I'm well aware that I have another fanfiction to finish…. Buuut, I was wanting to start this one… Don't berate me…..
Chapter 1: That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
"I'm starting to think the word 'funny' is misused."-Stephanie, -
The sun was high in the sky and figures of kids surrounded me, laughing and pointing their stubby fingers. Tears pricked my eyes as I sat in the middle of the playground, my hair in disarray and cheeks flushed red, blue glitter glue was smeared on my chin.
"It's just a joke!" Kim, she was girl with similar pink hair as mine, but cropped short and straight, scoffed with her arms crossed. There was a few other girls with her, the Thompson sisters, the purpled hair new girl Blair, and Eruka my once friend from third grade, all five girls were giggling. "Its funny! You're supposed to laugh!"
Tears poured down my reddened face, making the glitter glue on my chin sticker, forcing a smile and satisfying the girls. Slowly the crowd departed and left me alone in the middle of the playground. Tears damped my black skirt but I refused to stop the smile. I felt that if I kept smiling, then they wouldn't have to make me do things like keep blue glitter glue in my mouth and roar like a lion. I learned that doing that was impossible. Rubbing my dark grey sleeves on my mouth trying to get the sticky goop off my mouth, only to ruin my shirt, the sun was hot in Death City Elementary School's playground –located in Nevada- as it fried my crayon pink hair into possibly a red crayon color now.
The five girls were the only ones left, their scented lotion hands on their nine year old nonexistent hips and devious smirks on their face stared down on me. I always considered Kim to be the leader among her little girl gang. She was pretty, all the boys liked her, she had rich parents, the most fashionable clothes and sported red nails. Each girl had beauty of their own, like Eruka, she had the face of a beautiful porcelain doll. The Thompson sisters were already developing breasts, and that caught attention of boys from the fourth grade to the sixth grade. Blair, I assumed to be part cat, with her Cheshire-grin and large eyes, brought attention to even the male teachers at the elementary school. Compared to me I was none of that.
"Well, I think we're done playing for now!" Liz, the older Thompson sister said to her friends. "We'll see you in class!" All five left, side by side, giggling and gossiping like any nine year old would do. Wishing that the glue was in my ears, I was able hear what they were saying.
'Adopted Thing', 'She has lice!', 'If you touch her, you'll be as gross as her!', 'Ew! Maybe she doesn't shower!', 'She's as tall as tree, but skinny like a string!'. Then a loud, "Ewwww" emitted from the girl gang.
I don't know why I was so different from everyone else. We all ate peanut butter sandwiches, lived in homes with running toilets, even walked to school every morning. In the fourth grade, I was taller than my peers, skinny like a twig, and I had this terrible tick, where I would tremble when a classmate made any sort of contact with me. Being the playground scapegoat, I was left out of everything throughout my years in school, it was definitely not fun.
At home I felt safe, I would stand in front of the mirror and pinch my paper skin and poke my droopy looking eyelids. Sometimes I would think of retorts I wish to say, but I didn't have the guts to in person.
"They're just being kids! Have fun, you'll make friends." Every adult told me that, and I put so much hope in that until a few years later.
The girls who made me eat glue in fourth grade still mocked me. They teased me more and about everything, from my body to my adopted parents, their taunting never stopped. Things changed my eight grade year, a new girl arrived and she was the kindest student to ever talk to me. Her name was Maka Albarn.
"Hi! I'm Maka! I like your dress!" The new girl chirped, she had dirty blonde hair in pig tails and wide forest green eyes. Those eyes were very warm and welcoming. "Want to be friends?" She asked like a five year old would ask any shy classmate, but we were only thirteen.
Eight grade year was amazing. Maka was like a stone wall, tough, she defended me against the girl clique many times. I never did develop a thick skin, I ended up staying the meek shy girl everyone knew. We would work together, have sleep overs, and have tea at Deathbucks, for once I felt like I fit in.
"Crona." Maka's tender voice perked my ears. Her forest green hues stared deeply into my icy blue. "I know this is personal, but um, do you remember how your birth mother was like?"
