15:30

Seven

Verita turned fourteen on a Thursday. Luckily , St. Marks had flexible rules for birthdays. So she when she walked into Mrs. Patel's class, tired after a long day at school, atleast she wasn't wearing her dark blue skirt and white half sleeved blouse shirt which constituted her uniform. Instead she was wearing a designer tiffany blue spaghetti sleeved sundress with matching earrings and box heels which were designer too . She was dead tired but she looked as fresh as a daisy and smelt like Dove's cucumber and green tea scent. The color of her dress emphasized the emeralds in her socket. Her cheeks were naturally pink and she had very little make up on. And she really didn't care about the arm flabs or love handles showing. She knew she looked fabulous and owned it with her usual confidence.

Jay came directly from school and was still wearing his uniform, which was a white collared shirt, khaki trousers and a red and dark blue striped necktie, red being the color of the house he belonged to at school. He had long removed his dark blue uniform blazer that had his school name and symbol on the left corner, and kept it in his bag.

He was waiting in class, catching up on the news on his phone, when the noise of Verita's heels drew his attention. And when she walked in he had a dramatic mental jaw drop. The kind that happens in movies when an average looking heroine has a complete transformation and suddenly looks straight out of the cover of Vogue. With the heels, she was taller than him. And she looked ever so powerful that Jay instantly felt intimidated and nervous. Now Jay had only seen Verita in her school uniform and shabby hair and unkempt appearance. But today she looked sleek and he daresaid, chic. Verita always had a pretty face, no double chin, soft V shaped jawline and cheekbones elevated just the right amount. And a clear complexion. And a loudmouth, quirky smart ass. But a lot of boys looked past that because all they could see was how huge she was. And Verita didn't care either. She focussed on the boys who treated her with respect and the rest could go fuck themselves. Boys weren't really a priority for her.

Verita walked in and took her place next to Jay in the first row. She flashed her pretty, my-mom's-an-orthodontist smile and he reverted with a your-mom's-my-orthodontist smile. It had been a quite a few months since he'd got his braces and occasionally Jay would meet Verita at her clinic, apart from Mrs. Patel's class.

"Quick, say something Jay. Stop smiling like a creep and compliment her Jay. She looks elegant. Tell her she looks elegant Jay," he thought to himself.

"What you reading?" Verita said, before Jay could verbalize his thoughts.

"Just the news," Jay said, as he glanced at a headline and the date written below it. 23rd October , 2012. It then occurred to Jay why she was differently dressed.

"Happy birthday!" he wished after a pause.

"Thank you. I'm glad you remembered."

"So, anything special planned. With , what-was-his-name? Aaron, was it?"

"Adrian. Nope, he's busy. He's got college and this killer internship. We will be meeting over the weekend though. I'm spending the day with Riya instead," Verita answered coolly.

"You aren't mad at him for ditching you on your birthday?"

"Ofcourse not. I understand. He's not your ordinary school boy. He has to worry about way more stuff. "

Jay nodded. Time and again , Verita proved how mature she was. He knew that was the reason why older guys liked her. She didn't look like she was fourteen, nor did she speak like your regular squealing, fangirling fourteen year old.

"You know you don't come across as a fourteen year old as all. At first glance, I'd assume you to be much older than that."

"Thanks, I guess," Verita said, her expression turning sour. Jay realized that what he'd meant as a compliment didn't quite come out as one. If there's one thing you don't do, it's imply that a woman looks older than a her actual age. He wanted to tell her that she reeked maturity, but instead he told her that she looked like a twenty something woman.