Once upon a time in high school………….

“ANNETT, ANNETT!”

Splash!

With that splash of incredibly cold water, I was not only wide awake but was enraged enough to feed Jason to a tank of ravenous piranhas which would, most certainly, devour him in seconds and give me a chance to relish in pure glee for he had just dared to, oh so cruelly, pull me out of my blissful dream.

“JASON!” I screamed as I sat up quickly and wiped the icy water off my neck. That brat better be prepared to face the wrath of a maliciously woken up sleep mosnter.

Jason was standing right next to my bed with a jug and he was smirking while I was having truculent contemplations about how I could remove it off his face.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked getting out of bed and standing up to face him with hands on my waist.

“Waking you up.” Jason replied nonchalantly placing the jug on the bedside table. He was still wearing that annoying smirk which I loathed with passion.

“God, Jason you could have just woken me up the normal way, you know. I do respond to nudges.” I said glaring at him. I seriously wouldn’t be surprised if my eyes bore two huge holes in his eyes.

“No, you don’t anymore and we’re getting late for school, so stop complaining and get ready. Fast. I’ll be waiting downstairs.” With that he just left the room closing the door behind him as if he had done nothing wrong.

“I hate you!” I yelled after him. And I meant it, at least for now for waking me up right after Ryan Seacrest announced “And Your new American Idol is Annett Parker”. God knows how I’m never gonna be the next American Idol in reality, the moron could’ve at least let me cherish the sweet taste of victory in my dreams, but no, Jason Carter has to butt in everywhere and spoil every little thing for me. Putting aside all my beastly thoughts involving Jason and the piranhas, I glanced at my watch. SHIT! Late again. Why? Why? Why always me sleeping like a big fat wart-hog? I suddenly felt grateful to Jason for waking me up. If it wouldn’t have been for him then my sleeping antics would have long ago gotten me into some sort of huge trouble. I impetuously ran for the bathroom, took a shower, brushed my teeth and combed my hair in what seemed to be my very own record time. Then I hurriedly threw myself into the skinny jeans which I had bought just yesterday and put on my favourite Benetton sweatshirt which read “I’m a very different girl”. Next I got into my purple pumps and dashed down the stairs. It’s a wonder I didn’t fall off the stairs considering the speed at which I ran.

“You sure those things you run in won’t land you on your ass?” Jason cleverly started. He was leaning against the main door and smirking only now the smirk didn’t ignite any murderous notions in my head.

“Ha Ha, very funny. Let’s get going, we’re already late.” I retorted walking past him out the door.

“And whose fault is that?” He snapped back making his way towards the car. I sent him a glare which had “stop pestering me early in the morning” written all over it. He seemed to have got the message for he quickly changed the subject as soon as we got into the car.

“So, I broke up with Amanda.” He began kinda awkwardly as we got out of my house.

“I didn’t see that one coming now, did I?” I said with a glint of sarcasm in my voice and without looking up from my chemistry text book. Jason’s frequent make ups and break ups were not as important as the chemistry test I had today. I hadn’t even gone through the chapter for revision. God knows what I was going to write about ester formation in the test.

“Yea, I didn’t even like her much in the first place—”

“Is there anybody you actually like for real Jason? Because I cannot remember you going out with anyone for more than two weeks.” I hated it when Jason talked about girls that way. Suddenly arguing with Jason seemed more important than the freaking chemistry test.

“Whoa, Annett! Calm down. I just didn’t like her alrite.” He said that as if not liking Amanda was his right by birth. “Don’t ask me to calm down, you moron. I just don’t understand how you could go out with her or Sarah or Jenny or Tanya or Kylie or a dozen other girls if you didn’t even like them. It’s absurd, it’s pathetic and it’s absurdly pathetic how you break all of their hearts and they are still willing to, I don’t know, do all sorts of things for you.” There was no stopping me once I started. Jason seriously needed one of these long speeches from time to time. “Just because they throw themselves at you doesn’t mean you actually have to pick them up, you know.”

Silence prevailed for at least a minute.

“Why are you quiet?”I finally asked getting more and more irked by the second. The chemistry test was long forgotten. Do hell with alcohol and its properties.

