"Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be." 

- Jack Welch  

***Michael's P.O.V***

Why do I always keep hurting cupcake? I try my level best to make her feel special but all I end up doing is to hurt her. She might seem tough to others but I know she is delicate as a flower at heart and I feel the urge to protect her from all pain. But now I have given her the pain, and not just once but twice, on her birthday.

I know she is really sensitive about stuffs regarding me and Zac. The more precise word to describe her emotion for us would be possessiveness. One feels protective about the persons in their life whom they consider special like she is to me. It gives me immense pleasure that I hold a superior place in her life. The thought itself brought a smile to my face.

Then again the realization struck me, that I have hurt my most special person on her birthday. I need to find her and make it up to her. I can not be the reason for ruining such an important day of her. Anyways I know she would not be able to remain mad at her Mike for long.

Okay now this is enough, I have searched almost the entire house still no luck. She is in the house that I am sure of because her car is outside and at night she never leaves without her car because I asked her not to. Obviously for her safety because through the tracking device installed in her car I can at least trace her location if she is in any kind of problem.

As I was searching for her in the garden I heard a girl saying to her boyfriend I suppose, "baby, I love to see stars at night, I feel like I am on top of the world." Then it struck me. Damn!! How could I forget?

~Flashback:

While we were in 7th grade there was this  Italian history teacher named Ross Williams. Since childhood I and Jess hated history but after Mr. Williams joined Jess grew a sudden interest in history. It did not go down well with me so I asked her but she replied that the chapters were interesting that semester. How can they be interesting? They are all the same about kings, Queens, wars, Kingdoms and mostly difficult was to remember the dates.

Then suddenly one day Jess told me that she has a huge crush on Mr. Williams and she wanted to take private tuition from him so that she could know him well. To me it was the most bizarre decision which she took and I knew she would get hurt at the end. I even tried talking some sense in her but she paid no heed to me. And as a best friend I had to support her. Few days later she came to know that he was already engaged and would marry soon.

That day she was completely heartbroken and was missing from the school, the whole day. I tried to look for her everywhere but in vain, then at night I decided to drop by her home assuming that she might have come home.

Then Nanny Sofia informed me that she was at the terrace.

I rushed to her being worried that she might harm herself but I was astonished as she was cuddled up at a corner with a box of chocolate ice cream on her lap. I was pissed at her. She looked cute though.

"Do you know how scared I was when found you nowhere?" I nearly shouted at her.

"Awww.. Don't worry, whenever you seem to find me nowhere and know that I am upset, then come up here. You will definitely find me." She replied with a smile.

"Why? What is so special about this place?" I questioned as I sat beside her.

"Ahh... I love this place. It is filled with tranquility and sensing how the silence of night absorbs so many secrets within itself is just overwhelming. It takes away all my sorrows. Moreover seeing the stars takes me closer to them and I feel like I am on top of the world."

~Flashback ends.

I did not even realize that I reached the terrace while remembering all those memories.

As I suspected she was there. I could hear her talking to Nanny. I could not hear them properly so I went a little closer. I was not spying but was curious as I heard her say my name.

 "There is nothing to talk about nanny. If you are thinking that I am in love with Michael then you are completely mistaken because he is my best friend and I don't have romantic feelings towards him. Yes I was upset that he was spending more time with Kate on my birthday, and I guess as his best friend I can expect from him to be with me all day on such a special day, but to my disappointment he chose to fight with me at first then he was dancing with Kate, leaving me all alone. Thank God I do not love him because he could not fulfill the duty of a friend then how would he have fulfilled the responsibility of being my boyfriend. If he wants to be with Kate then I don't have a problem with it. In fact I will be happy for both of my friends." Jessy busted out with anger.

After hearing cupcake I did not know how to react. Anybody in my place would have gone to her and explained her that she was wrong, but I did not.

In fact I immediately left and ran to my car, without wasting any more time I took off. 'I was hurt' would be an understatement. I felt devastated. How could she think I love Kate? All these years which I spend loving and caring for her were in vain. Why can't she see how special she is for me? why can't she see the love for her in my eyes? I know she never thought of me more than a friend but I always made sure that my love would be evident to her because I thought if she saw my love for her, then she might also fall for me. I thought my love was capable and powerful enough to make her reciprocate my feelings. But I was wrong. All my dreams got shattered because she thought I love Kate, which means she had never sensed my love. Therefore, she will never love me back. This thing inflicted an unbearable pain in my heart. I felt my whole world crashing down. I felt my heart squashed. I was numb and with a loud groan I pulled the brakes.

I came out of the car and shouted in my mind-

"What made her think like that? I know Kate and I became good friends in a very short time and I really care for her but in the first place I befriended her because she saved the love of my life. I took care of her cause I owed that much to her."

She even said that she would be glad to see Kate with me and wish her two best friends to be happy together.

"Okay cupcake it is your birthday today and I promised to fulfill all your wishes, so  if you cannot see my love and failed to understand my feelings, even after claiming that you know me better than myself, your wish is still important to me. No matter how difficult it will be for me to move on from you but just for your happiness I would date Kate and make her mine. I might not attain your love but by being with Kate I might earn your respect. I'll do it as you wished!"  I made a decision out of anger. I know I am gonna regret this later, but  I had no hope left on myself.

***Kate's P.O.V***

The soft warmth of sunlight on my skin woke me. From the moment my eyes opened, I felt ready to die. My head was pounding, and despite the fact that I was barely awake, the sunlight pouring through the window was giving me sensory overload. My stomach was doing somersaults, and my mouth was dry and rough. 

I could only remember bits and pieces of the past night.

The last clear thing I remember was to drink that fruit punch, offered by Za... Wait a minute! Zac?! Oh my God, he must have mixed something with that drink. He fooled me again! He made me drunk!! How could he? I thought he was being nice and might have felt sorry after what he did with me in the pool party, but I was wrong again. Zac Hamilton will always remain a jerk, as it is said 'a leopard can never change its spots'. How could I be  so stupid?

Gingerly but quickly, I sat up. My hands grasped each other in my lap, and I winced as I replayed the events of last night in my mind.

It was a complete blur in my memory. I was remembering bits and pieces, like dancing with Michael, and me being an idiot and getting pretty much shit-faced. I also remember a tattoo in the back of the neck of a guy, who was saving me from something. Blurred images of a cake fight floated in my head, but nothing concrete to give me a clue. Also, my breath smelled rank, so I was pretty sure I had vomited at least once. Everything else was uncomfortably hazy.

I savored the clean white -sheets covering me, thinking of how sweet my mom was for changing them. Content, I smiled and burrowed.

What? My mom? It wasn't possible.

I shot up from the bed, dazed. Blinking several times, I looked around and swallowed the panic climbing up my throat at the unfamiliar room. 

Where the hell am I? And whose clothes am I wearing?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

~End of this chapter...hope you liked it :D 

Let me know ur thoughts! Votes & comments are highly appreciated ^-^

 10 comments and I'll post the next chapter right away XD

love you guys :* 

Xoxo, RT