I was waiting on the roof of Penultimate for Ron, lying on the usual couch. It didn`t bother me, though, because I`d been texting Ruth all day. "By the way, I love your platinum gray hair. It`s absolutely gorgeous. Aren`t you a natural brunette?" Ruth texted.

　　"Yeah, like ten years ago. I don`t remember mentioning that. How did you know?" I texted back.

　　"Oh, it was on one of your profile pics... I think. But anyway, did it take long to dye?"

　　"Sorry, I forgot I put that there. But yeah, it was really tough! I had to do a lot of bleaching and toning, but after all that, I used a little bit of dye to get it to the color I wanted," I texted.

　　"Oh yeah? I was thinking of going blonde. Would it be difficult to do that?" Ruth replied.

　　"No, I don`t think so. But you must be an expert since you could dye your undertone orange. By the way, how did you do that? Or did you go to a salon?" I texted back.

　　"You`re right. It shouldn`t be too hard, considering I bleach my hair all the time, haha. Also, yeah, I did this myself. I just did orange first and then dyed the top black," Ruth texted. Okay, she clearly was black-out drunk when she went to the salon because that is not how you multi-dye your hair. I`d have to explain the process to her later.

　　I heard someone coming up the stairs and looked over to see Ron walking, a book bag over one shoulder. "Hey there, Autumn, let`s get started." I hopped off the couch and joined him at the table, taking the seat across from him. We talked about each other`s days for a bit, then got straight to business.

　　"Last night, I was thinking, since Bella loves surfing, we have cut-out paper skeletons on surfboards and fish bones alternating on the string lights," Ron said.

　　"That`s a good idea! It still shocks me. Bella doesn`t look the type to like surfing. I pictured her as the type of girl that sits in a dark room chanting to crystals," I said.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author`s consent. Report any sightings.

　　"She`s a little bit of both. When Bella first met my parents, my mother found her in my parents` bedroom, creating a healing ritual. She sat on their bed surrounded by obsidian crystals chanting the mantra, `Protect these souls when they choose to return to slumber.` Long story short, it was an awkward dinner conversation trying to explain to them that my girlfriend didn`t worship Satan. Eventually, they got over it and got a new mattress." Ron took a sip of his water, then his eyes lit up, and he continued, "That reminds me! You know how I said our first date was at the school dance? Well, we actually rode separately, and when I got there, she was literally crowd-surfing on top of a surfboard."

　　"You know, the more I find out about her, the more I realize it`s like opening Mary Poppins`s purse. I go in reaching for some eyeliner, and instead, I pull out a coat rack," I said, crossing out my idea for crystal chanting. Seemed like Ron`s parents wouldn`t be too excited to relive that dinner.

　　Suddenly, my phone buzzed, and I immediately picked it up, seeing a new message from Ruth. I texted back intensely, staring at my phone.

　　"Hey, everything alright?" Ron asked.

　　"It`s just Ruth texting back, sorry. Let`s get back to the plan." I placed my phone upside down, so I wouldn`t be tempted to pick it up.

　　"Okay, sounds good. I need your focus right now, but let`s talk about it after. Moving along. We could recreate the school dance vibe and even have a table for designated finger foods, especially chicken tendies," Ron said. I could see the twinkle in his eye when he said tendies.

　　"Chicken tendies? What are you like, five?" I said.

　　"What? Do you take yourself too seriously?"

　　I was shocked at first, but he had a point, so I shrugged it off. "Fair point. Regardless, this is actually a really solid idea! Okay, I`m thinking we could--" Suddenly, my phone buzzed, and I quickly grabbed it to read the notification.

　　"Hey, dude?"

　　"Yes, I`m sorry."

　　"Hey, man, if it`s important, you can take care of it. But remember, we`re planning one of the biggest moments of my life, so I kind of need your full attention," Ron said.

　　"No, no, you`re right. Let`s do this. No more distractions. I`m focused." Turning my phone off, I placed it in my bag. We continued the planning with no further distractions on my part. I felt like we were getting closer to the actual plans. Next time we met, I was sure we would reach our final plan.

　　Home in my room, I flopped onto my bed. Kevin came up to snuggle next to me. I just remembered I had to take down that picture of me from ten years ago. I wondered which one Ron put on my profile. It must have been a really good one. I swiped through my photos, but it wasn`t there. Sitting up, I swiped through it again and again. But the picture was nowhere to be found. Every picture Ron chose was recent.