Things Can Change In The Blink Of An Eye.(Now in Editing)

Chapter 9: Not You!

When I wake up the next morning, I change the boys into their normal school clothes and drive them up to school. Then I return back to the house and change into my new work clothes. Apparently, the girls work clothes is dress pants, a white chiffon shirt with our name tag pinned at the top left of the chest area and boots with a slight heel to them.

I drive to Sony, not a care in the world for once, just thinking about another good day at work. When I finally park in my reserved intern parking space, I'm holding back a laugh at the sight of the car on my right. It was a bright neon pink convertible parked with a black interior and pink fuzzy dice in the window. I shut my door and gave the car a once around, admiring the sparkling rims and the fantastic wax job it had... Then I saw the license plate. In a way that replicated Sharpay Evan's license plate the message "Fboao" was printed across it.
"Stupid dyslexia" I lean down and take a closer look at it. This time it says "Faboo"
I feel a memory being tugged from the back of my mind, someone using that word...

Who would say that though...? Then it clicks in my dyslexic/ADHD head.

"No," I murmured to myself "it can't be..." This had to be a horrible trick that my dyslexia was playing on my eyes. Not her, how the hell would she even be here..?

With portfolio in hand, I half run, half walk to the front entrance of Sony. I pushed open the front doors and waved to Jessi, putting on a smile as if nothing could be better in my life.

"Hey Jasmine!" Jessie says with a big smile on her face as I press the up button to call the elevator "You are right on time. And you guess what?" I raise an eyebrow praying she isn't gonna say what I think she is "You get to meet your coworker, Jacklyn."

I smile real wide, a fake smile, hopefully this is just another Jackie with a pink convertible and not the Jackie Jenson that used to pick on me everyday until she and her family moved to who knows where. But you know what with just my luck it probably is her.

"I can't WAIT to meet her!" I say through gritted teeth as I walk into the newly arrived elevator.

Jessi smiles, I wave to her until the elevator doors have finally closed shut. I drop all hints of a grin as the elevator began to move. Why does this always happen to me?!? Whenever my life shows even a slight shimmer of goodness, disaster seems to love to strike!

I sigh leaning my back against the wall of the tiny enclosed contraption. The last time I saw Jackie, she was bleaching her brunette-almost-black hair and always wore that type of red lipstick that only like certain models could pull off. She walked around with her pimp crew, 'the blondies', and pushed around everyone who wasn't blond, cute, or stuck to the status quo. I of course was none of the above so naturally we became fast enemies. From what I understood from the rumors, her parents had some sort of falling out and she had to move in with her aunt and uncle until the divorce was settled. Serves that bitch right, the way she treated everyone.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, whichever way this went I would put on a smile and kill her with kindness. The elevator door opened to my floor.

I step out of the lift and walk down to the intern office, my shoulders now set straight as was my back. I grip the doorknob and stand there debating for a minute on whether or not to go inside. I finally shake my head in frustration, push open the door, and I'm almost immediately greeted with: "Jesus Christ, Jasmine Palmieri is that you???"

To say I'm shocked at her current appearance is an understatement. Jackie had apparently dropped the whole fake blond act and had started dying the tips of her pitch black hair red. Her sea green eyes seen to be a lot softer than they were the last time I saw her when she had wished me farewell with a blue slushi done my back. She is dressed in a similar outfit to mine, except I can tell her chiffon top and skirt is definitely brand-name. A little pink rose pin sat on the left corner of her shirt.

"Jackie?"I say amazement evident in my voice. Goddammit! "Wow you've really changed."

Jackie smiles and hugs me as if we had been best friends. I immediately stiffen, not hugging her back. She pulls back. "And you haven't changed one bit. You still are as cute as ever! I remember imagining that your hair was made out of strawberries!"

I give her a confused yet icy look then shuffle my papers semi-awkwardly, taking a step back from her as I did. "Last time we talked, you thought I was the ugliest girl of our age." I then scoff and drop my portfolio on the nearby desk. "In fact," A hand goes to my hip as I full on glare at her. "Your idea of saying goodbye was dumping a slushie down my back and laughing at me before saying 'Bye bye slut'"

That made Jackie's oh so perky smile drop right off her face. She kinda shuffles her feet awkwardly. "I was...lying." She says, shame in her tone. I raise an eyebrow, not believing a damn word that came out of her mouth.

"I thought you were the cutest girl and I was extremely jealous!" She exclaims not a trace of happiness in her expression. "You were weird, yes, but you did your own thing and I didn't realize until I left that... I wanted to be just like you!!"

I see a couple tears slip from her face onto the ground. But I don't let my guard down, when we were children she would always pull of an act similar to this. She would make others feel sorry for her when she was lying her ass off. Though I can't see her eyes I have a bad feeling about this.

I lean against my desk, crossing my arms across my chest. "What happened to you after you left? " I ask her but then point at her "I want the truth."

She sucks in a breath before she begins. "My dad left that year I transferred. No papers, no asking my mom for divorce, he just packed up and left. Well as you know my mom was never around that much," No I didn't know that. Is she serious? "Well when dad left, she kind of stepped up. She began to show me what was right and wrong and she made sure I didn't cheat on anyone or anything."

She wipes her eyes before going on. "I eventually felt myself kind of changing in a way like I couldn't take talking bad about others anymore so I quit bullying others."

She rolls up her sleeves to reveal a couple of scars "My mom eventually told me why he left us. Apparently he didn't want a daughter, he wanted my brother back. So he left and I blamed myself so long for it." She pulls her sleeve down again. "I quit cutting a couple weeks ago."

The sympathy in my heart I felt was overload. Damn my kind yet protecting heart. She sounds so sincere but I just don't know whether or not to trust her. I look into her eyes to see if she really IS lying. She didn't look like it but looks can be deceiving. Just ask Scott.

"Well," I say, lowering my hands down to my sides "you aren't as perfect as I thought you were."

She look at me, a speck of hope in her eyes. "Can we please try to be friends? Can we start over? I truly am sorry for all the hell I gave you." She gets down on her knees and clasps her hands together. "Please, I'm begging."

I look at her then take another step back. "Your not the only one who's life has been hell since grade school." My tone was like thin ice. I jab another finger at her "Your going to have to prove to me that I can trust you after all of the insults, put downs, and injuries I suffered for six years."

And with that, I collect my portfolio and walk out. Honestly I don't want to become friends with my bully. She was a complete bitch to me, why change now? She'll have to really prove she has changed if she wants me to believe her

The rest of the day improved tenfold though. Apparently there is a new singer/songwriter who visits our sector of the company every week. This week, Miranda Lambert had come to record a duet with Carrie Underwood. I got two autographs from both (one for me and one for DD), and a pic with each.

When I finally got off work, my phone blasts loudly "Since You've Been Gone" alerting me of a new text from Destiny.

'Hey, since u were running late, I picked up da boyz.'

I smile as I get into my car breathing a slight sigh of relief due to the fact that I had forgotten about it myself. Hopefully all of my stress is gone for the day. Right?