They were there again, standing by the door waiting for her. Nana and Tuptim. Day in and day out they would wait for her to arrive, hand her their bags and summon her to wherever she needed to go. It was better than being alone she presumed, though there was only so much of this existence she could continue.
When she first started at this school, she thought she would be able to make friends, have a normal school life and do something with her life. On her first day though, she had fallen into the wrong crowd. At first when they approached her, she felt great, these girls wanted to be friends with her, however as time went by, she realised they were using her, bullying her, their personal slave.
She had come to accept her way of life, buying them food, telling them they looked good, holding their bags and being the silent girl sitting in the background. Before she came, Nanno.
Nanno had surprised her, when she had come into the group, she was expecting to have some freedom. Expecting her to become the new lackey but Nanno claimed the group quickly and unexpectedly.
She had tried to follow her lead, feeling uncomfortable when she started bullying Meen, a girl who had supposedly flirted with Nana's boyfriend. Though there was an exhilarating feel behind it all. She found friendship with Nanno, she was one of them but also different, she was nice to her. She almost felt protected by her, Nanno stood up for her against Nana and Tuptim.
She knew there was more to it though, more to all of them. She wasn't as shy and good as they thought she was. She was well-aware of everything they were doing to her, bullying, and exploiting. At first, she wanted to be their friend, but when they started paying her, it became something different. She accepted her role, for the money, for her mother. They had always been poor, and now she had money coming in on a regular basis. She was happy to play the charity case, the bag girl, if it meant making her mother happy.
She hated Nana and Tuptim but appreciated what they were. She fantasized about it, what it would be like if she were to be like them. Living the life of luxury, able to throw away money like it was rubbish. She thought about what she would do, how she would treat people. If she had that power, perhaps she would do what her 'friends' did to her.
That's how Nanno came in. Nanno was nice to her, but she played a part. She had Nana and Tuptim wrapped around her finger. Nanno would be her ticket. Would help her out of the position she was in now, into the position she wanted. Alongside Nana and Tuptim rather than below them. With all the benefits.
Money wasn't the only form of currency. Nanno had taught her that. Tuptim and Nana had secrets, she just had to find them.