Pride and Promises ✔

Chapter 1

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Allie! Happy birthday to you! May God bless y-

"Aaah!"

I woke up with a jolt banging my head with the lamp in the process. Still disoriented, it took a minute for me to realise three things:

One: I was still in my desk and had fallen asleep with my laptop open. It was showing little cute bubbles as screensaver and my neck was bent awkwardly towards my left shoulder.

Two: It was already 12:04 am as I looked at my phone.

Three: Well, I realised this at the same time I realised number two, but this was what made me running around cursing to myself. The reason was: When I looked at my phone to check the time, I realised it was my reminder still ringing and that made me realise that... shit! It was Allie's birthday today and I'd already wasted 4 minutes talking with myself! Such a great friend you are, Eves.

I jumped from my desk and hurriedly dialled Allie's number to wish her. Allie, or Allison Rivers had been my best friend since college. The only person who knew everything about me and whom I trusted more than anyone. She was a great painter and had her own art gallery.

We'd met each other on our sophomore year in college while I was not at my best and had thick walls surrounding me. But she was able to get past them and truly saw me and accepted me without judgments. We'd come a long way since then. I still had walls around me but Allie had made a door for herself to let her in.

"E! It's... 12:07 for heaven's sake! Why are y-"

"Happy birthday Allie!" I shouted over the phone, immediately cringing when I realised that it was midnight and my voice must be echoing through her phone.

"What birthd-..." Allie started to say but her words were cut off and I heard rustling of sheets with followed by a click meaning she must have turned on the lights.

The line was silent for a while and when I thought the connection died, her soft voice reached my ears, "It's my birthday today... I didn't even remember! And neither did Mike..."

Mike had been her boyfriend since three years. We'd met him at our graduation 4 years ago while he was there for his brother Jake. Allie and Mike had flirted around incessantly the whole time. They kept in touch even after graduation and a year later, they were official.

Jake was one of our good friends. He was charming, humorous and humble. In other words, a perfect gentleman. Although I couldn't say the same about his older brother.

Mike on the other hand, was the definition of a typical bad boy. Dark black hair, dark eyes, piercing over his ears and eyebrows, lip rings, bike rider... well I guess you could say he was a stereotypical bad boy you read about in cheesy romances. Yes, the one whom the innocent good girl falls in love with and eventually tames him. Except that it was not the case here because one, Allie was neither innocent nor a good girl. She was as wild as one could be, and two, Mike was not someone who could be tamed easily.

Allie was the opposite of me in every way. She was rather short, about 5.2" as compared to my 5.10" but her other features more than made up for it.
She had a lovely chestnut brown hair and gray eyes that I envied more than anything.

While her eyes were the ones anyone could lose themselves in and not want to come out of, I'd got plain boring chocolate brown eyes and Auburn hair that made me look like a packet of Snickers. Allie had a killer body that I'd totally snag if I swung that way and I'm sure every other person thought the same. Except Mike that is.