“What do you want me to say?” He finally stated when our school approached. He swiftly maneuvered the car into his usual parking spot and turned to look at me. “Sorry? I’m not gonna apologize to you for something that I didn’t even do to you.”

“You know what? You’re right. You shouldn’t have to apologize to me. I don’t even know why I bothered talking to you about this. Just forget I ever said anything.” With that I grabbed my bag, got out of the car and started walking towards the school leaving Jason behind. God! Jason could be such an ass sometimes! It’s not that I pitied Amanda for having her heart broken or something. The girl had it coming; I mean every girl Jason dates knows that he is the biggest player in all of Red House High but even then they don’t mind throwing themselves at him. I detest girls like that who would sleep with every passing guy. Fucking whores! We have plenty of them here in Red House High. Instead, what I was pissed about was Jason’s ways with girls; he always changed them every fortnight. It was almost as if he was some kind of man-whore.

“Annett, wait.” I heard Jason calling up from behind. He suddenly was walking next to me.

“Look, could you stop getting mad over small things like that? Annett, Annett.” He, then, grabbed me by the arm and we were face to face. “Why are fussing about that so much? From what I remember you never have been a very big fan of Amanda, so why in the hell are you mad?”

I suddenly felt a pang in my heart. Jason was right. Why in the hell was I fighting with my best friend over some fucking road whore? I knew Jason. God knows, he’s never gonna change himself being the stubborn moron that he is, so why am I even bothering to yell at him?

“I’m not mad, ok. I just, it just …..Ah it was nothing. Forget it, I’m not mad at you, ok.” I said with a smile. He seemed to have bought it for he quickly let go of my arms and we were now walking towards the school building together. Don’t get me wrong when I said Jason is never gonna change himself, it’s not like he is this major conceited asshole like most of the guys in our school. Sure, he can be painful at times, but Jason is one of the few people that are in my “I fricking love them so much” list. What I meant when I said he is never gonna change is that he is never gonna change his ways with girls. Ever since we started high school it’s been kinda hard to ward the female population off him. And he, being a guy, doesn’t dither the slightest bit to make the most of it. I always knew that Jason would be big in high school considering his good looks and his extremely good sportsmanship but never had I thought that he would be this BIG. He practically owns Red House High. All the girls wanna be with him and all the guys wanna be like him. I know, I know, the line is a little too corny and clichéd but I cannot think of anything better than that to describe his status in school.

And you impatiently ask how Jason looks? Well, the one thing that I love the most about Jason is his eyes, his striking blue eyes that are really gorgeous. Of course, the jet black messy hair, the well-chiseled face, the flawless straight nose, the incredibly hot body and the 6’ 2” physique also count but his eyes are, without any doubt, my best part.

As for me, I’ve always been ……… “that girl Jason hangs out with” for most of the girls. Many of them talk to me just because I’m his friend. How pathetic is that? Well, never mind the hoes, who cares about what they think anyways? I guess you could say I’m one of the popular ones in our school but I don’t believe in the whole popularity drama. I make it a point to talk to all the nice people in our grade be it the math nerd or the science geek, hell I’m a biology geek myself.

Jason and I have been best friends since elementary school, since Jason was a cute little midget, since long before he started playing basketball and started attracting all these skanky bitches. Jason’s dad and my dad went to college together and are very good friends, so that kinda explains why we’ve always gone to the same schools. They still go fishing together from time to time. That reminds me, I don’t mean to sound mean or anything but I seriously will never understand why people spend tons of time sitting idle with a fishing rod in their hands next to ponds and lakes when they can just go to a supermarket and buy any fish they want if they really want it that bad. Mom agrees with me but dad for some humanly unfathomable reason seems to lurve fishing.

Anyways, Jason and I entered the main Red House High door and I, for once, was kinda surprised that we hadn’t been late. Thanks again to Jason and his unbelievably fast sports car. I probably would’ve died by now if I didn’t have Jason.

