Proud

sexy.

Feeling confident, I had bought a short denim dungaree dress last three years back in DC.

I was ready for school in it when our next-door neighbor - a retired pilot - commented on how beautiful I was looking that day.

My mom had marched me back into the house to change, then she hid the dress.

I had been looking through her things since with every opportunity I got.

I had given up on it eventually because I thought she'd probably traded it at the thrift shop like she did with most of my old clothes that didn't fit.

Not until this morning when I was digging through my clothes to find the perfect outfit.

There it was in all its glory and beauty.

My mom must've forgotten it was the same dress she confiscated and had added it back to my things when we were packing.

In 8th grade, I stopped doubting myself and stopped caring what people thought about how I looked. I didn't want to think that Gigi was making me doubt myself again, but I suddenly felt the urge to get more attention than her.

That was why I wanted to wear the short dress, which also happened to be the only sexy dress in my wardrobe.

It was clear I wasn't going to fight whatever that had come over me.

As I came down the stairs for breakfast, I had on my plain buggy jeans with my plain T-shirt, with the 'sexy' dress hidden in my backpack.

"Mama, off to school," I said when I was done with my toast.

I opened my bag to put my lunch which I had packed myself today into the backpack.

I quickly zipped the bag close so my mom wouldn't see the dress.

"Wait," my mom, who had been busy on her laptop all morning, suddenly uttered, touching my hand which was the bag.

She frowned. "Open the bag."

"What? Why?" I attacked, my heart somersaulting in all directions.

No. No. No. I had to wear this in school today.

"Open the damn bag and fix the bowl. The chicken salad will ruin your books."

"Y-yes ma'am."

Her focus was back on her laptop while I shakily opened the bag, all the while watching her every move, and quickly fixed the bowl so it was sitting vertically atop the dress.

I closed the bag quickly and strapped it on my left shoulder.

I set off, and in the next 35 minutes, I had arrived, standing in front of Radiant Ridge as I looked at the building. It was a big and magnificent structure, surrounded by neatly trimmed grasses no one walked on.

Students joined their friends at the entrance, and they would exchange a hug, a handshake, or a gossip, then they would all enter.

As I entered alone, I wondered if I'd ever get a friend here at all. It seemed like I didn't fit with any group. Back in DC, most of the group of friends who had accepted me for who I was were black. Here, there were not many black kids around. The ones that were were skinny and didn't want to have anything to do with me.

Ignoring the rejection, I headed for the ladies restroom and found myself an empty stall.

I quickly got rid of the 'lame' clothes, hanging them on the door of the stall as I did, and wore my Looney Tunes ironed t-shirt before putting on the dungaree dress.

Then I stood there, contemplating on whether I should step out of that stall and be seen.

The dress was 'sexy' enough, I thought.

It exposed the most part of my thick, chocolate thighs that anyone barely got to see. And the t-shirt was tight on my body, so it really shaped my bust well.

I tied my hair in a low bun and secured it with a hairpin, then I lightly put on lip gloss, smacking my lips as I did.

I was ready to come out and admire myself in the mirror when I heard voices coming in.

I wasn't ready to let any other person see me until I had seen what I looked like myself.

I used my phone as a mirror, but the screen was too dark in the dimly lit room.

By the time the restroom was empty and all to myself, the bell had rang.

I rushed to the front of the full-length mirror and was taken aback by the reflection I had seen.

My eyes widened as I did a 360.

This is a bad idea, Brie!

I rushed back to the my old 'lame' clothes only to find that they were not there.

I stormed every stall as if the clothes had magically flew to one of them. Nothing.

Sighing deeply and hyping myself on how sexy I looked and how I should own it, I picked up my backpack and rushed to class.

***

All eyes were on me as I entered the first class very much late.

Mr. Peters was my geography teacher. He was a tall man between the ages of 30-35.

He stood in front of the class, hands nudged in his pocket as he also turned to what was distracting his students this early morning.

"Good morning," I greeted him.

"Care explaining why you're 20 minutes late to my class, Miss Simmons?"

"I uhh-"

"Next time, it's detention for you. Have a seat."

"Yes, sir."

There was an empty seat right next to Travis! His eyes were glued to me as I made my way there, but then someone quickly got up from their seat and sat there.

Gigi stared at me with all the satisfaction her action could offer.

I could tell Travis wasn't too happy as he rolled his eyes and looked on, ignoring Gigi.

I moved to the back, refusing to put my butt where Gigi's had been.

By lunch time, I had still not made any friends, but had talked to two guys in Chemistry.

In the cafeteria, I sat by myself, taking my lunch out as I prepared to eat.

Suddenly, a blonde guy approached me with two other good-looking guys such as himself behind him.

He was tall, his eyes a deep shade of blue. His sight was breathtaking, and he was staring directly at me, smiling with interest.

"Hi." He took a seat beside me, immediately wrapping his arms around me. His cologne smelled expensive, just like every damn good-looking human being in this building.

I closed my lunch bowl, watching nervously as his friends took a seat directly opposite me, the same smiles across their beautiful features as they gave me piercing stares.

"You shouldn't be sitting here, Lester."

A voice had all our heads turning to one direction.

It was Travis. He stood glaring at the blonde guy next to me.

Finally distancing himself from me, I could breath at a normal pace where my breath wasn't hitching every two seconds.

"And what makes you think you can tell me what to do?"

The two boys were of the same height as they stood facing each other.

Travis scoffed and looked at me with all seriousness, then back at the blonde guy.

He muttered something to him, and it seemed to have offended him as he aggressively pushed him out of the way and walked away, his friends behind him.

Travis took a seat across from me and flashed that familiar lively smile.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"Smells good," he commented, and opened my lunch bowl. I closed it immediately, picked it up and walked away.

I wanted to see if he'd follow me.