The Chronicles of Life. (Complete)

I wanna get the group back together.

It was inevitable that the friends would find themselves all in one place again at some point. They'd been successful in completely avoiding each other for too long but eventually they'd found themselves together again under one roof. It was unfortunate that it had been as a result of a tragedy. A tragedy so painful and cruel that it forced them to reunite, because there was no getting through it on their own.

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THREE YEARS BEFORE

"Happy Birthday my love", Ashley wished as she slowly climbed the bed, not wanting to drop the small cake she'd worked really hard on. "Damn, and here I thought I'd turned one already", Siya joked. He was referring to the one lit birthday candle on the cake. "Oh shush", the girl shot back as she straddled her boyfriend's lap. Siya responded by taking off her thin silk night robe. "Are you not gonna have your cake?", She asked then moaned when the boy started nibbling on her ear. "I'd rather have you instead", he said as he placed the cake on the side table then made love to the girl.

For the past few months, Siya had made a friend in his girlfriend. They'd been spending everyday together that the girl had practically moved in with him. The only time it wasn't just the two of them was when they'd been visiting her parents.

The drama with his friends had been too much and he'd opted to not choosing a side as he loved them all dearly. He'd heard about everything that had happened and he felt that friendship was above all the drama but he knew his friends were not trying to hear that.

"So what do you wanna do today?", the girl asked after they'd had their steamy session. Siya paused to think. He couldn't remember a time he celebrated his birthday without his friends. "I wanna get the group back together", he said then chuckled at the unintended pun. Ashley laughed, not at the pun but at the craziness that was coming out of her boyfriend's mouth. "Right", she managed to say in between laughs then laughed even harder at the boy's serious expression. "Babe I'm serious. I'm gonna use my birthday to get them all in one room. Surely everything will work itself out after.", he said as the girl started taking him seriously. "You really miss them huh?", she asked now laying her head on the crook of his neck. "Really bad", he responded then kissed her forehead.

So Ashley decided then she was going to make her boyfriend's birthday wish come true, no matter what it took. She'd planned to visit each of the friends and personally ask them to come celebrate the day with him. They'd decided to have the party the weekend after so as to give everyone a bit of time to prepare. She'd started with Preshani as she'd always been closest to her.

The two girls had planned to meet up for coffee the following morning. All Ashley wanted to do that day was bask in her boyfriend's presence. It was still the boy's actual birthday and they were going to celebrate it somehow.

The following day she'd met up with Preshani. The girl had changed, a lot. She was always a little more reserved than the other girls. Never showed too much skin, always had her hair in a tight neat bun. The girl who'd walked in had on a crop top that showed both her belly and her cleavage. She had about four different color highlights on her now shortened hair. Ashley looked down at the girl's tiny skirt she was sure would fit her little sister. She looked really pretty but ... different. Like she was trying to be someone she's not. Most likely because of a guy, because of Mike?

"Hey Stranger", Preshani greeted the girl as she went in for a hug. "Wow. You look great", Ashley complimented. In all honesty she preferred the old Preshani. She was beautiful without having to try that hard, the new look felt... forced. "Thanks. You look lovely as always Ash", the girl replied with a smile.

The two girls talked about everything. Ashley couldn't help but catch the wave of insecurity that floated around her old friend. How she would constantly fix her top and pull down her skirt, she was uncomfortable. Ashley was able to gather that the new look was to rival the kind of girls Mike was into. Slim and practically naked. She wanted so bad to tell the girl she deserved better, but she felt it wasn't her place anymore. So she'd instead invited her to her boyfriend's birthday get-together. That was what she was there for anyways. Of course the girl agreed.

The next friend on the list was Connor. Connor was Siya's best friend, he was the first friend her boyfriend had introduced her to. The boy was so easily readable. He had absolutely zero depth and an odd personality. But he had a beautiful face and well, a lot of girls liked that. When Ashley first met him, she didn't understand what her boyfriend saw in him. That was until she'd heard the stories. The stories about how the boy would give anything for Siya's well being.

Connor was a player, and he had a whole list of things that were wrong with him. But when it came to his friends, he would give his life. So when questioned about whether or not he would come celebrate his friend, he didn't hesitate to say yes.

Ashley had planned to start with the ones who weren't too involved in the drama. So far it had been going well and she'd thought if she got enough people to come, the others would just come because everyone else was going to be there.

That's why Ramsey had been next in line. Sweet sweet Ramsey. Even though the boy had his own drama going on with Bongi, he'd accepted the invitation saying he didn't care if the girl was going to be there. He was used to seeing her on campus anyways so her presence at the party would not make a difference. Ashley had been shocked by his tone, she was sure she'd never seen him upset before. She needed to remind herself she was only calling him to invite him to the get-together, nothing else. She was happy when Bongi basically said the same thing.

Now the one half of the group had promised to come. Ashley had to figure out how she was going to convince the others to come too. The four friends were not just upset with each other, they hated each other. They'd gone to great lengths just to not be around each other. Ashley went to sleep that evening, opting to just deal with it the following day.