Authors Notes: Mmmkay.. Thanks for the reviews, Madlax and Orestes666. This chapter is a wee bit longer and hopefully you'll enjoy reading it. Until next time..
The beginning of grade 5 wasn't all that bad, I had people rushing to be my friend from every direction. But they weren't really friends, they just needed to see if I'd pick them or not. Afterwards, everyone would just leave me out. It was up to me to choose my friends, and there was hardly anyone worth it.
For the first 3 months, I had no one. I remember hiding out in the bathroom during recess, just looking at myself in the mirror. I didn't like what I saw, but I thought that I would eventually grow out of it. We all hope for growth to change all that we hated about ourselves, and it kinda reassured me. For three straight months I spent occasional lunches in the bathroom, and recess in one of the stalls. If I recall it was the farthest one down.. the farthest away from people I could be.
Eventually, I became friends with three girls.. Britney, Marie, and Nicole. At first, they were pretty nice to me. They envied what I was wearing, as the only clothing store in the town was Wal-Mart and loved my hair. I never really felt superior to them, no matter how many times they put me on a higher level. Because when things seem too good to be true, they usually are.
When I hung out with them outside of school, which happened only about once every few months, they would constantly talk about other people. How ugly one girl was, how skinny they were, how fat other kids had gotten, and why some kids always sat alone. I joined in a few times, thinking.. I'm sure they aren't saying terrible things about me. What's there to worry about?
But you know.. They were saying a lot about me. And whenever I said anything about our friends, even if I said it as a compliment, they'd twist it around and tell the person about what I had said. I never really understood, we all promised to keep it to ourselves and I hadn't even said anything remotely mean. But that didn't matter, trouble was brewing for me.
Behind my back, they'd call me fat, ugly and a goth and would think about ditching me completely, saying how bad I made them all look. The more I heard these things, the more I started to believe it. Was I as ugly as everyone was telling me? Maybe I was eating too much..
Now of course I wasn't fat, in fact I weighed less than all of them. But that didn't matter, no matter how nice I felt I looked, no one agreed. It was like an unwritten law to hate me, and make my life a living hell. Boy were they good at doing their job..
"Hey Kit, why don't you have a boyfriend?" Britney asked me one day, out of the blue. We were only in grade 5, and I didn't like any of the boys anyway. Why did I need to rush? What was so wonderful about holding hands?
"I don't know, I don't really like anyone." I didn't know what to say, I wasn't expecting a question like this so early on.
"Ohh.. Well, you're too ugly to have one anyway." She smiled at me and walked away, arm and arm with her best friend Marie. I forgave them later, it wasn't as if I really had any other options. The other girls.. they'd treat me just as badly.
I've always been one to stand up for what I believe in, and do what seemed fit for me to do. At an early age I became interested in Shakespeare and would read as many books of his plays as I could find. The other kids deemed this odd, and none of them understood what he was saying. Most kids thought he was German or something to that effect, but obviously.. Well, you know, he's not.
"Shakespeare's stupid. You're a loser." A boy named Quin walked up to me and slammed the book out of my hand, hoping to get a rise out of me. And of course, he'd get one.
"How would you know? You've never read any of his work.." I quickly defended, picking the book from the ground.
"Only kids in advanced spelling can read his stuff then, I guess. But only losers want to learn how to spell anyway." He had me there. Advanced spelling must have meant I was an idiot. How silly of me, not wanting to spell cat over and over again. If you don't get it the first time, you won't get it the second go around either.
"Whatever. I'm not a loser.." At this point, I'd had enough. The constant abuse from my friends and dad was enough for me to take. My eyes swelled with tears and I took my seat again, next to Nicole.
Quin sat behind me, and so I heard everything that he had to say including..
"Kit's just plain ugly. She's the ugliest girl in the class." Laughter erupted out of him and his friend.
I sat there for a moment, trying not to let him get the better of me. I never wanted anyone to know that I had any weaknesses, that I became sad, that I wasn't as strong as I pretended to be. To have weakness was to be human but I just wanted to be numb.
My friend kindly told him to shut up for me, as I sat there trying to compose myself. The tears were coming though, I could feel them burning at my eyes and not wanting anyone to see, I dashed out of the room and into my safe haven, the washroom. It took at least 10 minutes until my supposed friends came to comfort me, and they didn't say much.
"Don't worry about him. You'll grow out of it." ..What?
"Grow out of what?" I asked, hoping to hear a friendly answer.
"Well you know.. the way you look."
I just smiled and went on with my day, I didn't expect any less from them.
I ran home crying that day, as I did almost every other day. But my dad was never there to comfort me, to tell me that everything was going to be alright.
Mom was though..
Don't worry sweetie. They'll learn their lesson later on..
"I don't wanna live here anymore. Why can't I go home?" Stupid dad.. he ruined everything for me.
You'll give through it. And in the end, you'll be stronger than all of them.
Squall's POV
"Hello?" Too many phone calls a day, I can hardly stand that ringing sound anymore. But I guess that's the life of a headmaster.. How'd Cid ever do it?
"Mr.Leonheart? This is your daughters teacher, Mrs. House.." A shaky, older voice said casually.
"Hmm.. What'd she do this time?" Damn it, Kit. You're in deep shit as soon as I get home..
"It's not what she's being doing, but what other kids have been doing to her. I've noticed some bullying lately, and have witnessed her eating alone in the washroom stall. Were you aware of any of this?" How the hell was I supposed to know?
"She's never said a word. Besides, I doubt she's being bullied. And if she is, it'll toughen her up." What a waste of time..
"I don't think you know what you're talking abo-.."
I slammed the phone down and went on with my business. I never had parents, how the hell am I supposed to deal with this crap? I took care of myself, she can do the same.
Kit's POV
"Kit.. We need to talk." I heard my father shout as soon as he entered the house.
And I knew..
I knew where I was headed.