My eyes have adjusted to dark
And so has my heart
The weight of the world has covered me
I'm in over my head
Am I living or dead
Can anyone hear me calling out
I'm calling out
It was the day before school started again and the weather was fantastic. The sun was out and the sky was bright blue and the wind was warm.
Sixteen year old Ten-Ten sat on the railing of her front porch and stared at the scenery in front of her. She liked how calm everything was, and how soothing the birds chirping sounded. She closed her chocolate brown eyes for a moment and thought back to last night's events.
I'm finally breaking
So where are you now
It's been such a long time
That I've tried to live without
I'm suffocating, I need you to breathe
So reach down and pull me up, pull me out
Before I am buried beneath
"You need to be on top of it this year Ten-Ten." Her mother stated, looking up from her newspaper; "You have trained long and hard this summer so there's no reason why you shouldn't be number one this season."
Ten-Ten sighed and nodded her head. She was used to these talks by now, ever since Ten-Ten entered high school last year her mother had encouraged her to be nothing less than the best in everything she did.
"You should be proud of yourself Ten-Ten. You stuck to the one meal a day diet plan I set up for you, and you ended up losing the weight you need with it too." Her mother continued.
Ten-Ten nodded once again while fiddling with her broccoli.
"My goal for you this season is to get to eighteen minutes in your five-k." her mother stated firmly. "You need a scholarship Ten-Ten and if you get that time this year you'll be guaranteed one!"
"Yes mother…" Ten-Ten answered quietly, after several seconds she finally asked "May I be excused?"
Her mother nodded and then went back to her newspaper.
I built this house on the shore
All I wanted was more
Then I felt the sand start shifting
I saw the cracks in the walls
I painted over them all
I tried my best to just ignore
I can't ignore
Ten-Ten signed as she watched the two birds swoop around the tree in her front yard. "She's like that almost all the time now." She whispered to herself. Suddenly her stomach growled, but instead of going inside and getting something to eat she simply ignored this sign and took a sip of her water bottle she had next to her.
"Well…this is gonna be one heck of a year." She said to herself before sliding down from the railing and going back inside.
I'm finally breaking
So where are you now
It's been such a long time
That I've tried to live without
I'm suffocating, I need you to breathe
So reach down and pull me up, pull me out
Before I am buried beneath
Ten -Ten walked down her high school walkways, smiling and greeting people as she continued on her way to her locker. You could hear the traditional female mixture of "oos" and "ahhs" as every girl checked every other girls outfits out and the male mixture of "dude!" and "it's been too long man!" .She quickly put in her locker combination and unpacked her book bag with haste, making sure she had her new schedule out In front of her. She then quickly checked her sports bag to make sure she had everything for her cross country practice later today. "Check." She said to herself, closing her locker, not noticing Neji Hyuga in front of her.
"Oh sorry Neji!" she exclaimed, holding back a laugh as she started to walk to her class.
"Its okay Ten-Ten…man I haven't seen you in a while" he stated, also trying not to laugh as he walked beside her to class.
"Oh I just had a really busy summer with training and all." she explained as she walked down the hallway. "I got to be the best you know!"
"I'm sure you'll do great Ten-Ten, you always do. You have Capoozi for English right?" Neji finally asked as he continued to follow Ten-Ten.
"Yup!" Ten-Ten replied with a smile as she entered the classroom to her right.
The pair entered the room, only to be greeted by a chorus of "Hey Ten-Ten!" and "Hey Neji!".
Thought I was climbing out
But it's dragging me down
What's hidden here with me
Thought I was alone
But it pulls me deeper now
I can't escape
"Neji! Over here!" a spiky blonde haired kid shouted from across the classroom, who was in between a raven-haired boy who had his arms folded across his chest and then another guy who had fiery red hair and a tattoo above his brow.
"Before I go over to sit by idiot over there, you wanna go do something after practice?" Neji asked as he slowly moved towards the hyperactive blonde kid.
