"Alright you two," Ronnie gives a teasing smile. "Ava, make a wish." She inserts seventeen candles into the spongy cake and lights them up.
Ava closes her eyes as the squad sings the happy birthday song. She makes a few wishes.
There are still tears in her eyes. The overwhelming and nauseous feelings that usually attack her are nowhere to be seen. She has never, ever, felt this good before.
They cut the cake into slices and eat it. Ava has not stopped smiling the whole time.
"Looks like someone is having a fun time!"
Ava's smile fades. She stares straight to a random table in the room in front of her.
She is too familiar with the voice.
"Meara?" Discomfort grows in Jesse's voice.
"Um, you know we have to finish our project right? It's due like today after school."
"Can we do it later?" Jesse frowns as he looks at Meara.
"No, and you have to come after school too." Meara blinks.
Ava abruptly turns her head towards Jesse. Jesse looks at Ava helplessly. He turns back to Meara and frowns.
"Um Jesse," Meara emphasizes theatrically, "you know we are going to fail our English grade if we don't finish it, like MY grades will drop too." Meara raises her pitch as she flips her blonde hair.
"I know." Jesse sighs and looks at Ava again, this time with eyes full of guilt. "I'll come with you now then."
Ava almost gasps. Did Jesse just leave me for MEARA?
Jesse mouths "sorry" and follows Meara.
Ava loses her all of her appetites. Melanie puts her hand on Ava's shoulders. "Look, it's fine, you still have us."
Ava nods blankly. She cannot process what just happened. She can barely produce a sound. She just chose to believe in Jesse as a someone different, but he leaves during Ava's birthday lunch for the girl she hates the most in the whole universe.
Ava peeks at them, and a tall figure appears next to Meara. It's Tristen. She puts her hand into his nest of hair, his arm wraps around Meara's body. It's clear that Meara is only calling Jesse away to trigger Ava, and Ava knows it.
-
After school, Ava packs her bag and is ready to leave the school alone, thinking about how her seventeenth birthday is supposed to be the best one yet, but escalates down to the worst one.
As she steps out of the school gate, Jesse shouts her name behind while trying to catch his breath.
"Hey nerd!" He stops in front of her. "Where are you going?"
Ava stares at Jesse, and surprisingly, the anger in her starts to fade away.
"Ava, I'm sorry, I left during lunch and finish everything because I didn't want to do the project after school." He stops and continues. "I want to spend time with you on your birthday."
Ava still cannot come up with a single word.
Jesse continues. "I know I kind of ruin your day this afternoon, so I'll make your day better again."
"I'll bring you to a place, as I said," he finishes.
Ava takes a deep breath. It's ridiculous how she has to bite her lips to stop herself from grinning, and she quickly snaps her gaze away from Jesse.
"C'mon."
Ava's heart melts at Jesse's pleading. She cannot resist herself from feeling a stream of warmth when she hears his voice. Finally, she smiles, rolling her eyes. "Alright! I'm here!"
Jesse widens his eyes and grins, "Wait, you're not mad?"
Ava sniffs and looks away. What should she feel? Angry at Jesse? She just can't. The fact that Jesse apologized and asked her out on her birthday just touches the soft place in her heart. She slowly starts, "yea, you happy?"
Jesse looks at her, amused. Ava rolls her eyes again. They approach Jesse's car.
-
Author's notes
Hi! I'm gonna upload another chapter soon since it's the end of our decade! I feel like uploading more, lol. Thanks for reading! :)
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Paralyzed Love ✓
Teen Fiction[The Fiction Awards 2020 Winner in Diverse Fiction!] Jesse is paralyzed from his waist down, but he makes sure he gets what he wants, for he has already lost too many things in his life. Yet when he finally gets to meet Ava, who has anxiety and depr...
