People called her "emo" or "goth". She didn't care. It wasn't like they were her friends anyways.
Now, she was in no way shy. If anyone bothered to try to get a rise out of her, a few needles would be thrown, and the disturbance would stalk away, pretending that they hadn't just been told off by one of the school freaks.
But overall, she was dark. Dark as a shadow.
She trudged to school every morning with her face half hidden by the hood of her jacket, head bowed. She would slide between the chattering crowds until she reached her destination, then find an isolated corner, and just stand. Then, she would watch everyone else go about their daily lives, and she would just observe.
She doesn't believe in friends. Why would she need anyone else, if they would do nothing but hurt her in the end? You gain friends, only to lose them later on. It was better to go at things alone. It was what she lived by, and she was fine with it.
She knew she never belonged anywhere. She didn't care. She had stopped caring ages ago. Sure, one day she might get close enough to someone to call them a friend. Maybe they would get her to slip that hood off her head. And she would probably end up hurt once more. But it didn't matter right now.
She didn't need to worry about the future. It wasn't like it mattered to her anyways.
_______________________________________________________________
He was one of the semi-cool kids, and he knew he was just so, so, so close to being considered an actual "cool kid". He had worked for so long and so hard for that moment, and it was just within his grasp.
All his childhood, he'd been picked on, whether it be for his wire-framed glasses, or his tacky hair-cut. As a naive child who was a year younger than everybody else in his class, he hadn't understood why they picked on him, or why they seemed to hate him so much. But as the years passes tortuously, he began to notice things, and understand things little by little, until one day, the answer to all his problems arrived. He just had to be like the rest of them.
They had picked on him because he was different. They had hated him for being considered "smarter" than the rest of them. They were jealous. Thus, they began to take him apart, piece by piece, starting with the things they could consider themselves better on or at. So, they ripped him apart, starting with his glasses. Then his hair. Then his clothes. Then him.
It was that moment of great discovery that led him to create this life's goal. Be a "cool" kid. It wasn't that hard to figure out, really. All he had to do was mimic the older kids. The ones the "cool" kids who picked on him looked up to.
So, over the course of a single summer, his glasses went and got traded for contacts, his hair styled to look messy, effortless, yet artistically placed, and his clothes thrown away and replaced with skinny jeans and tight button up shirts and leather jackets. Those were all the easier things to be done. Now for the actual test. He had to be socially ahead of them.
Throughout the years of his middle school and the beginnings of high school, he put most of his time and effort into chatting with people, watching what they did, and doing what they did, but adding a touch more of pizzazz into it all. It took months and months more but he got what he wanted. Everyone now knew who he was, and everyone respected him. He was the role-model for the freshmen, the cool shortie for the seniors. He was in. And he was happy.
Because even though he lost himself in the process, at least he had taken himself apart willingly, and carefully, unlike their vicious ripping and tearing.
Anything was better than that pain.
_______________________________________________________________
She was the queen of the school. Best of the best. The most glamorous person to walk the campus. But she felt like nothing but a plastic doll.
She didn't know why they chose her to be their royal highness. She never volunteered, nor had she been willing. But for some strange, unknown reason, it just happened, and it was stuck as that.
They crowded around her like ants to fallen candy, and it bothered her to no end. She just wanted her own life, with her own space, and she had stated it a million times before. So why couldn't they do as she asked?
She didn't purposely try to attract all that attention, it just happened. She didn't try to look pretty, they just said she did. It confused her and annoyed her and puzzled her to no end.
So maybe the limelight was addicting. It did feel nice to be acknowledged everyday.
They all swore loyalty to her, every second, every minute.
So why did she feel so lonely?
She knew they didn't mean half of what they told her. She also knew that she had made many enemies who wanted her tragic fall to happen all too soon. Of course, she just ignored all the voices. Why should she bother to listen to them at all anyways? It would only bring her down. Down, down, lower than ever. Yes, it would only bring her down.
It wasn't like she asked for any of this in the first place.
_______________________________________________________________
He was a high school kid with the wimpy body of a child in elementary school. His body was skinny beyond compare, to the point a leaf could simply snap him in half, like a stick. He didn't have any muscles to show for, and he wasn't tall enough to look at a majority of the school's guys, younger and older than him, in the eye. The way he walked, it was like he was trying to curl in on himself. He would slouch over his books and papers, clutched tightly to his chest, knuckles white. His eyes would dart back and forth, like an animal hunted as prey. His shirts were too long and baggy, and his pants were stiff and plain, like clothing from the decade before. He had large, heavy, thick metal framed glasses that slipped down the bridge of his nose every three seconds, with lenses thick enough to pass as windows.
He stalked around the school trying to be a shadow. Of course, it never worked. He would always be found, and he would always be targeted. No matter how hard he tried to blend in, they always managed to spot him, locate him, then fire their bullets at him.
His life was a battle field, and he was the lone, ammunition-less soldier standing at the center of a barren, dried out, dirt field, his enemies with their guns locked and loaded, pointed all at him, from all angles. The guys would lift him up in the air by his crooked collar, and toss him back down like a rag doll. The girls would sneer at him behind their perfectly manicured hands. Together, the entire student body would laugh at him, jeer at him, pick on him, because he was just that weak, and just that hopeless.
He had long given up for a way out.
The fight was long since over.
_______________________________________________________________
The bell rang at last that afternoon as the caged students began to stream out of the cracks and corners of the school. It was a long, exhausting morning, and everyone was ready to relax at lunch.
A girl dropped her all black backpack down against the far corner of the theater with a thud, and plopped down beside it. Leaning back against the cool walls, she sighed, and closed her eyes.
