cherry tree

🌸POSTING WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS 8:30 PM EST🌸

[bet-your-ash]

Mega Volt

Cherry Tree: Chapter Seven: Mega Volt 1,340 words masterlist | extras | << chap. 6 | 

“Think Garcia ever did band?” Lilac asked from the couch, popping popcorn in her mouth as Ashley fiddled with a toy truck her little cousin had left on the floor. “Dunno. Probably.” She grinned, looking up. “Can you imagine her in one of those big ass marching band hats?” 

Lilac raised an eyebrow. “Yes, one hundred percent, but what the hell are you doing to that poor truck?” Ashley frowned, looking down at the now dismantled plastic pick up truck. “I don’t know.” She pouted and looked up at Lilac mournfully. “I’m bored,” she said. 

“It’s Criminal Minds, Ash, how are you bored?” 

“Well, first of all, we’ve seen this episode thirty thousand times,” Ashley replied, “and second of all… I dunno. I’m bored. We’ve been cooped up inside all day despite the super nice weather, and now…” She groaned, flopping onto her back. “I don’t know! I wanna do something!” 

Lilac bit her lip, watching Reid spout facts on screen for a second before answering, “We could try the Mega Volt.” Ashley raised a brow. “You wanna go on the Mega Volt?” she asked incredulously. 

Lilac shrugged, peering down at the popcorn bowl for the remainders of her popcorn. “Yeah. I mean, we’re… adults, now, right?” She looked up and grinned at Ashley. “Not scared, are you, Maxwell?” 

Ashley grinned right back, jumping up to grab her keys. “Not at all, Anderson. Let’s go.” 

Lilac’s brows jumped. “Right now?” 

“Damn right, scaredy cat.” 

Lilac sighed, eating the last few kernels, and followed Ashley out to her car. “When was the last time we were even on a roller coaster?” Lilac asked as Ashley pulled out of the driveway. Ashley frowned. “I dunno. Didn’t we go last summer?” 

“Oh my God, with Ryland,” Lilac exclaimed. 

“Oh my God, Ryland!” Ashley gasped. “Then that wasn’t last year, but what - tenth? Sophomore year? Jesus, feels like forever ago!” Lilac scowled. “Thank God. Fuckin’ prick.” Ashley rolled her eyes. “And you call me dramatic.” 

Lilac scoffed. “Dude, he cheated on you! At prom!” 

“Yeah, well, at least I don’t have to deal with him now,” Ashley replied with a shrug. “Anyway, that would’ve been - what, two years ago? I can’t believe we haven’t been back…” Lilac pursed her lips. “I must have blocked out anything that had to do with dick face.” 

Ashley snickered. “Dick face. Jesus. But yeah, he sure did love his roller coasters, huh? We must have gone thirty times a week back then.” Lilac groaned. “More. I was down there more than I was at your house!” 

“And we never went on Mega Volt?” 

“I guess,” Lilac murmured, trying to think. 

“Well,” Ashley sighed, turning into the parking lot, “either way, we’re doing it now.” Lilac bit her lip, looking up at the monster of a roller coaster, and began to regret suggesting trying it. Ashley smirked, catching Lilac’s expression. “Not backing out now, are you, Lila?” she asked smugly, and Lilac managed to smile and reply, “Not in a million years,” as she unbuckled and stepped out of the car. 

“Think he’ll let us in for free?” Ashley whispered to Lilac, glancing at the bored looking attendant sitting in the box. Lilac shrugged. “Maybe.” Ashley grinned, unbuttoning her top a bit and fixing her hair. “Jesus Christ,” Lilac muttered. 

“Hi!” Ashley chirped as they made it to the stand. The attendant, who looked about their age and a little nerdy, was wearing a uniform and a name tag that said Hi! I’m Devon! He looked up when he saw the girls and put his phone down. 

 Ashley flipped her hair over her shoulder, leaning against the counter with a cheery smile, and Lilac rolled her eyes. The attendant’s eyes widened, his gaze just a little too low for comfort. Lilac was tempted to punch him. 

She didn’t, and he cleared his throat. He met Ashley’s eyes, his expression making it all too clear that it took a lot of effort to do so. “How, uh - how can I help you?” he stammered, and Ashley giggled. “We wanna go on the ride!”

“Right,” he said. “Um, well - it’s, uh - it’s four dollars per, uh - per person.” 

Ashley pouted, batting her eyelashes at him. “Well, see, that’s the problem, uh… Devon... I forgot my wallet at home…” Devon laughed a bit awkwardly, adjusting his glasses. “Well, it’s pretty slow today, so, uh… I guess if you… if you just want to…” He gestured behind him. “I won’t tell.”

“Oh my God!” Ashley squealed, leaning over the counter to peck him on the cheek. “You’re literally our savior! Right Li?” Lilac scowled. “Right,” she muttered. Ashley giggled again and started walking to the ride. “Thanks, Devon!” she called. 

“Laying it on a bit thick, aren’t you?” Lilac said under her breath as she followed Ashley onto the platform. Ashley shrugged, sliding into the seat and strapping herself in. “I wanted funnel cake or something, and shit’s expensive,” she replied, buttoning her shirt again. 

“Uh… right,” Lilac said, hesitating before stepping in. 

“Coming in or not?” Ashley asked, a brow cocked challengingly. 

“Coming in,” Lilac said, laughing nervously. She strapped in, and Ashley frowned, nudging Lilac’s shoulder. “Hey, we don’t actually have to do this if you don’t want to…” She faded off, but Lilac shook her head. “Nope, nope, I’m, uh - I’m fine…” 

Ashley grinned. “If you say so.” 

The coaster began to climb, slowly but surely, and Lilac glanced over at Ashley. She was grinning ear to ear, looking absolutely ecstatic, and Lilac smiled a bit, loosening her grip just slightly on the metal bar. “Maybe this won’t be so ba—!” 

FWOOM. 

The coaster dropped. 

Lilac screamed as Ashley did, although she had a sneaking suspicion that Ashley was somehow screaming in joy rather than agony. Ashley laughed, and Lilac wanted to call her a psychopath, but it was a bit difficult seeing as her heart was in her stomach and she could barely breathe. 

The track evened out, and Lilac felt herself start to breathe again. “Oh my God,” Ashley said giddily, “this is fucking amazing!” Lilac took a few panting gasps and loosened her grip again. “I dunno about that,” she whispered as the coaster started to climb again. 

“Put your hands up this time!” Ashley told her. 

Lilac laughed dryly. “No.” 

“C’mon!” Ashley laughed, lifting her hand for her and grinning when Lilac squeaked. Ashley whooped when they reached the top, and Lilac screamed, trying to bring her hand back down. Ashley did too, and then, before she could think, before she could process - 

Lilac put her hand on top of Ashley’s. 

And by now, of course, they were hurtling two million miles an hour down a track that could turn at any moment and kill both of them within a second, so she wasn’t about to lift her hand again.

So she hung onto Ashley for dear life, not even noticing when Ashley flipped her hand around so they were actually, really holding hands, and prayed to God that she wouldn’t die because of a stupid roller coaster. 

Once more, the track evened out, and Lilac flushed when she realized she was holding hands with Ashley. She knew she should let go, knew that wasn’t what friends did, but then they were at the top of a drop again. Lilac concentrated on breathing and told herself Ashley didn’t mind - she could’ve let ages ago, but she didn’t. 

Two more gut wrenching drops, and the ride was over. 

When the cart slowed and came to a stop at last, Ashley slid her hand out of Lilac’s and hopped out of the seat looking rosy and absolutely unfazed, but Lilac had to take a second to catch her breath. 

“Jesus, Li,” Ashley laughed, shaking out her hand as Lilac stepped onto the platform, “you almost broke my hand!” Lilac let out a shaky laugh. “Right,” she mumbled, and Ashley raised an eyebrow. “Hey, you okay?” 

“Yup,” Lilac replied. 

Ashley grinned. “Great! Let’s get some funnel cake, I’m starved!” 

🍒 la fin 🍒

lol sooooo we’re late :) again :) 

but here’s chapter seven!!!!!! and if you haven’t been reading the extras and are curious about ryland, you can read the Prom extra here. we’ll try and get some more extras out, but we’ve been trying to write these next few extras as we release them and it,,,,, hasn’t been working (all the others have been written since, like, august),,, BUT! we’ll try our best hehe

so here’s this, hope you enjoy, and tell us your thoughts on funnel cake and criminal minds here! or tell us anything - feedback is greatly appreciated 🥰

***

<< chap. 6 |

[bet-your-ash]

Smooth Like Mick Jagger

Cherry Tree: Chapter Six: Smooth Like Mick Jagger ~ 1,000 words masterlist | extras | << chap. 5 |

Ashley groaned as she helped Lilac drag the fire pit out of her shed and into the back yard. “Why are we doing this again?” she panted, straining her voice dramatically even though she was barely helping. 

Lilac rolled her eyes. “Patience, Ash, we’re almost there.” 

“This is too much work,” Ashley whined, collapsing on the ground once they made it to roughly the center of the yard. “You’re doing nothing,” Lilac replied, picking up twigs and dry leaves that had fallen from the cherry tree. 

“Yeah, and it’s still too much work,” Ashley grumbled, rolling onto her stomach to watch as Lilac crumpled up newspaper and threw them into the pit with the branches. “You’re putting way too much effort into this, Lila,” Ashley said.

“And you’re putting way too much effort into complaining,” Lilac said back. 

“No effort at all, Li, it’s a natural talent of mine.” 

“Being a pain in the ass?” Lilac said under her breath. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.” 

“Hey!” Ashley exclaimed, chucking a twig at her. 

Lilac grinned, picking up the twig and pointedly throwing it into the pit. “Twigs get thrown in there, Ash, not at me.” Ashley groaned, rolling back onto her back and staring up at the sky. “Think we’re polluting the earth with this mess?” she mused, and Lilac rolled her eyes. 

“No more than you’re polluting the earth with your stupidity.” 

Ashley scoffed as she sat up to properly glare at her. “Lilac! I’ve raised you better than to insult your best friend like this!” Lilac brows jumped. “Okay, first of all, there are so many things wrong with that sentence, but listen - the insults will stop once you start helping.” 

