tan side for being pale, if that made sense.

"You know, tanning's only going to get you more freckles? Not make them disappear?"

"I'm gonna ignore you," Ava stated, walking past her into the kitchen where she started pulling random fruit out of the fidge.

"What kind of smoothie do you want?"

"Blueberry banana with just a hint of peanut butter," Ralley answered, noticing a bit of an Australian accent in her voice. She smiled to herself. She'd been wanting to pick up an accent for years.

"You're so fucking weird." Ava rolled her eyes, setting aside some strawberries. She'd have to make her own separately, thanks to Ralley's weirdass smoothie preferences.

"Blueberries and peanut butter??"

"The bananas balance it out and create a lovely flavor palate." Ralley laughed. They'd had this conversation a million times. Smoothies were the staple breakfast for To the Stars. She leaned on the island for a few moments, watching Ava put everything in the blender.

"I guess I'll go change and whatever," Ralley announced, skipping down the hall to her room to slip into a dark green, star-print bikini. She decided against makeup but lathered herself in sunscreen. Sun burns were not part of a fun vacation. She pulled on a pair of denim shorts and her All Time Low tee before walking back out the kitchen, twisting her hair up in a messy bun as she went.

"Thanks, babe." Ralley said, grabbing her smoothie off the counter.

Just as Ava began to make her own smoothie, Ralley's phone rang. It was a dreadful sound-- their manager's ringtone. She answered it and stepped into the living room, away from the blender's racket.

"'Lo?"

"Just calling to remind you that you and Ava have a photoshoot today downtown," Marie said, getting straight to the point. Marie was kind of a bitch.

"What the fuck, Marie!? I don't remember scheduling this."

"You didn't, I did," Marie told her. "It was part of the deal for getting you two nights in Sydney. You need to be at the studio by two thirty. I've arranged for a driver to pick you up."

"Why are we doing a photoshoot without Liz and Karrie," Ralley asked awkwardly loudly as Ava turned off the blender. She turned around to face Ava, who looked equally pissed off about their beach plans being canceled. She had a thing for shirtless Australian boys.

"Because that's just how it worked out," Marie answered.

"Marie, we have plans. We are on vacation. I'm not going to a photoshoot while I'm on motherfucking vacation."

"Calm down and please stop swearing at me. You'll enjoy this one, trust me. It's not an ordinary shoot; it's Australian themed."

Ralley could practically see Marie smiling smugly on her end of the line, probably in her God-awful office.

"What the fuck--"

"I said stop swearing at me," Marie interrupted sternly. She sighed. She had never liked talking to Ralley, but she was more compliant than Ava.

"Just be ready to go at two. And, please, behave."

Ralley scowled at her phone. Marie had this annoying habit of hanging up before the other person was finished fucking talking.

"She scheduled us for a fucking photoshoot while we're on vacation?" Ava asked, angrily tossing the blender into the sink and taking a rather aggressive sip of her strawberry banana smoothie.

"This isn't an ordinary photoshoot," Ralley said, imitating Marie.

Ava chuckled and said, "Almost got it! You just left out the part about having a telephone pole permanently stuck up your ass."

Ralley arched her back, put her hand on her hip, and pursed her lips.

"It's Australian themed."

Ava laughed.

"How the fuck is a shoot Australian themed?" She asked, shaking her head.

"No idea," Ralley replied, flopping back onto a cushy, white leather sofa. "I guess we'll find out when we get there. Driver's coming at two."

"Whatever," Ava called over her shoulder as she walked past Ralley on the couch and out the glass door onto their back deck. They had a wonderful view. Ralley had sat out there earlier this morning, watching the sun rise and basking in its warmth until she felt the rays getting too hot for her.

She checked her phone to find a tweet notification.

@Luke5SOS: Shooting photos today

Dork, Ralley thought affectionately as she reached for the TV remote. Hopefully, Australian TV was as good as she'd heard.