The Dating Club

Friends Fights and Flying Televisions

Chapter One: Friends, Fights and Flying Televisions

I bang my head against the wall a few times, half-hoping that my older sister will get the hint and stop with the streams of profanities over how utterly useless and pathetic her boyfriend of just over a year is, but mostly to clear my head. The arguing and distress my sister is going through is pretty understandable, as her boyfriend treats her like crap, but still...

It does my nut in. Why she puts up with it I have no idea. She says I don't get it because I've never had a serious relationship, and... Well, I suppose she may be right.

Don't judge me. I guess I don't really have an excuse either.

If I was one of those girls who is shy, quiet and never stands out from the crowd, yes, I guess that would make sense. But I'm not. Although I mainly try and stick to myself, with my two best friends, I am not one of those people that gets nervous talking to people.

If I was butt ugly then yeah, I guess I could understand that as well. But... Well ok, yeah I'm no princess but I'm not her ugly step sister either.

I suppose you could say I'm one of the exceptions to the rule. I have no trouble talking to boys, but I must be doing something wrong here, because instead of getting myself Prince Charming, well instead, I'm....
His best friend. How does this happen, I hear you ask?

I know. I didn't know it was possible either. Can a girl really - well, what's the word... Friendzone herself?

It would appear so. Although being best friends with Mr Gorgeous has its advantages. The school I go to has a strict hierarchy and being friends with the best looking guy in the school puts me in a comfortable position somewhere in the middle. It's better than being at the bottom, and the top.

Because every school has a Queen Bee and she is always at the top - and I am most certainly not her.

Parma Rose. If you could embody evil, it would look a lot like Her Highness, Parma. She's that girl that can get every guy following her around like little puppies after a bone, but the only boy she wants is...
That's right. You guessed it. Your super - gorgeous best friend, AKA Luke Tripe. Which is pretty ironic since he doesn't seem to want anyone.

Apart from being best friends with a guy, I am also quite tomboyish myself. That's not to say I don't have days where the only thing I want to do is have a girly night in with my other best friend, Marissa Clark, where we cry and bawl over The Notebook while shoving chocolates into our gobs, I do.

But the majority of the time I prefer to steer clear of anything like that. It makes me go all gross and.. Urgh, I think I'll just stop there.

I realise I've gone a bit off topic.

My sister carries on ranting over the phone to her friend and I give up on getting her to quieten down, so I figure the best thing to do is to leave her in peace, so I grab a pair of jimmies and my over night bag and sneak out my window, taking care not to make a noise as I land on the grass outside -

"Jessica? What in the devils name- ?!"

I feel my cheeks heat up and slowly turn around to face my Dad, expecting him to be angry, but to be honest the most he looks is confused.

"Were you sneaking out?"

"I was actually re-enacting Rannalf Flambard's escape from the White Tower. We're learning about it in History you see. Now what he did was he tied dozens of sheets together and -"

"If you're going to Marissa's then you don't need to go behind my back you know."

He thinks I'm going to Marissa's.