Bed Space

Chapter 2 - Packing Space

"WHAT ARE WE EVEN GOING TO COSPLAY AS?"

This thought ran through her mind over and over again until it burned her thoughts. Clothes were spread and scattered around her room as the sun dipped ever so slightly behind the treeline surrounding the complex, the blinds catching the orange light and refracting against the walls of her light-blue walled room. Her toes curled slightly into the rough fibers of the carpet as she worried over what she would wear besides her cosplays too. Forest green eyes darted back and forth between two specific outfits. She could either wear what she would normally wear, the Todoroki-themed hoodie she normally wore -which had a few stains on the sleeve cuffs- with some black ripped skinny jeans or, a cute black crop top that had a Japanese dragon on the front paired with a high-waisted red skirt with matching black suspenders. For shoes though, no matter which outfit she picked, they would be complemented by her 18-hole Chuck Taylor Converse high-tops she owned.

The choices swimming in her mind as she began to think about the reactions she would receive from the party she'd be joining into. With this, Ashley began to pace and mumble.

"If I were to wear the first outfit, then maybe they'd think of me as the cute little sister," she shook her head, the orange light catching her hair, lighting it ablaze. "But, if i wore the skirt then they'd think I was a badass and I am certainly not a badass."

The girl's thoughts kept swimming in its abyssal state until a message pinged her attention, the little bright screen catching the corner of her eye. Walking over to it, the carpet course on her feet as she fastened her pace with each step, shoving the overthrown blanket aside and looking up to be greeted by a Discord message.

@ALEXIS.Cos#xxxx sent you a friend request!

Suddenly, it was as if the whole world just paused. Those particles of dust that she'd see in the morning and evenings froze in the air amongst her blinds. The low humming of the air-conditioner no longer buzzing incessantly in her ears. The name seemed familiar, like it was someone she was supposed to meet. As if it was the name of a friend she'd met long ago that moved forward without her, to leave her in the dust.

"Who is this?"

With slow hands, Ashley unlocked the phone as the dark grey screen of Discord popped up into the window of pending friend requests. There the name sat, leaving its mark of a single red dot beside the little person+ icon in the corner. Narrowing her eyes and clicking on the account name, the icon of a blonde with shoulder length hair and bright hazel eyes pictured before her. A smile that was almost brighter than the full moon's glow brilliantly taking Ashley's breath away. It has been a long time since the red-head has seen people besides her friends. After all, she was a live-in nerd and when she did go out, she was in costume with other costumed nerds.

Fear began to creep into her at the sudden realization that this girl had made her blush as the feeling of heat rose faster and faster to her cheeks. Ashley never truly liked anyone while in high school, always sticking to the few friends she had even if she was well known by the boys. Not once did she fall in love, nor even stay with someone longer than three months because she simply never pasted the "you're cute" phase of the relationship. The memories of those days bringing her under a spell of horror, shaking her head to erase all the pictures behind her eyes like an etch-a-sketch. The real question swimming behind this chaos was 'why did simply looking at her profile picture, at this person's profile picture that she'd never met, cause such a big flood?'

Taking this opportunity, the red-head moved back to her screen with the DM she shared between her and Joshua. At this point in time, the sun had been swallowed by those evergreens, just out of eyesight but not completely gone as it peaked through every small gap between the pines. Outside the stars began to pop out one by one as the moon slowly over the sun to take its turn in the spotlight.

SN.Cosplay - 8:01pm : "Soooo, what are we gonna cosplay as anyway?"

Again, the girl closed the phone screen and tossed it face down back into the burgundy sheets, letting it bounce as she watched the sheets crumple under its weight as it moved. A sigh escaped her lips once again, submitting to the idea of just packing both outfits along with a black tank top as a pj shirt. Usually she slept in her underwear but knowing her room was being shared, it was the best decision to pack a pair of dark blue sweatpants patterned with those classic black mustaches that used to be a trend back in 2012. With a shove of the creaky white-slatted closet doors, hauling out a large suitcase decorated with ahegao faces. Tossing it also on the bed, beginning to pack the few pieces of normal clothing along with some extra necessities, she left space for the possible cosplays she would be bringing.

A muffled chime found its way to her ears. Finally, a reply.

Metastatic - 8:20pm : "I believe that it's Black Butler day one, BNHA day two, and day three is just free-for-all. Not quite sure though, let me ask Alex."

"Alex? Like the Alexis that sent the friend request?"

SN.Cosplay - 8:21pm : "Okie dokie. Will do. So I'm assuming I can be Ciel, Deku, and I think I'll do Shiro as my last cosplay then."

Metastatic - 8:22pm : "You should do Alois instead, trust me but yea, those work!"

SN.Cosplay - 8:23pm : "Why Alois though? Like, he is my all time favorite character but the fucker's dead Joshy."

Metastatic - 8:23pm : "Because we have a Claude cosplay, not a Sebastian."

SN.Cosplay - 8:23pm : "Whatever, I got chu."

With that, Ashley signed off and packed the following cosplays into the suitcase along with her chest binder and wigs. Each piece was in a neat little clear case, almost as if that was the packaging it came in except with a zipper. The wigs were flattened carefully and the product to restyle them was thrown randomly into the bag. She finally believed she had finished since there was no room until she saw the bag of makeup she needed to pack and a groan left her lips.

Throwing her head back and letting her thin arms fall beside her, she let out another loud groan. "Mother fucking packing space bullshit!"

"Hey, watch your language. We're in an apartment dumby," said a husky male voice. This pulled her attention away from her task of sitting on top of the ahegao faces in an attempt to close the cursed thing.

"Shut up Liam, you have no right to speak," an evil smirk lining the girl's pink thin pink lips.

He threw his hands up, shifting his weight in order to stay balanced against her door that now stood ajar, "Hey sis, just sayin'. When you get good dick you can't help but be loud."

A red flush quickly made its way onto Ashley's tanned skin, quickly rushing her brother out of the room with her hands. Using the back of her small hands to fan him away from her room as if he had just breathed sin into her little heaven.

"Next time you have a lover over, let me know before hand so I don't have to listen to my little brother screaming," she paused to make her voice mimic a higher pitched girl tone, "'Master please more!'" A straight-faced smirk landing on her face, shoving him out into the tiny hallway.

He turned on his heel, arms still up walking away into the living room section from her room. Over his shoulder he threw the comment towards her, "At least I can be open about who I like fucking."

Confusion filled her face, shutting the door quick as she slid down her door against her back. The cold wood sending tingles down her spine, pulling her long hair up against the wood.

She snarled, "What's that supposed to mean?"

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Word Count: 1,418