Two years ago
"Em! Wait up!"
I turned around and saw Beth waving from the end of the hall.
Elizabeth Harrison, the perfect strutting epitome of exotic beauty. She inherited most of her mother's genes, which she has numerously thanked God for. The only thing she inherited from her father was the brunette wavy hair that she always ties up in a high ponytail.
Her skin tone was sun kissed from all the sun bathing she insists on doing during summer vacation. Aside from her ability to get tanned, her eyes were a dead giveaway that she had Asian blood in her.
Soon turning 17, puberty had hit Beth like a truck. Her chubby cheeks were gone and her features became sharper as time went by. She would often complain about how squarish her face looks but her square jawline complemented her features.
Beth and I have been friends since we were in diapers and she was the closest friend I had.
I smiled, waving back at her to make her hurry up.
"We're gonna be late, 快一点儿啊!" (hurry up)
"还有十分钟 (There's still ten minutes left), calm your tits!"
I rolled my eyes at her, ever the chill brat that she is.
Sometimes I wonder if she still feels that sense of urgency. An earthquake might happen one day and I can just see her taking her time to get out of the building like there isn't a life-threatening danger happening.
Beth and I were two of the very few asians in our school, so once one of us speaks in Mandarin, the entire school could probably pinpoint who was having the conversation.
Once Beth caught up with me, I handed her my notes. It was already open on the page we were having a quiz on today.
Beth beamed at it and gave me a peck on the cheek. "Do you know how much I love you?" She squealed.
I rolled my eyes once more, wiping my cheek to get rid of her cooties.
"Yeah, of course you love me. No, you better love me." I joked.
Beth hummed, already flipping through the pages of my notebook.
I hooked our arm together and guided her through the sea of students. I pulled her out of the way as one of the kids barreled past us and half dragged her along to class.
Once we got there safely, I untangled our arms and sat at my usual seat as Beth continued to read through my notes and settled in her seat a few rows down.
As class started, the teacher shut the door and started distributing the quiz papers and we started racking our brain for the answers to the 10 questions given to us on the chapter we did last week.
After we did the quiz, class went on for another hour before we had a five minute break until the another teacher comes in for the next class.
"God, your notes are a lifesaver!"
I smirked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Okay, alright, you're a lifesaver," Beth corrected herself, returning my notebook to me.
Just then, Joey, one of our classmates, stopped by my desk.
"Hey Kate, did you finish the Bio homework from last week? I forgot to do mine." He gave me a sheepish smile.
I nodded, taking my book from under my desk and passing it to him.
"Thanks so much, just give me 10 minutes." He took the book and dashed to his table to start copying my answers.
Beth sighed as she stared at me.
"What?" I asked her, taking out my books for the next class.
"If only I had your brain. I'd charge them 20 bucks for every page they copy. I'll be rich in no time." Beth shook her head.
"20 bucks? Are you crazy? That's way too high." I gave her a funny look.
"You're just too nice." She snapped, sticking her tongue out at me.
I laughed, "Real mature, Beth. What are you? Six?"
"Seriously, though. You're too nice, you're making me look corrupt." Beth said in an accusing tone.
I snickered, "You are corrupt."
Beth mock gasped, covering her mouth with a hand, "How could you.."
Then she pursed her lips and shrugged. "That's true, though. I am corrupt."
I looked at her in amusement.
"So, birthday girl... Are you going to celebrate this year?" Beth asked.
I shrugged. I'm not particularly good at throwing parties. Decorating, event organizing and deciding who to invite are all too overwhelming for me to do. In short, I'm just too indecisive to do any of the things I just mentioned.
"I don't know. I mean, if you want to invite some people to come over my house and celebrate, I don't mind. We can just have a pool party." I said absentmindedly.
"Really?" Beth perked up at the authority I was giving her.
I nodded.
"Yep, do whatever you want."
Beth clapped her hands together gleefully and gave my arm a light punch.
"Be ready for the best birthday party of your life! Don't worry, I'll make this year a special one for you," Beth wiggled her eyes at me, causing me to draw my eyebrows together. But I can't help the laugh that escaped me at how ridiculous her eyebrows look when she wiggled it.
Unlike myself, Beth is always up for throwing parties. I didn't know where she learnt it from since we've only been invited to a handful of small get-togethers.
But I had to give it to Beth, she worked quick.
By the end of the day, one of the popular kids were already approaching me to ask about the birthday party I was apparently throwing.
"Hey Em, are you really having a pool party tomorrow?" Alex asked, stopping by my locker to talk to me.
"Um, yeah, I suppose so."
Today was Friday so Beth probably told everyone that the party was going to be tomorrow.
"Who are you inviting?" Alex asked again.
"Um, knowing Beth? Probably the entire grade."
Alex's eyes seemed to light up at my answer.
"Really? Do you think everyone's going to come?" He asked.
At this point I was giving him a funny look, "I don't know, maybe? Why?"
Alex gave me a grin and gave the locker beside mine a pat.
"No reason, I'll see you tomorrow then. Thanks for the invite!" Alex winked before turning around and walking away with a spring in his step.
The funny look I was sporting stayed on my face as I watched him practically skip away.
What was that about?
I shook my head and put away my books into my locker, exchanging them with the ones that we have assignments on and putting them inside my bag.
