• Adrianne* couldn’t believe it as Mrs. Anders* told them the news. I mean seriously, Adrianne has witnessed some strange stuff happening in the past but never this! Who would put a mufti day on the exact same day of sports day (the throwing events) and on the exact same day of charity week and battle of the bands? Seriously, Mr. Birch*, the current head of the school, had gone insane. Well, that was her opinion anyway. Adrianne fiddled with her red locks as Mrs. Anders finished with the morning report.
    “Lastly, there will be a theme for mufti day. The theme will be; ‘Sea.’ Have a lovely day you lot!” she finished with a cheery grin that teachers always flash at you in a desperate attempt for you to like them. Mrs. Anders started handing out C.P Expresses to all the children. A short-haired girl Dorothy*, who sat next to Adrianne, smiled excitedly.
    “Oh! Only 2 more days till mufti day! I just can’t WAIT!” She screeched happily. The other children of the class glanced at her and shook their heads as though their saying, “Lame-o! Weird-o!” After a while, Adrianne’s other 2 friends in class, Jade* and Lou*, joined into the depressingly boring conversation.
    “I seriously can’t believe that woman!” Lou rolled her eyes and imitated Mrs. Anders’ musical voice; “The theme will be; ‘Sea.’”
    The other 3 girls laughed out loud but when Mrs. Anders walked towards their table, they quieted down. They smiled politely and accepted the leaflets that Mrs. Anders offered them. Jade whacked her head with her hand suddenly, making Dorothy jump in surprise.
    “Don’t do that!” snapped Dorothy, annoyed. Adrianne sighed and her grey-green eyes flicked towards the direction of the clock absent-mindedly. Jade glanced at Adrianne and noticed the dreamy look in her eyes. She grinned and nudged Lou with her elbow, poking her just under her ribs.
    “Ow! Wha-?” cried Lou, but Jade put a finger to her lips and pointed to Adrianne. Lou understood and grinned. She crept up behind Adrianne’s plastic chair loudly announced in her ear, “Aden*’s coming!” Adrianne jumped up from her chair in shock and surprise.
    “Where, where?” she questioned urgently, her hands immediately smoothing down her hair. Jade, Lou and Dorothy burst out in fresh laughter as the bell rang about 2 seconds later. Adrianne’s eyes flashed with anger, picked up her green Roxy bag and strode out of her tutor room with a bunch of other kids-I mean teenagers-from her class. Jade automatically raced up to Adrianne and apologized so many times that Adrianne forgave her. The other 2 girls also ran up to them, apologizing profusely. Adrianne sighed and told them that it was alright. As Dorothy and the other 2 resumed chatting about the mufti theme, Adrianne was lost in thought. There were many boys who thought that she was beautiful and would have loved to date her but Adrianne chose Aden. A friend of hers for about 3 years already and only last year, he confessed to her about his feelings for her. Not to mention that his best friend, Mike*, also had had a crush on her since… forever. They had a fight last year over who was to dance with her in a disco that the school hosted for their year. Aden got to dance with Adrianne so Mike, who was devastated, spent the rest of the whole dance under a table, crying his eyes off and coming out once or twice to see Aden and Adrianne waltzing through the crowd. Mike still had his eyes and heart set on Adrianne but he kept his distance because he didn’t want to lose his best friend either (though he went crazy when Aden started to date Adrianne).
    Now, enough about the ancient history. Let’s go back to Adrianne daydreaming about Aden. His picture was stuck in her mind. Aden was tall and slim but he made her laugh and he never treated her wrongly. Adrianne was thinking about him so much, she forgot to watch the road and slammed into a nearby tree. Jade winced but helped her get back on her feet. Adrianne shook her red hair and smoothed it with a hand, grinning.
    “Did I really do that?” she asked, giggling. Dorothy and Lou sighed with relief and the 4 girls started giggling. “Hey guys!” another familiar voice called from a distance. The girls lifted their heads and waved to their others few friends; Vicky* (Adrianne’s best friend), Miranda*-but they call her Mookie, Shani* and Eliza* (2 new students). Vicky looked at Adrianne, sighed and picked a leaf out of her smooth hair.
    “I think that that was the 14th tree you bumped into this week! And it’s only Tuesday!” Vicky noted, raising a blonde eyebrow. Mook laughed loudly-which made Shani and Eliza stare-and coughed.
    “Ahem, our dear friend Adrianne is BLINDLY in love!” Everyone laughed but the laughter soon faded away as Aden walked towards Adrianne, a bunch of roses in his hands.
    “Hey,” He greeted quietly, his deep voice echoing in his throat. “These are for you.” Adrianne blushed as she accepted his gift. Her friends dramatically made loud, “Awwww…” sounds behind her. Aden smiled sweetly at her, “Wanna walk to class together?” he questioned, brushing a lock of red hair away from Adrianne’s exotic face. Adrianne nodded and looked to her friends, “I’ll see you guys later ok?” The girls sighed and pushed the couple forwards.
    “Go have FUN!” they chorused and quickly ran the other way. “Well, they’re heading back where they came from.” Aden commented, a cute grin forming on his face. Adrianne looked behind her, saw that this was true and started giggling. The 2 people walked towards class, hand in hand as the sun’s glare shone on them, bathing them both in a golden light.
    ~The Next Day
    “Where’s Aden?” Adrianne asked, a worried tone creeping into her voice. Vicky shrugged, “Didn’t see him for the whole day.” Adrianne looked at the others but they too just shrugged and murmured about not seeing him. She quickly whipped up her phone and sent a text message:
    Hey Aden Sweety,
    I didn’t see you in school today. Are you alright? Are you sick? You’re not hurt right? I’m worried about you. Well, hope you’re ok dear. I’ll call you after school today ok?
