Caught In Masquerade

[Chapter One]

[Unedited]

[Chapter One]

"Look, that weido with the mask is back to school again."

"Why is she even wearing that?"

"Is something wrong with her face? Maybe she did plastic surgery and it went terribly wrong?"

"Could it be that she's so hideous that even she is embarrassed by herself? I heard that her dad was an alcoholic and he took his life one day when he got drunk."

I have to admit that they got the last one right. It has been five years since it happened but to me, it felt like yesterday when I was still living in that hellhole.

Using my hair as a curtain to block my face, I walk past the unfamiliar faces, trying my best to avoid their gazes. I don't know any of these people yet it seems like they already know my entire life with the amount of things they are saying about me. It's not unusual for me to hear people discussing about my mask or my life, in fact, I hear them more often than I would like. Trying my best to ignore all the whispers, I walk quickly to my locker. Doing my very best to ignore the attention and get back to my usual morning routine although that seem like the most difficult thing to do right now. I take my books out before slamming my locker shut, walking briskly to Calculus, hoping to get some break from all the attention.

It is only the start of the school term and the first thing that welcomed me back is the hushed whispers and scrutinizing stares from the entire school population. Not really a great way to start off the new school year...

To say that things have gotten better this year will be a huge lie because honestly, it really just got worse. I can still remember my first day of starting school like it happened yesterday. Being a newbie is one thing, but being a newbie with a hideous mask is another thing as the rumours about you never die down.

There are two emotions that I hate the most in this world, one being curiosity and the other being pity. Being curious means that people want to get to know you. Is that a bad thing? To me that is literally the worst thing, because getting to know me means that I'd have to divulge into what happened that day and that night. The memories still haunt me every single day and to have people know my secret means that they have more reasons to pin-point at me, to spread more rumours about me. Why stop their whispers when I know that half of what they say are true anyways?

Pity. The look on Principle Hart's face was pity when he first saw me walk through the front door of his office a year ago with my foster parents. Why do I despise pity? It's simply because to feel pity for another person means that you look down on that person. At least that's what I infer. Pitying someone means that they lack something that you have. To feel pity would also mean that people are trying their best to understand you, and to me that is a burden. Why bother to let people understand me when they already have so much presumptions about me?

The only two people in this world that are allowed to have those emotions are my foster parents. They have given me a new life since the day they adopted me five years ago. Without them, I probably wouldn't have lasted until today, I might have ended up like him, with a knife sticking out of my chest.

The shrill sound of the school bell brought me out of my thoughts as new found resolve surge through me, giving me renewed energy to get through the day. I rush to my Calculus class hurriedly, avoiding the crowd as students run towards their own classes. Just as I enter the class, someone stuck out their foot suddenly, with my slow reaction time, I fell flat on my face, books sprawled out everywhere. The class erupt in shrieks of laughter as my face burn with embarrassment.

I hurriedly pick up my fallen books and limp towards my usual seat by the window at the corner, knowing exactly who is responsible for my fall. The laugher did not stop even when I sat down and I bury my face in my hands, willing myself not to cry. The energy that I had a moment just dissipated into the thin air as I think of all the things that he did to me. I don't know what I ever did to him to make him pull silly pranks on me. He never lets me have a single day of peace, and being the lucky person I am, I share all his classes.