---

Dining Hall. The worst part of school. Because it is one big freak show, a platform for people to scream something like “Look at me, I’m perfect” on. Cliques and cliques and more cliques. That’s what the dining hall is all about. It is the ideal place for you to show off your new boyfriend or your new belly piercing (they’re kinda like the same things for these people, aren’t they? After all, both of them are just for the sake of flaunting) or to show that now you are the member of some new clique. If you ask me, then I personally think that all of it is a shitload of nonsense. But, never mind me; I’m a very opinionated person.

Wait, but I haven’t even given an official introduction of Red House High now, have I?

“I’m getting a new car.” Claire, a very good friend of mine, began while taking a bite from her tuna sandwich.

Well, if you haven’t guessed yet then Red House High is supposed to be the best private school in all of North Carolina. To get in here, either you have to be exceptionally talented or just plain filthy rich but most people here fall under the latter category, not to say it is a bad school though. Red House High still is one of the most prestigious schools in all of the states despite some students getting in because of their extremely large bank accounts.

“That’s cool. What happened to your old one though? It was pretty good.” I said taking a bite of my own tuna sandwich. All the guys were talking about basketball. And, by the way, Claire and I were the only girls in our table because we sat in the much coveted and “oh-so-glorious” jocks table. Kinda explains why most of the female population here abhor us. Anyways, in case you’re wondering why we’re the only girls here then it’s pretty simple. Since I am Jason’s best friend and Claire has been Kyle’s girlfriend since middle school (you can gasp now) we haven’t come across a single girl who hasn’t tried to use us to get to them. There was a time when I used to hate Jason for that but now I know better than to blame my best friend for things that aren’t even his faults. So, to cut a long story short, I ended up having only a few people as my good friends namely Claire and Kyle.

“I got tired of driving it.” As much as I hated to say it, Claire was one big spoiled brat. Sure, she was a very good friend and a very good person but her frivolous ways were sometimes rather strange, I mean it’s not everyday that you hear your friend say she is getting a new car just because she got bored of her old one. Sometimes I seriously wondered how Kyle and Claire were so much in love because they were the complete opposite of each other. If I had to use one word to describe Kyle then it probably would be “nice”. He just is one of those rare all around nice guys with amazingly good looks (it is true, they do exist although being on the brink of extinction). I cannot recall Kyle ever not doing his homework or getting a single detention or getting into a fight with anyone or failing ANYTHING (is that even humanly possible?). And he doesn’t even study as much as I do, oh god why do I have to study so hard while other people maintain the same GPA as mine without studying? Life is so unfair! Wait a minute, why is the word GPA making me feel weird? SHIT! The chemistry test.

“Annett, are you fine?” I suddenly was pulled out of my reverie when Claire waved a hand in front of my eyes. She raised an eyebrow when our eyes met as if to say what’s wrong.

“Yea, I’m just worried about my chemistry test, it’s after lunch and I don’t know shit about it. I’m busted big time Claire.” I started panicking, the tuna sandwich lying on my plate, long ago forgotten. Tests always always freak me out, be it minor or major. I have the tendency of screwing things up during tests. Suddenly the bio test that I totally flunked in my freshman year popped into my head making me more fidgety.

“Don’t worry, Annett. You’ll be fine.” Claire tried to help me but failed miserably. “Claire’s right, you’ll be fine Annett, don’t worry.” Jason began abruptly leaving the conversation that the guys were having about how this season was going to be their best basketball season yet. I looked at him and he smiled. Boy, did he know how to make me feel better?

“Thanks guys but I think I’m gonna go to the library and study for awhile.” I quickly ran out of the dining hall and impetuously made my way into the library. All I can say at this point is CHEMISTRY SUCKS BIG TIME!!

