Love You, Passion-hately

Birthday Bash

"It's just a party, Dawn. You don't need to freak out," Jan comforted.
"I'm not freaking out. I just can't decide what to wear. Am I supposed to gift him something? Should I go late or on time? I need to look at my best, Jan. It's an enemy territory. I don't want to give him any opportunity to mock me," I went through my cupboard. It's 4 in the evening. I have just 4 hours to get ready. "It's a birthday party. We'll go and enjoy and come back," Jan said. I literally begged her to come with me. Alberto said it was ridiculous of me to accept his invitation. I fell right into his trap. "It's a trap. He might be having some masterplan to get back at me. After all, I put itching powder in his shoes after clown incident," I remembered that hideous clown and got mad at myself for thinking about it in the first place. 

"Or maybe it's a peace offering," Jan said. "Peace offering from Cameron Harddick? What is this? Alternative universe?" I said in frustration. "Dawn. Fine. We'll be careful. And you'll deal with it. Just keep your head high. No matter how bad it goes," she comforted.

"I really make your life hard. Thank you, Jane," I felt guilty. "Well hard is better than boring," she smirked. We both laughed.

After half an hour, I settled on a dress I've never worn before. It was a maroon one piece. I wore a choker around my neck and black stilettos. I put less than half of my hair up in a ponytail and let rest of it fall down. I applied a little makeup and mascara. Now I needed to get him something.

I told Jan it was because of my social reputation but honestly, it was something I knew he would love to have. And I wanted to be the one to gift it to him. Every year I see girls gifting him bottles of cologne he never even bothered to use. For God's sake, he prefers woodsy cologne which complements his body odor giving it a sweet but spicy edge. 

They give him comic books and porn magazines, which might help him in some ways, but he actually enjoys reading Shakespeare in a far corner of college lawn, far away from noise and disruptions. 

They think he's into hip-hop when he clearly can't get rid of heavy metal playing in his headphones. He plays guitar but he finds his solace in beats of the drum when he gives his personal tributes to Metallica and Nirvana. 

He keeps talking but he doesn't like anything more than walking in silence through lonely roads. You might think why his biggest enemy know so much about him when his friends don't. Here a thing we all know. Keep your friends close. Enemies, closer. Two years of studying, analyzing, stalking, experimenting, humiliating and planning led me here. To the point where I knew him better than myself. I had to comprehend his every move before he even planned it. I might not have gained insight into his thoughts but I do know these little things about him. And that's why I was positive that he would like the gift I had for him. Still, all I could wish was no one else had managed to learn him like I did.

I bought the gift for him and bought his favorite dessert from the bakery. The parking was full. His apartment seemed crowded too. "Wow. There are more cars than college parking here," Jane noted. "There's no way I'm gonna find a place to park," I sighed. I drove by the parking looking for a place to park my car when I saw a neat space between few cars. My gaze well upon a signboard with my name written on it. Dawn Lee Clayton. "Well, Cameron Hardwick does know how to show hospitality," Jane smirked. 

I parked the car in the space. The music was loud and people were cheering. I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. The last time I came here, I put a note on his door. And the only time I came before that was when I called the police. A copper-haired guy with contact lenses opened the door. "Alberto?" I and Jane said in surprise. "What took you so long? I've been opening the door for almost everyone for last one hour," Alberto let us in. "You said you won't be here," I reminded him. "Yeah. Then I realized you two will be alone here," he had a beer bottle in his hand. "Thanks," I smiled. "You look good," he complimented. "You're not bad yourself," I lightly punched him in the chest. He laughed.