"Uh…do you mean like dinner?" Ten-Ten asked as she took a seat in the middle row.
"If you want it to be…" Neji said with a shrug.
Ten-Ten bit her lip for a moment; you can't go out to eat with him Ten-Ten! Your nuts! He'll think your some fatso! "Gee thanks Neji, but uh…my mom kinda wanted me home tonight…what about we hang out this weekend?" she finally answered, glad she was able to avoid dinner.
"Oh…well whatever is best for you Ten-Ten." Neji said, slightly suspicious of Ten-Ten's behavior.
"C'mon Neji! You're so slow!" Naruto shouted, looking like he was about to have a heart attack if Neji didn't sit by him soon.
"Shut up Naruto! You're so annoying!" Neji shouted back, flashing Ten-Ten a look of apologetic smile.
*********************** Time Skip*****************************
I'm finally breaking
So where are you now
It's been such a long time
That I've tried to live without
I'm suffocating, I need you to breathe
So reach down and pull me up, pull me out
Before I am buried beneath
"So Ten-Ten…are you and Neji dating yet?" Sakura Haruno asked with a smile as she pulled out her turkey sandwich.
"No Sakura! Quit asking me that!" Ten-Ten snapped back playfully as she went for a sip of her water. "I've already told you…were just friends…"
"Uh huh…sure…" Sakura answered back playfully.
"Ten-Ten are you not going to eat?" Ino asked, noticing Ten-Ten had no food in front of her, "You know we have practice later and coach always works us the first week of practice."
"No, I'm good. I had a really big breakfast, that's all." Ten-Ten replied, eager to have the conversation off her eating.
"Here Ten-Ten." Sakura said, handing Ten-Ten half of her sandwich. Sakura always had extra food on her, so she could easily afford to offer Ten-Ten some.
"Sakura-" Ten-Ten started to protest, only to get cut off by Sakura.
"Just eat it!" she demanded, shoving it in Ten-Ten's face.
Ten-Ten sighed in defeat; she took the sandwich hesitantly and slowly nibbled on it. She made sure she took sips of water between each bite, knowing it would help her get rid of it later.
Soon all the attention at the girls cross country lunch table was off of her and every girl suddenly chattered away about how each of their summers went and who they had their summer romances with.
Ten-Ten then took this opportunity to excuse herself from her friends to the restroom. When she entered the restroom she looked around and checked each stall to make sure no one else was there. She then chose the stall at the very end and then waited a moment to make sure no one was coming. She then took a deep breath and said to herself "This is for your own good…" before sticking her finger down her throat and quietly throwing up every bit of what she just ate.
When she was finished she made sure no one was there before leaving the stall. When the coast was clear she slowly unlocked the door and looked around the bathroom real quick. She then looked at herself in t he mirror, she signed when she looked at her reflection, her eyes red and face red from throwing up."Your far from perfect Ten-Ten" she said to herself as she examined her body in the mirror. To any normal, sane person she was tiny, and needed to gain weight, but of course poor Ten-Ten didn't see it that way at all.
"Your disgusting…and ugly…" she mumbled to herself as looked through her purse, trying to find her small bottle of mouth wash. After gargling she then re-did her makeup. When she was finished it looked like nothing had happened at all.
"You need a scholarship Ten-Ten, how else are you going to make something of yourself?"
"Ten-Ten, you should really stop eating so much and go outside and play."
"You need to be the best Ten-Ten…you need to be the best at everything you do!''
"You need to be second to nothing!"
Ten-Ten shook her mother's voice out of her head, only allowing one more final thought to come through her mind before facing the world again. She was right…
I'm suffocating, I need you to breathe
So reach down and pull me up, pull me out
Before I am buried beneath
Author's Note: So what did you think? This is just a side story that I needed to get out of my system because of some…well…personal stuff I'm going through right now…but anyways…what did you think? I don't think this is my best work so far but it's a start right? Please R&R! God Bless! I changed it up a bit and I think it's a whole lot better than it was before! Please forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes!