---

Why, why, why?? Why in the hell does chemistry have to be so hard? I hope that whoever discovered oxygen and carbon dioxide is rotting in hell right now! And, as if chemistry wasn’t hard enough already, we had to have the most annoying teacher for it. Mr. Banks was, by far, my least favourite teacher which, I guess, was perfect considering chemistry was my least favourite subject. He never ever smiled, he always always looked like he’d just come out of a funeral, he had a knack for yelling at students for the most trivial things which sometimes were almost ridiculously funny. He, once, sent Jason to detention for twirling his pen in class which according to Mr. Banks was “distracting the whole class”. God knows how Jason had bequeathed classic good looks from all the Greek gods to distract the whole school, but twirling a pen? I mean, seriously, nobody cared if a pen was being twirled in their vicinity even if the “twirler” was Jason, the Wentworth Miller look alike. You get how Mr. Banks is right? Moody, grumpy, grouchy, cantankerous, gloomy, annoying, aggravating……….. and the list will never end because my odium for him increases every time tests are taken which, we, the most unfortunate chemistry students of Red House High, have to encounter much more often than Britney Spears’ ever-changing hairstyles. I seriously could not understand why he hadn’t been fired yet.

You can rant all you want after the test, just focus on the paper now you idiot.

Yea, yea I better finish all the ones that I know fir—

“Hey, can I borrow a pencil?” I heard someone say from behind me as I felt a hand tipping on my shoulders. OH MY GOD. Nobody was stupid enough to utter a single word during Mr. Banks’ tests let alone complete a whole sentence, a question technically speaking, well whatever. It probably was shock and only shock that made my head turn sideways in an attempt to see who that stupid person was (or maybe it was the extremely appealing voice? No, it wasn’t. Shut up!) and that did it. A whopping score for team Parker for making the most idiotic move ever!

“Annett, Nathan, get out of the class.” Came Mr. Banks’ thunderous voice. I immediately turned to look at Mr. Banks who was in the front of the whole class (the best place for teachers to look out for any cheaters). He seemed to be fuming.

“But, I wasn –”

“Consider yourselves lucky that I’m just cancelling your papers. Another word and both of you are going to the principal’s office.” Lucky? Maybe. It’s really a wonder that he didn’t instantly send us to Principal Watts. He had his hands against his chest and looked just about ready to explode. I knew better than to say anything more. I immediately grabbed all my stuffs and walked out of the room. “Are you waiting for the red carpet Nathan?” I heard him yell after I left the classroom.

This Nathan guy better have an extreme case of Alzheimer’s disease if he wanted to be excused by me for having my chemistry test cancelled for which I had painfully studied so much. I was waiting right outside the classroom when he walked out of the classroom and I was almost dazed by how good looking he was. Messy sandy brown hair (which reminds of me how unfair it is that guys can look totally cute with messy hair whereas we, the girls, would probably be embarrassed enough to move to another city if anybody spotted us in messy hair. Talk about gender equality!), striking blue eyes (what’s with me and blue eyes, huh?), a small and cute nose (okay, I did not just think that!), extremely tall (which once again reminded me of how short I am), well-chiseled face, oh and even a dimple because he was smiling at me. Wait, what? He was smiling at me? He just got me kicked out of chemistry, he should be extremely sorry! But, he was awfully cute. Okay, think cute and handsome rolled into one single package. A treat for the eyes. Not many guys are blessed with that perfect combination of cuteness and hotness. I wonder why I have never seen him before now.

Annett, what is wrong with you? You’ve never ever appreciated a guy much before this then why are you drooling all over this one?

“Look, I’m sorry, alright, I didn’t know he would explode like that.” He began smiling. He made the apology sound like he’d just accidentally stepped on my foot and it wasn’t a big deal.

“Excuse me, but that chemistry test was my last chance at improving this month’s grades. Do you have any idea how much I studied for that fricking test? The least you could do was at least apologize like you did some real damage Mister. And why in the hell did you ask me for a fricking pencil in MR. BART’S test? Were you out of your mind?” I was exasperated and it was evident in my voice that I was pissed BIG TIME! The guy tried to say something but I cute him off.

“You know, what? Don’t even bother. I’ve got much better things to do than yell at some ignorant jerk who used me to get out of the chemistry test.” With that I stormed off towards the common room, my pumps “toc-toc”-ing on the floor.

Such a pretty face, didn’t deserve yelling!

My stupid conscience is never on my side. Ugh! Why does my life have to suck so much?

---

God, I’ve always hated chemistry, ever since I got what an element was in the seventh grade, I’ve abhorred it. Can’t even remember why I took it in the first place now.

