Orange Juice

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"Ugh, ninth grade." you sigh to yourself as you open your eyes, the alarm clock on your bedside blares loudly as it reads 8:30. It seems that the longer you're in this place, the more it makes you miss home. Crybaby seems to be the only thing that makes this place bearable, her sweet soul, lovely personality, and soothing voice always give you reason to wake up with a smile on your face.

Today is the first day of high-school, you've heard all the stories of what is to come and it terrified you. Anywhere from being bullied for how you act to being used for sexual pleasure, it all made the idea of growing up feel more and more shitty by the day.

You swing your legs over your bedside and stand up before take a long stretch. You smack the alarm off as you look at your sluggish appearance in the mirror. Something felt wrong.

You stare at yourself closely, maybe it was the bags under your eyes? The messy bed-head? The way your pajamas hung on your body? No, it was  your body.

Something felt completely off, you couldn't quite lay on finger on it, the more you stared at your appearance closer the more you cringed. You quickly turn away with disgust and throw on your uniform, refusing to look down at your body as you dressed.

A quick glance returned back at your clock to see it now read 9:00 made you jump into your shoes, grab your bag, and run off to class without getting a chance to brush your teeth.

Luckily making it just in time before the bell rang for first period, your biology teacher looks at you with a some what irritated smile. "Well? Take a seat." she announces. You quickly sit down in your assigned seat, unfortunately right next to Lucy. 

She looks over at you and smiles, "Y/n? Hey!" she says with a delighted tone. "Hi?" you reply with confusion, why did she seem so happy to see you?

"H-Hi, I know we don't talk a lot, but I'm Lucy." she says, you chuckle and nod. "Yes, I know this." you reply, she smiles and straightens her posture. "Kelly keeps me from talking to people, so I apologize for not saying much sooner." she says with her usual soft tone. You shake your head as the teacher takes attendance, "It's fine, totally understandable." she nods.

"Crazy idea but would you like to eat with us at lunch again? Kelly really does like your attitude, she likes how mean you can get and wants you in our group." she suggests, you scoff at the idea. "Yeah, no thanks." her eyes plead in reply. "I really want you to join us." she says with a pout.

You groan lowly and look back at her. "Lucy..." she puts her hands together in front of her chin in a praying manner. "Please?" she asks. You roll your eyes, why did she have to guilt trip you into this? "Fine. But if anyone says anything about Crybaby or Angelita, I'm out." you reason with the girl, she smiles widely and nods. "Yeah, yeah, sure thing!" she agrees.

You barely pay attention to the class, you mostly keep your eyes on Lucy. Her perfect plump cheeks, platinum blonde hair, and her hourglass figure. All of Kelly's clique seemed to have it, they were all so perfect. 'Why can't I look like that?' you ask yourself. 

Lunchtime rolled by quicker than you would've liked, you grabbed your tray and sat down at Kelly's table. Not only noticing Crybaby and her gang of mystery black-eyed girls sending confused glares your way but the portions on your tray compared to the others.

You had a sandwich, apple, crackers, milk, and a side of fries while the others only had an orange. You feel yourself shift in place, you bite into your sandwich as you watch the other girls converse. "Why are eating so little?" you ask Lucy with concern, Fleur gives you a frown. "Why are you eating so much?" Kelly chimes in, you feel your eyes water up. "W-What?" you ask shakily. 

Fleur's eyes begin to water as well, her eyes meet yours for a brief moment. She opens her mouth to speak but nothing ever comes out, instead, she stands up and runs over to Crybaby and begins to bawl her eyes out. Angelita pulls off the blonde wig to reveal Fleur's brunette hair underneath and you feel your heart start to break.

"You heard me, dummy. Answer my question." she says cruelly, your lip begins to quiver as you look at your plate. Suddenly Kelly grabs your hand and begins to drag you out of the lunch room.

You recognize the walls and the way sound echoes off of them as she pulls you into a room, the stalls of the bathroom are all empty as usual, Kelly drags you into one. 

You look at her with concern and confusion as she locks the door, her eyebrow lifts as if you should already know what to do. "Why are we here?" you ask, she scoffs before looking at the toilet. "On your knees." she demands, you hesitate before doing so, you half expect her to give you a swirly.

Her cold hands grab your hair and she pulls it into a ponytail, "Well, you want to be pretty, don't you?" she asks, you slightly nod as you stare at your reflection in the water. "Then, stick your fingers down your throat." she demands, you pull back from her grip to look her in the eyes. "Excuse me?" you ask. There's no way in hell she just said that.

"I'm serious, why do you think we eat so little? So it's less work to puke up but you still get the satisfaction of eating. Get to work before I get bored." she explains bluntly. You sigh shakily before closing your eyes. "O-Okay...I'll do it." you agree, she gives you a sinister smile. You lean back over the toilet and place two fingers in the back of your throat, you gag slightly and feel your eyes water at the sensation.

It isn't long before your body jolts and you spew your lunch into the toilet, Kelly smiles from above you as she watches you regurgitate. You continue to vomit until your stomach is left empty and desperate for food, You fall backwards on your butt and start to shake. Kelly flushes the toilet and leaves without a word, you stare at your vomit covered fingers and sigh. "What have I done?" you whisper to yourself.

You run over to the sink and wash away the shame, you look up at yourself in the mirror. It felt almost as if it were a different person than the one you saw this morning. You watch yourself as you crumble to pieces and sob, why did I give in? You wonder to yourself as you back up against the wall and slide down to cry into your palms.

"Y/n?" a soft voice speaks up, you look up to see Crybaby walk out of a stall with tears falling down her face. You stand up and run into her arms, she holds onto you as if her life depended on it. "I'm so sorry, Crybaby." you sob into her shoulder, she pets through your hair. "It's okay, y/n. You're gonna be okay." she comforts you.

"Why did this happen?" she asks through her tears, you pull back to see her face. You feel yourself begin to cry harder, "I hate the way I look, I just hate it!" you cry. Her face softens as she shakes her head. "Why would you ever?" she asks with a frown, she wipes your tears away and pulls you over to the mirror. 

Her delicate fingers tuck your hair behind you ears and she rests her head on your shoulder. "Remember what you told me at the pool last year?" she asks, you sniffle as you nod in reply. 
"You were right, our bodies don't define us. They're just temporary." she explains, you wipe your tears away before replying.
"I'm just tired of feeling like I'm not good enough, like I'm not deserving of love." her lip pouts at your words. "Everyone is deserving of love...everyone." she replies before leaning forward and placing a soft kiss to your lips. You slowly melt onto her lips, your hands hold her soft face. Her kisses truly are something that you'll never grow tired of.

You pull away from her touch and look into her hazelnut brown eyes. "I'm sorry, Crybaby. I just-"

her finger covers your lips and she shakes her head. "It's okay, love. I know how you're feeling. You're going to be okay." she kisses your cheek before lying her head on your shoulder. "I love you, Crybaby." you whisper softly.

High School Sweethearts- Melanie Martinez x ReaderWhere stories live. Discover now