Chapter 3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

"Is she coming?" Ariana asked eagerly as she placed a birthday cake on the dining table. Her daughter was beside the window, stretching her neck to get a good view ahead of the buildings to check if her sister, Jennie, was coming. She then shook her head.

"She is yet to arrive." She answered.

Ariana sighed, placed two hands on her waist, and then looked at her husband.

"Did she forget that it's her birthday?"

Brown chuckled and wrapped his arms around her shoulders to calm her down.

"Don't worry. She must be with Louis or maybe an emergency came up."

"If she happens to be with Louis, I will make sure to cut off her legs. Louis wasn't there when I was struggling to push her out and even sent her to school so now he is delaying her when today is her birthday? Who does that? They are not even married yet." Ariana fumed.

"She has arrived!!" Ashley yelled and flew over the couch with all her strength and everyone else got into position. Her parents quickly hid the cake and pretended as if everything was normal.

The door was opened by Louis, a young and handsome-looking man in his late twenties. His hair was stylishly packed to a side and he seemed to have dyed his hair black again as that wasn't his natural color. Gauging his height to that of Jennie, the latter was taller than him but loved him either way.

"We are home," Louis announces with a smile as his girlfriend took off her heels and placed them side by side at the entrance.

"Happy birthday," Ashley screamed with all her might as if she had been possessed and then pressed a button on a well-built little machine that made quite loud a noise, and then glitters from nowhere gracing the happy event.

"Oh my world, Ashley..." Jennie was surprised.

"Happy birthday, sis." She smiled and Jennie pulled her in for a hug. Although she always did this every year with her family, she was at least grateful that they were all alive to witness this which was such a great privilege. Her family hugged her one after the other with happiness.

"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs Brown." Louis finally had the time to greet them.

"I thought that you already caged my daughter with you. I was about to call and give you a piece of my mind." Ariana eyed him before walking away. Brown laughed when he saw the terrified look on Louis' face.

The two of them had not been on a good term ever since Jennie and Louis started dating but slowly, Ariana started opening up to him and accepted him fully. However, Louis was still scared of her because when they were still teenagers in high school [ that was when they started dating], Ariana accidentally discovered that they were dating and almost killed him not to talk about the fact that Jennie's father was a cop/Detective.

"Ashley, you are cleaning up the mess you created after this whole thing comes to an end." Brown pointed at the glitters on the floor.

"Like come on!"

"No one sent you to do it. It wasn't part of the plan." Ariana supported her husband. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Are we expecting any guests?" Ariana asked them.

"Yeah. The usual." Ashley replied and hopped towards the door. She opened it and her two friends walked in.

"Happy birthday." Josh blew her a small trumpet. Ashley rolled her eyes.

"The birthday girl is right there." She pointed at bed sister. They glanced at her.

"Happy birthday, Jennie."

"Thank you."

The celebration started among them, the underage were given milk to drink while the adults went with a little alcoholic drinks. It was so much fun for them and memorable as well.

~~~~~~

"Ah." Ashley fell on a bed with a deep sigh. She was tired from doing all the chores tonight. Her friends went home after they helped out. She was just too tired to even want to bathe or watch a series. She reached out for her diary and put down a few words. She smiled as she felt happiness.

"This is great."

Then she remembered him - the guy in a black hoodie. Her eyes kept moving from one part of her socket to another as she thought about him. She flipped the next page of her diary and wrote a few words about him.

Just when she was still thinking, she saw Daniel's name in her diary alongside a small picture of it. She instantly forget about Alex and smiled like a little girl as she fantasized about him for the night before going to sleep.

That night, she dreamt about being rescued by Alex again.

~~~~~~~

By the time Ashley got to school, the thought about Daniel was what was inside her head. She didn't have the boldness to confess her feelings to him but she was sure that one day, she would be able to tell him how she felt. Thankfully, he wasn't a promiscuous type so definitely, she would be able to get his attention.

However, what she heard next almost made her ears bleed. She had to take a few steps back just to eavesdrop.

"Listen, Amelia, my heart yearns for no one but you." She heard Daniel say. Ashley was in shock and her throat ran dry.

"Hmm...you never really focused on me whenever I looked at you so why are you begging me to accept you?" Amelia, the school-named Belle said as she toyed with Daniel's shirt.

"Listen, I needed to focus on some really important things but then when I thought about it again, I realized that if I don't be with you, I would be the loser and I don't want to be a loser. Well, if you don't want me...then let me leave." He turned around with a sad face but Amelia pulled him back.

"No...no, I was only joking. You don't need to go. We can be very close maybe not as boyfriend and girlfriend because I have someone in my mind now but I just can't let go of you."

Ashley couldn't believe her ears. She had to touch them to make sure that she wasn't bleeding because of how hot they were. She walked away from the premises with heavy legs as she imagined her precious heart getting shattered by Daniel with a hammer. How could he continue like that after what she just said? She was going to cheat!

~~~~~~~

Ashley was about to go to the Cafeteria with her friends when she saw Alex entering the class with his head bowed. After she saw him, her mood got better and she tried to speak to him but as usual, he just walked past her and went to his seat. Ashley stared at him in surprise till he placed his head on his desk.

Ashley got dragged out of the classroom by Josh afterward. She, later on, told her friends about the sudden heartbreak.

~~~~~

"So, right now, you have no crush?" Jennie teased her sister after she narrated her ordeal. The latter eyed her and puffed her cheeks.

"Awwn, my Cutie Pie got her heart broken for the first time." Brown laughed wholeheartedly.

"I can't believe that you guys are joking about my problem." She whispered and drank a glass of orange juice.

"Come off it, Cutie Pie. It's just a simple and not a good crush. You will get over it. There are more guys that you are going to meet later in the future so be patient. This guy just doesn't deserve you." Brown advised.

"I support your father." Ariana nodded.

Ashley pouted and tried to smile because Jennie threatened to take away her credit card. After she was done eating, she retired to her room and went to do her assignments.

She was considered to be one of the best students in class and school, this was something that she was proud of and showed clearly so her main school was to never leave the top no matter what. After she was done watching a few online classes for about two hours, she went to bed to sleep however before she did, she didn't forget to cancel Daniel out of her diary for betraying her heart and killing her trust in me. She saw Alex's name written boldly just about two days ago, she stared at it for a while, sighed, and closed her eyes.