Masked Girls

00. PAWN

"Seriously?! She doesn't know what a 'banana' means? Oh my God... girl, I'm so sorry you have to deal with her" Tina Lee exclaimed, eyes widened at the shocking piece of gossip. How could someone be so childish and naive to not know such things at this age, she thought to herself she re-tied her high ponytail and tossed it behind her shoulder with a quick swish.

"I know, right? And her childishness aside, that isn't even the worst part about her," Natalie Kingsley complained, wrinkling her nose yet somehow still managing to look decent and ladylike, "We've been hinting it to her all week - and she still doesn't get it! Like, does she not know what subtlety means? Jesus Christ."

"Girl, at this rate, I think we'll just have to tell her outright. Clingy pricks are no joke," Gillian Bishop scoffed as she flicked the water off into the sink. "Seen way too many in primary school to count. But of course, she'll probably be the kind to run off crying to every single teacher about how we're bullying her and shit. Ugh."

Natalie met Gillian's look of contempt, letting out a sigh of exasperation. "Literally. I cannot understand how people like that are allowed in public."

"A literal crime," Annalisa Knight nodded in agreement and promptly changed the subject, "But anyway, enough about her. Are you guys free tomorrow after school? We should check out the new mall nearby."

"I'm down."

"Sure - hey, it's 10:29! Let's start walking back... "

The four girls eventually strolled out of the toilet, their laughter slowly disappearing down the hallway, leaving it in silence.

Silence - until a cubicle door opened with a soft click.

She stepped out, her gym shirt wrinkling from the tight grip of her fingers clawing into the fabric as her hands trembled. She walked towards the sinks in slow, rigid steps and slowly turned the tap, letting the water drench her palms.

As tears caused her vision to blur, the words repeated themselves in her head.

Childish. Ignorant. Stubborn.

She was so stupid. So, so stupid.

How could she have thought they liked her? How could she have not noticed? Now that she was aware of their true colours and their veiled intentions, every memory, every moment spent with Natalie, Gillian, Lisa and the others suddenly returned to her, every single one of her screw-ups painfully clear and obvious. Why did she ever think she was going to make it as part of the cool kids, when she was so different from them, so stupid, so stubborn, so childish?

Every smile, every bit of kindness extended to her... it had all a charade. Behind her back, they had been busy spreading their venomous rumours like wildfire, burning her into ashes. Every move was carefully planned, every step purposely taken to push her closer towards social annihilation by the rest of their peers. 

The worst part was that it hadn't even been difficult to destroy her. She had committed the first mistake of damning herself when she strolled into the lion's den. All they needed to do was put the other dominoes in place, then sit back and watch her social suicide.

She was a pawn on their chessboard; a mere piece that was sent to demise in their mind games - a sacrifice and nothing more.