    With Love,
    Xoxo Adrianne
    Adrianne pressed ‘send’ and quickly turned her phone off before any nosy teachers come along, see they like the phone, and snatch the phone away while making a dumb excuse about how hand phones are not allowed in school. I bet you that the teachers compare them with other ‘confiscated’ phones to see which one is the nicest. Honestly. In any case, Mook and the rest of the girls stayed with Adrianne the whole day. It was pretty cloudy that day, no real sunshine at all. By afternoon, while Adrianne was in her car, driving home, there was a loud thunderstorm crashing down. It was a pretty gloomy sight and created a sense of foreboding. Feeling worried and in the need of comfort, Adrianne took out her phone again and sent Aden another text message:
    Omg Aden,
    So much thunder! I’m so frightened. I wish you were here. Are you ok? Mike said you were in a laser surgery! Is that true? Are you safe? I’m so worried about you! Text back quickly.
    Adrianne
    She was in such a hurry that she forgot to add in the romantic parts but that didn’t matter. She just had to know if he was safe or not. She clenched the phone tight in her hand and bit her nails. Adrianne stared out of the window at the heavy rain that was pouring down in sheets. When her phone beeped, announcing a new message, Adrianne’s pounding heart calmed down. If he had answered, then he would sure be alright. She flipped open her phone and pressed, ‘Enter’. First, her heart was contented as she read the first few lines, but when she finished the message, her heart turned to stone.
    Hey Adrianne,
    I’m sorry but I’m dumping you…
    Adrianne gasped, her body turning to ice. Her whole body felt cold, frozen and paralyzed. The phone fell from her hand and fell to the car’s mat. She clasped a hand to her heart, she couldn’t even breathe. Her head suddenly felt heavy and sore. She raised her other hand to her throbbing forehead. Blood pounded through her veins, forcing warm blood into her frozen body. The car seemed to turn upside-down, sliding in different directions as she fell backwards into her seat. Hot tears ran down her cheeks as the message flooded through her. I’m dumping you…
    Suddenly, hot anger blazed through her and her tears ceased flowing. How dare he? How dare he? After all the feelings that she felt for him, after all the times they’ve gone through together, he’s willing to throw it all away? How dare he? That idiot! Adrianne found that she could breathe again and the dizziness and the throbbing faded away swiftly. Now, instead of coldness, heat ran through her body as she clenched her fists in anger. She snatched up the phone from the floor and deleted all the messages and his number from her phone. She took one look at his picture, yelled a few un-ladylike words and deleted it permanently. Just thinking about him now made her blood boil. Adrianne took several deep breaths and she calmed down. Her heart rate returned to normal. She suddenly felt very tired. Adrianne leaned back and closed her eyes…
    ~The Next morning
    Adrianne’s eyes snapped open as her alarm rang for 6 o’clock. She thought for a while about why she was waking up so early. Her mind was completely on Aden for the whole night and she could hardly get some proper sleep. He was a haunting image to her now. Adrianne looked at the sports bag laid out before her and her memory snapped. “Oh yeah…” she murmured, her voice heavy with fatigue. “Sports day in the Olympics track and then sports day in school as well tomorrow…” Adrianne climbed out of bed and rubbed her eyes wearily. She felt sick but she had to go to the sports day. Her eyes snapped open, she was suddenly awake. Oh yeah, Aden was going to be there, the male chauvinist pig. Adrianne sighed and trudged out into the dining room. Her father smiled at her. “Good morning dear! Are you ready for a big day?” he asked, his arms extended out in front of him. Adrianne smiled weakly and fell into his arms heavily. Luckily, he caught her just in time and pulled her upwards again. “What’s wrong sweetheart? Oh my god, you look so pale!” Adrianne shook her head and pulled herself into a chair.
    “I’m alright…” she moaned, massaging her aching head with her hands. Adrianne shook her head to try and clear it. “Just hungry…”
    “Let’s get some food into you,” commented her father, worriedly observing his daughter. “Maybe that would help.” Adrianne nodded in agreement and the maids brought out pancakes and set it out in front of her. Steam rose from the golden cakes and she could see the honey and maple syrup oozing from the pancakes. Pancakes. Ha, Aden’s favourite food. Once Adrianne thought of him, pain raked through her bladder. Her stomach lurched violently and she vomited on the floor. Her father quickly paced towards her and soothed her back. Her vomiting stopped and she wiped her mouth clean. The stench of bile was overwhelming. Grimacing, her father made her go back to her room and tucked her into her 4-poster bed.
    “Sleep now. You’re not going to your Sports Day, you’re too ill.” He announced firmly. Tired and wanting to go back to sleep, Adrianne nodded resignedly and pulled the covers up to her chin. Her father closed the door behind him, as he left, with a soft click.
    Adrianne lay in bed for a while, thinking hard. Then she smiled and reached for her phone and sent a last text message to Mike, asking him to pass it on to Aden for her.
    Tell Aden that I can’t come to Sports Day because I vomited this morning at the thought of him so it’s all his fault and it should be on his conscience. Oh, and help me pass a note to him; He may get a new girlfriend (most likely Nataly*), but I’m Irreplaceable.
    Thanks, Adrianne
    After that, she switched off her phone and picked up her I-pod. She plugged the headphones into her ears and closed her eyes, her mind following the music. Only one thought ran through her mind before she drifted into sleep…
    Aden tomorrow is a new day and a new reason to stop loving you.
    END