Enough about chemistry already. The rest of the day was considerably good though. There were no bounds to my excitement when Principal Watts, unexpectedly, announced that we would be having Model United Nations in a few months. We had already had MUN once earlier when we were freshmen and it had felt like such a drag in the beginning but the thing had slowly grew on me. But I could not get the much coveted “Best Delegate” or “Best Delegation” titles back then, so even if it meant I had to work my ass off this time, I would do it to get them. Moreover, things like MUN look fantastic on your transcripts when you’re applying to college. All the more reasons to love MUN!

As I was happily making my way through the school corridors after the final bell rang, I suddenly realized that many girls were staring at me. Damn, how could I forget Jason had just broken up with Amanda, which obviously meant that rumors about how he mercilessly dumped her for me must be flying around right about now. Every time Jason broke up with his latest girlfriend, these kinds of rumors, somehow, would always start which meant I had to bear these kinds of stares every fortnight or so. Oh god, what did I do to deserve this cruel life?

“ANNETT!” rang Kyle’s voice in my ears as I was trying to shrink so that I wouldn’t have to take the uncomfortable stares. I turned back and saw Kyle trying to catch up with me. “Annett, coach cancelled practice today, so Jason is waiting for you in the parking lot. Make it fast.” Kyle wasn’t loud at all but I was sure that the long ears of the rabid skanks had caught his words just fine. Great! It’s just fucking great.

“Yea, I’ll be there.” I told him as I quickly opened my locker and threw all the unwanted books in. “Okay, see you later. I gotta go find Claire.” With that Kyle left almost as abruptly as he had arrived. Once I was done with my locker, I surreptitiously went out the main door and into the parking lot.

“I seriously don’t understand why it has to be me who always suffers because of you and not the other way round!” I started ranting as soon as Jason was in my earshot. He was waiting by his car and as soon as he saw me approaching he got into the car and started it. I got into the passenger’s seat and looked his way waiting for a response. “What did I do now?” He asked lazily as he twisted his upper torso to take his car out of the spot. “Nothing, you never do anything. It’s just your female fans that always look about ready to maul me.” I spat taking my cell phone out of my bag. “I can’t help it if I’m loved so much now, can I?” He replied smirking as he drove us out of school grounds. “Gag me.” I hit him in the arm as I speed dialed my mom’s cell. She immediately picked it up. “Hey mom, no need to send the ride over today, Jason didn’t have practice, so he’s giving me a ride home……………….Okay bye.” I flipped my cell shut and sighed.

“So how was the test?” Jason asked keeping his eyes on the road. “Don’t ask.” I guess my frustration was evident in my voice because Jason didn’t ask anything about the test again. Jason knew about my long struggle with chemistry. He knew that after frogs I hated chemistry the most. What he didn’t know was that I had screwed the test because of this guy named Nathan. And I was definitely not in the mood to talk about it to him right now.

“Hey did you catch Principal Watts’ announcement? We’re having MUN again.” He began happily after a while. “Yea that was pretty much the only thing that made the day a little worthwhile.” I replied. “I hope we’re in the same country again. Last time was fun, remember?” Jason almost sounded like a kid now. One of the things that I loved about Jason was that despite being an archetypal conceited jerk at times, he opened up to me. We could do and say things to each other that we, most certainly, could not say to other people because we’re just too old to do so.

“Maybe for you, because all you did was come over and play “Prince of Persia” with Cody on the Xbox. I had to do all the research and country profiles, remember?” I said jokingly. Cody, by the way, is my little brother although I would hardly call him little considering he is like taller than me (he is already 5’ 11” in middle school).

“Don’t start making up stories now, Annett. Both of us know I did all the work while you sat around finishing all the pizza.” Jason replied teasingly. I faked exasperation. “Now Jason Carter, be careful with your words, you would not want to start a fight with me. Trust me on that.”

“I’ve been fighting with you ever since we were in elementary school Annett Parker, so bring it on. We both know I’m gonna win anyways.”

“You wish.”

Our playful argument lasted till we reached my home. We finally agreed that both of us that done considerable amount of work.