“Goes against my moral code,” Ashley sighed, standing up at last only to plop herself right back down into one of the lounge chairs Lilac had just pulled out. Lilac didn’t reply, and Ashley frowned, looking around to see Lilac leaned against the door with a lighter in her hand. 

“You know,” Lilac said, “my dad says it’s bad to start fires without adults around.” 

Ashley frowned. “Um, Lila?” she murmured. “You haven’t seen your dad in, like... a decade.” 

Lilac smirked, clicking the lighter and producing a flame as she walked over to the fire pit. “I know,” she replied, touching the flame to the sticks and paper. “Which means there’s nobody here to stop us.” 

Ashley giggled, knocking her hip against Lilac’s. “You know,” she said giddily as the flames rose higher, “you and me could have quite the career in arson.” Lilac nodded, sighing happily as she stared into the fire. “I know.” 

“Okay, Peter Dinsdale,” Ashley laughed, tapping Lilac on the shoulder, “let’s get some marshmallows, huh?” Lilac nodded and went inside to grab a bag as Ashley plopped back down into the chair.

Lilac came back out a second later, marshmallows in hand. “Catch, blondie,” she called, a teasing smile on her lips as she threw the bag in Ashley’s general direction. “Nice try,” Ashley snickered, watching lazily as the bag hit the ground, “but I’m not gonna move.” 

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Lilac muttered, bending down to pick it up. 

“Why should I be, when you’re shameful enough for the both of us?” 

Lilac pursed her lips. “Do you want s’mores or not?” 

“Is that even a question?” Ashley asked, grinning as she held out her hands for a marshmallow. Lilac smirked, holding the bag just out of Ashley’s reach. “Gotta work for your dessert, Ash,” she sing songed. Ashley scoffed, reaching all the way forward, but she still couldn’t reach it. 

“Liiiilaaac,” Ashley whined, flopping back onto the chair. “Pretty, pretty, please?” 

“Man, these are delicious,” Lilac said dramatically, popping one into her mouth. “You’re really missing out here, Ash - just stand up, and you can have one!” Ashley huffed and jumped up, snatching the bag out of Lilac’s hands. 

“I hate you,” she mumbled, spearing a marshmallow with a stick. 

“Thanks, Ash,” Lilac said absently, brow furrowed as she tried to find the perfect spot to brown her marshmallow. “Oh, Jesus,” Ashley muttered, sitting down again and plunging her marshmallow into the fire, “I forgot about this.” 

Lilac frowned, looking up. “What?” 

“Your impossible standards for marshmallows,” Ashley replied, pursing her lips. Lilac sighed. “And I forgot about this,” she said, watching Ashley blow the dancing flames from the charred top of her marshmallow. 

“What, what a perfectly cooked marshmallow actually looks like?” Ashley said, and Lilac shook her head in disgust. “That marshmallow is burnt, Ash - you’ve gotta have patience with these things.” She glanced back at her own marshmallow, browning to a perfect golden color near the embers. 

“See?” Lilac said in delight, pulling her stick back up to inspect the marshmallow. 

“Too much effort,” Ashley told her through a mouth full of marshmallow as she grabbed yet another from the bag. “Not at all,” Lilac said happily, carefully balancing it between two pieces of graham cracker and some chocolate before sliding the stick away. 

“Heavenly,” Lilac sighed, eyes closed in bliss as she savored her s’more. 

“Jesus,” Ashley muttered, giggling softly. “You look like you’re getting off on that thing.” 

“A few more and I just might,” Lilac said, opening her eyes with a grin. “We gotta do this more often,” she went on, placing another marshmallow on her stick and gently placing it in the flames. “I know,” Ashley replied. “I can’t believe we haven’t done this before!” 

Lilac nodded, standing up to check on her marshmallow closer. “Yeah,” she agreed, shifting the placement of her marshmallow and tugging her chair closer with her foot. “I just think that maybe - ow!” 

Ashley burst out laughing as Lilac fell on her butt and her marshmallow went flying. She’d sat back down with too much force and fell backwards, ending up with her legs in the air and her head in the dirt. “RIP to your marshmallow!” Ashley gasped through her laughter. 

“Oh, damn it!” Lilac groaned, staring mournfully at her marshmallow, which had landed in the dirt next to her chair. “Smooth like Mick Jagger, huh?” Ashley giggled, and Lilac rolled her eyes but muttered, “Yeah, smooth like chunky peanut butter.” 

Ashley grinned. “Like a gravel parking lot.” 

“Oh, shut up,” Lilac laughed. 

Ashley giggled. “Not for a million dollars.”

🍒 la fin 🍒

*waves sheepishly* 

hey y’all :) so we’re a little late on this one and we may or may not have missed wednesday’s extra but you know what?? it’s fine!!!! lskdfj it’s all fine lmao but uhhh yeah here’s this, and (hopefully) we’ll get Lilac’s lil extra out soon too. 

also! feedback pls!!!! tell us how you prefer your marshmallows!!! or tell us anything hehe any and all feedback is much appreciated 😊

so yeah! hope you enjoyed and we’ll see you on wednesday!!! (probably sldkfj)

***

<< chap. 5 | 

[bet-your-ash]

Touche

Cherry Tree: Chapter Five: Touche ~ 500 words masterlist | extras | << chap. 4 | chap. 6 >>

“Really,” Ashley said, chewing on a french fry thoughtfully, “horror movies are just a way to cater to the toxic masculinity of the male species. It simply allows men to show off their, uh… brash courage in a way that’s - supposedly - impressively macho. That way, women can cling to their male counterparts and swoon as the men keep an indifferent expression on their face while people on the screen get gruesomely murdered.”

There was a beat of silence.

Ashley glanced at Lilac, who was staring at her with her mouth open.

Ashley frowned. “What?”

“Ash?” Lilac said quietly. “Are you… okay?”

“Oh, no, never,” Ashley said absently. “But, uh, how about you? Horror movies? Yay or nay?” Lilac frowned, peering into her glass as she twirled a french fry around in her milk shake. “Um… yay, but only if you won’t bite off my head.”

Ashley shrugged. “I won’t.”

“Great,” Lilac began. “Well, I think they’re fun. Girls can be impressively macho, too. I mean, take me, for example. I’m not scared of them, and I’m not a guy. It’s not just for men to show off. It’s for anybody to. Apparently, there was this one study thing that said that these movies basically make us anxious the entire time, which makes us super excited and makes all our senses, like, power up or whatever. So it’s the brain, not the… hormones or whatever.”

“Yeah, but the whole stereotype is just a bit…”

“Stereotypes are something different altogether,” Lilac muttered. She sighed, continuing a bit louder, “When was the last time we watched Jaws, anyway?” Ashley frowned, pausing as she thought. “Freshman year. Remember that party at Coby Nickleson’s house?”

Lilac shuddered. “How could I forget.” She pointed a french fry at Ashley accusingly. “I will never forgive you for dragging me to that hell show.” Ashley scoffed. “I’ll never forgive you for not forcing me to stay home! Of all the parties you could’ve chosen to cave in for, you chose Nickleson’s. You couldn’t’ve chosen - oh, I dunno, Brandon Wilder’s? I heard Toby Matthews got into, like, three fistfights that night!”

“And that’s a reason to go?” Lilac replied incredulously. “You should be thanking me, Ash, you psycho!” Ashley pursed her lips. “It’s drama,” she said. “Plus, I was, like, in love with Brandon that year, and I heard he was asking around for me.”

Lilac raised a brow. “Who told you that?”

Ashley frowned, looking down. “Well, it was Katey Stevens, but -”

“Katey?” Lilac interrupted in a laugh. “Jesus, Katey Stevens told me you were dating Toby like six times that year alone, and one time, she told a whole buncha people I was dating him. I mean, can you imagine?”

“Okay, okay, well a girl can hope,” Ashley mumbled.

Lilac frowned. “Brandon’s not even that attractive.”

“Bro, you’re gay.”

Lilac glanced up, expressionless, and there was a beat of silence before they both broke out laughing and Lilac put her head in her hands. “Touche,” she gasped through her laughter. “To-fucking-che.”

🍒 la fin 🍒

here’s a short lil chapter for ya... tbh neither of us have any idea what was going on in that first paragraph or li’s bit hahaha that was absolute word vomit 😁 hopefully it wasn’t too confusing slkdjfsldkfj 

also! every single one of the names on here is made up! they’re not even based on real people! so as it goes - any and all resemblance to any real person or event is completely coincidental and in no way intentional or meant to offend! (???? idk lmao the point is that it’s not based on anybody)

anyway, there’s that! we hope you enjoyed, and we’ll see you Wednesday!

***

<< chap. 4 | chap. 6 >>

[bet-your-ash]

Pans

Pans: A Cherry Tree Extra ~850 words Read the fic here, and other extras here!

Lilac walked into the Maxwell’s kitchen, eyeing the bag of chips on the counter as she slid the door shut behind her. Ashley was sitting at the counter, doing something on her laptop, but she slammed the screen shut as soon as she heard Lilac. 

“Heyyy, Lilac,” Ashley said, spinning around on the stool. “How’s it going?” 

Lilac blinked. “Are you good?” 

“Oh, well, I’m just fantastic, Lila,” Ashley drawled. “Any better and it’d be obscene!” 

“Right,” Lilac laughed. “We’ve gotta stop watching those Barbra Streisand movies.” 

Ashley pouted, leaning forward dramatically. “Oh, but Lilac, wherever would I get all my inspiration for my future spectacular hats collection?” Lilac grinned. “Google. Speaking of which, what were you doing when I came in?” 

“Nothing.” 

“Nothing, huh?” Lilac asked, creeping her fingers towards the laptop.

“Nothing,” Ashley confirmed, pressing her hand against the lid of the laptop to keep Lilac from opening it. “Zero, zilch, nada, nothing.” Lilac raised a brow. “Saying it in other languages won’t distract me from your sketchiness, you know.” 

“Should give me some cool points, though,” Ashley replied, and Lilac scoffed a laugh. “Ashley Maxwell, needing cool points? Never thought I’d see the day!” Ashley opened her mouth, her neck tinging red, and said, “I mean - of course I don’t need cool points! Absolutely not! Other people get cool points from me, that’s how cool I am - I have some to spare!” 

“Wow,” Lilac said. 

Ashley sighed, leaning back in her chair.

“Was it gay?” Lilac asked. 

“What?” 

