Dalaric

One: "𝙊𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙚."

I plop both bills into the cup which startles the woman and a huge grin expands on her wrinkled face.

"May God bless you, dear one." I smile giddily in response and wish her a good day. Hehe.

I walk towards the school gates avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Senior year better be good to me or else- well, I don't lift or workout so I can't do much. But I'll make sure to give them a one star rating on google, that's a promise.

"Maya!"

Oh no.

Skin that resembles the purest of browns, striking hazel eyes and silky hair. I see Shay making her way towards me and I sigh as I give her a forced smile.

Her heels tap on the floor alerting everyone of her attractive presence. She stops on my left, weaving one swim arm around my slouching shoulders.

"New band shirt? Ugh," Here we go again. "It's like you want to look ugly. At least wear a skirt for once! It doesn't matter if your legs are pale and thick." I look down at my thighs again, I should've skipped that sandwich.

"I'm sorry." I don't know what else to say. She's right, always is.

Shay sighs and turns me around with both hands on my shoulders. She pats my head and smooths my hair until she's pleased.

"Maya, you know I want what's best for you, yeah? I mean, what are friends for?" Taunting each other about the way they look maybe?

"Yeah Shay, thanks." I smile while slightly envying the way her body can put models to shame. It's not that big of a deal, it's just a body. As long as I can walk and do necessary things, I'm fine. Right?

I sigh as I bit my lip in anxiousness. No wonder boys aren't attracted to me.

I've never had a boyfriend, let alone my first kiss. My skin resembles that of a vampire and my hair matches the depths of midnight. I love the way I look and I feel beautiful every time I put a new band shirt on. I feel myself. But it's comments like these- on days like these- which just drag me down into pits of insecurities.

I try my best at school because I know I won't be able to go to college anytime soon. My mom doesn't have a job and the only source of money we have is the cheques my uncle sends every month.

I've never met him but he supports us as much as he can after the death of my father and I love him for that. That, and the money from my job at the café which is definitely not enough for a college tuition fee. I'm aiming for an academic scholarship but it's hard when there's so much competition. I'm just not good enough, I guess.

Shay leaves to her class and tells me to tuck my t-shirt into my jeans to 'look less bad'.

It makes me uncomfortable that people can see my not-so-big butt and very big thighs. Oh well.

When lunch comes around, I always sit in the isolated part of school. They were going to renovate that area but didn't have enough funds so they left it as it is for a year. It's perfect because they have chairs and tables and it's always empty. Even though I don't have food today, I just do homework and study for a while.

It does get a bit scary because it's dark and the only light is from the windows but it beats having to sit alone in front of everyone because your friends have other friends.

Sometimes suffering alone is much less embarrassing than suffering in front of a hundred pubescent teenagers. Shay never cares because she's too busy flirting with the jocks. She did ask me to come once but they all talked about parties, sexual intercourse and boys.