Friday I'm In Love

Chapter 1

As she stepped out of the car, Jana’s anxiousness got the better of her and she unintentionally ignored her mum shouting, “Good luck Honey, you’ll be fine!” Jana wasn’t the type of girl to get nervous, she was quiet, but she was confident in her own skin; yet something about being in a new school, in a new city, in a new country frightened the crap out of her. 

As she wandered down the corridor, The Cure playing through her head-phones, she was in her own world ... Until she found herself on the floor with all her stuff scattered around her. She barely even noticed that she wasn’t alone until she went to pick up her iPod and realised that there was another. She looked up and saw the strangely handsome boy holding both iPods and smiling. She leant across and saw that they were both playing the same song – ‘Friday I’m In Love’ – she grabbed the one with the cracked screen and hurried off. The mysterious boy sniggered, then strolled outside and lit a cigarette. He wandered into his Biology class almost 15 minutes late and was told to work with the new girl. Jana’s heart raced. He had a strange effect on her. 20 minutes past without a single word being said between the two of them, to Jana it felt like hours.  The mysterious boy had distanced himself from her and was sitting doodling all over his work sheet; Jana gave him a disapproving look which amused him.  As the bell rang, Jana sighed in relive.  “Rocky Montague” the mysterious boy said with his hand stuck out; she hesitated then shook it and Rocky strutted out before Jana had chance to tell him her name.  She couldn’t stop thinking about Rocky all day, not because of how he made her feel, but because she felt like she knew him.  

As she walked through her front door her mum pounced on her as if she had been gone for weeks; “How was your day? Did you make friends? Were people nice to you? You didn’t get lost did you?” she enquired as Jana went straight over to the fridge. “Mum do you  remember the guy you went out with when you were my age, here in Verona before you moved to London and had me?” Jana asked her mum bluntly. “Yes why?” Her mother replied equally as bluntly.  “What was his name?” There was a long pause as Jana’s mum remembered her last passionate kiss with the love of her life before she replied, “Claudio Montague”. Jana went to her room and didn’t mention the Montague family for the rest of the evening; she was determined to find out if Rocky was related to Claudio so the next day in Biology, Jana sat in the same seat as the day before and waited for Rocky to come to class. As he strutted into the room that was clearly too small to fit his ego in, she forced a smile and gestured for him to sit next to her. She introduced herself and started asking questions about Rocky’s life and his family. He told her that he had grown up in Verona and his parents were called Claudio and Olivia Montague.  Jana didn’t even hesitate before walking out of the classroom without saying another word to Rocky, leaving him totally and utterly confused.  

She ignored him after that, she knew she couldn’t let herself fall for him as her mother would never approve. Rocky’s father and Jana’s mother had been childhood sweethearts and were madly in love, until Claudio met Olivia who evidently became his wife and mother to his child. Whenever Rocky and Jana were in the same room as each other there was no denying the strong chemistry between the two of them, although neither would admit it; Jana because of her mother and Rocky because, well he was stubborn and thought of feelings as a weakness. 

The more weeks that past without the two speaking, the more Rocky began to develop strong feelings for Jana.  She had really found herself and had become a quirky girl who was quiet but everybody loved her, and in Rocky’s mind, she seemed to get more beautiful each time he saw her. Rocky strolled into assembly late, as always, and sat at the back with no intention of listening to a word that the head teacher had to say; until he mentioned Prom. Rocky never planned on going to Prom, it wasn’t exactly his ‘thing’ but he realised that it  could be the perfect opportunity to tell Jana how he really felt about her and he hoped that they could finally start the relationship that was destined for them. As the date of Prom became closer and closer, Rocky had everything sorted: he had hired the smartest suit he could find, he knew exactly what he was going to say to Jana and surprisingly he wasn’t nervous at all. 

He arrived early, for the first time in his life, and waited for Jana in the centre of the dance floor – opposite the door.  As she arrived Rocky was more blown away than he ever thought he would be; she was wearing the most incredibly stunning sky blue dress which fit her perfectly and flowed beautifully, her long brown hair was in loose curls and the smile on her face left Rocky breathless. As he plucked up the courage to talk to her he suddenly found himself extremely sweaty and nervous and after hesitating and stammering for ages he finally found the courage to gaze into her enchanting emerald eyes and tell her that she looked beautiful. Jana automatically smiled, then glared at Rocky and began to walk away. He grabbed her arm and asked her to dance but she refused and stormed outside. Rocky wanted to know what he had done so he ran after her and found her around the back of building underneath trees which were covered in shimmering lights. Jana couldn’t even look at Rocky and he was determined to find out why.  “Have I done something to upset you? Are you mad at me?” He demanded to know.  “You don’t know do you?” Rocky was even more confused after Jana said that and he gave her a look as if to say “Go on.” “When my mum and your dad were our age they fell in love, they were insanely in love and everyone was jealous. They were perfect for each other and they were comfortable together. Then one day my mum went to your dad’s house and found him with another girl – your mum. My mum moved to London and had one night stands with every man she could find until she got pregnant with me, I don’t even know who my dad is and worst of all, neither does my mum. Your dad was the love of her life and she never got over what he did to her, we only moved here because she got offered a job and she didn’t have enough money to turn it down. She doesn’t show it but she’s still hurting, she’s always hurting and if anything was to happen between you and me... I don’t think she could handle that because, from how she’s described him, you appear to be just like your dad and I’m scared to fall for you and I’ve tried so hard not to fall for you...” Jana stopped talking to wipe the tears that were streaming down her face.  

“Dance with me.” Rocky asked. Jana laughed in a confused manner then replied “There’s no music.” “Dance with me.” Repeated Rocky in a stern voice and they began to slowly dance. “I’m nothing like my father” There was a long and awkward pause before he continued, “If I was in love with a girl I would never hurt her, I could never see her cry and know that I was the reason for it. You know, I keep myself to myself because no matter who I am or who I pretend to be, people wouldn’t like me. My dad doesn’t speak to me anymore, he doesn’t get me and he doesn’t try to. Everything he is, is everything that I’m not. Jana I hardly know you but I feel like I do; I was afraid to fall in love with you because I was afraid to be vulnerable but I was an idiot to feel like that. I love you and I want to be with you.” Jana was completely speechless and without even knowing, she found her lips passionately interlocked with his.