The Prom Night Planner (Preview)

Chapter 3 - Serena

The doorbell rings twice. It's probably the pizza delivery. Ariana goes to the door while I scroll down Jayce's profile. Back then, we were friends on Facebook, but then when he left school I was furious at him. I unfriended him from my profile and ever since he never tried to undo it.

Ahh! Old and freaking memories. I sigh and check out the first picture of him on his profile in which he has worn white zip up hoodie with fitted pants. His hair is arranged in spiky way. His back is leaned against the bright sky-blue wall behind him with his hands in his pants' front pockets. The whole picture background is actually sky blue, making him stand out.

The background, picture quality and his posture evidently explain his paid photographer has captured that photo for him. He's looking like those clean cut, hot magazine's cover models. I further see there are around 1400 likes and some 1000 comments on his post. Most of them are females, complimenting him how hot, mouth-watering and attractive he looks.

A strange feeling of irritation settles in my stomach as I read those comments with humourless chuckles. Girls are treating him as he's the only handsome vocalist alive. My eyes pop out the moment I see the count of his Facebook friend, nearly 2000. He possibly would have been getting hundreds of messages daily. He also has a Facebook fan page and in my defense, I like to mention I'm not following that page.

I scroll down further and see the second post. It's another picture of him in which he looks normal and a regular guy maybe because it is taken from a phone. He's with his friends Arthur and Brandon. I know them. They are from his batch. Two years before, all three of them stayed together most of the time in school. Now Arthur and Brandon are in college. I guess they are still in touch with each other.

This picture has also hundreds of likes and comments. I'm about to move to the next post when the fresh aroma of mushroom pizza hits my nostrils and then I feel Ariana's presence beside me, "Ahan, you're checking out Jayce's profile. Do you miss him?"

I shoot her a disbelieving look, putting the phone down, "What? I have better things to do."

"Come on, Serena. You don't have to lie to me."

I snatch the pizza box from her and toss back the device, "I'm not lying. It's true."

"Okay. Then why out of all people you chose to stalk his profile?"

"I was just curious." I shrug, open the box and grab one slice. I pass the box to Ariana.

"Then why didn't you date anyone after him?" She persists.

It has been six months now Jayce has returned to school, but my face-to-face meetings with him happened few times. He stays away from me and I do the same. He's also in Final Year and has almost similar courses as me except the elective ones. I was surprised to see him again. My wounds freshened. I couldn't make myself to be normal to him because it was just mystifying to encounter with the person I thought I would never meet again.

"Because I don't want any boy drama in my life. I want to spend my time in school in peace." I answer, "Now stop talking about him."

"Okay." She says in defeat.

We enjoy our pizza in silence for next few minutes. If Arian's Mom would be here, she would have passed out after seeing the dispersed litter all around. There are empty cans, bowls and now a large pizza box. And the smell of food that can irritate her as well. Ariana's Mom is polite, its' not like she's a modern version of Cindrella's step mother, but she's a strict woman maybe because she's a widow and managing the internal and external affairs of the house as the only adult. That's why Ariana can't dare to invite me at her place in her Mom's presence.