*Irrelevant GIF, I just found it cute as fuck.*

T A Y L O R 'S P.O.V

"I can't believe this," I said, stifling back a laugh, "My best friend forgot about my birthday."

I picked up my bag and rushed to the teacher's desk, hastily snatching the detention slip out of his wrinkly fingers before bursting out of the room. I could hear anarchy descend from my class, but I didn't care. Their loud talking faded the further I got from the class, and soon enough, all I could hear was the relaxing raindrops that struck the roof of the cafeteria.

I fucking hate myself for kissing Bella now, more than I did on the night. I hate my birthday so fucking much!

I crashed onto my cafeteria table and unfurled the crinkled detention slip my physics teacher wrote for me. This is the first detention slip I've gotten in years.

Why the hell did I stick my finger up at the teacher? I wasn't angry at him - I was angry at Darko for forgetting about me, and Owen for stealing my best friend.

I sat there, glowering. I wanted to tear the green parchment up and ditch it in the bin. I scanned the writing. Apart from him spelling my name wrong, a particular section caught my eye. I felt my stomach lurch. The big, black, bold letters made me run my fingers through my hair.

'.'

Ana is going to kill me! It takes an hour to get home from the school bus - I'm going to be so late for her birthday plan...

'Maybe if I run back to physics now and beg for forgiveness, I will be okay!' I thought to myself. Picking up my school bag and my detention slip, I ran to the cafeteria door.

As soon as I reached it, however, the siren rang. The thunder of student's feet sounded as they all approached the cafeteria. Accepting my fate, I trudged back to my table, slamming my head onto its metal surface.

'Could this day get any worse?' I thought to myself. I felt like crying.

"Hey... Taylor? Jesus, what did you do to your hand?" A familiar blonde's voice asked. Yeah. My day just officially got worse.

I lifted my head up. It was Bella.

"Are you okay?" She asked, seemingly genuine. Not bothering to speak with her, I rolled my eyes, picked up my bag and began to leave, gritting my teeth when my cut grazed my bag's strap.

"Hey- WAIT!" she shouted, making me freeze in my tracks. I side-glanced her.

"What do you want?" I grumbled.

"Please," she said, looking down at where I was sitting before, "Sit back down. I want to apologise for the other night."

'This should be funny,' I thought. I shook my head, my lips forming a sardonic smile. Snorting, I strode back to the table, slamming my bag onto it, and stared at her, my eyes waiting. She cleared her throat. What could she possibly say or do that would fix everything?

"Taylor," she said, unable to keep eye contact with me, "I'm... I'm sorry for how I behaved at Lyra's party. I shouldn't have kissed you, or got you drunk, or embarrassed you in front of Trent. I know how much you hate drinking because of your mum, and I know how much you hate Trent. I shouldn't have put you in those situations. I'm an idiot, manipulative, stupid, and I shouldn't have treated you like that. You're my best and only true friend. I'm... I'm so sorry."

She made eye contact with me. Her face was flushed, her cheeks red, her lips quivering slightly as she breathed. She was extremely nervous - nervous about what, though?

"And, I, uh," she said, moving a stray lock of blonde hair away from her face, "I know this won't make up for much, but I got you a birthday present."

She fished through her schoolbag before she produced a small, ribbon-wrapped box and an envelope with a wax seal.

"Happy birthday, Taylor."

She smiled, her eyes flickering between the gifts and me. I sat there, slightly bewildered. The one person that I thought was going to make my day go from bad to worse has actually done the opposite. Something is telling me that Bella's words were genuine.

I untied the box and lifted the lid. My eyes widened as the gift gleamed under the silk that cushioned the gift.

There was a little, beautiful, porcelain piano statue. I picked it up, my eyes eagerly inspecting it.

The fluorescent lighting in the cafeteria radiated off of the gift's shiny surface. Its keys were carved with perfect detail - it looked like it could be a real piano. It had intricate vine carvings on the back of it, as well as on the bottom. The base of it also had two letters and a short phrase engraved on it.

' this must be from the creator of the gift.

"Bella..." I said, a small smile creeping up on my lips, "This... this gift is beautiful. Thank you."

A grin spread across her rosy lips.

"Before you open the card," She said, her eyes looking at the red wax seal, "I didn't want to make your birthday about me, but, I wrote some personal feelings in that card. I know you have no right to return my feelings, but..."

She half smiled.

"I hope you do."

As I opened the card, Bella calmly packed up her bag and walked off. My confusion wore away as I read the letter, covered with intricate cursive writing. Parts of the letter were smudged away, almost entire paragraphs. 

Weird. 

"Dear Mr birthday boy,

I'm not going to bore you with the gritty, cheesy nonsense that I've blessed you with every year prior to this one. Actually, this card has a much deeper meaning to it. By the time you'd have received this letter, I'd have walked away or you're opening it at home.

I... I've been meaning to tell you something important.

It's been eating away at me for a long time now. I... I have no other way of saying it without beating around the bush. Brace yourself, you're probably never going to expect what I'm going to say next.

