A World of Her Own

Chapter 9

Jason was correct. Christina was indeed very excited about Liora going to the fall festival. Liora felt like reminding her it was still a few weeks away but it was all Christina could talk about when she saw her. She saw Liora in the hall right before lunch and snagged her. A torrent of excited words poured out of her and Liora soon found herself redirected from the library where she was heading towards the outside eating area where they had lunch together the week before. The other kids said hi and smiled when she approached. Liora smiled back and was soon talking to a girl sitting across from her. They had history class together and were discussing an upcoming test. Liora was busy chatting when she glanced up and saw Jason across the courtyard, standing with a group of his teammates from tennis and a few other people.

He was talking to a girl.

Liora immediately felt a rush of jealousy and insecurity. She knew the other girl by sight, if not by name. She was a senior, a varsity cheerleader and one of the most popular girls in school. She had long, wavy bronde hair and a perfect figure that always looked fantastic in the small cheerleading outfits that she wore while cheering. She looked and dressed like a model, always wearing trendy outfits that showed off her figure perfectly and were sexy without violating the school dress code.  Liora gazed at her and Jason. The two of them were laughing and chatting and all of Liora's insecurities came flooding over her. Liora compared the other girl's perfect figure to her own. In contrast to the other girl's thin legs, Liora's legs were thick and her thighs were full. Liora had a curvy hourglass figure but her stomach wasn't perfectly flat. Maybe instead of curvy, she was really chubby. 

The other girl was wearing a designer outfit. Low cut jeans and a tight top that said CK on it. Liora remembered seeing the same outfit shown in a teen magazine. In contrast, Liora rarely shopped in the juniors department. Most of the clothes were too small and didn't fit her fuller figure. She felt more comfortable shopping in the women's section anyway. She didn't like squeezing into tight jeans and tops that pulled across her bustline or gapped open in the front. She tended to go for the classics. She wanted to be comfortable instead of following the trends. But maybe that meant she wasn't stylish. The other girl's makeup was done flawlessly and her hair cascaded around her shoulders. Liora had never mastered the art of wearing makeup. She usually stuck to lipgloss and eyeliner, if that. Most of the time, she didn't wear any makeup at all. Her curls never behaved, doing whatever they wanted. Liora usually didn't pay too much attention to her looks but now all her flaws seemed glaringly obvious. The other girl's flashy looks made Liora feel frumpy and plain.

As far as personality, there was no comparison. This girl was clearly outgoing, even somewhat flirty. She touched Jason's arm frequently as she talked to him. If Liora had been paying attention, she would have realized that Jason was not reciprocating the affectionate touches but she was too eaten up with jealousy to notice. Liora thought about how shy she was with Jason. She was only beginning to come out of her shell. And she could barely talk to other people. She hated parties. Liora looked at the other girl again. Hadn't she been junior prom princess the year before? She seemed to remember seeing her picture in the school yearbook. It was obvious in her mind that this was the type of girl Jason should be with. 

Liora's conversation partner noticed her staring across the courtyard. She glanced over to see what Liora was looking at. "Oh, Samantha..." the other girl said, in a tone that suggested she didn't particularly care for her. Liora turned to her and attempted to make her voice sound normal. "Do you know her?"

"I just know that she's popular," said the other girl with a shrug. "And that she dates a lot...mostly the football players. She's pretty flirty. But she usually only pays attention to the popular kids. If you aren't with the 'in' crowd, forget it. Jason is the complete opposite. He's popular but he doesn't care about being popular, if you know what I mean. We've been part of the same group of friends since elementary school. The rest of us never became popular but he still hangs out with us. He's not snobby. And...she kind of is. "