Lilac smirked, leaning in and lowering her voice. “Was it gay? The porn?” 

“LILAC!” 

“I’m joking,” Lilac laughed, stepping away and grabbing the bag of chips. 

Ashley huffed, walking over to the couch with her laptop in her arms. She flicked through the TV, sending glares in Lilac’s direction for eating the chips too loud before eventually stealing one herself. 

Then Lilac went to the bathroom. 

And when she came back, Ashley was on her laptop, again, and when Lilac walked up behind her, she slammed it shut - again. This time, though, Lilac saw a glimpse of the screen, and she laughed. 

“Ash,” Lilc said, leaning over the edge of the couch, “if you want new cooking stuff for your birthday, all you have to do is ask!” Ashley frowned, looking around at her. “Cooking stuff? What are you - I don’t - what?” 

Lilac raised a brow. “Pans? You’re looking at pots and pans?” Ashley opened her mouth to reply, and then decided against it, and snickered, shaking her head. Lilac frowned, coming around to sit next to her on the couch. 

“Listen,” Lilac said seriously. “I know that the last time we cooked it didn’t go too well -” 

“That was not my fault,” Ashley interrupted, and Lilac scoffed. “Um, yeah, yeah it was,” she replied incredulously. “You’re the one who dropped the towel on the burner!” Ashley rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “Yeah, well, you’re the one who was dancing like a maniac.” 

“That has nothing to do with -” Lilac sighed, cutting herself off. “Nevermind. The point is, I’ll get you… I don’t know, pans, or whatever, if you want them.” Ashley giggled, putting her head in her hands. “You’re so fucking dumb, Li.” 

Lilac’s jaw dropped. “What?” 

Ashley laughed, opening the lid of her laptop. 

She was on Google, and the query was pans. The screen was full of - well, pans, and Ashley was grinning at Lilac like there was something funny going on. There was a full second of silence, Lilac’s gaze darting from the screen to Ashley’s expression in confusion. 

Finally, Ashley said, “Don’t you get it?” 

Lilac’s brow furrowed, and she looked closer at the screen. “Get what? What am I -” 

“I’m pan, Li,” Ashley laughed. 

Lilac blinked. “Huh?” 

“Lilac,” Ashley said, a bit more serious, “I’m pansexual.” 

Lilac sat back, her face blank, and said, “Oh.” Ashley groaned, reaching out to shake Lilac’s shoulders. “This is comedic gold, Anderson! C’mon! Break a smile! Gimme some laughs!” She pouted. “Or at least pretend to. You’re hurting my feelings.” 

“Ash, I -” 

“Never mind,” Ashley sighed, still grinning to herself as she put her laptop on the coffee table and grabbed the remote. “Wait, wait,” Lilac said, stealing the remote back so Ashley couldn’t unpause the TV, “is this real?” 

“Yeah,” Ashley said.  

“This is - I mean, you’re - this is your -” Lilac paused, and then - “You’re gay?” 

“Yeah,” Ashley said again.

“Huh,” Lilac said, and Ashley frowned. “What, is that not good enough?” 

“No!” Lilac replied hurriedly. “I mean - I mean, yeah, it’s fine - of course it’s fine - and I’m…” She bit her lip. “I’m impressed that you’re so… cool about it.” Ashley grinned. “When am I not cool? That’s my middle name, Li, you should know that - Ashley Cool Maxwell. Ashley the Coolest Maxwell. On my birth certificate, Li, swear to god.” 

“Right,” Lilac said with a smile. “Of course.” 

It wasn’t until half way through the episode when she started giggling. 

Ashley frowned, looking at her, and said, “What?” 

“Pans,” Lilac gasped, laughing so hard she could barely talk. “Pans!” 

***

🍒 la fin 🍒

Well, if the last one was a bit of insight on Lilac’s gay awakening, this was a bit of insight on Ashley’s. As you can see, Ashley is much more nonchalant about it hehe and it’s a bit of insight on her humor, too! 

Anyway, here’s this, hope you liked it, and we would love you forever and ever if you’d give us some feedback here! (how many cool points do you guys have, huh? some to spare?) 

But yeah! Thanks for reading and we’ll see you on Saturday 😊 

[bet-your-ash]

Cotton Candy Conundrum

Cherry Tree: Chapter Four: Cotton Candy Conundrum ~ 1,000 words masterlist | extras | << chap. 3 | chap. 5 >>

“It has no flavor,” Lilac groaned, taking another piece of Ashley’s bubble gum cotton candy anyway. Ashley rolled her eyes, pushing her car into park and taking the stick out of Lilac’s hand. “Yeah,” she said, “it does.” 

“Oh, please,” Lilac sighed. “Bubble gum’s not even a flavor. Technically, it’s pink. The Gold Medal brand started the whole blue and pink thing, you know, and people kinda just went along with it. So yours is actually pink vanilla, which means it’s not only flavorless, but also named in the most unoriginal fashion possible.”

“Okay, first of all,” Ashley argued, “don’t be hating on vanilla - you’re such a big fan of cookie dough ice cream, which is really just glorified vanilla, so don’t even start. And also, originally named or not, mine’s still better than your puke green atrocity.”

Lilac raised an eyebrow. “Ok, I don’t know what you’ve been eating, but puke is not -” 

“Oh, you get my point,” Ashley interrupted. “Besides - no matter what that mess looks like, it tastes like acidic vomit.” Lilac smiled fondly despite herself and murmured, “You’re too dramatic for your own good.” 

“And you’re too sappy,” Ashley said. “We make a good pair.” 

“True that,” Lilac said back. She began to put her feet up on the dash, but Ashley tsked and swatted her legs away. “Absolutely not,” she said sternly. Lilac sighed, mumbling an apology even though she’d known the reprimand was coming before Ashley had said anything. 

They were parked in the lot of the drive-in movie theater, sitting in Ashley’s graduation gift of a bright red convertible Mini Cooper. Ever since she’d gotten it at the beginning of the summer, it had been her pride and joy. Lilac still had the habit of putting her feet up on the dash whenever she could, since Ashley hadn’t given a rat’s ass about her last car (her mom’s Subaru hand-me-down).

They finished off their cotton candy as Jaws started on the screen, and Ashley immediately ripped open her family sized packet of Sour Skittles. Lilac watched her slide a handful into her palm and then into her mouth with mild disgust as she opened her own share sized bag of M&Ms and gently started eating them one at a time. 

Ashley grinned when she caught Lilac staring and tilted the family size packet of Skittles in Lilac’s direction. “Want one?” she asked smugly, already aware of Lilac’s answer. “Those things taste like battery acid,” Lilac huffed, “and I even like most sour stuff.”

“No, you don’t,” Ashley replied. “You think Lemon Tarts are sour, and they’re straight up sweet!” Lilac rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “If I can manage sour apple cotton candy, I’ve gotta have some say in the matter.” 

“Come on, Li, these aren’t that sour - I’ve seen you eat Toxic Waste!”

“Because they mix the sour flavoring with the candy! They don’t just put a huge blast of sour coating on top of the actual candy,” Lilac insisted. Ashley pursed her lips, agreed despite herself, and ate another handful of Skittles. “M&Ms are boring, Sour Skittles are superior, and you’re wrong. 

Lilac scoffed, shaking her head. “That’s just - not even - M&Ms are not boring.” 

“Yeah, they are!” Ashley exclaimed. “They’re, like, all the same flavor but with different color coatings! What’s the point? Like, why can’t they just make them all brown for chocolate? It’s like they’re intentionally misleading you!” 

“Oh, please,” Lilac replied. “When did a pop of color ever hurt anyone?” 

“When -” Ashley huffed, cutting herself off. “Never mind. That’s not the point. The point is that we’re missing the movie, so shut your cake hole.” Lilac grinned, knowing she’d won, and tried to concentrate on the movie. 

It didn’t really work, though, with Ashley being her overly dramatic self and gasping every time something remotely scary happened. And, Lilac couldn’t help but notice, Ashley was creeping closer and closer with every gruesome shark attack. 

“Jesus,” Ashley muttered at one point. “Whoever made this is, like… a genius. It’s somehow terrifying but… gruesomely intriguing at the same time...” Lilac nodded. “Yeah. He actually regretted it, though, the guy who made the book. He was, like, an ocean activist or something, and apparently, the movie just made everybody fear sharks for no reason.” 

Ashley frowned. “Really? So sharks aren’t actually gonna kill me when we go to the beach tomorrow?” she asked, and Lilac raised an eyebrow. “Well, yeah, no, there are more people killed by cows than sharks a year, but wait - we’re going to the beach tomorrow?” 

“Perhaps,” Ashley said vaguely. “Hey, didn’t your great uncle get -” 

She stopped with a gasp as a sickening crunch echoed through the parking lot. 

“Why did we pick this movie, again?” she whispered when blood tinted water filled the big screen. “Because Connor said you wouldn’t be able to last the whole two hours,” Lilac replied, hiding a smirk. 

Ashley pursed her lips and crossed her arms, feigning nonchalance and leaning away from Lilac, and Lilac immediately regretted answering the way she did. Ashley’s indifference wasn’t quite as impressive as it could have been, because the scene was relatively calm, but the entire facade dropped away when a loud bang sounded throughout the parking lot and Ashley grabbed Lilac’s hand. 

Lilac jolted from the sudden touch, and Ashley blushed. She glanced at Lilac and grinned, squeezing her hand. “Scary,” Ashley said, laughing a bit awkwardly before pulling her hand away. “Yeah,” Lilac whispered.  

Ashley toned down on the dramatics for the rest of the movie, and when the credits rolled, Lilac polished off her M&Ms and glanced over at Ashley, who was smirking at her. “So,” Ashley said lowly, leaning in, “do we have sex now?” 

Lilac paled. She’d fallen asleep. Definitely. This was a dream. An inappropriate one. A very inappropriate dream that she was going to wake up from any minute now. Any second, and she’d wake up, and Ashley would drive them home. 

Another second passed, and she still didn’t wake up. 

“Wha - what?” Lilac stuttered. 

Ashley burst out laughing at Lilac’s scandalized expression and shook her head. “You look like a deer in headlights! Christ, I was joking, Li. Wanna go home or hit the diner for food? I’m kinda hungry…” 

Lilac’s face felt about lit on fire, and she stammered out, “Sure, if - if you want to…” 

“Great!” Ashley chirped. “Let’s go!” 

