Chapter Three

And D-day had finally arrived. It was graduation today. Not only that. I was getting my car today. And I'll be 19 today. Three occasions in one day. Okay, only one was an actual occasion. So much for a day. What more could I ask for?

"Wow, Cheryl, you look stunning." I said admiring Cher's dress.

"Hmmm, tell me about it. And you? Everyone around has their attention on you", she pouted and pointed in a certain direction.

I turned around only to catch Jake staring intensely at me. My heart skipped a beat. What was wrong with him? His eyes had a darker shade. I've been avoiding him ever since that night. Just seeing him gives me this throbbing between my legs. I turned back to face Cheryl with a straight face

I heard my name and walked up to the aisle to take my certificate, smiling so happily.

Coming down from the aisle, I stole a glance at Jake and I noticed he just couldn't take his eyes off me. And then I noticed the blonde girl beside him sending kisses to his cheek and my face fell. I looked away in disgust. I swear I saw him smirk at me. I felt my face add colour. I just sighed and walked back to my seat.

After everything, Cheryl and I went to take pictures and Cheryl told me about the after-party for the graduation. She convinced me it'd be so much fun since its my birthday.

"Cheryl, I don't have a dress for the party."

"Take a look at this", she held out a wrapped gift to me. "Happy Birthday to you Nickie."

"Thanks a lot." I replied, taking the package from her and I sent a peck to her cheeks.

"No need be cheesy ma'am", she laughed out. "Let's get going".

"Cheryl, my place first. I need to see what my parents got me. And my car too."

We drove out of the arena to my house and we got in. I was greeted with a kiss from my mom and my dad held out the keys to my car.

"Happy Birthday and Graduation." they said in unison and stared at each other before sharing a laugh. I prayed this would be forever and we could live happily like other families do.

I hugged them both and took the keys to my Lexus ES 330 that was handed over to me by my Dad. It was a nice car. Just perfect for me. I rushed to test drive it and screamed so happily. A dream come true.

"Thanks Dad, Thanks Mom." I was too overjoyed to even take in their facial expressions.

"You don't have to thank us. We'd do anything to keep you happy, especially from now on." Dad paused. "And we'd always support you, just know you've got us watching your back."

"That's a bit cheesy but I like it." I said with a laugh.

"Cheesy or whatever you call it, that's what family do for eachother." Mom replied.

"This family reunion might get me to tear up." Cheryl wiped off imaginary tears from her eyes.

"You both should come in for a group hug." Dad said with a smile.

"Cheryl, he meant you. You're family too." Mom pulled Cheryl close.

"I love this kind of invitations." Cheryl said as we moved in and did the group hug thing.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~

"Nicole, please no wasting of time." Cheryl said, sounding frustrated.

I put on my dress. It was a long red straight dress showing off my nice ass, with its slits slightly reaching above my knee on my thigh. It had a slim hand with an open back.

After the dress, I put on a three inch heel and let my hair fall to my shoulders with a little makeup.

"I can barely breathe, Cheryl."

"Too excited I guess." Cheryl replied.

"No. It's this damn shapewear. It's killing me."

"Hey, you're not wearing it for long, probably five hours."

"You said that like it's five minutes." I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Whatever." She sighed.

"I'm kinda excited though." I said happily, "we're taking my car."

"Fine. No problem."

We both moved out and headed towards my car and I drove all the way down to the club house.

When we got there, the first couple my eyes caught was Jake and his blonde girlfriend, sucking off each others face. I felt a pang of jealousy but I just shook it off. All of a sudden, I felt stupid for sleeping with him.

I couldn't afford to let something that happened in the past ruin my day. After all it was just a one night stand. Nothing more. A one night stand that got me attached.

I went to the bar to get myself a glass of wine and I gulped it down, taking another shot till I lost count. I managed to carry myself to the dance floor without losing my balance. I began to dance, obviously wasted. I could hear people cheering me on and it made me do a few wild steps.

Then someone dragged me from there. It's uhm... Wait. Why is my vision blur? I couldn't see clearly but I recognized the cologne. But who is it? I moved closer to the person, shaking my head and hitting my cheek.

"Eh, wake up you sleepy eye." I spoke to myself. "Wait. Who are you?"

The person pulled my hand and took me out of the club house to the park.

"Take this, it's water. You can wash your face with it. Maybe it'll help you see clearly." the person replied angrily and I recognized the voice immediately. Jake Parker.

My heart skipped a bit and I ran into his arms.

He wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back. "Hey, I missed you."

He pulled away from the hug and looked at me. "What were you doing in there?"

"I was dancing." I giggled and almost stumbled.

"Gosh, you're so wasted and can barely stand."

"Stop complaining. Help me home, please." I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"Nicole, I'm here to apologize for what happened the other day. I was really in a bad mood and I just needed to relax and free myself."

I stood still on my feet and watched him walk away after his little speech.

What a shame. That's all he had to say for that very precious moment we shared. I wanted it to be forever but I was wrong. He didn't even like me. He used me. My eyes hurt like hell but I was certain I won't let myself cry.

I walked towards the direction of my car and I saw Nate Wilson. He has been on my neck for some time now, he wanted us to date but he's not my ideal guy, I mean compared to Jake. So we just leave it as friends even though he tries to cross his boundaries sometimes. I bet he's here to give me his regular meaningless speech.

"Princess in distress?" He asked me and I just plastered a smile on my face.

"Nate. Not again. I just want to go home but I can't drive, I took a few shots."

"Let me help you." he offered and I accepted without hesitation.

"Cheryl's place please." I huffed out and he nodded, taking my keys.

When we got to Cheryl's place, I found the hall empty and remembered that Cherry's parents were on a trip. Nate helped me to Cherry's room following my direction and lay me on the bed.

He turned to leave and halts. "Happy Birthday Nicole." He said handing me a very beautiful chain with my name as the pendant. He put it around my neck and pecked me. I stiffened at his touch.

"Thanks Nate." I said and hugged him. "I love it."

He pulled out of my embrace and waved me goodnight.

What is happening to me? Why do I love someone who doesn't care about me and I reject the one that does. I guess I should give Nate a chance to prove himself. It may even help me to get my mind off Jake.

With that decision I drifted off to sleep.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~

Fuck! Such killer headache. I regret drinking so much. I managed to pull myself from the bed to the bathroom and wash up. After that I entered the kitchen to prepare something to eat so that I can take a few painkillers.

Cheryl wasn't back home yet. I guess she'd be back before 12pm. I knew I couldn't stay here alone for long. I felt so dizzy. I didn't even know what's going on.

I took out a few slices of bread and toasted them for breakfast. After munching down my breakfast I still felt so empty. I checked the freezer for some leftovers but none. I then decided to order pizza.

While waiting for my order to arrive, I decided to call Nate.

I told him I was ready to give us a chance. He was so happy and insisted on taking me out for coffee the next morning.

The bell door went off. There comes my pizza. I opened the door and paid for the Pizza and in no time I wad done eating it.

What's wrong with me? My appetite increased all of a sudden. It felt very strange and I also felt very strange.

After eating the pizza, I felt very tired and heavy and decided to retire to bed till Cheryl came back but I was too restless to even sleep. I was so frustrated and felt the need to have plenty of water.