INSECURITIES.

CHAPTER 12.

Jasmine began to make preparations for her seventeenth birthday.
She planned on having a photoshoot so she made a list of the things she would need.
It included new clothes, accessories, shoes and bags.

She planned on having three different looks for the shoot.
Her parents were ready to pay the bills as it wasn't an issue to them.
She also told her close friends before time so they could get her gifts and post her pictures on that day.

Three days to her birthday, she went to the boutique to purchase the stuffs she would need but things didn't go as expected. Everything she bought was completely different from what she had on her list.

Immediately she got home, she went to take a shower, freshened up and picked up her phone to go online.
While she was replying her messages, she saw a text from someone she didn't know.

She went straight to his profile and saw that he wasn't that bad after all so she replied and they began to vibe.

He asked how she was and she replied with an "I'm fine."

She knew she wasn't though, so why lie about it?
She then cleared the message and replied with an "I'm not so good, how 'bout you?"

He asked why she wasn't good and she told him about her experience while she went shopping and how she didn't get what she wanted.
She didn't know why she was bothering him with her problems but funny enough, his response made her feel like she didn't do any bad by opening up after all.

He told her he understood what it felt like because he had also experienced something similar.
He tried his best to calm her down and it worked.

They introduced themselves to each other and flowed really well.

The next day was for her shoot.
She called her make up artist over for a home service as she was getting other things prepared, making sure everything was in place.
Soon enough, the make up artist arrived and she began to do some sort of magic on her face.

Someone else was getting her nails done and all of this was over with within an hour and thirty minutes.
She made a transfer to her and the young lady left.

Jasmine's uber driver was waiting patiently outside for her  and she picked up her bag which contained her outfits and some other stuffs.
She told her parents she was leaving and then left for the studio.
Her dad was around.

She shooted for three hours and then headed back home.
The pictures were edited and sent to her in no time, they weren't that bad after all.
The outfits looked nice too.

She forwarded them to some friends that requested for her pictures.
Jasmine was so excited for her birthday and she couldn't wait to see Dave's surprise for her.

14th, April 2021.
           
Jasmine's birthday finally arrived and she began to receive messages from 12am.
A lot of people posted her picture, saying prayers to her. Including people she didn't know.

She woke up by 1am to pee and she decided to glimpse through her phone to see if anyone had sent her a birthday wish yet.
Behold, she saw that people were already posting her pictures on their WhatsApp status, and Instagram stories.

A lot of tags everywhere.
People saying prayers to her and birthday wishes in her direct message.
It felt as though they had been waiting for the birthday to arrive.
She felt like they were as eager and excited as she was.

Tears rolled down her eyes and what triggered the tears was that the people she never expected were the ones wishing and posting for her.
Besides, it was just 1am for Christ sake.

She still had a long day for more wishes.
Did they all sacrifice their sleep for her?
She was happy it started off well though.
While she was in the process of replying to her birthday wishes, a call came in and she answered almost immediately thinking it was Dave on the line but her smile faded away when she heard someone else's voice from the other end.