Taylor... I love you.

I know, we're best friends, we should tell each other everything, blah blah blah - I didn't feel comfortable sharing this with you, mainly because I never knew how you'd react to it. I should have come clean about who I was and about who I am. I figured you'd hate me, or you'd just stop talking to me, or something like that. I just needed to tell you, my feelings were beginning to get in the way of my academic life, as well as my social life.

God, I feel like such a coward for telling you through a letter. Hopefully, after I have given this to you, you'll still talk to me.

Love, your best friend, Bella."

I squinted, hard, at the end of the letter. Something was odd about Bella's name - around it was blurrings of other letters. I could barely make out the letters behind her name. I could only make out that there was a K there. 

Did Bella forget how to write her name?

I shook my head and smiled, folding the letter back into its envelope before admiring the porcelain present. Maybe all of my priorities have been wrong. Maybe, I've been pining over the wrong person. Sure, I won't forgive Bella immediately, but she's giving me a good reason to try. Hearing the bell ring, I packed up my stuff and walked to Music class, a spring in my step and a warmth in my chest.

~~~~~

"Playing the piano with just one hand, Taylor? That's unconventional if you ask me," said Miss Lauriana as she walked past me. I showed her my injury, making her gasp.

"Yeah, I'd play with both, but I don't think you'd want to clean up blood from the keys." We shared a short laugh.

"How's your birthday going?" She asked, sitting down next to me. I sighed, rolling my shoulders back.

"It's been... different. Aside from all of the drama, it's just going to get harder after this class ends. I really don't want to go home. Mum's going to be going through her usual antics, Ana's going to be disappointed in me because I'm gonna be late, and Dad..." I said, stopping at my last word. Miss Lauriana placed her hand on my shoulder, her smile sympathetic.

"Say no more," she said. "I get it. Why is Ana going to be disappointed in you?"

I sighed, before producing the detention slip from my bag. "Because of this. I promised her I'd be home on time because she told me she was going to make me a really great birthday surprise, but..."

"Hey, we can figure out a way through this," Miss Lauriana said, stroking her chin. "What about this? You serve your detention here, and you ask Darko to drive you home?"

I shook my head. "Things between Darko and I aren't so good. I did... something near him the other day and he... well, he forgot my birthday. So, we're not really talking at the moment."

She sighed, before looking thoughtfully at the piano. "I'll drive you."

I beamed. "You would? Isn't that considered like, weird?"

Miss Lauriana scoffed. "Psh, the school doesn't care about me. I was best friends with your dad - I think he'd haunt me if I didn't at least offer."

I smiled. Miss Lauriana is more than just a teacher to me. She's like the auntie I never had.

She stood up, brushing off her ankle-long dress. "Now, I'm sorry, but I have a class to teach. Don't get any blood on my piano, or you'll be banned."

I smirked. "As if you'd ban your star pupil from their favourite instrument."

~~~~~

The bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. I quickly sent Ana a text before I went to the storeroom to grab a thick rubbish bag. 'I missed the bus, I'm sorry! I'll be roughly half an hour late.'

It's best not to tell her I got detention - there would be too many questions.

My phone sounded as I picked up some scrap paper. 'How dare you! You promised! That's it, I'm throwing your cake away! ;) '

I sniggered, gritting my teeth as Ana fell for the lie. 'Blame the stupid bus arriving and leaving early. I'll see you later. Love you <3'

"So," Miss Lauriana said, scribbling on a few papers behind her desk, "Did you get any presents for your birthday?"

I smiled. "Yeah, Bella got me one. Well, two actually - a present and a wax-sealed card."

I shuffled to my bag and produced the porcelain piano from its side pocket. Miss Lauriana rose from her desk and walked calmly to me, her eyes gleaming as she saw it.

"Wow, it's beautiful. I'm surprised - this seems more like something Darko would get you - I never even knew Bella appreciated your piano skills."

I smiled. "Yeah. Ugh, don't mention Darko."

I sunk into a desk, groaning. "I still can't believe he forgot my birthday-"

"I know, and I'm sorry I did."

Miss Lauriana and I both shot our gaze to the door. Darko stood there, tall, a gift bag in one hand and an envelope in the other. His cheeks were red, and he couldn't make eye contact with me.

Miss Lauriana looked at me, then back to Darko. "Should I give you two a moment?"

"Yes, please," Darko said, walking into the class. Miss Lauriana handed me the porcelain gift and walked briskly to the doorway.

"Be quick, I have assessments to mark." She said, slipping out of the door, closing it shut. I looked at Darko, eyes narrowing, arms folded.

"What are you doing here?"

Darko let out a long breath, before settling into a desk next to me. "I need to apologise. I feel like an idiot for forgetting my best friend's birthday. I hope your favourite snack and a heartfelt card would make up for it-"

"-And you think I'd forgive you instantly, through some food and a card? Darko, no, it's not just today that you've made me feel terrible - it's been going on for days! Why did you never respond to my messages? Did you ever get my voicemail after Lyra's party?"

