AN: hello everyone :) I know it's been a while! I bet you all hate me :L I'm so so sorry :( I had a lot of exams and I've been really busy! But it's the holidays now so I'll try my best to update regularly and finish writing this story! I hope you enjoy this chapter :3

I'm not sure if I mentioned how old Mara was turning but I want her to be seventeen :) so if I've changed the age then I'm sorry :)

Saturday 27th September

-3 weeks later-

The sun streams down onto my face as I blink repeatedly, forcing my eyes to open. I roll away from the harsh glare of the sun and check the clock. It's 10:00am on a Saturday morning. Perfect timing. Wait, am I forgetting something? Never mind.

I climb out of bed and change into a green knitted jumper and a pair of grey skinny jeans, leaving my hair curly for once and clipping back my fringe. I look across and see in surprise that Patricia isn't in bed. Joy's already up but that's no surprise, I just don't know why Patricia's up already. How very suspicious.

As I'm walking down the stairs, I suddenly realise what day it is. It's my birthday! My seventeenth birthday! I'm officially seventeen. I smile to myself as I jog down the last few steps, walking into the living room.

"Surprise!" my friends yell, jumping out from behind the kitchen table, their bright smiles causing me to smile wider.

"Happy Birthday Mara!" Amber yells happily, running over to me and hugging me tightly. Joy joins the hug and I laugh breathlessly as I hug the two of them tightly.

After Joy and Amber have let go, Alfie gives me a big card signed by all the house mates.

"Thank you everybody." I gush, beaming widely at them all. Jerome walks forward, taking my hand and leaning down to kiss my lips gently.

"Happy Birthday gorgeous." He says, smiling at me while Amber squeals about a 'Jara' moment. I beam up at him and squeeze his hand tightly savouring the happiness that is running through me.

"We made you breakfast!" Alfie says happily, guesturing towards the table. I walk over to it and sit in my usual seat. Eddie slides a huge plate of pancakes in front of me wile everybody else sits down. The top pancake has 'Mara' scrawled onto it in chocolate sauce. I smile happily and stab the pancake with my fork, chopping a small section of it off before eating it enthusiastically.

"Mmm, delicious!" I say, smiling widely at all of my friends, "Does anybody else want one? There are too many for me to eat." I say, laughing as Alfie, Eddie, Joy and Jerome eagerly raise their hands. The four of them grab plates out of the kitchen and I pass them each a couple of pancakes, leaving 2 on my plate.

They five of us dig in happily, all seven of us laughing and chatting together.

"Thank you so much!" I repeat as I push my plate away, completely stuffed.

"This is just the beginning." Amber says mysteriously, her grey eyes sparkling brightly. Confusion sweeps through me again but I decide to just go with the flow- How bad could it be?

Amber grabs my hand and Joy takes Patricia, leading the two of us out of the dining room. As I am dragged away I blow a swift kiss to Jerome which causes him to smirk at me. I shake my head lightly and roll my eyes, allowing myself to be dragged wherever Amber decides to take me. Joy and Patricia leave out of the front door and I see Eddie and Fabian sneaking out of the back before Amber whisks me up the stairs and into her room. The purple dress along with the accessories that I bought a few weeks ago, are lying on Nina's old bed.

I look up Amber suspiciously but she just smiles brightly at me and gestures for me to sit down. She begins to straighten my hair and I stop protesting quickly. What on earth is she doing?

Half an hour later, my hair is completely straight but then she turns on a curling iron and begins to curl the front parts of my hair. She takes the two piece and pulls then back across my head, fastening them down with clips, leaving some curls on the back of my head.

Then she sits me down in front of her huge mirror and begins to take out her beauty products. She has so many! Amber quickly spreads a thin layer of foundation across my face, before adding light blusher and mascara. She then applies false eyelashes, a thin layer of eyeliner on the lid of my eye and some sparkly grey eyeshadow.

She then orders me to get into the dress so instead of acting suspicious, like I am, I just pull the silky soft dress on, smiling at the feel of the soft material brushing my legs. I slip my jewellery on and look in the mirror.

