We got to the front gate of Saffron hills high and drove through the driveway, parking the car where others had earlier parked theirs.
On getting down from the car, I found myself almost rammed down as Sally - a very close friend of mine, charged towards me at full speed and hugged me tight.
"Happy birthday in arrears Jenny," She said in a very high tone, light brown eyes bursting with happiness.
I was still crammed up in her arms and was finding it very difficult to speak. Hell, I couldn't even breathe well. "I...can't... Breathe." I choked out.
She immediately released me from her death grip, her once happy demeanor suddenly changed into a solemn one. "I'm so sorry Jen, I could have called or even visited."
"Well why didn't you?" I crossed my arms over my chest, feigning annoyance.
"I was grounded in my room without a phone."
My feigned anger vanished as I became concerned. "What did you do?"
"I left the house without my mom's permission on Friday." She replied with an eye roll.
"Seriously? Just that?" I was surprised, I was free to leave my house to get anything I want, the only time it becomes a problem to my mom is if I went to a party without her permission or I came home after curfew and the highest punishment she could give to me was to be grounded in the house not in my room and definitely not without my phone though I rarely break her rules.
"Yeah, you know how strict my mom is."
I nodded in agreement. I totally knew, I could vividly remember the first day I visited Sally in freshman year. Her mother had called her aside and scolded her because Sally didn't inform her of my visit. According to her, it was important to know if anyone was visiting so as to be prepared.
"So how was your birthday? Did you go out with Josh or you just stayed at home and did your regular family thing?" Sally asked, interrupting my thoughts.
Instinctively, I turned back to check if Jake was still by his car but he had probably gone as I didn't see him around. " No and... No." I said as I turned back to face Sally.
She had a very surprised look on her face. "Really? I seriously thought Josh would save you from your regular birthday stuff since you always complained about it."
I shrugged. "I went out with Jake instead."
"Oh." She mouthed with a slow nodding movement of her head. "But Josh called to wish you, didn't he?"
I sighed. "Nope."
Her mother was agape. "What the hell, are you serious?"
I pursed my lips before replying, "Yeah...I guess he forgot."
"Or maybe he was also grounded, phone and all." She chuckled, trying to make a joke out of it.
"Hardly," I replied dryly. Obviously, her attempt at a joke didn't get to me.
"He called me on that day to remind me of a party."
"Why didn't you tell him then?"
Before I could reply, I saw a looming figure in front of me. I already knew who it was but I still had to look up to be sure. I met a pair of familiar deep blue eyes staring down at me. His dark brown hair was slicked back making sure no stray lock fell over his tanned, chiseled face.
"Hey babe." His deep smooth voice drawled out from his thin lips as he simultaneously wrapped his arms around me lightly in greeting before releasing me.
I stiffened myself and hardened my eyes trying not to be too friendly, "Hi."
"How was the weekend?" He smiled at me. I guess he didn't notice my unfriendly look.
How was my weekend?
I wanted to shout at his face that the weekend was great without him and that I wished I had spent it with him. I wanted to ask him why he forgot my birthday. I wanted to scream at his damned face on why he ditched me and went to the party alone but surprisingly to myself, kept my cool and simply replied calmly, "It was great." I forced a smile.
"Why didn't you call Jenny to wish her a happy birthday Josh?" Sally snapped as if she couldn't keep it to herself anymore. I didn't blame her though, she was bubbly and vivacious and didn't hold anything back.
I turned to face her sharply, cautioning her with my eyes but she ignored me and turned to him waiting for his reply.
"Birthday?" He looked very confused like a child whom they told that the mother he grew up with was not his real mother.
"Her birthday was on Saturday." Sally stated, to ease his confusion.
Almost immediately, his confused look turned apologetic. "Oh shit Jen," he rubbed his hand over his hair as if smoothening it, "You should have told me, I totally forgot. I'm so sorry."
The bell for the first lesson rang before I could say a word.
"We're having English together Jen." Sally said to me with a hint of panic in her voice and light brown eyes.
"Oh my goodness, it's Mrs. Berkeley." I exclaimed. Mrs Berkeley was our English teacher. She was short and podgy and she wore her short brown hair in a bob. She had zero tolerance for lateness and students often mocked her -- because of her mean behavior and looks -- that she was dumped by her husband without any kids.
