Little Miss Different: Short Story Collection [#Wattys2018]

4: School Disco

About one year ago...

Rebecca stood alone in the girls' bathroom, picking at the yellow nail polish on her nails. Her mother had carefully glued specks of glitter on top and they caught the light as she picked them off. 

She jumped slightly as the door opened. A girl with shoulder-length brown hair twirled into a messy bun, - with a few strands falling from the bun into her face - grey eyes and shiny pink lip gloss walked into the bathroom.

"Are you waiting?" she asked. Rebecca noticed a black tinge on her cheeks, like ink had been smudged over her face. 

"No, I'm not waiting," she replied. The girl smiled slightly and locked herself in one of the stalls. 

"Are... you okay?" said Rebecca after a few moments. "You sound like you're crying."

The girl came out of the stall, her face flushed and eyes wet with tears. "No, I'm fine," she said.

"No, you're not," insisted Rebecca. "Look." She grabbed tissue paper and passed it to the girl. "Wipe your face." Rebecca realised that the black tinge was mascara when a mascara-stained tear fell down the girl's cheek. "It'll be okay."

"Thanks," mumbled the girl.

"I'm Rebecca. I have ADHD, am hypermobile and also have dyscalculia," said Rebecca. "Who are you?"

"I'm Winter - I'm an Aspie," said the girl.

"What's an Aspie?" asked Rebecca, wetting some more tissue paper for Winter to wipe her face down with. 

"Aspie - it means someone with Asperger's Syndrome. That's a type of autism. I'm autistic," explained Winter. She smiled slightly. "I was diagnosed before they grouped it under autism and not separately. I also have severe anxiety."

"Why are you so sad?" said Rebecca.

"It doesn't matter."

"Okay," replied Rebecca, passing Winter some tissue paper. She respected that that information was for Winter to share and not for her to try to press for.

"Thank you so much for helping me," said Winter. "I'm going to ask my mums to pick me up - it's way too loud here," she added. 

Rebecca waved her new friend goodbye.

Six months later

Rebecca and Winter sat together on the bench, hand in hand, watching the beautiful sunset.

"I'm glad you're my best friend," said Winter.

Rebecca looked at her shoes. Was she ever going to be more than Winter's best friend?

But Rebecca smiled.

Whatever she ended up being to Winter, Rebecca was happy she had this time of being her best friend, no matter what.

Thank you to @MissLunaRoseFan for this idea! As you submitted the idea, you get a dedication in this chapter! :)

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