I look beautiful. My hair is pulled back from my face and the eyeliner and shadow makes the brown in my eyes stand out. The dress is the perfect length on me as it floats out around me.

"Wow." is all I can say, "Thank you Amber."

"You're welcome Mara." She replies with a smile. "Now, help me get ready.. Please?" she says, batting her eyelashes. I roll my eyes fondly and grab some curling tongs, leaving her gorgeous blonde hair, soft and full of loose curls.

"Perfect!" she half-squeals, clapping her hands together and smiling with joy.

The next hour or so, we touch up our makeup and chat about boys, school work and.. Alfie.

"I really want to.. You know." Amber says, looking a little sheepish.

"It's fine, I know exactly what you mean." I reply, blushing and sighing.

"Well, you are sixteen now. It could happen." Amber says with a wistful smile.

"I guess." I reply, smiling widely at her, "I mean, we have been doing more stuff recently."

"Ooh, like what?" Amber asks, her face alight with excitement.

"Just.. Um." I say, embarrassment preventing me from speaking, my cheeks turning bright red.

"Mara, tell me." Amber whines, "I won't judge."

"Okay.. I um, gave him a blowjob." I answer, whispering the last few words as I bury my face into a pillow. Amber cringes but looks slightly proud of me at the same time.

"I could never do that.." Amber says, "Me, put Alfie's genitals anywhere near my mouth! Not going to happen!" I shudder slightly at Amber's bluntness but honestly, if situations were reversed, I'd say the exact same thing.

Suddenly the two of us burst into a random fit of laughing, grasping our sides with our hands as tears stream down my face.

"Oh Mara, your make-up." Amber complains weakly, still laughing quietly. She pulls me off the bed, over to the mirror and desperately tries to fix my make-up whilst the two of us hold back the laughter, occasionally chuckling every now and again.

As I check the clock, I realise that it's 3:00pm already. How did we waste so much time just sitting in Amber's room? I play with my hair self consciously and sit down on Amber's bed, catching the fashion magazine she throws me. It's not a particularly entertaining one and all of the models are stick thin with over airbrushed faces and perfect hair.

"Um, Amber?"

"Yes." She replies, flicking her hair and looking up from her fashion magazine.

"Can I go get my book?" I ask, smiling politely.

"I'll go get it for you." She chirps, "What book is it?"

"Pride and Prejudice." I reply.

"Sounds really boring." She answers as she skips out of the room. I hear her heels tap down the stairs and I smile to myself as I wait for her to return.

A minute later, Amber brings the book up to me and I smile happily at her, opening it to where my bookmark is. I read my book quietly; the only noise being made is the soft crinkle of the book pages and the rustle of Amber's magazine. A companionable silence falls over us as we read together, my heart aching slightly as I finish the book.

It's 5:30pm.. already? It seems like it was only a minute ago when Amber went to get my book. I look over to the blonde girl and see that she has fallen asleep on Nina's old bed while I was reading. She must not be getting much sleep on a night if she's falling asleep during the day. I pad across the room quietly and shake her arm softly, whispering her name. Amber sits up groggily, reaching up to rub her eyes sleepily before she remembers that she's wearing eye makeup.

"Thanks for waking me up Mara." Amber says a sleepy smile.

"It's 5:30pm."

"Already!?" Amber screeches, her thoughts clearly mirroring my own.

"Yeah." I reply, shrugging at her. Amber jumps, almost comically, off the bed and takes my hand, pulling me out of the room and down the stairs. I am pushed into the kitchen and read a note by a plate of spaghetti that says,

'Dear Mara. Enjoy the Spaghetti. Don't get any on your dress or I'll murder you. Your taxi arrives at 5:45pm exactly. Love Amber 3'

I look up in confusion as I hear the front door slam, "Amber!" I yell, running into the living room to see her jump into a taxi and drive away. I groan in annoyance and walk back to the spaghetti, eating it slowly and carefully until I hear the loud honking of a taxi horn.

I grab my handbag and leave the house, climbing into the taxi wondering 'Where the hell am I going?'.