"Ashleigh, need I say it?" I poke my head into her car, as it hovers noisily before my house.
"I know, I know. I'm late. Katrina, when am I ever on time? Just hop in and let's go." She bats her pretty little eyelashes and looks up at me.
"Well, you'll have to hold on a minute, I forgot to put on deodorant."
"OH NO! Good thing you remembered Trin, 'cause we would've all died had you neglected those raunchy pits one more day!" Ashleigh says laughing, and then sticks out her tongue at me.
"Shut u-up!" I shake my head, and run back into my house. After a few seconds, I am hopping into Ashleigh's old beater and we are on our way.
"So, what did you and John do last night?" I ask, while casually stealing her cigarette from her fingers for a drag.
"We went out for chinese food." The car turns out of my driveway and onto Arthur street.
"Oh yeah? That's cool. Where did you go, and how come I wasn't invited?"
"The Jade Express, and you wouldn't have wanted to come. We had to talk about things."
"Oh. What's the sentence? Life imprisonment? Watch it Ash, you're tailgating."
"Well," she hesitates while ashing her cigarette half hazardly out the window, "something really bizarre happened last night."
"Go on," I urge.
"We didn't start talking about anything serious until we were finished eating. He was pretty quiet anyway. I think he thought I was going to tell him to get lost or something."
"What did you tell him, Ashleigh?" I grip the arm rest as the car swerves onto the expressway.
"Well, you know how we are sort of together?" She looks at me seriously, and I nod my head. "Sometime last week he asked me to be his girlfriend. I'm still not over Paul, Katrina. I had to hold myself back from calling him every day this month! We had something so good and sweet, even though it was just for a little while. John could never be like him. I like John, but..."
"Ashleigh, how could you expect him to be Paul? If anything, you should be praying that he's nothing like the scumbag. Paul has no respect for you, and John loves you. In my mind, there's no contest!"
"But Trin, it's not so easy. I can't help that there is no "chemistry" between John and me." She carelessly swerves the car into the left lane; the car behind us honks loudly.
"Careful Ashleigh." The girl shakes her head hopelessly, and wipes a tear from her cheek.
"So, I told John that I love to be with him, and I love his comfort, but I could never really love him lik he wants me to."
"Was he upset?"
"No, that's the thing. He started laughing."
"What? At you?"
"Well, no. At the cookie."
"What on earth are you talking about Ashleigh?"
"The fortune cookie. He was laughing at the message."
"What did it say?"
"He refused to tell me, Katrina," she looks over at me, waiting for a reaction. "But when we left, I sneaked it from the table."
"Well," I look at her in confusion, "what did it say?"
"You are a banana moon subverting the sun."
"What?"
"The fortune was;"you are a banana moon subverting the sun." That's what the cookie said! Do you get it?"
"No. Do you?" We look at eachother questioningly, and the car pulls up in front of the Calabria.