Living The Life Of A Teen

Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Ping! 'You have received a new message from Facebook' says the alert on my iPhone. I touch the app button:

"hey y ain't u answerin ur txts? R u ok hunnie?"

That would be Jenni. I guess you could call her my worst enemy. She, however, seems to think we're best friends. I'm gonna kill the idiot who gave her that idea.

"I'm lying on my bed in the dark, crying my eyes out, listening to the saddest song on earth and have chocolate stains on a £400 Marc Jacobs jumper. Does that sound 'ok' to you?"

Instant reply.

"OMG! Go on girl, tell me evrythin"

Eurgh! I couldn't be bothered to deal with her right now. Lately, she's been showing how 'friendly' she is. And by friendly, I mean bitchy. I have no time for fake friends in my life. I don't even know why I replied. Silly me has to care about her feelings. I  reminisce over these past few days. Reminisce. Shout at myself for being such an idiot - same thing. I continued crying until I felt my phone vibrate. Who the hell is calling me at 3 in the morning?

I stare at the number. It says private. I really shouldn't pick this up; it could be a pervert. Or paedo.

"Hello?" I say as I tap the green calling button.

"Hey there Kit-Kat! How are you?"

"Dad, it's 3am in London. What's so urgent?"

I could hear the mock-hurt in his voice. "What, I can't even call my daughter when I'm missing her?"

"I'm really tired Dad. Could you call tomorrow? No, in fact, I'll call you, ok?" I whispered as I ended the call. Why was he calling on a private number? Strange. I'll have to ask him tomorrow. Or not.

Alright, now I can continue wetting my pillowcase.

Knock! Knock!

Oh. My. Days. Can't a girl cry in peace around here?

"Go away. I'm sleeping." I murmured; my head was lying face forward on my pillow.

"No Kate, you're obviously not sleeping. Anyways, I just came to ask: why didn't you wash the dishes today? And why is your dinner still sitting in the kitchen?"

I looked at her in the eye, ignoring the latter. "Listen, I'm going to say this nicely for you: I don't care."

A short intake of breath could be heard coming from the doorway.

"What?"

"I'm so sorry mother. Oh wait, that's right, you're not my real mother, so can say whatever I like to you. Now, please go away."

I heard her breathing falter as the tears came streaming down her face. Well, that makes two of us. I turned around, because I couldn't bear to see my step-mother hurt. I actually love her more than I care to show, but she was seriously getting on my nerves nowadays. Ever since Dad went on that business trip, she seems to think we need quality 'mother-and-daughter' time. Yeah, because that is really going to work out, isn't it?

Anyways, I decided to call Gem. She would know what to do. She's always been there for me, like a true friend. No, like a best friend.

"Katy? Wha...why are you calling me now? Her voice sounded groggy. Maybe she was sleeping.

"I...I'm sorry for waking you up, but I nee...needed to t...talk o someone. Co...could you come over?"I managed to choke out through the tears. I heard her voice change, as she suddenly sounded more awake. There was also a sympathetic tone to it.

"Um, yeah, sure. I'll be right there."

7 minutes 12 seconds it took her to get here. I could hear Linda - that's my step-mother - and Gem talking. Actually, attempting to talk without me hearing. Yeah, nice try. "Hello. What are you doing here?" Linda was obviously surprised.

"Er, hey Mrs. H. Katy called me. She sounded pretty sad."

"Oh, right, that would explain why she was being so horrid earlier."

"Do you know what happened? I'm really worried about her," Gem 's voice was concerned. If I wasn't crying, I'd be smiling. I always could count on my best friend.

My step-mother let out a high-pitched sound. I think it was a laugh.

"Darling, do you think she would tell me what happened? Of all people? She despises me, and...and that hurts. But what girl loves her step-mother?" I could hear the pain. I wanted to go down and hug her. But that would be awkward.

"No no, she does love you, I'm sure of it. And she was probably angry because, well, she's always angry."

Another high-pitched sound.

"Well, that's true. It's probably just another one of her teenage heartbreak stories."

And with that, I heard my best friend come up the spiralling staircase, and into my room.

"Katy? What happened?"

"Gem, it's over. We...we ended it today."

"Aw Katy. I'm so sorry. This doesn't make sense. I thought you two were great together. And you were always so happy," her face was confused.

"Yeah. So did I. I thought...I thought he cared Gem. Now I know I was wrong. And you know what the worst part was? I think I loved him the most. I truly did." A river of tears came streaming down my face, as I pictured his.

She stayed silent. Then, without any sign of it, she came over and hugged me. I took this as a sign for me to continue.

"I thought everything was going fine. We were so..." I was looking for the right word. "...so perfect, you know? I have no idea what..." At 'what', my voice had trailed off and I was starting to flood the bed.

"It's ok Katy. It will be just fine. I'm here for you, no matter what. Come on, you should know by now that all boys are pricks." I laughed at this. "Now, stop crying and keep that smile on your face. Oh, and do you have any chocolate? Daniella finished it all when she was trying to make flapjacks, even though I TOLD her you don't need chocolate for flapjacks."

Daniella was Gem's little 6-year-old sister. And she had the most amazing face, what with her dimples and rosy cheeks.

I wiped my runny nose with the sleeve of my jumper, and then I noticed the smears of chocolate.

"Err, no. I kinda ate it all when I...I broke up with..." my voice trailed off. I couldn't bear to say the name.

"Ah, ok then. Ice-cream?"

"Yes! That we do have."

I stumbled out my bed. 17 years, 8 months and 6 days I had been living, in this bedroom, with the bedside table in the exact place, yet I still managed to hit my shin on the corner of it. No, not hit, more like bash.

"CRAP!" I blinked back the tears, before my surroundings faded and I collapsed altogether on the floor.