"I swear she has a sixth sense for improper etiquette," Ashley whispered into her phone, curled up in the window seat of her meticulously organized bedroom. The moon cast long shadows across her pink duvet, still perfectly made despite her having laid on it all evening. "Like, she can sense a posture slip from three rooms away."

"Your mom would make a killing as a finishing school influencer," Luca replied, his voice warm with familiar sympathy. She could hear him shuffling around, probably sprawled across his bed like always. "Though I guess having just one student is exclusive enough."

"If I have to sit through one more lecture about proper soup-spoon technique, I might actually lose it." Ashley pressed her forehead against the cool window glass. "Do you know what she said at dinner? That my lack of refinement will 'reflect poorly on the family name.' Like we're some kind of royal dynasty."

"The Great Spoon Scandal of 2024," Luca teased gently. "Whatever will the neighbors think?"

"Stop," she tried to keep her voice down but couldn’t help the smile that formed. God, Luca was always the release she needed. Through the phone, she could hear the soft notes of an Alec Benjamin song playing in the background – his go-to playlist for late-night talks.

"For real though," his voice softened, "are you okay? You sound more stressed than usual."

Ashley traced patterns on the window, watching her breath fog up the glass. "I just... sometimes I feel like I'm suffocating under all these expectations. Like I'm constantly performing in some play I never auditioned for." Maybe that was a little too much on her end, "Does that sound stupid?"

"Not stupid at all." The music in the background switched tracks. "At least they care enough to have expectations."

Her chest tightened, "Lu..."

"Anyway," he cut her off quickly, "speaking of performances – plot twist. Olivia Chen fucking cornered me after Bio today."

"Olivia Chen?"

"Yeah, scared the hell out of me" Luca muttered with his vulgar mouth. Luckily he never spoke like that infront of her parents. Otherwise, she wouldn't have a best friend.

"As in 'definitely running some kind of underground empire from her locker' Olivia Chen?"

"The one and only. She's throwing this huge Halloween party and apparently, I made the guest list." She heard him shifting again. "She was very... intense about making sure I knew I was invited."

Ashley sat up straighter, nearly knocking over her perfectly arranged stack of decorative pillows. No way Luca just got invited to something. Not that he couldn’t or was too lame but... that never happens to them, "Luca! This is huge! Please tell me you're going."

"I don't know, Ash. Parties aren't really my thing. Too many assholes, too much..." he trailed off, and she could picture him fidgeting with that leather bracelet he always wore.

"Too many cute guys?" she couldn’t help but tease him a little bit.

"That's not – I'm not –" A soft thump suggested he'd flopped back on his bed. "You know I'm not looking for anything like that."

"Because no one writes lyrics that hit quite like Alec Benjamin or play the guitar?" She kept her voice light even though she felt a little bad for him, "The world is full of people with stories to tell, Lu. Some of them might even be at this party."

"It's not about the lyrics," he mumbled, though they both knew that was about as convincing as her perfect daughter act.

"Come on, one party won't end the world. Everyone will be in costume – it's basically a free pass to be someone else for a night." The irony of those words wasn't lost on her, but she pushed the thought aside.

"I don't know..." But she could hear his resolve wavering.

"I'll come with you!" The words tumbled out before she could stop them. "We could do matching costumes, something fun but not too extra."

"Your parents would never let you go to a party." She heard him adjusting his volume, the music growing fainter. "Remember when you got a B+ in Chemistry? I thought they were going to reverse birth you."

"What?" Ashley twisted a strand of honey-blonde hair around her finger. Luca may think so but she had something in mind, "What if... what if I told them it was a school-sanctioned event? Olivia's dad is that famous surgeon, right? And her mom runs like three charities. They're basically parent goals incarnate."

"Ashley Martinez, are you suggesting lying to your parents?"

"It's not lying," she protested, though… lying to her parents seemed… it just made her stomach twist thinking about it, "It's just... selective truth-telling. Besides," she lowered her voice further, though her parents' bedroom was on the other side of the house, "don't you think I deserve one night where I don't have to be perfect? Where I can just... exist?"

The silence stretched long enough that she checked to make sure the call hadn't dropped.

"You know you're already enough, right?" Luca finally said, his voice gentle. "Perfect or not."

"Lu..." She blinked rapidly. This was not the time she wanted to get emotional but her best friend’s words always meant everything to her.

"Fine," he sighed, but she could hear the smile in it. "But when this inevitably blows up in our faces, I get to say I told you so. Not as poetically as Alec would, but I'll say it."

"Deal!" She had to stop herself from squealing too loudly. "Now, about costumes. I was thinking..."

"If you suggest anything involving fucking E-Boys, I'm hanging up."

"Like doing e-boys or looking like one?"

"Goodbye, Ashley."

Their laughter mingled through the phone line.