I reluctantly got up the next morning with a heavy sigh. I really didn't want to go back but I cannot keep hiding away forever.
As I was getting ready, I recalled memories of my first day of school when I was little. Mom and dad were more excited than I was. I was really nervous so dad picked me up in his arms and told me stories about his school days.
Mom had made my favourite cookies for me. They had both come to drop me off at school and wished me luck.
Then again, for my first day of highschool, I was nervous and dreading the day. I had read stories about all that high school drama and how nightmarish it can be, but both my parents comforted me and told me stories of their high school days and how they'd met each other, which helped in providing some reassurance to me at that time.
It is so weird to think that those were the same people who told my kidnappers that they don't care if they kill me.
Things started to change after my 14th birthday when they started distancing themselves from me. They started going on more business trips and spent less and less time with me. What happened 3 years ago that they started disliking me?
A knock on the door interrupted my train of thoughts. "Are you ready, Jen?" Max asked.
"Yeah, I am coming."
We were eating breakfast but I couldn't stop thinking about my parents. Max sensed my uneasiness and gave a concerned look at me. "Is everything alright, Jen?" He asked.
I nodded wordlessly. He didn't look convinced but didn't say anything either.
***
"You guys have two cars! Why should we all squeeze in one?!" I whined.
"Because we are all going to drop you off together." Liam grinned.
"You can still do that with two cars?" I dead panned.
Where they serious?
"We can but we don't want to." Max smiled.
"And why not?" I stared at him.
"Stop whining like a baby and get in the car." Zack ordered with an eye roll.
"Fine!" I huffed and sat inside the car.
Zack was driving while Damien sat at the front passenger seat and I was squeezed between Max and Liam. Loud rock music was bursting from the radio.
Zack's playlist, what did I expect?
"Here we are." Zack said while turning to me.
And then suddenly, realisation kicked me.
If everyone saw me getting out of a car with 4 hot boys, everyone would be staring at me, asking about them. What will I tell them?! How will I escape the spotlight?! Shit shit shit.
The four of them started to get out while I was sitting and wishing to melt down and evaporate. Why didn't I think of this before?!
Because you are dumb.
Can you please not?
"C'mon, Jen. Come out?" Max called for me.
Everyone outside was already staring at the four unknown faces. I could already see girls drooling over them. My palms were sweaty and I was nervous as hell.
"Jennifer? Is something wrong?" Max asked me. I shook my head, gathered up courage buried somewhere deep in my heart and got out of the car.
And as soon as I did, loud gasps were heard from everywhere. "Isn't it that weirdo who always hangs around with Ashley?" I overheard some girl saying.
I could see people whispering everywhere. These four morons looked unfazed. Of course, they have the habit of this. I even spotted Ashley standing beside Alexander, staring at our direction with her mouth hanging open.
Then to add more to the drama, Max and Liam gave me side hugs before wishing me a nice day.
Sure, it will be a really nice day.
"Have fun, Jeny." Zack smirked at me.
Sure. Fun? I will have a lot of it today.
I looked up to see Damien who giving a gentle smile at me. And yet again, I melted.
The four of them got in the car, and drove off. Leaving me alone to deal with what was about to come.
I quickly ran towards my locker to avoid all these people's gazes. My sweaty palms were a constant reminder about how nervous I was.
Ashley came running towards me with an excited squeal. "Care to tell me what that was?!" She asked while shutting my locker.
"What was what?" I feigned obliviousness.
"Who were those guys?! They were all so hot! How do they know you?!"
"They were my kidnappers." Turned friends.
She burst out laughing. It wasn't a jo-
"Quit joking, Jen."
" I am not-"
"The one with blue eyes and black hair was so cute! I immediately fell for him!" She was talking about Max.
"Ash, please. I need to get to my class."
"No....Okay fine, leave the part about how you know them. Can you give me that black haired guy's phone number? Introduce me to him?! I really think tha-"
Someone coughed from behind her. It was Alexander. He must have heard everything. Good. Because Ashley just likes to play around with guys. I never minded it because it was her life. But I would not let her get anywhere near Max.
I would never let her play with him. Max deserved so much better.
"Um.. Alex, I was just-"
"I heard everything, Ash."
She was trying to convince him that she was just kidding around with me. And suddenly, I felt angry. I was missing for 4 days and she didn't even care to call me once?
Like a suppressed torrent of fury, my anger burst out through my voice as I snapped at her.
"You are one big liar, Ash. I was gone for 4 days and you didn't even check up on me for once?! What if I was in trouble? What if I needed you? You saw me today with 4 guys and suddenly you remembered that I am your best friend? Please quit your act! And consider this friendship over!"
With that, I stormed off with angry tears in my eyes.
She called after me but Alexander ended things with her too and she ran after him. See? A guy is more important to her than me.
In history, Noah sat beside me but I ignored him. Him, Ashley and my parents. I was done with all these two faced people! And as I already told you, the universe enjoys seeing me miserable, so, throughout the day I kept receiveing stares from girls and many of them approached me to ask about the boys.
I just ignored them all as best as I could.