He folded his arms, letting out a sigh. "I didn't want to talk to you! I hate Bella, you know that, and seeing you and her kissing each other made me so fucking angry!"

He shook his head. "I did get your voicemail, but my phone died midway through. It deleted itself when I charged my phone. What was the rest of it?"

I looked away, shaking my head. "I just wanted to tell you my side of things. The voice mail said for you to call me, or for you to message me, so we could sort everything out. I wanted to explain everything, like how it was my first party and I had no idea what I was doing."

I let out another sigh. "From your perspective, it looks like the kiss was a mutual thing. It wasn't. She filled my head with lies. She manipulated a situation to make it look like the person I'm crushing on was into someone else. I was drunk. I felt like shit, Darko. When she kissed me, I knew it was the wrong thing to do, but I didn't stop her. She made everything feel right for a split second."

Darko leaned back in his chair, a smug grin on his face. He snorted, before saying "And you wonder why I hate her."

"Why do you hate her?" I asked. He scoffed.

"Because of everything you just told me-"

"No," I said, furrowing my brows. "Pretend Lyra's party never happened. She's done nothing at all to you before then, so why the hate?"

He shrugged, letting out a long sigh before making eye contact with me. I couldn't shake the feeling that he knew why, but he didn't want to tell me.

"I just hate her," he said, after a few tense moments. "She wasn't a good boyfriend to Trent or a good friend to his underlings. I just get the vibe that she's toxic and up to no good at all - and the shit she pulled at the party is evidence enough."

We sat there for a few tense moments. "Why have you been hanging out with Owen?" I asked, my voice prickly.

Darko sighed again. "He came to my races on Sunday. He's a cool dude, you two would get along great."

I looked at him, creasing my brows. "And, what? You have talked to him for less than two days and you've already ditched me for him? Now I finally see how much our friendship means to you."

Darko groaned. "Taylor, don't be such a prick. The only reason I hung out with him is that I lost a bet - he wanted me to chill with him for the day at school. I was so caught up with him that it made me forget things, like your birthday, for example."

I let out a laugh. "Ooh, wow, next time, shoot me a text so I don't end up feeling like an expendable, used, idiot!"

We sat there for a few moments. My breath was rapid from all the yelling I was doing. Darko's face was beetroot red, and his breath was sped up too. We were both so angry at each other.

"I'm sorry for being a shitty friend," Darko said suddenly. "I'm sorry for everything, for ditching you today, for forgetting about your birthday, for ignoring your voicemail and messages, everything."

I made eye contact with him. His eyes were pleading. I could just make out a thin line of tears building up from the bottom of his eyes.

I felt guilty now. I felt selfish. Sure, I had every right to be, but I couldn't help it. I freaking love him.

I let out a sigh. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that I blew up on you just now, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in physics class, and I'm sorry that you saw Bella and I kissing."

Darko looked up at me, the tears from his eyes almost gone completely. "I'll forgive you if you forgive me?"

We sat there for a few moments, his eyes lingering on mine. A smile crept onto my face, as well as a chuckle. His lips curled into his trademark smirk before he laughed too.

"I can't stay mad at you after you just apologised like that. Sure, I forgive you."

"Then, I forgive you too, my good sir."

I cringed. It was bittersweet hearing that horrid nickname. Darko chuckled again before I stared daggers at him.

"You're really testing my patience with that nickname."

We sat there, smiling at each other. Miss Lauriana opened the door, before squinting at us.

"Are you two done yet? I've had to pretend to be on the phone with someone in front of two cleaners now, It's getting kind of ridiculous."

I nodded. She groaned dramatically before pushing the doors open, striding up to her desk. She began marking tests.

"Anyway," Darko said, leaning behind him, "I believe you have presents to open."

He produced the gift bag and the envelope to me.

"The envelope is from Stefan and the parents. Some good cash in there, as well as some heartfelt stuff."

He delicately placed the bag on the desk. "This one is from me."

Miss Lauriana looked at us, a grin forming on her face. "Aww, you bought him a present! I doubt it's going to top Bella's gift though."

Darko lifted a brow. "Bella's gift?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, at lunch, she walked up to me and apologised about how she was acting at Lyra's. She handed me this tiny gift box and this wax sealed envelope."

I showed Darko the present. His eyes widened.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I said, smiling at the porcelain piano figurine. His eyes narrowed, and his eyebrows knitted together.

"What, uh, was in that wax letter she gave you?" He said, his voice shaky. Lifting a brow, I fished out the letter and read it to him. His eyes widened as I read her name last.

"She confessed her love to me. I don't know whether it's poetic or not, but yeah."

Darko froze. A sweat bead tricked down his forehead. His eyes were blank. His knuckles clenched white as his face began to go red.

"Darko? What's wrong?" I asked. He shook his head before he stood up and scrambled out of the room. His heavy footsteps could be heard as he ran down the hallway.

"What the hell?"