Skittles, Friends and a Little Thing Called Love

I sat on the edge of the bed in, still in my pyjamas, staring at my phone with numb shock.
A tear dripped onto the now dark screen. I wiped it off, not realising I had started to cry.

The call had been from my boyfriend of 7 months, Pete. He had just, rather abruptly, told me he had slept with someone else, and that he didn’t want to go out with me anymore.

Not the best 17th birthday present I have ever received, but beggars can’t be choosers now can they?

Then again, I hadn’t really been expecting him to remember anyway... He never was any good at remembering things that were important to me.

I sobbed loudly, dropping my phone; my hands were shaking in disbelief. How could Pete have done this to me? I knew our relationship had taken a slight turn for the worst recently, but I never would have guessed that he could have done that to me...

I suddenly felt a surge of anger run through me, wondering who it was he had deemed so much better than me. I stood up, wiping my tears away.

Stupid bastard.

I glanced up at my poster-laden wall, and realised it was the beginning of the school year tomorrow. I groaned. Could Pete have chosen a better fucking day?

I jumped as my parents burst into my room, with a "Happy Birthday Sian!"

Not noticing my red eyes, my mum hugged me. "I can’t believe my little girl is 17 already! So grown up..."

"My little princess, Happy Birthday!" beamed my dad, kissing me on the forehead.

I smiled weakly up at them.

"Now if you hurry up, you just about have time to eat your special birthday pancakes before we go shopping for school supplies!" my mum said as she smiled and walked out the room with my dad.

I closed the door after them, and flopped onto my bed, my wavy shoulder length dark hair covering my face. Was I simply not good enough for him?...

What was wrong with me!?

I glared at my phone as it started vibrating on my bedroom floor. What did it want now? I picked it up, and looked at the screen; I smiled in relief. It was Jess, one of my best friends.

"Happy Birthday, Siany!"

"Thanks Jess."

"What’s wrong hunnie? You sound sad... is it Pete? Oh God what’s he done now?"

"He dumped me. He fuckin’ slept with someone else and dumped me, Jess. What am I going to do? School starts tomorrow, and without him it’s just going to be..."

"Great. It’s going to be great, Sian. Me and the guys will look after you, don’t worry. Don’t blame yourself for his stupid mistakes. You know he’s always been a fuckin' jerk and you are way better off without him. You hear me?"

"Yeah. Thanks Jess. I’m not sure what I would do without you sometimes. Anyway, thanks for the call, I’ve got to go and eat my lame birthday pancakes now. See you tomorrow."

"Bye babby, you make sure you have some fun today, okay? I can’t wait to see you tomorrow."

I sighed as I hung up. Wandering out of my bedroom and down the red carpeted stairs, I chewed the sleeve of my black pyjama top, and wondered what the next day would have in store for me...

My phone started ringing in my pocket. Once, again, I sighed as I looked at the caller id... and smiled when I saw it said ‘Mikes’. It was Mikey, another of my little gang of friends from school. I answered the phone.

"Happy Birthday! Hiya, it’s me and Frankie, having a good day so far?"

Ok; Mikey, Frank and Jess are probably the reason I haven’t just given up on life already. They are my best friends, and I honestly have no idea what I would do without them.

"Uh, thanks guys, but no, not really..."

"What’s wrong??" asked Mikey

"Have you run outta skittles or something? Oh God, tell me she hasn't run out of skittles, not on her birthday... this can't be!"

I heard Frank squeal in the background. I laughed, knowing how crazy he could get with those damn skittles...

"Mikey! I thought I told you not to leave him alone with those damn skittles!" I laughed. And sighed, "And, about 15 minutes ago, Pete rung and dumped me. He said he slept with someone else...," I gulped, fighting back tears again.

"Oh Sian, you know we always said you were too good for him... He doesn’t deserve you, he’s a stupid shit head..."

I could hear the anger rising in Mikey’s voice. All my friends, especially Mikey, were all pretty protective of me when it came to Pete, and other guys.

"Hey, why don’t Frank and I come over? We have got plenty of skittles and other random sugary crap if you want..." Mikey asked, (and I swear I could hear someone jumping on a bed in the background)

"Yeah! Sure, I’ll call Jess as well. And Mikey?"

"Frank, get down! Yeah?"

"Keep Frankie on a leash, OK? And for god’s sake, keep him away from the skittles!"