I groaned rolling over to my side. 16 today. Great! Just great.… This is going to be so fun! (Note the sarscasm)

Your probably wondering why I’m so upset, right? It is my birthday after all but the thing is my birthday is also my bad luck day. You seriously don’t want to know what happens to me on my birthdays ever since I was two. It's been bad luck.

So I decided today - all day I’m going to stay in bed. That was until my mum walked in and told me I better get ready for school. ‘But mum’ I complain. I sounded like a baby but I cannot go to school today I have P.E and I’m most likely to break a leg.

Mum just gives me the evil eye. ‘And why can’t you go to school today?’ she asks, annoyed.

I frown. She doesn’t remember. I sigh.

‘because; it’s my birthday and like every year I’m going to break something!’ I snap.

Grrr… I hate my mum. Her face lighten up a bit. ‘Happy birthday! now get dressed or you’ll miss your bus’ she says becoming suddenly all happy-go-lucky, walking out. She’s happy that I’m going to die today!

Angry, I dig in my closet for some jeans. I’m skipping. I’ve done it many times before and plus my grades would make up for it. Even though mum always finds out that i skipped. It's all worth it.

I dump some random jeans and a red tank top before grabbing my school bag.

Pretending to go to school is easy. When I walk downstairs I see everyone smiling. I shake my head.

‘Happy birthday Jess’ I mutter to myself heading for the door.

The ‘happy birthday’ words would be nice… if someone else said it. Someone that isn't hoping i would die today...

I can feel a per of eyes on me. I slowly turn around.

‘What!’

My younger brother Kai smiles. ‘Your gonna break your head today’ he says in a sing-song voice. I ignore him and head for the door, slamming it behind me.

I swear! My family wants me to die! They’re smiling! That’s why mum was happy! I hate myself.

Just then my best friend “Lillian ‘Lilly’ Raininton” drives by, in her shinny sliver sport her. Her big black sun glasses covering her chocolate brown eyes. She flashes a smile putting her glasses to her nose so she can see me. I smile back.

‘Need a ride?’ she offers.

I nod, jumping in. her bright blonde hair flipping as she turns to face me. ‘Birthday girl’ she teases starting to drive off. I frown.

‘Sadly yeah I am the birthday girl, we’re skipping school to the mall!’ I demand. She laughs. We did this last year in my birthday and I still broke my arm!

‘Is it really that bad?’ she asks, changing dictations in her driving. I shrug. ‘of course’ I say dully. She laughs again. I look at her.

Lilly is perfect; expect for getting low grades but she’s rich she can make up for that when her parents buy her into collage, it’s not that I don’t like Lilly it’s just she’s perfect. Unlike me. I am the most imperfect person I’ve ever known.

‘So anyways’ she grins happily changing the subject, trying to cheer me up. ‘Sweet 16 two words PAR-TAY!’ She starts bragging about all the things we can do.

‘1) party is one word 2) I’m not having a party I told you.’

she opens her mouth to protest. I put a finger on her lip.

‘I don’t care if your paying I don’t want a sweet 16’ I say. Which is a total lie.

I’d love to have a sweet 16 but I’m not the kind of person for that, bad luck wouldn’t work well with a party. I was cursed from the day my parents named me.

I mean ok Jessica is a common name, but I hate my name! Like most teenage girls do. I should be happy I didn’t end up with some weirdo name but I was named after a tree. Yup, my mum named me after a tree. Jessica. I hate that fact. Maybe I would have liked my name if I didn’t know about the tree thing. But i guess i'll never know.

Lilly snorts. ‘I know you want a sweet 16, you always say that “you didn’t want one” Pfft get real!’ Lilly chatters.

I shake my head.

‘I’m serious!’

I keep lying as she parks the car. Then we keep arguing until we get in the mall.

I admit I hardly go to the mall but I still love it. And with Lilly going from shop to shop trying on about a million clothes would help, so I wouldn’t have to do anything, which means I won’t get hurt.

We stroll from shop to shop. I keep Lilly talking so she wouldn’t ask me any questions or argure with me.

That’s the thing about Lilly: she just doesn’t shut up. I pretend to listen to her and nod every once in a while to make it look like I’m listening. But I’m actually just caught up in my own little world.

‘But really,’ she says.

Weird, I didn’t even know we were having a conversation. I started to stopped blocking her out.

‘Something special is bound to happen today, you’ll see!’ she says happily. I frown. ‘oh yeah breaking my leg sure is joyful!’ I say my voice dripping with sarcasm. She shrugs.

‘You never know’.

but I do know! Life sucks! I look at Lilly as she carries a bunch of clothes into the changing room as she winks at a guy around our age. I shake my head.

Lilly is like a boy magnet. She has a new boyfriend every week.

But me? no! Nooo way! I’ve never had a boyfriend. i was born with all my parent’s worst features.

