FIFTY SHADES OF G'DAY

Chapter 2

It had been three days since the beginning of the school year and normally I would be obsessively planning the back to school party for my entire grade that I held every year at my estate (which I was still planning, just not as pedantically as I had in previous years). Instead, I couldn't get the thought out of my head that I wasn't Ava's type. Of course, I didn't care to have her actually interested in me, it just bothered me that there was someone out there that didn't find me attractive. The thought alone was simply preposterous.

I was a beautiful young lady, as my parents always told me. I was of average height, standing at five feet five inches ("not too tall, not too short" my mother always said), I had a large chest (32D to be exact), brown eyes, brown hair, and perfectly straight teeth thanks to the braces my parents had paid for in middle school. I was beautiful, and I was annoyed that Ava couldn't see that.

If I was being perfectly honest, I was frustrated with myself for ruminating over the fact that this stupid Australian girl wasn't attracted to me. I knew it was because she was the first person to ever say something like that, so obviously I was just determined to prove a point — no one thinks Marley Whitman is unattractive.

I hadn't spoken a word to Ava since our first Biology lesson, and she hadn't attempted to speak to me either — another thing that annoyed me. Usually people were tripping over themselves to even get a glimpse of me, let alone talk to me. What is it about this girl? Do they put something in the water down in Australia?

It was Thursday afternoon and the girls and I were sitting at our usual lunch table, discussing the back to school party that I had been somewhat neglecting to plan. Gabby insisted that it should be themed, but I quickly stamped out that idea.

"No, that's lame," I snapped, shooting down her idea quicker than she brought it up. "We'll set the date for Saturday 16th. That's a whole week away which will give people time to cancel whatever previous plans they have."

"And it totally gives us time to go shopping for food and drinks!" Eleanor exclaimed — she always got overexcited about these parties, mostly so she could hook up with the jocks on the football team. I couldn't judge though, I was privy to the occasional hook up with jocks on the sports teams.

"I'll use my father's credit card to get everything we need. My parents will be out of town for the weekend so we won't have to worry about them hovering at the party," I informed them, and they all nodded excitedly at the new plans.

"We'll need a few kegs, red solo cups, shot glasses for Jell-O shots, mixers, snacks, spirits, and then extra funds for pizza and a security guard," Bianca listed, writing everything down in her notes. "There's roughly two hundred people in our grade, so we'll need to borrow Jason's truck to transport all of the things we buy. Is that okay, Jodi?"

"Yeah of course, I'll message him now just to check!" she responded, quickly tapping away on her phone, her acrylic nails clicking loudly against the screen.

"Will you be inviting...Ava?" Eleanor asked nervously, lowering her voice as if scared I would react angrily, which I did.

"Why the hell should I invite her? She's been nothing but painful," I retorted.

"Jason said she's really cool," Jodi replied, referring to her boyfriend.

Ava had, of course, been socialising with the jocks on the football team which included Jodi's boyfriend, Jason. Classic lesbian behaviour if you ask me, hanging out with the boys. Since arriving here she had done nothing but exhibit stereotypical lesbian behaviour and it seemed as if she was doing it on purpose! Like...we get it. You're gay.

"And if you invite everyone except her, it will be obvious that you don't like her," Gabby said. "That will just cause drama and negative attention."