***
I was peacefully sitting in the cafeteria eating my food. Usually I used to sit with Ashley but she was no where to be seen today and so was Alexander.
I don't even care about her anymore. Now that I look back, I realise how awful of a friend she was. She was never there to comfort me when I needed her to. She was never there for me when I felt alone. She made me so insecure that I started thinking that I was ugly. She always kept me in her shadow. She never encouraged me for anything. All she ever did was, gossip about herself and criticise me.
As if my day wasn't already bad, I heard heels clicking on the floor.
Hailey and her minions were approaching my table.
Hailey is the most popular girl of the school who used to be best friends with Ashley. But they turned enemies when Hailey found Ashley making out with her ex boyfriend. And because I am- was, Ashley's best friend, she hates me too.
"Janet, right?" She asked me.
"Jennifer."
"Yeah, whatever."
"what do you want from me, Hannah?"
"Hailey."
"Yeah, Whatever."
"Don't act smart, Jennifer."
"What do you want?" I repeated my question.
"Who were those boys?"
This question again! I was already frustrated with everyone and this girl had to add more to my annoyance.
"None of your business." I sharply replied.
She looked pissed but I didn't care. It wasn't her business. It wasn't anybody's business. Why can't they all just leave me alone?!
"You are ugly." She said with disgust.
That came out of nowhere. But it didn't affect me like it would have a few days ago.
"I guess that makes the two of us then." I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
Hailey looked humiliated as she glared in shock at me.
Then one of her minions handed her a bottle of black paint and before I could process it, she threw the paint all over my clothes. The people around us gasped and immediately started recording it.
If this would have been the Jennifer before her kidnapping, she would have ran away crying but I was different now. Those boys somehow managed to change me a little in just 4 days. So, I picked up an egg from my tray, threw it on the floor, stomped on it and then shoved that egg in Hailey's mouth.
This got every single person's attention in the cafeteria.
"You bitch!" She pounced on me, taking both of us down on the floor.
She scratched my face with her claw like nails so I started pulling her hair. We kept fighting like cats until a teacher came and broke us apart. She immediately ordered us to go to the principal. But before leaving, I took my water bottle and splashed all the water on Hailey's face and walked away.
I felt incredibly proud of myself.
....
....
Even though it landed me in detention for a week. But that witch deserved it and I don't feel a pinch of guilt.
But I also knew Hailey wouldn't let me get away with that easily. She would be determined to make my life hell after what just happened today.
And the thing was that she had a lot of people on her side while I was all alone.
And today's incident with Hailey got more attention to me. This was hell. All of this unwanted attention was hell for me.
***
"You should have just ignored her, Jennifer." Liam said to me when I told them about my detention.
"No. She shouldn't have." Max said.
"Mhm. I would have been more impressed if you would have smashed her head in the tray of food." Zack huffed.
"Had you ever been in detention before?" Liam asked as I shook my head. He sighed.
"Stop acting like her Dad, Liam. She did the right thing." Max said while swinging his arm around my shoulder.
"Yeah. Don't ever take shit from anybody." Zack said and nodded to himself.
Damien was quite about all this thing but I wanted to know what he was thinking.
"This all happened because of you guys!" I exclaimed and shrugged off Max's arm from my shoulder.
"How? What did we do?" Liam asked.
"Why did you all drop me off at school? I am not some little girl." I cried.
"What's the problem in that?" Max dumbly asked.
"The problem is- I was a nobody in school. Invisible. And today, because of you all, I was standing in the spotlight all day."
"Didn't you enjoy it? We made you popular without actually doing anything." Zack's smug voice echoed.
"I don't want to be popular! I hate attention!"
"C'mon, it's not that big of a deal. People will act like that for a few days and then they'll get used to it." Liam waved a dismissive hand in the air.
"What do you mean 'get used to it'?" I asked, already dreading the answer.
"We will be dropping you off everyday." Max grinned brightly.
"No!" I yelled in mortification.
"I don't exactly understand your problem." Zack stared directly into my eyes.
"The problem is- Hailey will not leave me alone. I broke my friendship with Ashley and I have no one to have my back at school. It would be all hell for me!"
"Why did you break your friendship with her?" Max asked
"I realised how terrible of a friend she's always been to me. I was missing for four days! She didn't even text me once and neither did she ask about it today! All she did was drool over you while her Boyfriend heard her and got mad." I rolled my eyes.
"Whaaaat?" Max's eyes widened.
"She wanted me to introduce her to you. She thought you were really cute." I scoffed.
A shade of pink covered Max's cheeks.
"What about us?"
"What about you?"
"She didn't say anything about us?!" Zack asked.
"No."
He looked insulted. "Her choice in guys is trash then." He huffed.
Now Max looked insulted. "Did you just call me tr-"
I cut him off "Can you keep your focus on me?!"
"Don't worry, Jennifer. I'll handle this." Zack said and looked over at Damien.
Damien seemed to understand whatever Zack communicated with his eyes to him because the next second, I saw him nodding.
"What are you planning to do?!"
"Time will tell. You just have to Know that since now you are a part of us, you'll never be alone."