WHEN JAY MET MAI

Good as Hell

Mai was scrolling on her phone on her bed when she heard her friends enter her bedroom unannounced. She looked up and saw her three friends: Maria, Sami, and Ceasar. 

"Hello darling! We are -" Ceasar started saying before he was cut by Sami.

She cleared her throat "We heard there was a fashion emergency. So we came right here, as fast as we could".

Mai quickly connected the dots and looked directly at Maria. Maria feeling Mai's gaze on her shrugged her shoulders. "It is a fashion emergency, you have a date and the clothes you have aren't date material."

Sami and Ceasar went directly to Mai's closet not noticing that they weren't welcome.

Mai put down her phone, sighed, and got up from her bed. She walked towards her two friends who were rummaging through her closet without her consent. "I don't need your help, I'm fine on my own, anyway this is a simple date." 

Ceasar turned his head to face Mai, a serious look on his face. "Oh no, it isn't! This date is linked to your internship, it's time you start to be in a real relationship and if you were to chose your outfit you would go there in ripped jeans and a band t-shirt." Ceasar counted on his fingers.

Mai sighed in defeat, they were right. She let herself be guided back to her bed, sitting beside Maria who looked like she was having a blast.

She was angry, angry they were intruding on her privacy and especially towards Maria, who was the only she told about the date, as it was not supposed to be a big deal. 

"Mai, stop frowning, you'll get wrinkles," Sami said as she looked at a white shirt. "Just trust us, we are the best people who can help you."

Mai knew not to contradict Sami and stopped frowning. She was right if two people would be the best to pick an outfit, it would be her and Ceasar. The fact that Sami was so good at creating outfits and styling clothes made her question Sami's choice of career. She was studying pure science to be a scientific researcher to work in a laboratory. Which was the complete opposite of her hobbies which were partying and creating outfits. When she needed to be serious she would put all her focus on one thing, but when it was time to have fun, she would be the first one to suggest going clubbing. They met during a class they shared, the first year of university. She didn't know why but they clicked. it was like Sami help Mai get out of her shell.  

As for Ceasar, they met during an extra-curricular activity. They were paired up in a team and realized that they both were friends with Sami. Ceasar shared the hobby of partying with Sami. He was an extrovert, who wasn't afraid to call you out. He didn't really know what he wanted to with his life, he went with the flow. He was passionate about one thing, writing. He was an aspiring musician who wrote his own songs but that wouldn't pay the bills so he was studying psychology instead of being a full-time musician.   

"Mai why are your clothes so dull," the tall girl with walnut skin and long black wavy hair said.

She tried to explain herself but was caught by Sami, "no wonder it's been so long since you've had a boyfriend".

"I know right, her sense of fashion is boring and she doesn't let anyone in easily."

The two best friends continued going back and forth exposing Mai and it seriously aggravated her.

"Okay that's enough, you've read me enough for a week. Now the library is closed. Can we go back to finding an outfit for my date, that's tonight." The two stopped chatting and gasped.

With eyes wide open, Ceasar scoffed, "Your date is tonight? Oh dear, Maria why didn't you tell us. We won't be able to transform this beast into Belle in only a few hours"

"What! come on!" Mai yelled, a little upset by Ceasar's comment. But her comment went right past the two fashionistas.

Sami took out a tight black dress and inspected it, Mai knowing way too much what was going on inside her friend's head quickly reacted, "No, not that dress. It is so uncomfortable."

She crossed her arms and shooked her head. There was no way in hell she was wearing that dress. It was way too tight and showed too much cleavage. The dress was very tight and it would show her curves and she was not fully confident about her body.

The two fashionistas approached Mai and Maria, "The thing, Darling, is that this is an opportunity to meet your soulmate." Ceasar fluttered his eyelashes while putting his hands under his chin. He then went back into Mai's closet "Because let's be honest here, since you broke off with Michael in 12th grade, you haven't really put yourself out there. And your time is clocking out."

Mai looked on her left to see Maria nodding her head and to her right, Sami was looking at her with her big brown eyes. It was true that since she broke off with Michael when they dated for a whole year, she never really was interested to date again.

Seeing the grave look on her face, Sami smiled touched Mai's chin to make her look at her. "You may have never dated since that jerk Michael broke your heart, but not everything is over for you. You are not only beautiful but smart and nice to be around, anyone would fall for you." Mai's corners of her lips went up, "So I want you to go to that date, have fun, flirt a little and most importantly be yourself, anyone would fall for you with just a snap of your fingers," Sami finished snapping her fingers. 

"You know girl, we are not here to ridicule you, we are here to help you look your best. You've got to appreciate our help, the Grand Ceasar doesn't help everybody for free," Ceasar showed Mai a gold-colored necklace as well as some beautiful hearings. 

"The dress and accessories are only to grab the attention of a man, with your amazing personality I'm sure you could lure him in," Maria reassured Mai.

Even though she didn't like the dress, with a little help from her friends Mai was now confident about her date.

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A/N omg I'm gonna nickname Sami the pep-talk girl. So if you haven't noticed five years have passed since the epilogue. Mai is now 20 and Jay is 21. We'll see him in the next chapter!