***

🍒 la fin 🍒

this was fun to write lsdkfjdslf ash is... quite the character!!!! also,,,, cotton candy. anybody have any thoughts? favorite flavors? tell us here! or tell us anything! feedback is always much appreciated :) 

anyway, there’s that! we hope you enjoyed, and we’ll see you Wednesday!

***

<< chap. 3 | chap. 5 >>

[leedraws2much]

A doodle I did of My Friend and I’s OC’s Lilac (left)

Ashley (right)

Using a color pallet from @lessracquetball

If you’d like to see more of Lilac and Ashley

Check out our tumblr 4 them! @bet-your-ash

[bet-your-ash]

Prom

Cherry Tree: Prom About 2k words  Read the fic here, and other extras here! (and The Wedding here) 

Lilac was nervous. 

Sure, she’d thought about wearing a suit to dances before - rented one or two even - but she’d never actually done it. And wearing the suits, breaking the stereotype so boldly in reality and not just in daytime fantasies, was a whole different ballpark indeed. Hell, it was a whole different ballgame. 

But with Ashley behind her, cheering her on and hyping her up as she gushed compliments about her outfit, Lilac felt like she could just about do anything. 

She was reaching for the pastel purple bowtie she’d gotten when Ashley tapped her shoulder, wearing a bright smile. 

“Guess what I found,” she said slyly, holding her hands behind her back. 

Lilac frowned skeptically. “If you crack an egg on my head or something -” 

“How dare you think so poorly of me!” Ashley said dramatically, revealing a shiny blue bowtie from behind her back. Lilac scoffed, taking the bowtie and turning it around in her hands. “How did you find this? That was, like, ten years ago!” 

Ashley shrugged, taking it to gently place it around Lilac’s neck. “Can’t beat the classics, can ya?” she asked, smoothing her hands over the shoulders of Lilac’s jacket. “Looks great, Li,” she said quietly, half a smile on her lips as she met Lilac’s gaze in the mirror. “Really.” 

Lilac flushed, about to thank her when somebody cleared their throat from behind them. 

They both looked around simultaneously, Lilac’s blush only intensifying. “Ready to go?” Connor asked, leaning against the doorframe with a shadow of a smirk on his lips. “Yeah,” Lilac said, flushing when her voice came out as a rasp and repeating, “Yeah,” as Ashley did. 

“Wonderful,” Connor said, spinning around. “I’ll be in the car.” 

It was only then that Lilac noticed his outfit, and she glanced at Ashley with a grin on her lips, giggling when their eyes met. Connor was wearing a spiffy tux complete with a grey vest, shiny black shoes, and a large red bowtie. Best of all, a flat black chauffeur’s cap sat on his head, perched crooked just about his ears. 

“Where did he even get that thing?” Lilac asked through a laugh, and Ashley shook her head. “I have no idea,” she replied. “But I do know that I should probably get dressed… Meet you downstairs?” 

Lilac nodded, staring down the steps. “Call me if you need any help.” 

“Will do!” Ashley called. “Just don’t rip your pants or anything ‘till I get down there.” 

“But once you do come down, I have permission?” Lilac asked with a raised brow. 

“Oh, shush,” Ashley laughed, turning around to get into her dress. 

***

“Woah,” Lilac breathed when Ashley appeared at the top of the steps. 

Her dress was an orangey color, tinged with pinks and whites that looked like a sunset and only made Ashley’s natural glow that much brighter. Its hem floated just above the floor, and a diamond necklace sat on her neck above the dress’s sweetheart neckline. 

Connor shot Lilac a knowing smirk, and Lilac bit the inside of her cheek.

“I know,” Ashley said smugly, stepping carefully down the stairs in her heels. 

Lilac cleared her throat when Ashley reached the bottom of the steps. “You clean up nice,” she said casually. Ashley bit her lip, trying and failing to hold back her grin. “You cliche sonuvabitch,” she replied quietly. 

There was a beat of silence, and then Ashley held out her arm. “Shall we?” 

***

“You’re gonna get melted chocolate everywhere,” Ashley warned as Lilac opened a bag of M&Ms. Lilac opened her mouth to argue, but then paused when the glass divider at the front of the limo slid down. “Remember who rented this thing, ladies - if you get melted chocolate on these seats you’re paying,” Connor warned, and Lilac laughed sheepishly. “I’ll be careful.” 

“That is why Skittles are superior,” Ashley said cheerfully as she popped a few Skittles into her mouth and the divider slid shut again. “Let’s not even get started,” Lilac sighed, and Ashley giggled and stole an M&M from Lilac. 

Lilac scoffed. “Hey!” 

“Sharing is caring, Li.” 

“Hypocrite.” 

“Love you too,” Ashley replied with a grin. Lilac flushed, momentarily flustered before she got her head back and reached over to grab the bag of Skittles - “Hypocrites don’t get candy, Ash.” - right out of her hands. 

“How rude!” Ashley exclaimed, lunging over the seat to try and grab the bag back. 

Lilac gasped, startled, but managed to keep the candy just out of Ashley’s reach. 

There was a scuffle, laughter filling the back of the limo for a few seconds before, at last, Ashley was victorious and she snagged the bag from Lilac. But then she paused, frozen above Lilac as she caught her breath. 

They’d somehow ended up on top of each other, their noses so close they’d brush if Ashley would lean just a centimeter closer. And their lips, Ashley’s glossy with lipstick, could touch, if Ashley would just… lean… in… 

But she didn’t. 

Of course not. 

And she wouldn’t have, even if the car hadn’t stopped, even if Ryland hadn’t knocked on the window of the limo at that exact moment. That’s what Lilac told herself, at least, as Ashley gave a smug smile that almost bordered on a smirk before pulling away as if nothing had ever happened. 

“Ry!” she squealed, bounding out of the limo and into Ryland’s arms. 

Ryland Evans was Ashley’s date for the night. He was a junior, a little bit older than the girls, and a bit of a jerk. He was very fond of parties, paid several tutors of the drop-dead gorgeous female type for help in several classes (and ended up hooking up with the majority of them), and didn’t offer to pick Ashley up for prom. 

And sure, on principle Lilac was infuriated that the guy Ashley deemed acceptable for prom wasn’t even polite enough to do something as basic as drive her to the venue, but in reality, Lilac was more than ecstatic to spend extra time with Ashley. Especially on prom night. 

Regardless, that extra time was over, and now Lilac was left breathless in the backseat of the limo as Ashley skipped into the venue on Ryland’s arm. Lilac let out a defeated sigh, running her hands over her face exhaustedly. Despite everything, there was a small part of her that had been so sure something would happen that night.

Connor came around and opened the door again, ducking down to ask Lilac, “Hey, you good in there?” Lilac managed a smile. “Yeah,” she replied, “yeah, I’m fine.” Connor grinned and held out his hand. “Ready?” 

Lilac shrugged, looking down at her suit. The sparkly blue bow tie glittered up at her, and a grin curved her lips involuntarily. “Yeah,” she said softly. She cleared her throat and smiled up at Connor. “Yeah,” she said again, and she took his hand and let him lead her into the building.

Prom wasn’t as bad as Lilac was expecting. Connor sat with her almost the whole night, talking about anything and everything and keeping a smile on her face despite Ashley’s dancing with someone who was very obviously not Lilac right in front of them. 

It was almost too perfect. Ashley was there, so close yet so far, in her gorgeous sunset dress, smiling that adorable smile of hers, and Lilac couldn’t do anything about it. She just had to sit, and watch, as she flirted with Ryland and let him twirl her around the dance floor. 

Lilac lost sight of them after a while, and as Connor started to gaze wistfully at a group of his friends in the corner, she told him he didn’t have to sit with her anymore. He thanked her a bit sheepishly before running off, and Lilac decided to go and get a breath of fresh air. 

She was almost feeling better outside, leaned up against a railing as she let the cool salt air breeze over her. She pulled off her bowtie, smiling at the glittery blue fabric, and then sighed, sliding a piece of gum into her mouth as she stared up at the moon. 

Her peaceful silence was interrupted, though, when a couple came stumbling out of the building, giggling as they started to make out in a corner. Lilac rolled her eyes, debating whether or not she should go back inside or walk around outside, when something clicked. 

That was Ryland. 

Ryland fucking Evans.  

And the girl? 

The girl was not Ashley. 

No, she was about the opposite of Ashley. 

This girl didn’t have anything on Lilac’s Ashley, and Ryland was making out with her. 

Lilac spun around, pulling up her sleeves and squaring her shoulders as she stepped over to him. In retrospect, she probably wouldn’t have done anything even if things hadn’t turned out as they had, but in the heat of the moment, Lilac was ready to throw punches. 

“What,” she said, pulling his shoulder around so he’d see her, “the FUCK are you doing?” 

He had the audacity to look confused. “I - what?” 

“You think you can come here and disrespect Ash like this?” Lilac shouted. “Like hell you can!” She closed the distance, grabbing his collar and shoving him against the wall. “You bastard,” she hissed. 

“Hey!” Ryland yelled, struggling in her grip. “Hey, what the hell, bitch?” 

“You’re gonna -” 

“Lilac!” Ashley shouted from behind them, and Lilac paused, glancing back at Ashley. “This jerk was making out with her,” Lilac seethed, “and he’s going to pay.” She turned back to Ryland, pulling back a fist to punch him, and - 

“C’mere, fighter,” Connor said from behind her, and Lilac scoffed as he pulled her off of Ryland. “What are you doing?” Lilac asked incredulously. “Go back to the car, Li,” Connor told her, but when Lilac shook her head, still glaring at Ryland, Connor frowned. “Go with Ash, Lilac. I’ll take care of him.” 

“Fine,” Lilac muttered, shaking out her sleeves and adjusting her collar as she walked back to Ashley and grabbed her hand without thinking. “Come on, Ash,” she said, and Ashley followed her back to the limo. 

The car wasn’t too far away, and they watched out the window as Connor slugged Ryland right in the nose. “Jesus, dude, I’m sorry!” Ryland yelped, his hands over his nose as blood gushed over his lips and chin. 

“Damn right,” Connor said, flexing his hand as he watched Ryland run towards the parking lot. Lilac and Ashley waited in hushed silence as Connor got into the limo. “Let’s go,” Connor said quietly, and he let the partition slide up between them as he drove off. 

