Rifton Girls' High School is the most elite all-girls school in the city. With a strict scholarship-only admission, a grand school campus and plentiful funding from its wealthy alumni, it is no doubt that the already-talented young ladies within its...
I was wrong when I believed that life was like a chessboard - it was far more complicated than just being a mere game of war.
Unlike in chess, life was not segregated into black and white - there was no such thing as true, pure evil or angelic goodness. People (and life, of course) were both black and white - a swirl of the two colours that mixed and moulded them into blurred, grey patches. Sure, some had souls of darker shades, others paler- but it was what being human was about. Humans were ambiguous; they were both good and evil, both full of strengths and weaknesses.
In life, there were just shades of grey, flowing in an ombre from light to dark. (No, not fifty shades. And they didn't turn darker or get freed. Stop it.)
And of course, pizza.
Courtesy of Mrs Walters, bio class had been transformed into a pizza party for a reason that seemed crazy to me - the fact that I was leaving the country in a few hours. Instead of being excited to get the hell out of the school, I felt slightly sad about it for the first time in a while as the entire class shoved Hawaiian slices into their mouths greedily.
It was just really... nice of Mrs Walters to do this for little old me. If there was one thing about me that would remain uncorrupted by everything I had done, it would be my respect and adoration for Mrs Walters. She was still the sweetest teacher in the school and a real MVP. For that, she was the one teacher that I made a card for - and I was happy to see her eyes brighten up when I handed it to her.
As I shoved my second helping into my mouth, I was somewhat shook at the sight of Angeline. Her face was twisted into disdain as she narrowed her eyes at her slice, picking the pineapples off the pizza like it was some kind of venomous bug. When she noticed me staring, she simply said, "I hold firm on my beliefs that pineapple does not belong on pizza."
She then continued to remove the last piece before she ate the slice.
Nothing about exposes, snitching or being a saboteur?
That was when I felt a tap on my shoulder, and a wrapped present being shoved in front of me. I turned to see Tina Lee with an amused expression.
"For you, Selene. Stay in touch."
"Oh! Uh, thanks!"
Tina smiled - this gift was obviously part of the nice-kid package that she adhered to strictly like any other student - and flounced off towards Annabelle.
At that moment, I realised I had only ever viewed Tina as one singular thing - ringleader of the K-Pop Kids who screamed at boy bands and watched too many K-Dramas. She liked things I wasn't a fan of, and I'd focused on that.
Never once did I think she would be one to hand me a gift on my last day in Rifton. I guess this was how it was - as much as I hated how everyone judged and nitpicked my every awkward mannerism, I had disliked their eccentricities too.
Ironic indeed - even if Tina Lee was an annoying, over-excited K-Pop fan with a voice that could give Pinkie Pie a run for her money, perhaps she was the definition of being apologetically herself.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