Sadly, the peace wasn't kept for long. Panting could be heard, along with suppressed giggles, as loud, heavy footsteps stomped through the redwood doors and down the aisles. He was decked out in the newest leather skinny jeans, complete with a graphic shirt and a plaid button up over it. His snickers died down as he realized he wasn't alone. A glare was shot at him, fierce and dark, like the girl who it came from.
"Oh, uh, sorry, did I intrude on something?" he began to apologize. She just rolled her eyes, and shifted so her entire side was pressed against the wall.
"No. Just that you walk like the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk, and you're dressed like you belong in a 13-year-old girl's dream boy band," she snapped back. Was it really that much to ask for a life isolated from society?
Amused by the attacks, the boy settled himself down into the red velvet seats closest to the corner the girl had confined herself to, and replied, coolly, "Why so harsh? I won't hurt you."
"Don't talk to me like I'm a frightened puppy."
"Fine, fine. Jeez. I'm Aleq, with a q. I think this could be the start of an interesting friendship."
Another glare.
"Who ever said that."
"I did. So? Waddya say?"
She hesitated, and in that moment she paused the gates banged open again, as a girl covered in pink flew into the theater, and slammed the doors closed just as loudly as they had been forced open. Pressing her ear to the wood to check for any sounds from the other side, she gave a sigh of relief, and slid down the wooden panels, not noticing two pairs of wide, shocked eyes directed at her. Fluttering her perfectly shaded eyelids open, she gasped at her apparently unnoticed audience.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I intrude on something?" she exclaimed, scrambling to get up and dust herself off.
Snickering at the lines she said, Aleq waved his hands around lazily, while the girl just scoffed, and turned to face the wall once more.
Flushing at the sudden awkward air, the princess of the school shifted from one foot to the other, unsure of what to do.
As the three fell into a unanimous silence, sniffles could be head coming from behind the violet curtains on stage. One by one, they caught on to the strange sounds, and Aleq hopped up to gently pull back the cloth, only to find a scrawny kid hunched over his knees, wiping his eyes. Glancing up, the boy's hands flew up to his glasses and he began pleading, "Wait, wait! Please don't hit me! Or, at least let me take off my glasses first..."
Raising an eyebrow, Aleq slowly replied, "Nooooo, why would I hit you? That's just mean, dude. It's like a lion picking on an acorn."
From the corner, the shadow retorted, "Really, a lion and an acorn? You just dropped to a new level of stupid."
Turning around to shoot a glare towards the corner, Aleq turned back around and stuck a hand out to the sniffling boy.
Trembling, the boy slowly took the inviting hand, and let the other boy lead him gently down the stairs, and into a velvet seat. At this time, the princess also shyly shifted towards the front of the theater, and delicately sat down on the ground next to the girl in the corner. She decided to ignore the pointed look shot at her.
Slouching in his original chair, Aleq pointed a finger at the girl in the shadows, and asked, "You never replied. So, waddya say?"
Squinting suspiciously at the other three, she opened her mouth once or twice, only to close it again, without a sound. Eventually she managed to mutter, "My name's Estella."
Giving out a burst of tinkling laughter, the girl beside her clapped her hands together twice and giggled, "Oh, you're so anti-social Estella! My name's Annabelle! Nice to meet you all!"
"I-I'm Shawn," the boy stuttered out.
"And I'm Aleq, with a q! You already know that though, don't you Estella," Aleq cut in boisterously. This resulted in a third glare shot at the laughing guy, and a quiet, "Shut up already. I've only known you for about two minutes or so and I already know I'm going to hate you."
More laughter came out of that, this time joined in by melodic bell-like giggles and soft chuckles from the shy Shawn.
Estella just muttered darkly to herself under her breath, blushed, and curled up against the wall.
Sighing in joy, Annabelle mused, "You know, even though it's only been a few minutes, it feels like it's been so much longer, hasn't it? It's been a long time I've ever felt this relaxed!"
Pushing his glasses up, Shawn whispered, "That sounds so cliche."
Estella left her ball of black auras to give Shawn an incomprehensible look.
"Ah, I-i-i'm sorry! Did I offend you or something? I'm sorry!" Shawn stuttered desperately. Aleq was snickering into his palm next to him, while Annabelle gave an amused smile.
"Chill. You didn't offend me. And stop smiling at me Annabelle!" Estella ended with a shout.
"Ah, I'm sorry. It's just you're so funny!"
"Tch. You know there's a poem called Annabelle Lee. She dies. Stop giggling like a school girl Aleq!"
"A-ah! E-estella please calm down!"
"Yeah, Queen of Darkness. Calm down," Aleq teased.
"Shut up you!"
Giggling, Annabelle whispered to herself, "This seems like the start of a new beginning."
And for the rest of lunch, the theater was filled with angry shouts, playful teasing, gleeful laughter, and panicked stuttering.
_______________________________________________________________
So maybe being alone did get a bit...lonely sometimes. So maybe she might take the risk this time.
_
And maybe, popularity wasn't what he wanted in the first place. Maybe it was just some actual friends.
_
_
And possibly, she had asked for it all, because she never actually tried to step out of the spotlight. Possibly, all she needed to do for it all to stop was to stop caring about what they all would say.
_
And somehow, he might not have lost the battle just yet, because there was still people out there who could and would for some reason fight with him.
_
But all that mattered was, that that day was a new start for all four of them. And it was the start of a new future as well. Because for all their difference, in the end, they were all destined to walk the same path, the four of them, together.
No comments:
Post a Comment