My breath hitched, suddenly my fingers felt colder. I was adopted when I was six years old by a sunny blonde teacher, Marie Mjolnir, and her husband, Franken Stein, a successful scientist. When I first met them, I was afraid of Stein, he looked scary in the eyes of a six year old. Marie is kind and gentle, she's very nice to me and cooks great food. Stein is also kind treats me well, but gets annoyed when I bother him while he's in his lab.
"Crona?"
"Uh, y-yes, I r-remember her." I shuddered.
"What happened to her?" Maka tilted her head curiously.
God I wished she didn't ask that question. Of all questions, she had to ask about my birth mother. No one knows who my real mother is, some rumors is that I was found on the steps of some church. Another rumor was that I was abandon by my crack head parents. The things people come up with.
"Uum, I-I don't know." Mumbling I licked the strawberry ice cream, tasting it's sweetness. "She j-just gave me up, that's all."
"Do you miss her? Was she nice?" She asked more questions, much to my dismay. "Do you think you look like her?"
"U-uuhhh…. I-I don't look like her….." Trying to control my stutter I exhaled shakily. "And no, I don't m-miss her." My mind was beginning to feel hazy as I stared at my cone, no longer wanting the sweet, I just wanted to go home and lay on my bed.
Maka was quiet, I was thinking her left, but looking up, my friend was still sitting next to me, wide eyed. Her vanilla cone was melting and perspiration beaded on her forehead.
"Crona….?... Did your mother hurt you?" It was like Maka could read me like a book and she read tons of books, of course she could see through me.
Once more my breath hitched. "P-please, no m-more questions." My eyes stung and my voice cracked.
"Please, just answer that last question." Maka dropped her cone and patted my back. Her soft hand rubbed my sharp spin, I somehow never seem to gain weight.
I knew she wouldn't let me be until I answered. It was just one word, but that one word was stuck in my throat, like a dry chunk of scrambled egg that slowly goes down the throat as you swallowed. Dropping my cone as well, her vanilla mixed with light pink strawberry blended. "Y-yes."
Silently Maka mumbled. "What did she do?"
I knew I shouldn't say anything. No one knows of my mother. Marie and Stein know, and some other adults, but they were smart not to say anything. Here I was, with my first and only friend, tears bucketing from my eyes and gasping while I whimpered out how my birth mother use to harm me. That was all I said, the rest was left out, all the other bad things five year olds shouldn't do.
"I'm sorry!" Maka pulled me in a tight hug. She smelled like fruity shampoo and soft like a pillow, her warmth calmed me down. "I promise I won't tell anyone!
"P-promise?"
"I promise!"
Our eighth grade year passed by so fast, it was like a whirlwind, and all the good times had to go.
_xXxXxXx_
High School for me was much different than I expected. The class work, the people, everything around me changed so quickly. Still I felt the same, like I was the eighth grader from two months ago. All the girls from her class changed a lot, from their clothes to their caked on makeup, each sported looks from overpriced Glamour magazines. My first high school dance I spent with Maka, we both had no dates but she was immediately asked to dance by a few boys. As for myself, I was standing along the white walls in my plain black dress looking out into the sea of shapely girls and their dates.
My best friend, Maka, she changed a lot as well. I noticed that her attire was getting more revealing, while I stayed in my thick skirts and comfortable cardigans, she sported shorter skirts and tighter blouses. Again, I started to feel that familiar tingle, where I would stand close to the wall, trying to hide. I felt like I didn't belong.
We grew apart. Maka was now on the volleyball team, replaced the former freshman class president and impressed many by being a freshman on student council, I was very proud of her. Before I knew it, my first year of high was almost over, and I was alone.
"You look like a boy. Did you change your sex?"
My chest clenched as I heard the sickly sweet voice of a certain pink haired girl. Without Maka there to protect me, I was left defenseless. That particular group of girls from my treacherous grade school years were still knitted together, but each bloomed into beautiful flowers. Every girl seemed to be there, minus one but plus two new editions. Kim was tall and had an athletic build, I heard she was the captain of the softball team. There was the Thompson sisters, both bloomed into drop dead gorgeous girls, I don't which was on the boxing team and one was on the cheer squad. Blair seemed to have lived up to her cat like looks and became the epitome of any hormone raging boy's dream. The two new editions shocked me. The gentle and kind Tsubaki was sucked into the girl gang, being tall and attractive, of course she'll end up their friends. I wanted to cry as I stared at the girl with green eyes, she bloomed from the girl that was teased for being an a-cup to a proud b-cup.
