𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔

𝙵𝙸𝙵𝚃𝚈

Nearly a year later and we are at the fiftieth chapter. It's a huge milestone that I couldn't have attained without your support. Thank you all so much for sticking around until this point and I am so pleased to announce that we are halfway through the book. So, therefore, the chaos can officially descend.😌

Shall we?😌

The song for this chapter- Girls Like Us by Zoe Wees.

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"𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑠,
𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙.

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                 ~𝚂𝙷𝙰𝙺𝙸𝚁𝙰 𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙾𝙻𝙰 𝙼𝙰𝙻𝙸𝙺~

The hallway leaned more on a madhouse, as usual, but I could tell that she wasn't following me anymore and that made me halt. I whirled around, shoving my hands into Stefan's large cardigan that was thrown over my white shirt.

Her shimmering lips twitched occasionally, a distant look engraved in her eyes as she stared into nothingness while rocking back and forth on the heels of her cute black Air Force sneakers. She had stopped walking, clutching her blazer to her chest. The thick black material was pressed against her neatly ironed shirt.

Our set mates that were hanging around any corner they could find could care less about the dark-skinned girl standing in the middle of the hallway. They were still reeling from the exams. Heck, I was too.

Maureen's flawless dark skin was even more pronounced under the bright lights and it made her discomfort even more visible. It was cute. It almost made me chuckle, but I traipsed forward.

"A penny for your thoughts?" I teased her and she blinked, fixing her dark brown eyes on me.

"Sorry," she mumbled, tucking one of her black braids behind her ear.

"Hey," I called quietly, placing my palm on her forearm. "Everything is going to be fine. I promise. I gave you my word, remember?" I reminded her softly.

"Well, it's not every day one of the cool cliques in school wants you to have lunch with them." She flashed me a smile that didn't reach her eyes. It was easy to notice the nervousness splayed underneath that faux smile.

"My friends don't bite, Maureen." I chortled.

"I know," she sighed. "It's just. . .What if they don't want to hang out with me? I mean, I wouldn't blame them. I can barely stand the sight of myself in front of the mirror. So, I wouldn't put it past them that they would be wary of me. A few weeks ago I was topping the list of Blue Cove's wannabes." Maureen voiced out her worries, her brows furrowed in confusion.