It’s not that I’m fat or ugly that nobody asks me out. Well that last line was a lie, I AM fat and I AM ugly. But in Lilly's words:

Boys just don’t consider me as “Pretty”.

But thinking about it not being "pretty" is being ugly, there's no in between... Is there?

I remember when I was smalls boys would tease me that I wasn’t pretty enough. I try pushing that thought out of my mind.

I wish that I was a girl from a movie or something, that I just bump into a guy we both end up on the floor picking up whatever I dropped he’d help and then we look and each other, blush then fall in love.

I don’t care if it’s cliché. It’s my birthday! I’m allow to dream.

Lilly walks out of the changing room. ‘How’d I look?’ she asks. I comment on her dress and she hands me a bunch of clothes to store back.

I mutter under my breath about hating her but do as she says anyway. I’m hoping I’d bump into someone right this minute…

GREAT! Nothing happening.

I start putting the clothes back.

About a second later Lilly squeals, grabs my arm and pulls me to a different shop.

Thanks to my clumsiness and my untied shoes I trip on my lace not realizing I’m standing near stairs I fall down.

Lilly gasped running to my side. Stairs in the middle of no where?… they weren’t there yesterday. Grr I’m cursed with bad luck SEE!

A few people stop and look at me, giving me looks full of sympathy. I slowly nod trying to get up.

I do feel a bit dizzy but nothings broken. I guess I’m used to this kind of thing. I sigh. Lilly helps me up to my feet.

‘I’m sorry!’ she says worriedly ‘I guess it is that bad! Maybe if we go to school-’ I groan at the word “school”.

School has a million stairs I cannot help but trip. I shake my head at her.

‘no I’m fine’ I say, forcing a smile. But she’s still not convinced about it.

She places her hand on her hip.

‘Maybe we should hang out at home?’ she offers.

I search my pocket. Damn! I forgot my keys. And I can’t call mum or she’ll kill me for skipping school. But she probably will find out i skipped anyway...

I mumble something about forgetting my keys to Lilly. She nods.

‘Let’s get something to eat or whatever’ she says. I nod this time.

We walk in the same pace, Lilly makes sure that I don’t fall or anything.

When we get to the food court some pizza hits me right in the face. I groan in disgust. Lilly chuckles. I rip the pizza of my face and throw it to the ground, shooting Lilly one of my famous glares.

She stops laughing. ‘you gotta admit it was funny’ she says above a whisper. I don’t think it’s funny.

We sit down at a café until someone finally asks us what we’d like to order. I get a muffin and hot chocolate while Lilly gets a coffee.

I unlike Lilly don’t worry much about keeping my figure, so I order out a lot. Unlike Lilly, she always talks about her diets and drinks coffee.

Ew I hate coffee!

The waiter brings our orders to the table and I take out my purse.

‘Don’t worry it’s on the house’ he says winking.

But I know he’s winking at Lilly, she does too. She giggles. I lean back in my seat watching them flirt.

My arms crossed against my chest.

‘Thanks…er’ Lilly struggles looking at his name tag. Lilly always had trouble reading. Even easy words.

‘J-Jam’ she says, smiling proudly at herself. Me and “Jam” both laugh. ‘It’s Jamie but I’ll forgive you’ he says walking away.

Lilly blushs, even after he leaves. ‘you need a tutor’ I comment, nibbling on my muffin. Lilly’s eyes widen. ‘And you need a life’ she says lamely, she has trouble thinking of comebacks. -Well so do i but still-

Yeah my best friend Lilly is dumb. But I love her anyway.

‘How could you not read his name?’

Lilly looks angry. ‘I probably need glasses, that’s what my eye doctor said, but not way I’m getting them!’ she says. I laugh.

After we finish eating -I might add I spilled the drink all over myself- and got cleaned up we left the mall.

It was pretty early but Lilly didn’t want anymore trouble here.

‘Come on,’ Lilly begged once we were in the car. I shook my head.

‘Let’s do something fun.. Birthday girl’ she teased.

I hate my birthday. Wow, I hate a lot of stuff.

I start to wonder if Lilly even bought me a present. Last year I was showered in gifts - But only when I came back home with a broken leg i might add.

Or maybe she finally gets it, that I don’t want my birthday to happen and she decided to leave me alone. I knew my chances were very low due to Lilly’s partying attitude.

My wonders were answered when Lilly told me to close my eyes.

‘but Lilly I don’t want anything’ .

It was true. But apart from the bad-luck kidda thing I also hate my birthday because it makes me feel older. It means more “responsibility” plus it means 16 years without even one date.

I sigh. I’m gonna end up living alone with a cat. Speaking of ends up, I end up closing my eyes anyway. We in Lilly’s car still so how-

‘Open’ she says cheery. As soon as I open my eyes I gasp. ‘Cool isn’t it?’ she whispers. I feel like hitting her in the face.

Am I really that ugly?