“Don’t over sleep again tomorrow unless you want another splash of icy cold water.” He said amusingly as I got ready to get out of the car.

“Do that and I won’t be as forgiving as I was today.” I replied slinging my bag on my shoulders and getting out of the car. “And drive carefully, you moron.”

“Ok, see you tomorrow then.” With that he drove out of my gates and I watched him till the guards closed the gate.

“I’m home, mom.” I shouted as soon as I got in. No response. Cody, as usual, must be in his room doing god knows what, dad was, most certainly, not back from work, Cynthia (our maid plus chef) was definitely preparing dinner at this hour and mom was probably in her room watching the Desperate Housewives repeat. I went up to my room, got a change of clothes and went downstairs to the kitchen to grab something to eat. To my surprise, mom was there giving directions to Cynthia about how the chicken should be perfectly roasted.

“Make sure the chicken is cooked well. I want it to be perfectly roasted.” Seeing this was almost funny as mom never really did any house work. “Good going, mom. Keep it up, what’s the occasion though?” I asked her taking an apple out of the refrigerator. “Oh Annett honey, you’re home. Didn’t Jason come in?”

“Nah. ” I replied taking a bite from the apple and leaning on the kitchen counter. “Are we expecting guests tonight, mom?” I asked looking at Cynthia cooking all sorts of delicacies.

“Yea, the Andersons moved to New York —”

“They left? When did they leave?” I didn’t really know the Andersons (courtesy of the huge fence that ran between our house and theirs’) but from what I’ve heard about them from mom they were pretty good neighbors, you know, inviting us over for barbecues and dinner from time to time.

“A week ago. And now we’ve got new people living next to us. In fact, it’s already been a few days that they got in Chapel Hill, so I invited them over so that we could get a good head start.” Interesting. New people, huh? It was always nice to meet new people. I liked meeting new people.

“When are they coming over?”

“At about 7. Be ready, we have to welcome them.”

“Got it, mom.” I said leaving the kitchen with another apple. I glanced at my watch. Plenty of time left to be 7. I should catch up with my reading. Thinking this, I went up to my room and started reading my latest romantic novel. In no time, mom was knocking on my door telling me to get ready, so I went downstairs and waited in the living room. Mom appeared from the kitchen looking pleased.

“So I’m guessing the food turned out being really great.” I started guessing immediately seeing the look on her face.

“Yea, you really have to love Cynthia for that. Annett, honey, could you go and get Cody, they are gonna be here any second now.” She replied politely fixing some cushions on the sofa.

“Isn’t dad home yet?” I asked getting up to go get Cody.

“He had some work.”

I left mom with the cushions and went up the stairs to get Cody. I knocked on his door which had posters reading “Stay Away” and “Danger Inside” all over it. I, sometimes, wondered why my parents let Cody paste all these horrible things on his door (they think it is some “phase” that he is going through). Once again getting disgusted at my brother’s door, I knocked. “What do you want?” Came Cody’s irritated voice. “Mom wants you in the living room, we’re expecting some guests.” With that I went downstairs again, only to find my mom greeting some four people and Cynthia getting their coats so that she could hang them.

“Please, welcome Mrs. Clarkson.” I heard my mom say to the lady who had beautiful strawberry blonde hair. She looked like the mother of the two other people who had their back against me. One of them was a guy, a really tall guy with sandy blonde hair, a little different from his mom’s. I guessed he must be in high school as well and the other one was a girl with long straight, yea you guessed it, blonde hair. She was at least a foot shorter than the guy. Mr. Clarkson seemed to have already moved to the living room.

“Oh, please, it’s Keri.” Mrs. Clarkson was telling my mom.

Precisely at that moment, my mom spotted me glancing from the stairways, so called me downstairs, “Annett, honey, why don’t you come here and greet our guests?”

All eyes turned towards me. Mrs. Clarkson looked like a very kind woman with her warm smile; the girl was very pretty as well. I could not see Mr. Clarkson as I went down the stairs, instead all I could see, now that my eyes turned to the guy, were a very familiar set of strikingly dazzling blue eyes.

God, he was that guy, Nathan!

I hate my life!