Jeff wasn't having fun.
No, he wasn't.
It was his birthday and he was freaking miserable.
He thought the day would go by quietly. His mum had promised him a special dinner when he got home. His abuela baked him his favourite pumpkin pie and Mr Jacob's had cancelled the Chemistry quiz they were supposed to be having last period.
All in all, Jeff thought the day would go by without a hitch.
Well, there was the fact that he hadn't seen Ariel all day at school. Which shouldn't have been a problem for normal exes but definitely not him.
It was strange. Ever since he was a kid he was always so excited for his birthday.
His mother called it 'Jeff' day' and his sisters would roll their eyes when he started calling it that too.
Jeff was always in the highest spirits on 'Jeff day'.
All except this one.
Even his mum had noticed how down he looked when she brought out his special birthday waffles.
But then again, he had been down for weeks since the breakup with Ariel.
He hadn't been the usual jovial Jeff and everyone knew it.
The guy who gave everyone high fives in the hallway was always moping around instead.
Jeff knew that everyone at school knew about his breakup.
Everyone at Liberty talked too damn much.
So of course there was no avoiding that.
Just like there was no avoiding seeing his ex everywhere he looked in the hallways.
Just like there was no avoiding seeing her everyday and knowing he made the biggest mistake of his life by letting her go.
When he had told his mother, his sisters and his abuela that him and Ariel had broken up, they all had hugged him and offered him their sympathy.
It was only when his oldest sister Lola told him she was sad that Ariel had broken up with him that he really felt it.
He clarified and told her that it had been him who had dumped Ariel.
All of them looked stunned. His mother especially. And she voiced the one question that had been haunting him all this time; "why?"
Jeff tried to tell himself that he knew why.
He didn't like what had happened at the dance and how Ariel had handled it. It had hurt him. And he didn't want to be hurt like that again.
But when Jeff saw Ariel in the hallways laughing or smiling at something Justin said and it hurt way more than that night.
And he wanted nothing more than to go to her and take her away from him.
He wanted her.
But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
To go up to her and admit it.
Not with Justin still lingering around.
Not when he knew that Foley would still very much be in the picture.
So he sucked it up. He pretended he didn't want to tell Ariel jokes and hear her goofy laugh.
He pretended he didn't miss how her hand would find a spot right behind the nape of his neck and linger there.