It was only then that Lilac heard Ashley hiccup a sob, and all of Lilac’s anger faded away as she looked over to see Ashley crying softly next to her. “Hey,” Lilac murmured, sliding over to put an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, you alright?” 

Ashley shook her head, looking up at Lilac with a small smile. “No,” she said, “no, I’m not fine, because - because my mascara’s smudged.” Lilac laughed a bit, wiping away a tear from Ashley’s cheek. 

“I spent - I spent hours on this, Li,” Ashley said, sniffling as she looked sadly at her mascara smeared fingertips. “I know,” Lilac murmured, holding her close as she cried. She hugged her tight, not caring about the dark makeup that would surely be staining her crisp white shirt, and whispered, “But you still look beautiful.” 

At that, Ashley giggled and smacked Lilac’s arm gently. “Fuckin’ sap.” 

“Shut up,” Lilac laughed. 

There was a beat of silence before Ashley turned to look at Lilac, smiling just a bit. “Thanks, Lila,” she murmured. Lilac smiled back. “Anytime,” she replied, her voice just a tad hoarse, because they were so close - again - and what if she didn’t imagine how Ashley’s gaze slipped to Lilac’s lips for just half a second? And what she just leaned in? And what if Ashley felt the same way? And what if - 

Ashley turned away, tucking her head into the crook of Lilac’s neck. 

Lilac bit her lip and watched out the window as they drove back home. 

***

🍒 la fin 🍒

and there’s that! hope y’all enjoyed that one... and btw lee writing this was like: 

nobody:  li: these fists are rated E for everybody

so there’s a fun lil tidbit for ya lskdfjldsfj 

anyway, there’s that! and if you’re confused abt the whole bow tie thing, that’s from last week’s extra, The Wedding, which you can find here! and as always, if you wanna be a gem, you can give us some feedback here. skittles or m&ms, anybody? 

but yeah! hope you guys enjoyed, and we’ll see you saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ciao bellas 💖

[bet-your-ash]

Sandy Ass

Cherry Tree: Chapter Three: Sandy Ass ~1,500 words masterlist | extras | << chap. 2 | chap. 4 >>

“Lila, I see spiders,” Ashley whined, clinging to Lilac’s arm as they walked under the boardwalk. Lilac rolled her eyes, not exactly annoyed by Ashley’s touchy feely habits that arose when she was scared, and said, “You’re so dramatic. They won’t hurt you. You know that out of forty thousand species of spiders, less than one tenth of one percent have been responsible for human deaths?” 

Ashley just stared at her, and Lilac sighed. “What?” 

“Numbers,” Ashley said with a grimace. 

“Jesus,” Lilac muttered, smiling despite herself.  “My point is, they’re not gonna hurt you. Besides, they’re smaller than you.” Ashley pursed her lips, eyeing a dark corner warily as they walked by. “Grenades are smaller than I am too,” she said. “Wanna tell me they can’t hurt me either?” 

Lilac laughed, shaking her head. “You’re impossible.” 

“Impossibly correct,” Ashley said back, and Lilac just smiled and didn’t dignify her with a reply. A few seconds of silence passed before Ashley asked, “When’re we stopping, again? My feet hurt…” 

Lilac raised an eyebrow, glancing down at Ashley’s flip flops. “Told you to wear sneakers.” Ashley huffed. “They’re new,” she said. “I don’t wanna get them dirty.” Lilac sighed. “You’ll never wear them anywhere with that mindset.” 

“Lilaaaaaa,” Ashley dragged dramatically. “I’m so bored! What’re we even gonna do? There’s nothing to do under here besides twiddle our thumbs!” Lilac rolled her eyes. “Think. Sometimes we just need a second of silence.” She frowned, feigning curiosity. “Do you know what that word means? Silence?” 

“Fuck off,” Ashley grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest petulantly. 

Much to Ashley’s relief, Lilac stopped a few seconds later under a section uncovered by shrubs or people and gestured to the sea, open and blue, stretching out before them. “Here we go,” Lilac said. She sat down in the sand, leaned up against a wooden support for the boardwalk, and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. 

She peeked one eye open when a few too many seconds passed without a complaint from Ashley, and then closed it again when she saw her expression. Ashley was standing above her, her face contorted in an expression combining severe disgust and mild incredulousness. 

“What’s wrong?” Lilac sighed. 

“You want me to sit in the sand?” 

“You do it all the time, Ash.” 

“With a towel! In a swimsuit!” 

Lilac opened her eyes. “Ashley,” she said firmly, “sit down.” 

“I’m blaming you if people stare at my ass on the way back ‘cause it’s covered in sand.” 

Lilac snickered. “People stare at your ass anyway,” she muttered under her breath, and Ashley scoffed a laugh and flipped her off. “Impossible!” she exclaimed, and Lilac grinned. “Impossibly correct,” she mimicked, raising her voice a bit. 

Ashley rolled her eyes. “What were you saying about a second of silence?” 

Lilac let her jaw drop dramatically, mocking disbelief. “Ashley Maxwell, asking for peace and quiet - never thought I’d see the day.” Ashley put her head in her hands and groaned, “Shut up,” as she finally sat down across from Lilac. 

Lilac just let the silence linger, watching the waves crash against the shore and the moon sparkle against the inky night sky. Ashley looked up a moment later, glancing at Lilac before following her gaze to the sea. She opened her mouth to say something, but then looked back at Lilac’s happy expression and decided against it. 

They sat like that for only a few minutes before Ashley moved to sit next to Lilac, who scooched over a bit to let her lean against the wood. “We’re graduates,” Ashley whispered, and Lilac nodded, keeping her gaze on the water. “Sure are.” 

There was a beat of silence, and then Ashley bit her lip. 

“Have you ever been to the drive in?” she asked softly. 

“Nope.” 

“Wanna go?” 

Lilac finally met her eyes, an eyebrow raised, and said, “Why? Thought you had a traumatizing date with the idiot from your calc class there…” Ashley shook her head. “Nope. That was the diner behind school. But I’ve never been to that theater, and… Shouldn’t we go before… I dunno, before we’re adults?” 

Ashley felt a flash of panic at getting rejected as Lilac paused, but then it was washed away when a smile curved Lilac’s lips and she nodded. “Yeah. Sounds fun.” Ashley grinned. “Bet your ass it does. More fun than this mess, anyway.” 

“Bar’s not too high,” Lilac sighed, and Ashley’s grin widened. “Ha!” she exclaimed. “Agree with me, then, do you? This isn’t as, uh… exhilarating as you thought it’d be, huh?” Lilac smiled as she rolled her eyes, shaking her head, and began to get up. 

But Ashley stopped her, putting a hand on her arm and sending an electric shock through her body, and said, “Wait, wait - I’ve never seen the sunrise on the beach, either. Let’s stay? For the bucket list?” 

Lilac scoffed. “Oh, so now you wanna stay?” 

“Shut up and sit down, sandy ass.” 

“Sandy ass,” Lilac echoed with a grin. “That’s a new one.” 

“A new, impossibly correct one.” 

“Oh, shush,” Lilac murmured, settling back down beside her. 

There, they sat for hours. They bickered back and forth, remembering various high school shenanigans and watching the waves, until Lilac heard Ashley’s breaths slow and felt her head rest on her shoulder as she fell asleep. 

Lilac smiled at the sea, and closed her eyes, and fell asleep happy. 

***

Lilac woke up first. It must have been fate, because the sun was just peeking up from the horizon as her eyes fluttered open, and, resisting the urge to kiss her awake, Lilac gently nudged Ashley’s arm to wake her. 

“Hey,” Lilac said softly. “Hey, your bucket list’s calling.” 

“Tell it to fuck off,” Ashley mumbled. 

Lilac grinned and shook her shoulder. “Wake up, Ash. My back feels like shit - I’m not spending another night under the boardwalk for you.” Ashley groaned but opened her eyes, stretching her arms above her head before waiting two seconds and promptly falling back on the sand. 

“Ashley,” Lilac said. “The sun’s coming up.” 

“Can it wait?” 

“You’re missing it…” 

Finally, Ashley sighed and sat up, rubbing at her eyes, and Lilac turned to watch the sun. 

It really was quite the sight. Wisps of clouds tugged at the sun’s rays, pulling hues of magenta and orangey gold as the sun made its way to the sky. Seagulls flew above them, looking almost majestic, silhouetted against the sun. 

“Hey, Li?” Ashley said softly. 

Lilac glanced at her, not one bit sorry to miss the beautiful scene in front of her in exchange for Ashley’s morning glow, and Ashley gave a little smile that warmed Lilac’s heart more than the sun ever could. 

“Thanks for doing this,” Ashley murmured. 

Lilac grinned. “It’s my pleasure. I was the one who wanted to come down here, remember?” Ashley gave a half laugh, but Lilac frowned when she saw that the laugh didn’t quite reach her eyes. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Lilac asked. 

Ashley cleared her throat. “Thanks for, uh… thanks for dealing with me,” she said. 

Lilac smiled, nudging her foot with her own. “Thanks for dealing with me.” 

“No, seriously,” Ashley said. “I know I can be annoying, and you’ve… You’ve really stuck by me, huh? After all these years?” She bit her lip, looking down as she played with a loose thread on the sweatshirt Lilac had given her the night before when she’d complained about being cold. “Just… thanks for that.” She looked back up, giving a small smile. “You’re a really good friend, Li.” 

Ignoring the twinge that really good friend sent through her heart, Lilac smiled back and said, “So’re you, Ash. I never would have made it through school without you.” Ashley finally gave a real smile and gave Lilac’s shoulder a gentle push. “Bet your ass you wouldn’t have!” 

Lilac grinned as she rolled her eyes. “Stupid of me to think the second of sincerity would last more than a second.” Ashley blinked. “That was way too haughty a sentence to use casually, dude,” she said after a second, standing up. 

Taking Ashley’s hand as she offered it, Lilac stood up too. “Haughty itself is a haughty word, hypocrite,” she told Ashley, and Ashley grinned. “I think the conclusion here is that we’re both haughty.” 

“I’ll agree to that,” Lilac said, nodding as they walked back towards home. Ashley frowned, biting her lip a bit, and went on, “I mean, obviously you’re just a little more haughty since you started it, but -”

Lilac scoffed. “You’re haughtier just ‘cause you said that!” 