"Hey Crona." Maka causally spoke, her smile was soft and welcoming. She acted like Kim didn't insult me just seconds prior to her greeting. "You look great."
Hanging my head low I stared at my feet. All of them were standing in front of me, my back to the wall, I was stuck. Unable to make an escape without brushing shoulders with one of the unpleasant girls, I remained close to the wall.
_xXxXxXx_
Time spent as the awkward flat chested teenager didn't have any glory whatsoever. In gym class, each girl changed in front of each other. Living nightmare.
Much to my embarrassment I was not an a-cup, but stuck with my bralette, or as other people now call it, training bra. Trying to be quick I had my dark grey loose shirt over my head, but was stopped. My shirt was ripped away and held in the hands of a cat eyed girl.
"They look like mosquito bites!" She pointed a sharp nail. Girls peeked over, some seemed relieved, why? Maybe because they weren't the smallest out there. Some girls joined in on the taunting. "She still wears a training bra!"
Crossing my arms over my tiny chest I pressed my back up against the cold lockers and squeezed my eyes shut. Tears threaten to spill over as I listened to their teasing and felt their fingers aimed at me like bullets. Hands pulled my arms away causing me to squeal. Sounds of phones clicking and a few flashes made the situation worse. Grabbing my normal shirt and sweater I ran out into the small hall that separated the locker room from the school and put on my top.
Why wasn't I crying my eyes out? I should be crying. Wanting to hide forever. Deciding to cut the rest of the day, I know Marie and Stein would be disappointed, but I couldn't face what happened. It was a long walk back home. The ache deep in my chest spread to my abdomen, causing my hands and shins down to ache painfully, my throat clenched and unclenched.
_xXxXxXx_
It has been years since I've been in Mr. Corner. I broke that habit when I was in sixth grade, Marie was so proud. My fluffy white pillow clenched close to my aching torso, it throbbed painfully; like my stomach would clog my throat and my heart implode.
Suddenly I began choking out sobs, and tears dampened my pillow. The wailing increased the painful ache even more, my fingers were now tingling like they were cold, and my mind became fuzzier. The actions done replayed endlessly.
Instantly flashbacks of glitter glue and nine year old girls huddling together clouded my mind. There was many encounters with those five girls. I had a bunny I would carry around when I was seven, that year I was still getting use to Marie and Stein as my adopted parents. The bunny was cute, white with black beady eyes. I don't remember the exact name, but I think I called it Mister. That was the first I met those girls. Each were so kind to me, then they asked me about my parents. Stuttering out that I was adopted, I didn't get why they started laughing and called me a 'girl with no mommy'. Mister was ripped from my clutches and thrown in the dirt box nearby.
'Ding'
My head snapped up as I stared wide eyed at my laptop. I guess I forgot to shut it off while checking my email this morning.
'Ding'
Two messages. It was probably junk mail, but I wanted something to distract me before going back to Mr. Corner. Crawling across my room, my hands pressed into the beige carpeting leaving an imprint, to the desk. Sitting on the grey swivel chair I curiously looked at the screen. It was from the school's email system, but the sender had their email hidden, only labeled as 'Death High School User'.
Clicking the mysterious message, I half prayed it wasn't a virus, a normal looking message popped up.
DHS_USER: 'Hello, Crona right? I heard what happened earlier. Are you okay?'
Reading that one message over and over, I was somewhat surprised. Debating whether if I should reply or not, I decided to ignore the messege.
Clicking the second email, it was not the school's email but from Maka.
To: Crona
Fr: Albarn_Maka
Hey, how are you? I think your phone is off, please reply.
There was a link attached. Opening the link, I was mortified by the picture from the locker room. Shaking my head, the dull pain began to throb painfully, worse than before. Knocking over the swivel chair and tripping in the process I slammed my laptop shut and huddle back in Mr. Corner.
So what do you think of this? Of course I'll continue!
If you want to share experiences, I don't mind! I've added my own experiences and experiences from friends.
Please Review or PM if you have any questions or want to give me some ideas. I would like some ideas though…..
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.