The next day rolled by and Beth was already ringing my phone for me to open the door by 2 in the afternoon.
"Chop chop, bitch! The party's at 6!" She ordered, 2 plastic bags in each hand that was filled to the brim with soft drinks and snacks. She also carried a black backpack as she pushed past me.
"Oh now you can move quickly," I retorted, closing the door behind her.
"What are you talking about. 当然啊(Of course). Otherwise this party's not going to happen."
"Have you thought about what food to order?" She asked me as she set the plastic bags down on the kitchen counter and took off her backpack.
"Probably some pizza." I answered, helping her take out the bottles of soft drink and set up the snacks in some bowls.
"How many people did you invite?" I asked.
Beth shrugged, "The entire grade?"
Thought so.
"Do you know how many are coming?"
Beth shook her head, "They'll come when they do."
I slapped her upside the head lightly. "Then how am I supposed to know how much food to order? 笨蛋 (Dimwit)."
Beth glared at me, patting the back of her head.
"Just order enough for the entire grade, we can pig out on the remaining tomorrow."
I grabbed my phone and dialed delivery.
"Your parents are coming back on Monday, right?"
I nodded.
"那太好了(That's great). I can crash here for the night then."
I nodded once again as someone finally picked up my call and I started placing my orders in.
People started streaming in at 6 and the party went on for 3 hours with people cannonballing into the swimming pool and playing waterpolo.
By 9, people were already saying their thanks and goodbyes to me as they went back home.
By 9:30, there were only 2 guys left along with Beth and I.
One of them was Alex and the other was Clay. I think the both of them came together since there was only one car left sitting outside.
I noticed that Alex had been keeping an eye out for the people that just arrived, as if he was waiting for someone to show up.
I certainly didn't forget about what happened yesterday at school.
I walked towards the gazebo, where he was sitting with a dazed look as Clay helped himself to another slice of pizza.
A towel was hanging around the back of his neck and his hair was still slightly wet as he sat sideways on a chair, leaning on the chair's backrest. He had changed into a new shirt and a pair of soccer shorts.
Alex was one of the popular guys in our school because he joined the soccer team. Our school's popular clique was basically made up of those who are active in the sports team.
"Hey," I greeted Alex.
He turned towards me, only then realizing that I had sat down on the seat beside him. "Hey."
"Happy belated birthday."
"Thanks," I smiled.
"It was a great party," Alex commented, looking at the swimming pool.
I didn't answer, just smiling as I looked at the clear water of the swimming pool.
The lights under the water were on, letting us see the blue tiles that covered the floor of the pool.
"It looks like you're disappointed, though." I commented out loud.
Alex turned to me, his cheeks slightly tinged pink.
I didn't know if it was because he was blushing or just the exhaustion catching up with him.
"Sorry, I hope you don't get the wrong idea. The party was really great," He assured.
I chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm not easily offended."
Alex gave me a smile and we fell into silence once again before he finally spoke up.
"Actually, I have a confession to make."
"The reason why I acted the way I did yesterday was because I wanted to see someone at your party." Alex said.
I turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.
"She didn't show up?" I guessed.
"Yeah," Alex dropped his head, wearing a small smile that showed me just how disappointed he was.
"Mind sharing who?" I pressed cautiously, not wanting to invade his privacy and offend him.
Alex looked at me for a moment, contemplating whether or not to tell me.
"Fuck it," he muttered. "For some reason, I trust you." He said, causing me to smile.
"It's Hannah."
I pursed my lips, trying to hold back the giggle that was bubbling inside me.
"What?" Alex asked once he saw my expression.
I took a deep breath to calm myself before answering, though the end of my lips still rose and formed a smile.
"I don't know. It's just so predictable, I guess. I mean Hannah basically has the entire male population in school in a trance." I answered.
Hannah was the new girl that transferred into our school earlier this year. She was beautiful and had a bubbly personality that just lifts up your spirit every time you talk to her. I don't blame Alex for being attracted to her.
To most guys, she was probably a breath of fresh air.
"You know you could've just said so and I would've tried my best to bribe her into coming to this party, right?" I teased.
Alex looked at me, "You really would've done that?"
I scoffed, "Duh. I love watching love bloom and all that. I'm practically a hopeless romantic."
Alex bit his lips, looking like he was formulating a plan in his head. After a few minutes, he repositioned his body and faced me, hands clasped together.
"Em, are you really willing to help me with this?" He asked.
I smiled, nodding earnestly. "I'd love to. If it's anything I can help with, just tell me and I'll try my best."
"Then can you do me a favor and be my spy?" Alex blurted out.
I almost choked at his choice of words and my brows shot to the sky.
"A spy?"
Alex nodded excitedly. "It's nothing extreme. Just help me find out what she likes and what she doesn't like so that I know how to win her over."
I smiled at how thrilled he looked.
"Sure, just text me anything you want to know and I'll ask her about it and tell you her answer."
It was more like a medium more than a spy now that I thought about it.
And that was the start of my friendship with one of the school's popular kids.
That was how I became friends with Alexander West, the best friend that played me.
~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Please tell me what you think about it.
I'm still trying to find my way back into writing Wattpad stories after being away from it for so long so I'd really like to hear what you think.
I hope you guys had a nice day. See you on the next chapter!
Love y'all <3
-J