“We could do this all day,” Ashley sighed. 

“You’re the one who brought it back up!” 

“You’re the one who started it!” 

They bickered all the way back home, and fell asleep together in the tree house like they’d done many times before. 

***

🍒 la fin 🍒

aaaand another very cheesy one!!! this was super fun to write hehe so we hope you enjoyed!!!! if you did, and wanna be a gem, you can reblog and give us some feedback here! 

***

<< chap. 2 | chap. 4 >>

[bet-your-ash]

The Wedding

The Wedding: A Cherry Tree Extra ~800 words Read the fic here, and other extras here! 

Ashley huffed petulantly, crossing her arms over her chest as she paced back and forth outside her brother’s bedroom door. “I am eight and a half years old,” she said to Lilac for the fourth time that hour. “I should get to go to this wedding too!” 

Lilac gave her a sympathetic nod. She understood. They really weren’t kids anymore. They were eight whole years old! And Lilac would be nine in just a few short months! That was almost ten! It really didn’t make any sense that Connor, Ashley’s brother, who was only three years older than them, got to go to Ashley’s aunt’s wedding. 

Connor was getting his big grown up suit fitted in his room, and Ashley had decided that they would wait for him to come out so that they could properly explain why Connor should be staying home and Ashley should be representing the family at the wedding. 

Lilac was sitting on the time out bench (even though she wasn’t in time out) in the hallway as Ashley paced. She was watching her legs swing back and forth, wondering what she’d have for dinner when she got home, when the door opened and Connor walked out. 

He was wearing a white button up shirt and a sleek black coat and pants, and he was even wearing a giant blue bow tie. Lilac was in awe. She’d never seen a kid her own age wearing such a cool suit. 

She stood up, almost in awe, and looked up at Ashley and Connor’s mom. “Um, Mrs. Maxwell?” she asked softly as Ashley bickered with her brother. Mrs. Maxwell bent down, tucking a lock of Lilac’s curled hair behind her ear, and said, “What’s up, Lilac?” 

“Can I - can I please try on a suit?” she asked. 

Mrs. Maxwell blinked, looking a bit confused, but then nodded. “Sure!” she exclaimed with a big smile “Connor here has to go do his homework anyway.” She grabbed Connor’s hand, leading him back into his bedroom, and then sat him down at his desk to do homework while she helped Lilac fit on the suit. 

Lilac looked in the mirror, smoothing down the front of the coat, and smiled. 

She loved it! It was too big, but it was amazing. She’d never really liked the frilly pink dresses her mom had always dressed her in, but this. This felt… this felt right. She didn’t even know why, but she liked it! She wanted to dress in suits all the time. Every day of the week. She wondered if her mom had any spare suits in their closet. 

“Wow, Li, you look super cool!” Ashley exclaimed from behind her. 

Lilac smiled, turning around so that Ashley could see her outfit in all its glory, and Ashley grinned, putting her hands on Lilac’s shoulders. “You look snazzy,” she giggled. Lilac nodded, glancing in the mirror again. “I do, don’t I?” she said softly, adjusting the collar gently. 

There was a beat of silence, and then Ashley’s face lit up. She grinned, ignoring Connor’s annoyed shout as she stole a piece of his paper and smothered glue all over it. “That’s my homework, Ashley!” Connor exclaimed. 

Ashley ignored him and sprinkled glitter over the numbers. 

“Ashley,” Connor groaned. 

Glitter rained over the carpet as Ashley shook off the extra sparkles and grabbed scissors. Lilac watched in shock as Ashley cut shape out of the paper, her tongue sticking out over her lip in concentration. 

“Ashley!” Connor whined. “Stop ruining all my work with glitter!” 

Finally Ashley stopped, looking up at him with a deadpan expression. “This is serious adult business, Connor,” she said flatly. “You should be honored we’re using your work.” Connor groaned, storming out of the room. “I hate you,” he mumbled as he brushed past her. 

“What are you doing?” Lilac finally asked, almost afraid of the answer. 

Ashley’s smile came back, and she held up the paper. It was covered in blue glitter and cut into the shape of a bowtie, and Ashley looked supremely proud of herself. “It’s perfect!” she declared, and Lilac giggled and nodded along. 

“Perfect,” Lilac repeated, and Ashley stuck it onto the suit. 

Ashley’s mom yelled at them for getting glue all over the suit, and Connor ended up going to the wedding, but the girls didn’t mind. Ashley dressed up as a bride, and Lilac dressed up as a groom, and there was a fine coating of blue glitter on the tree house floor for months. 

***

🍒 la fin 🍒

This one’s a bit shorter than the last one haha It’s just a bit of insight on Lilac’s backstory... Actually, a bit of insight on her gay awakening, tbh... Anyway, here’s this, hope you liked it, and we would love you forever and ever if you’d give us some feedback here!  Thanks for reading 😊

See you on Saturday!

[bet-your-ash]

Extras

The Tree House RedBox The Wedding Prom Pans

[bet-your-ash]

Dahling

Cherry Tree: Chapter Two: Dahling ~900 words masterlist | extras | << chap. 1 | chap. 3 >>

Lilac climbed into the tree house, kicking a cherry pit out of the way before settling onto the wood. Ashley sighed, collapsing all too dramatically onto the floor before resting her head in Lilac’s lap. Lilac smiled, just a bit, more affected by Ashley’s proximity than she should be, considering the fact that they’d sat in that exact position for hours on end countless times before. 

The door swung in the wind, the faint traces of No Boys Allowed!!!!! that had been carved into the wood all those years ago somehow still visible. Lilac gazed out the window, watching the bright lights of the Ferris wheel and amusement parks and basking in the silent glow of the moonlight before the inevitable moment came when Ashley had a thought and broke the peace. 

That moment came not a second later, when Ashley blurted, “Do you remember that tux you wore to the tenth grade formal?” Lilac groaned, facepalming, and asked, “Why’d you have to remind me?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lila,” Ashley replied with a grin. “You rocked that thing.” Lilac sighed. “God, I was so nervous about that. What a mess…” Ashley scoffed, hitting her lightly with the back of her hand. “And you call me dramatic.” 

“I looked awful, Ash!” Lilac exclaimed. 

“Oh, shut up,” Ashley said. “You looked fabulous.”

“Fabulous,” Lilac repeated skeptically. She bit her lip, taking advantage of Ashley’s gaze out the window to watch her fondly, and murmured, “Oh, jeez, what am I gonna do without you?” Ashley groaned, rolling her eyes. “Oh, please. You’re gonna be fine, you big fuckin’ sap!” 

“Dunno about that, Ash - remember the Tide Pod?” 

Ashley scoffed. “That was once. In, like, fifth grade. And -” 

“It was literally last year,” Lilac interrupted, and Ashley shushed her, waving off her comment and continuing, “That was once, all the way last year, and besides - other than that, you’re gonna be fine. Right?” 

Lilac frowned. “Well -” 

“Right,” Ashley cut her off with a grin. 

There was a beat of silence, and Ashley frowned, looking up to see Lilac’s gaze distant and out the window, her expression just a little less than content. “Hey, uh - remember the French Horn Disaster of ninth grade?” Ashley asked in a bit of an attempt to lighten the mood. 

Her attempt worked, and Lilac grinned. “How could I forget? There were bubbles everywhere, and halls were sticky for weeks!” Ashley giggled, shaking her head. “God, that was the worst. I didn’t expect them to make us clean it up!” 

“Was worth it, though,” Lilac replied with a shrug, “just to see the look on Schneider’s face.” Ashley nodded. “Mhmm. Priceless. And - and remember what's-his-face’s reaction to the firecracker last year?” 

“Oh my God, the firecracker,” Lilac gushed. “I completely forgot about that!” She scoffed, glaring down at Ashley teasingly. “You know, that’s the only time I was ever suspended?” she said. “I’d have a clean record if not for you.” 

“You’d be nothing without me, darling,” Ashley told her dramatically before going on normally, “You know, it is weird how they always give suspension as punishment. Those two weeks off with you were heaven.” She sighed wistfully. “We shoulda dropped out like I suggested.” 

“Yeah, well, your fancy college never woulda accepted you if we had,” Lilac said. 

“Who knows?” Ashley said back. “Maybe I’m such a catch they’d have seen my brash courage and begged and begged for me to come.” Lilac raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think brash means what you think it means.” 

Ashley scoffed. “Check your facts, Anderson. It means brave.” 

“Yeah, well, not in a good way.” 

“How is brave not a good thing?” 

“Means arrogant, Ash, and overbearing. And rude.” She grinned. “Maybe it does work there.” Ashley squawked indignantly. “How dare you!” she exclaimed, grabbing a fallen cherry and chucking it Lilac. 

Lilac scoffed, grabbing another, and throwing it back, and Ashley laughed, scrambling up to find more ammo. “You’re ridiculous,” Lilac giggled, dodging a cherry. “You’re just mad you’re losing!” Ashley exclaimed.

“I am not losing!” Lilac insisted. 

“Sure, sure…” 

“But I do have to go ho -” 

“You are mad you’re losing!” Ashley interrupted. 

“No!” Lilac laughed, throwing another cherry as she made her way to the ladder. “No, no, I just - I’ve gotta finish that essay for Emerson’s class…” Ashley gasped. “I forgot about that! Shit, I haven’t even started yet.” Lilac scoffed, throwing another cherry, and said, “He gave it to us, like, last month!” 

“Shut up,” Ashley giggled, nailing Lilac perfectly on the forehead with a slightly under ripe cherry. “Ow!” Lilac exclaimed, throwing it back as she climbed down to the ground. “Start that essay, Ash!” she called as she started walking back to her house.

“Yeah, sure, mom!” Ashley yelled. 

Lilac grinned, taking a deep breath as she turned the corner, and then froze as she remembered their conversation. You’d be nothing without me, darling… Lilac flushed red at the pet name, her mind divided on what was actually going on - 90% of her knew it was just playful, but that other 10% of her was holding out for something… anything that could even possibly hint at something more than friendship. 

Lilac groaned and tried not to think about it. 

She couldn’t bear the thought of ruining a lifelong bond just for a fleeting crush. 

It would go away. 

Right?

