Sorry so late! I had an eye appointment! This chapter is kinda long so enjoy!
Samey shook her head, scoffing away from Topher. "No, I promise, it's not important. Thanks for the towel. I'll pay you back for it." She was expecting him to leave. To her anxiety, he didn't.
"Technically, if you're hurting yourself, it must be important. Anyways, a good way of repaying me for the towel could be that you tell me everything," he said, half smiling. She looked up at him. He scooted closer to her. "Come on."
She sighed painfully. "It's just. . .my life is hell. It. . . it always has been. Even when I was born. . .Amy likes to remind me of my 'laziness at birth' because I was born seventeen minutes after her. That's so stupid to me. . .she hates me.
"She thinks that's she's better. You know, when I was little, I told myself she wasn't. I ended up believing it." She blinked back tears. "Amy is perfect. She wins first at everything, she's beautiful, she's the favorite among everyone. . ."
Topher felt horrible. He had thought of Amy as prettier and better too. As she continued speaking of Amy's cruelty, he realized it was the other way around.
"When we were twelve, she had me shave my head. 'People can't tell us apart,' she said. My mother and father yelled at me. 'Serves you right,' they said. They weren't proud of me. I never won first place. I wasn't perfect like Amy," Samey whimpered, looking at her clotted arm. "They talk about me poorly. Sometimes at home, I hear them on the phone with relatives. They're all praising Amy's wonderful grades and projects. They don't say anything about me." She looked at Topher.
"They don't know that I do Amy's homework and projects. I fail because I can't finish mine on time." She closed her eyes.
She went over more stories of Amy. How Amy got a car when they turned sixteen, but she didn't; how Amy got a second car after she ruined the first; how Amy had her friends torture Samey at school. Tears were streaming down her face again. Topher didn't know what came to him-he stroked her hair.
"I didn't want to hurt myself. That. . .that wasn't my plan. I just. . .I didn't know what to do anymore. I figured if no one cared about me, why should I? I'm . . .I'm nothing!" She stood up. "I'm so tired of being lesser than everyone! I'm tired of not having friends! I'm tired of Amy telling me how ugly I am, how fat I am. I'm tired of my parents not loving me." She was pacing now.
"I came on this show to get away from her, to get away from all of them! I wanted to make friends. . .no one here thinks of me highly, except Jasmine. . . But you know, she calls me Samey too. I'm not Samey. My name is Samantha, not Same-antha. I'm just Sammy, not Samey. . ." She sat back down and looked at him. "I don't know why I'm even telling you this."
Topher looked at her. He looked at the girl who was scared, the girl filled with insecurities. She was a girl who didn't have happiness. He never thought he'd feel bad for her, for anyone but himself. He was wrong.
"Because I asked you to. I never knew you had it this hard. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for yelling at you." He wiped more of her years away gently.
"Everything your sister says to you is wrong. I thought she was a kind and confident girl. She's not kind at all. She's horrible, you're not. You're a wonderful person." He smiled at her. "You had a right to lie to me about the autograph. I'll get my own from Chris someday. Right now, all that matters is my friend Same-Sammy."
Sammy could've cried all over again. Topher figured this, and gave her a tight hug. Sammy's eyes widened.
"I don't wanna ruin your shirt. . ." Topher shrugged.
"I have more," he answered. Sammy hugged back gently.
"Thank you. . .thank you for listening."
"Anytime," Topher replied. He made a mental note to protect his new friend as much as he could. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her.
The phone in his pocket vibrated. His reflex was to pick it up, but he didn't.
They can leave a message, he thought.
I'll update tomorrow as early as I can!