The Makeover

15

"We met for a reason. Either you're a blessing or a lesson."

Frank Ocean

15|He's back

I could feel my upcoming headache threatening to surface. It was a normal effect when I felt stressed or annoyed, in which right now, I felt both.

My feet wandered unconsciously to the library where I would have to serve a full hour of my time for something I had nothing to do with. The scent of lime in the air only strengthened the memory of the misunderstanding.

During my Spanish class, a boy named Will, had found a bottle of lemon juice in Ms Lopez's desk draw while she had been out. For some odd reason only known by the gods, he had used it to soak every student in his row, including me, in the sour liquid.

I had absolutely no idea why Ms Lopez would even have lemon juice so close by, but as soon as she walked in and found chaos in her class, she made sure to give everyone a punishment, even the victims, me being one of them.

I was glad that Annastacia had convinced me to always keep a spare set of clothes in my locker, because after the incident, I couldn't stand the smell of lemon. The sneezing that came after sounded like a whole lot of landmines going off.

I could still identify the tangy taste every time my tongue happened to swipe over my lips. There had been nothing I could do about my hair, so I had to wash it out with water and wear it up in a bun, which had been torture, because as I had washed my hair, the water had run down my face, causing black eyeliner to flow like tears from my eyes.

I hated makeup, but Annastacia had advised me to follow all the beauty tips that Allison had given to Mona in Pretty Little Liars. One of them being, never leave the house without your face on. I had been frustrated at first but had found some comfort with a layer of cosmetics covering my otherwise hideous face.

I had never thought of myself as pretty, beautiful or gorgeous and I didn't think I would anytime soon. I had thought having a makeover and being friends with 'The Populars' would somehow improve my self esteem in some way, but it had actually knocked it lower.

Sitting with practically flawless people wasn't that easy, especially if you didn't consider yourself on their level. All you could see was their perfections and your own flaws. You noticed every small detail. You saw the perfect curve of their brow and lips. The spark in their clear eyes. Their glittering hair that fell perfectly.

I wasn't really sure that my thoughts were healthy for myself, but I knew that it had never been easy finding friends and to give up some of the most willing people didn't seem like the right choice at the moment.

I got to the library just as the door was about to close. I was well aware that if it closed, I would have been serving two extra punishments on Saturdays - which were always the worst.

A head peeked out from behind the door. The person's eyebrows rose in disapproval as they opened the door wider to let me in. I smiled gratefully before rushing inside.

I was immediately enveloped in a warmth that only the library seemed to bring. When I had still spent lunches there in the past, I had always felt safe surrounded by different genres of knowledge. It had been my safe haven from the outside world, until eleventh grade came and swept me to a completely different world where my words weren't considered and clothes were more important than schoolwork.

It was a horrible world to live in, but it had its perks. I wasn't lonely anymore and if that meant that I would have to sacrifice some of my comfort to have that, it didn't seem that bad.