***

🍒 la fin 🍒

Chapter two!!!! This one’s a bit cheesy but uhhhhhh fluff 🥰 Anyway, hope you enjoyed! If you wanna be a gem you can reblog and give us some feedback! We’ll see you on Wednesday 😊😊

*** << chap. 1 | chap. 3 >>

[bet-your-ash]

Cherry Tree: Masterlist

Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two  Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five  Chapter Six  Chapter Seven - coming soon! Chapter Eight - coming soon! Chapter Nine - coming soon! Chapter Ten - coming soon!

[bet-your-ash]

RedBox

RedBox: A Cherry Tree Extra 1,400 words

“I’m booooored,” Ashley dragged out, throwing another cherry pit at the wall of the tree house. “Me too,” Lilac sighed. She twirled a twig around in her hand, inspecting the leaf on top of it. After another second of silence, she glanced at Ashley and added, “You know, we could always go inside and finish that ess-” 

“Nope!” Ashley interrupted. “Nope, nope, nope, do not even say the word.” 

“You’re gonna have to do it eventually, Ash…” 

“Not if the world ends before May, I don’t.” 

Lilac rolled her eyes. “Don’t count on it.” 

“Okay, you know what?” Ashley said, standing up with a determined look on her face. “We are going to go out.” 

Lilac raised an eyebrow. “Go out where?” Ashley shrugged, patting her pockets for her keys. “Dunno. Somewhere.” She frowned, pulling the pockets of her shorts out to look for her keys. “Where’d I…” 

“Kitchen counter, Ash,” Lilac sighed, standing up and climbing down the ladder. 

“Damn,” Ashley muttered. “We’ll have to talk to people.” 

“It’s just Connor - your mom’s out, right?” Lilac asked, and Ashley scowled. “Just Connor,” she echoed, following Lilac through the living room to the kitchen. “Just Connor, just a centipede, just -” She snickered as she saw Connor sitting at the kitchen table. “Just two thousand eight Joe Jonas…” 

“I do not look like Joe Jonas!” Connor groaned, throwing up his hands. 

“Yeah,” Ashley said, mussing his grown out hair, “you do.” 

“His hair is, like, black!” 

“Yeah, well, it’s the length that counts.” 

“That’s what she said,” Lilac said under her breath, and Connor grinned. “Damn right!” 

“Gee, thanks, Li,” Ashley said incredulously.

“C’mon Ash,” Lilac laughed, putting an arm around Ashley’s shoulders as she led her out of the house and towards her car. “Honestly, sometimes I think you like him more than me,” Ashley mumbled, and Lilac nudged her shoulder. “Only when you’re indecisive about where we’re going.” 

“Hmm,” Ashley hummed, turning her key in the engine. “How about Walmart?” 

Lilac raised an eyebrow. “... why?” 

“Dunno,” Ashley replied with a shrug. “I wanna see a movie and there’s a - there’s, like, one of those old fashioned movie box things over there, right?” Lilac frowned. “Can’t we just watch Netflix? Do you even have money?” 

Ashley grinned, catching her eye in the rearview mirror. “Semantics, darling - let’s just get there, shall we?” Lilac sighed, gazing out the window, and then smiled when Ashley turned up the radio and shouted along with the song playing. 

They made it to Walmart fairly quickly and wandered around inside the store for a few minutes. “Ever seen the Aristocats?” Ashley asked from behind Lilac, and Lilac turned around to see Ashley posing in a mirror with a large, feathery, purple scarf wrapping around her neck. 

“Better not die on me, Ash,” Lilac joked, and Ashley sighed wistfully, putting on a fake British accent. “Never, darling, but not for you - I just couldn’t bear to leave my sweet little kittens all alone!” 

“You should play her in the live action remake,” Lilac laughed. 

“Jesus,” Ashley said, putting the scarf back on the rack, “those damn live actions. Like, why do they have to butcher those classic oldies? Can’t they just leave them be and make new stories?” 

“Disney died, right? Maybe they’re just not as creative as he was.” 

Ashley frowned, feeling the fabrics of the rack of coats they were passing. “Okay, well, he couldn’t have made up all of those stories single handedly.” Lilac shrugged, putting her hands up in surrender. “Hey, don’t ask me -  my four am internet spirals consist solely of Napoleon and Casablanca.” 

“Napoleon?” Ashley echoed. “Isn’t that the three flavored ice cream?” 

Lilac grinned. “Yeah, sure.”

“We should watch that movie again,” Ashley mused, stopping by a sun glasses display to fiddle with the various glasses. “What, Casablanca?” Lilac asked, and Ashley nodded, trying on a pair of pink, heart shaped sunglasses. “Yeah,” she said. “Ingrid Bergman can, like, get it.” 

Lilac scoffed. “Are you serious?” 

Ashley smirked, pushing the pink glasses down her nose slightly to look at Lilac. “As a heart attack, kid.” Lilac rolled her eyes. “You just have a thing for Swedes.” Ashley shrugged, exchanging the hearts for neon green aviators. “Perhaps. Tall people are something to be admired.”

Lilac looked down at her feet. What height was considered tall? 

“Hey, think there’s a back entrance available to the public?” Ashley asked, breaking Lilac out of her thoughts. “Or do we have to break into an employee only area…” Lilac cleared her throat. “I dunno. But I do know,” she said, slipping the glasses off of Ashley’s nose, “that you steal these and we’re both going to jail.” 

Ashley raised a brow. “Who’s to say that wasn’t my goal?” 

“Me, Ash, I intend to keep my record clean.” 

“You have horrible taste in friends for such a dimwitted goal, Lila.” 

Lilac rolled her eyes with a smile, steering Ashley away from the door marked Employees Only at the back of the store and back towards the front entrance. “I’ll have you know that my taste in friends is impeccable,” Lilac replied. “You’re the only exception.” 

Ashley giggled, leaning into Lilac’s shoulder. She hummed under her breath, “Darling you… are… the only exception…” Lilac raised an eyebrow. “Is that… Paramore?” she asked, and Ashley shrugged. 

“Dunno,” she said absently, pouting when Lilac pulled her away from the sunglasses rack again. They walked through the doors and around the parking lot and finally found the Red Box they’d been looking for. 

“Oooh, Spies in Disguise!” Ashley squealed, pointing excitedly at the movie on the screen. “That looks awful, Ash,” Lilac said flatly, and Ashley scoffed. “That’s Tom Holland you’re disrespecting, Lila, watch yourself!” 

“Isn’t he the Spiderman guy?” 

“You should see his abs,” Ashley sighed wistfully, putting a hand over her forehead and swooning backwards. Lilac caught her, rolling her eyes, and muttered, “He looks like he’s eating a frog.” Ashley grinned. “It’s all part of his charm, Lila.” 

“Charm or not, we’re not watching Spies in Disguise,” Lilac said conclusively. “How about The Invisible Man?” Ashley grimaced. “Absolutely not. Shall we have our horror movie debate again?” 

“Okay, how about… Dolittle?” 

“Too many cute animals,” Ashley sighed. “I’ll cry. I wanna comedy. How ‘bout -” 

“Dolittle is a comedy!” 

“A real comedy!” Ashley exclaimed. “Like Scooby Doo!” 

“You’re just gay for Daphne,” Lilac muttered. 

Ashley rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, you are too - besides, can’t be any more disturbing than the cartoon, can it? We can make fun of it and eat popcorn…” Lilac heaved a sigh but keyed in the number and paid, making Ashley squeal excitedly and wrap her arms around Lilac’s shoulders in a hug. 

“Thank you, thank you, Lila!” she chirped, but she stayed put even after a few seconds to watch the movie appear out of the slot with her arms still around Lilac’s shoulders. Lilac got the movie and glanced at her after a second, raising an eyebrow and trying not to make it too obvious how much she was dying at their proximity. 

“Gonna move, or am I gonna piggy back you all the way home?” Lilac asked. 

There was a beat of silence. 

“What if,” Ashley whispered, “we kissed in front of the Walmart Redbox… and we were both girls?” Lilac froze. “Um…” Ashley giggled, pulling away and singing loudly, “I have my dinner in my bathtub, then I go to sex club, la da da da da da…” 

“What the fuck?” Lilac muttered hoarsely. 

Ashley laughed at Lilac’s startled expression. “It’s a Tik Tok, Li, get with the program!” Lilac laughed wrly, shaking her head. “Of course it is,” she mumbled, getting into the passenger seat of Ashley’s car. 

“Hey, would you be willing to dress up as a Jonas brother for Halloween?” Ashley asked as they pulled out of the Walmart parking lot. “My brother’s already got the hair cut - or lack thereof - and you’re giving me Kevin vibes.” 

Lilac frowned. “I don’t know whether I should be insulted or flattered.” 

“Both,” Ashley said. “But maybe it’s just ‘cause I’m a Nick…” 

***

🍒 la fin 🍒

lol if you couldn’t tell, this was based on this Tik Tok... lee showed it to me and it uhhh I was inspired, as you can see hehe

Anyway, there’s the first extra! We hope you enjoyed... We’re a little late today sldkfjds sorry about that BUT we hope you liked it anyway!!! If you wanna be a gem, tell if you’ve ever kissed a girl in front of watched a movie from a RedBox here! Or tell us anything!!! Feedback is much appreciated 😊

See you on Saturday! 

[bet-your-ash]

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Cherry Tree: Chapter One: A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1,505 words  masterlist | extras | << prologue | chap. 2 >>

It was a warm summer night, the night after the girls’ high school graduation, and they were in the tree house, sitting in comfortable silence until Ashley blurted, “We’ve gotta do something wild this summer.” 

Lilac raised an eyebrow. “Like what?” 

Ashley grinned. “Petty crime.” 

Lilac laughed, shaking her head. “That fancy college of yours can still reject you, you know…” Ashley pursed her lips. “I dunno about that, Lila. I’m pretty set. And anyway - we’d only, like, vandalize something or… something.” 

There was a beat of silence, and then Lilac said, “Maybe we could do something wild, but, uh… legal.” Ashley rolled her eyes. “Nothing’s wild and legal, Li, that’s a contradiction at its most basic roots.” 

“Oh, please,” Lilac laughed. “You’re too dramatic. We could, like… go to the amusement park or something. Or - oh! Does your dad still have the campfire thing? We’ve been meaning to do something with that for ages!” Ashley groaned. “All that’s so boring!” 

