The Life and Times of Alison Malone

chapter 4.

To say I had a good day would be an exaggeration. I had an amazing day. For starters,my mum made pancakes,lots of pancakes. I was so stuffed ,I didn't know I could eat that much.

The girls and I got ready quickly in my room. Chloe and Naya took a little while longer,doing their makeup and what not. I think Naya doesn't really need makeup,the girl has an extremely amazing face,one that most are envious. Honestly,I admire her,she doesn't rub her beauty in people's faces. Its probably why Andrew likes her so much.

"How do I look?",Naya asks both of us

"Do you even need to ask?",Chloe says,smiling at herself.

"My girls need to tell me If I look good or not,", Naya says,laughing. She catches her breath and tries again,"how do I look?"

"Like a star." I say to her.

For the first time in a hell of a long time,Naya is NOT in leggings. She's wearing a crop top with a pair of high-waisted dark wash jeans,taking a leaf from my book,she has on a pair of black converse. Her long hair is in its natural curly form. Makeup is on point,and she has a strong dark red lip. She looks really good.

Chloe is in a sky blue sundress that goes just above her knees,her long black hair in a bun high on her head and the front is in a very neat looking bang. Chloe's hair is quite long so her bangs are almost covering her beautiful brown eyes which a sporting perfectly drawn butterfly wings. She too has on a pair of converse,this is getting real strange now.

Sometimes I feel out of place with these girls. How can a person be this gorgeous. When they're Chloe and Naya,that's how.

I'm In a pair of high-waisted white and blue stone-wash jeans with a not-so-cropped white crop top that a has the word 'hello' written across it. My hair is,though not very long,is in loose curls coming down to the base of my neck.

I don't have much,or any make up on. I smear on a little eyeliner and put on some really dark purple lipstick. I put on my black converse and I'm done.

**

After we got dressed,I got a text from from David saying he,Sia,James and Kevin were coming to pick us up in Kevin's mom's minivan and we're all going to have a fun adventurous day.

When the boys got here,I said goodbye to Michael and my mum and we all pile into the minivan. I was sceptical about it first,but we all seemed to fit. I was glad that Kevin's mum allowed him to drive her car,so much better than David's Jeep,it would have been too small for all seven of us.

We started off with the skate park in town. I'm good at skate boarding so it went well for me,it wasn't that good for Sia though, being the manwhore he is, he was checking a girl out instead of watching where he was going. He wiped out really terribly. Chloe chose to sit on her skateboard. Naya gave it a try,she's in the process of learning how to do a kickflip. David and James are practically professionals soi I won't even go there. Kevin isn't really into it,so he sits it out.

Next,we went To the block party in James' street. We had lunch there since they were a lot of food trucks and some of the people brought some food out. It was so much fun. At four we decided to leave as the party was starting to dwindle. We drove down to the museum,we all loved the museum. They were lots of artifacts and stories about how people lived in Zambia many years ago and how freedom fighters stood their ground until Zambia became independent.

It was so cool to read and see pictures of all the brave men and women that said no to oppression and went to stand for their rights.

Like all normal teenagers, we took a ton of selfies. From the museum, we walked to the ice cream shop down the road from the museum building. The ice cream shop was owned by Italians,so really,it was a gelato shop. I had my favourite dark chocolate and strawberry ice cream.

It was six when we left to go to the apartment building where Kevin lived. We loved going up to the roof,so when we got there,we went straight up. Sia thought it was the perfect time to roll up a few joints. I knew it would be a great night. Kevin didn't smoke because he had to drive us all home so we left him two joints for later. Some joints and hours looking at stars and pointless banter about how strawberries are phonies,something about them not being straws. And many other things like how pointless points are.

At nine we went out to get some pizza. The waiter must have known that something was up since we kept laughing and when the pizza came we ate like maniacs and had to order more. The munchies were strong,I was wondering what was in those joints. David was puzzled too..

We walked around the mall for half an hour before deciding to leave,Kevin was supposed you be home at eleven. We dropped James first,the Sia who lived in a very good neighbourhood. David was next. Since Chloe left her car at my house,she and Naya came to mine. Naya and Chloe went home after saying goodbye to my parents. Chloe had sobered up enough to drive.

Kevin called me to inform me that he was safely home and so did Chloe who had also successfully dropped Naya at her house.

I took a shower and smiled to myself and the universe. I couldn't ask for better friends,we had our good and bad times,but all the times we were above the ground were the special times.

It was truly a great night.

***

I woke up with a numb head. After a shower and some breakfast I felt so much better. My mum and I started preparing for the day. Every Sunday,my family goes out to the park for a picnic and some quality time to talk about our week and all the things we've done.

I love these moments. My family is great,just like my friends we have good and bad days but as long as we're together,that's all that matters.