Keepers

The Day Fate Rang

Not exactly bullied. Not exactly accepted.

That's probably how I'd describe my school life. I had all of two friends that didn't even go to my school and if I said that no one here hated me I'd be lying. Not too many people but certainly a few girls here and there. But by and large I had remained...background noise.

There was plenty of teasing though. Once dudes hit puberty, the ways they poked fun at people like me took new lows. Everything from my weight to my nerdiness were cruelly laughed at. I'm taller than the average teenage girl too so I was often clued in to all the boys who would never date me.

One time in 7th grade we were doing gymnastics in the gymnasium when my crush at the time asked me if I could swim faster with such big feet. From then on I noticed how tiny other girls' feet were. Cute 3s and 4s with any girl approaching a size 6 complaining about how big their feet were. Mine had been a size 8.5 then. I think that cemented me in making sure I wasn't seen. So I wore dark colors, tshirt, jeans, and plain classic chucks.

Guys had also developed a habit of jokingly asking me out. It didn't take long at all for me to catch on. Really the first time had been enough so by this new year - Senior Year - I was a pro at spotting pranksters no matter how well they played their parts.

The way people treated me also hadn't been helped by the fact I'd garnered a bit of a representation as a whore. Somewhere between 15 and 16 years-old I'd realized that being a prude hadn't gotten me anywhere. People still didn't like me. Boys still teased me. And the rumors that I'd slept with nearly every boy I laid eyes on had started long before I ever lost my virginity. I didn't care anymore. So why even fight it. I started dying parts of my hair bright colors and wearing things that might attract attention; no longer covering up the well endowed chest I had inherited with boy shirts and baggy hoodies. It started getting me invited to parties too even if it was just so the more popular kids could place bets on who at the party I'd sleep with.

Again, I was pretty whatever about it.

"Party tonight." Camden, one of said 'popular kid' posse members, informed shortly. I just nodded knowing he didn't want or need an actual answer from me. But then he looks down at me and grins. "How come you have such a reputation but none of us have seen what you look like in your birthday suit?"

"It's usually good IQs that get me off." I shrug, not a bit of care. Camden grins wider.

"Smart mouths get me off." The smirk is like butter on pancakes, spread easily across his face.

"What a coincidence, I finish on smart mouths." He blinks dumbly and I grin back at him. "Ooooh right. You don't know anything about any of that. You only win races."

"I'll see you at the party." It's almost a challenge the way he says it. "My place." I shrug again and leave.

I'd never say no to a party. I mean I really didn't have anything better to do.

First bell rang and I looked over my schedule again. I had Anatomy & Physiology with Mister Kyper at the opposite end of campus from my locker so I walked quickly but not too urgently. Mister Kyper kinda hated everyone but particularly the smart kids. Something about a duty to break conformity. Anyway, I thought it would be better to lower his expectations of me before they could ever get too high. Still, I wasn't the last one to class. That honor went to the king of the school himself, Trevor Brig. Not that it mattered anyway since Mister Kyper was putting us in pairs for the rest of the school year and weren't allowed to sit until we were assigned a partner and a table. There were exactly 32 of us so I had no hope in bargaining for a solo mission this year.

When Mister Kyper started assigning people it was clear that both your partner and table were completely random. Pair One sat at table 7 of 16. Pair 5, at table 1. Pair 8 sat at table 8. The four-by-four table setup was half filled when Trevor was called and a handful of the girls wiggled anxiously in place to be called.