Lilac bit her lip. “What about the boardwalk? We haven’t been down in months.” 

“It’s so far away,” Ashley whined.

Lilac smiled. “It’ll be fun, Ash, I promise.” 

***

Ashley groaned dramatically as her ring bounced onto a bottle and off again for the sixth time in a row. “This is rigged,” she grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest petulantly and storming away in a huff.

Lilac shrugged at the guy behind the booth and handed over her ticket. She threw the rings one after another, landing each of them perfectly on the bottle heads. One prize later, Lilac tapped Ashley on the shoulder and handed her a huge pink teddy bear. 

Ashley squealed, grabbing the bear and wrapping Lilac in a hug. 

Lilac flushed, hugging her back with a wry smile. 

“You must be magic!” Ashley declared, inspecting the teddy bear happily. “God, I love him!” she exclaimed. “How’d you even manage to do that game thing? Swear it was rigged, Li, I’m not that bad at anything.” 

Lilac shrugged, throwing her arm around Ashley’s shoulder as they ambled towards the beach. “Well,” she said, “you said it yourself.” She grinned down at Ashley and winked. “I’m magic.”

The two strolled down the boardwalk, breathing in the ocean air as they  walked against the seemingly endless amount of boards, stretching into the distant sunset. Lilac glanced down, watching Ashley fiddling with her fingers, and debated holding her hand to make her go still before deciding against it and shoving her hands in her pockets. 

“So!” Ashley chirped. “Here we are.” 

“Here we are,” Lilac echoed, a bit warily. 

“What’s next?” 

Lilac hummed, shrugging slightly. “Oh! We can go back to your place and light up a fire!” 

Ashley raised an eyebrow. “While I would not be opposed in the slightest bit to lighting my house on fire,” she said dryly, “that’s also arson and very much illegal. I somehow doubt that’s what you mean.” 

Lilac rolled her eyes, nudging Ashley’s shoulder with a smile. “No, no, I mean, like, a bonfire. Remember? We were gonna use your dad’s old campfire thingy.” Ashley groaned. “That’s so boring, though!” 

Lilac bit her lip and looked at the ground, thinking hard. Then she grinned, pointing down at the boardwalk beneath her feet. “Let’s go underneath the boardwalk! I’ve always wanted to do that!” 

Ashley blinked. “That’s even worse than your last one.” 

“Well, what else could we do?” Lilac asked, regretting it immediately. 

“Petty crime!” Ashley exclaimed with a grin. 

Lilac sighed, already shaking her head, but Ashley went on excitedly, “Come on, Lila, please? And - and look!” She stopped walking, grabbing Lilac’s hand and sending shivers down her spine, and pointed to a little decal store they’d so conveniently stopped in front of. 

“Absolutely not,” Lilac deadpanned. 

Ashley pouted. “Oh, Li, please? It’s right there!” She pointed through the glass to an entire aisle full of spray paint. “Look, see all that? It’s just… it’s calling to me, Li! You can’t deny it!” She grinned. “Me and that paint? We’ve got chemistry, Lilac. It’d be crime in itself to keep us separated.” Lilac paused a beat, and then groaned, putting her head in her hands. 

“I hate you,” she mumbled.

Ashley raised an eyebrow. “Is that a yes?” 

“No,” Lilac replied, peeking through her fingers, “it’s an I hate you.” 

Ashley giggled, grabbing her hand, again, and sending shivers through her spine, again, and exclaimed, “That’s a yes!” as she pulled her into the shop. Lilac rolled her eyes, biting back a smile, and let Ashley lead her through the aisles. 

“It’s too hot for this,” Lilac grumbled, wincing as a can of spray paint slid from one of her hoodie sleeves and onto the floor with a clang. Ashley giggled, apparently unfazed by the noise, and kicked the paint can in front of her as she replied, “You’ve spent half your life with me, Li - you should be used to the heat by now.” 

Lilac rolled her eyes but bit back a smile, which faded away all too quickly as she saw an employee walking through the aisles. “Shit,” she whispered, prodding Ashley in a fruitless attempt to make her walk faster. 

“We’re gonna get caught,” Lilac hissed as Ashley kept her leisurely pace. 

“We’ll only get caught if we look suspicious,” Ashley whispered back, walking all too slowly towards the door. Thankfully, as soon as the door swung shut behind them, Ashley grinned and grabbed Lilac’s hand - almost making her drop the paint cans in her sleeve - as she ran around the corner and towards a wall they’d found a little earlier. 

It was built of brick, the perfect height, and freshly painted with a coat of white paint. It had been sitting unused for months - it was supposed to be painted soon since the building it was on was supposed to be renovated, but the developers had given up a while back, leaving it open, unused, and - at least in Ashley’s not so humble opinion - practically begging for vandalization.

 “We have to be good about this,” Lilac panted as soon as they stopped running, a little out of breath. “It’s gonna be here forever, you know? So we have to make sure it’s not something we… you know, regret.” 

Ashley raised an eyebrow. “Like what?” 

“How about… Treat people the way you want to be treated?” Lilac suggested. 

Ashley shook her head. “Too long.” 

“Okay, be nice.”

“That’s just… not even… no,” Ashley replied, looking disgusted by the mere idea. 

Lilac bit her lip. “Do good?” 

Ashley sighed. “These are just horri -” She paused, thinking, and then schooled her expression into something that suggested innocent agreement (which, looking back, Lilac thinks really should have been a red flag). “Yeah,” Ashley said cheerfully. “Do…” She cleared her throat. “Good. Do good.” 

“Perfect!” Lilac exclaimed,  

Ashley nodded. “Okay - you right the do part, and I’ll do the, uh - the other part.” 

Lilac raised an eyebrow. “Your handwriting sucks. Why do you get the longer word?” 

“Because… my handwriting doesn’t suck, it has… character?” Ashley said hesitantly. 

“Okay,” Lilac laughed, shaking her head. “You can do the first part with your very personalitied handwriting, and I’ll do good.” Ashley pouted, giving her puppy dog eyes. “How ‘bout because I’m leaving and I don’t want people to forget how I write my gs?” 

“Oh, fine,” Lilac sighed, shaking her can of paint as Ashley grinned. 

Lilac wrote out do in her fanciest, most legible, and least identifiable handwriting as carefully as she could. She gave the d a little flourish and connected it just barely to the o, putting all her concentration on making everything perfect. 

And then she looked up with a smile, satisfied with her work, and stepped back to look at the whole wall… Only to find that Ashley hadn’t written good. Lilac’s mouth fell open as she looked at Ashley’s loopy handwriting, covering half the wall in a horrific contrast to Lilac’s careful script, reading something that was most definitely not good or anything else close to it. 

There, with one word in neat, legible, tediously written, carefully chosen white spray paint and the other scrawled in giant, bold, bright pink paint, the once pristine brick wall now read a scandalizing - 

DO CRIME. 

Lilac gasped in horror, convinced her entire future would disappear down the drain once somebody inevitably found the wall and realized it was her, and turned to Ashley with a murderous look on her face. 

“I am going,” she declared slowly, “to kill you. We could go to jail for up to -” 

She stopped as Ashley began to laugh. 

Ashley laughed, bright and lilting and hard - so hard she put her arms around her stomach because it was physically painful how much her genius stunt had amused her. And Lilac felt herself smile, because this was Ashley, because it really was a genius stunt, because this was Ashley. And maybe, just maybe, it was because she was pitifully in love with this bright, bold, lovely menace to society. 

***

🍒 la fin 🍒

And there she is! The first chapter!!!! We hope you enjoyed, and if you wanna be a ✨bright, bold, menace to society✨ give us some feedback! We love hearing from you guys! 

See you on Wednesday! 

***

<< prologue | chap. 2 >>

[bet-your-ash]

Prologue: Glitter and Magic

Cherry Tree: Prologue: Glitter and Magic

It was the first day of first grade, and Lilac looked down at her outfit proudly before stepping onto the big yellow school bus. She’d picked a baby blue tee adorned with a unicorn, and a skirt covered in way too much glitter. She walked down the corridor, moseying along to the back, and saw a girl of small stature with dirty blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes sulking in her seat. 

“Hey, there,” Lilac said, “can I sit here?” 

“Yeah sure!” the other girl replied. “I’m Ashley!”

“Lilac Anderson,” Lilac told her, sitting down next to her. 

Ashley’s face lit up and she giggled at the whistles that sounded as Lilac talked. 

“Wheredja learn to whistle like that, Lilac?” Ashley asked. 

Lilac grinned, showing off the gap between her two front teeth. “I’m magic,” she said. 

***

| chap. 1 >>

[bet-your-ash]

The Tree House

The tree house is large. 

It’s perched in a towering cherry tree, cradled amongst the winding branches and swaddled by thick swatches of leaves, almost hidden from view. The deep brown panels of wood, once shiny and sleek with fresh sealant, are now old and weathered, tinted green with rough patches of moss that grow in the small cracks between floorboards. 

On the swinging door, No Boys Allowed!!!! is carved crudely into the wood. Leftover spray paint and barely visible ink cover every other wall, reminiscent of reminders and notes of years and years past. A pillowcase flag flies weakly on a crooked pole, baring a sloppy recreation of a majestic, flying phoenix. 

Fallen movie posters and chipped, broken video game controllers lay forgotten in corners from a time long ago, when the tree house was inhabited not by two young girls, but by rowdy groups of middle school boys. 

High in the ceiling, on a low hanging rafter, is a name long forgotten, remembered only by school boys now out of college. Fort Maxwell, the carving proclaims, but the once bold declaration is now faded through time. 

In the slight ocean breeze sways an old wooden swing, hung from rope tied around a strong tree limb the perfect height for swinging in the wind. The rope, fraying from time but still sturdy and secure, is white in color but dotted with cherry juice stains and flecked with dirt and moss. 

Cherries and leaves lay scattered on floor boards, an odd pit or two rolling from summers and springs full of cherry juice stains and echoing laughter. In through the shuttered windows stretch branches and twigs, their fruit in the perfect location for a sweet summer snack. 

The tree house looks plain, maybe boring to some, but what it holds inside is anything but. It’s chock full not only of the sugary scent of the cherries all around, but of unforgettable memories and the promise of a future bright with plenty more to come.