I said a hurried goodbye to Josh, telling him that I would talk to him later as Sally dragged me into the school building, her ginger waist-length hair bouncing at her back as we half walked - half ran past different students in the hallway.
We had to separate to drop our backpacks and get our books from our lockers as Sally's was on the opposite side of mine.
I greeted the students who stopped to wave at me with a smile and a corresponding wave or a simple 'hi'
When we finally got to the English class, Mrs. Berkeley was already in class glaring daggers at us immediately she sighted us.
"Good morning Mrs Berkeley." I and Sally both said at the same time but she didn't reply back. She kept on glaring at us till we got to our seats. Sally sat beside me.
Mrs Berkeley cleared her throat, finally removing her eyes from us. "So before we go to our major topic for today, I want to introduce you to a student who will be joining our class for the rest of this senior year."
Murmurings could be heard from different students as Mrs Berkeley finished speaking. I turned to Sally and whispered, "I bet it's a guy."
Sally rolled her eyes before whispering back. "It's always a guy."
"Perkins!" I heard Mrs Berkeley growl so I turned sharply to face her. At the same time the entire class quieted down at the sharp tone of her voice. She simply gave me a warning glare. I didn't know why Mrs Berkeley had a major grudge against me. It was Sally who spoke last yet she decided to pick on me.
I immediately stopped thinking as a tall and athletic blonde guy entered the class. His blonde hair was curly with stray locks over his forehead and he wore a white V-necked shirt, exposing his slightly tanned chest.
"Go on and introduce yourself." Mrs Berkeley gestured towards the class.
He smiled and I don't know why but my heart skipped a beat, maybe it was the way the dimple appeared on his chiseled face making him look so damn cute.
"My name is Jason Henderson, I moved here from New York and I love basketball." He smiled again as he finished and his electric blue eyes locked with mine making my heart beat faster. In a flash, he removed his eyes and walked away, sitting at the back, two rows away from mine.
I tried to steady my heart beat but it wasn't working.
Stupid malfunctioning heart.
What in the hell's name was wrong with me? Wait, he had mentioned that he loved playing basketball. I suddenly and involuntarily beamed with happiness. That meant I would see more of him as I was part of the school's female basketball team. I nodded; my smile spreading wider over my face.
"Perkins!!"
I jerked in my seat as I snapped out of my reverie. Why couldn't crazy Berkeley simply leave me alone?
"Yes?" I flashed her one of my sweetest smiles.
"What were you thinking about?" She snapped.
Didn't she notice the sweet smile on my face? Fuck her. I was sure by now everyone's eyes were on me...including Jason, I thought wryly. I wish I could just shrink or become invincible or-
"I asked you a question," she cut through my thought irritatingly, "What were you thinking about?" She reiterated.
"Um... I... I was actually thinking of basketball practice. I just couldn't wait."
"Oh is it because Jason might be there?" A very irritating girly voice said. I turned to the side where the voice came from. It was Bianca... No one else but her. I didn't even notice I was sitting beside her.
"Nah, that thought didn't even cross my mind. I was actually reveling in the fact that I'm going to take you down at today's practice... I can't wait." I said the last part in a whisper and with a smirk on my face.
If Bianca was trying to hide her shock or anger, her blue eyes and mouth totally betrayed her.
Bianca and I were rivals, we hated each other and we never tried to hide it. She hated my guts, my rising popularity and the fact that I was better than her in basketball and I hated her because she made my life a living hell in middle school and also because she hated me. In fact, one of the reasons I dated Josh was because he was Bianca's ex and she desperately wanted him back though she never admitted it to anyone. She was also the team leader of the school's female basketball team while I was one of the best and I was more than ready to change that position.
"In your dreams missy." Bianca said, recovering from her shock as she flipped her straight bleached hair.
"A dream that would soon become reality... After school...today." I retorted.
"Perkins!!!"
"Hey, Bianca was also part of this too, she started it." I snapped. This was the third time she was calling my name today... The freaking third time. Was I the only one in this stupid class?
Mrs Berkeley decided to ignore my rant. She would have taken action on me but maybe, just maybe she actually felt guilty.
"Okay, so back to English," She picked up a book from the table. "And before I forget, Perkins leave this class... Now."
Okay so who was I kidding?