FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL

Chapter 19

Alice

The hot shower might have cleaned me up, but it had done nothing to soothe my nerves.

It was the first day of High School and I was a nervous wreck. If I were like my friend Eleanor Sanders, I would have had nothing to worry about. She was the most popular girl in school with her outgoing personality, perfect skin and curvy frame. She had been that way ever since I had met her, back in seventh grade.

I remembered that day all too well. I had been trying to convince my mom to homeschool me because I was not happy with my new school. But then I has met Eleanor and she had been so nice. After that, we had been separable. Eleanor, Emily: a girl who had been Eleanor's friend since the third grade, and I had gotten extremely close and the two of them had made me happier than I had been since we had moved to Crescent Hills.

I would never admit this to anyone, but I had always felt a little small compared to those two. Eleanor had soft, light brown hair that reached just above her waist and it always looked perfect, with not a strand out of place. She would wear all these branded outfits that made her look like a supermodel, and no one could ever resist talking to her. She was just that..charming.

Emily Rene was just like Eleanor in so many ways. Everyone knew her and wanted to sit with her. She always styled her curly red hair to perfection, and with that oh-so-dazzling smile of hers, she could always capture everyone's attention.

I was so happy the three of us spent a whole two years together. I was glad I had found these girls: the gorgeous popular girls who didn't care that I did not have the perfect figure, who didn't care I had braces and could be socially awkward at times. They had loved me for who I was.

But now, everything had started to feel different. Emily had called Eleanor and I over to her house one day over the summer. We had had the best time. Our sleepovers were always fun. We used to watch three movies. Eleanor liked murder mysteries, Emily liked horror movies, and I liked comedy. So we always made sure to watch one of each genre. But that day, Emily told us she was moving away. Her whole family was moving to Canada. We had cried, hugged, and then accepted the fsct that she was leaving. It had been harder for Eleanor since she hsd known her longer.

Now with Emily gone, things weren't the same. But after she had gone, and Eleanor had started to be a little distant, I had found another use for my time. I had started exercising. Hours of slaving away on the treadmill, and days of healthy diet had all lead up to this day. My braces had come of earlier this month to reveal perfectly straight teeth.

"Alice, I've made breakfast!" my mom called from downstairs.

"I'll just be five minutes, mom," I replied, smiling to myself. I quickly pulled on the black pants and fitting beige sweater. If this was last year, I would have gone with one of my baggy T-shirts and sweatpants. I shoved my feet into a pair of black platform boots and grinned in the mirror. This was what I had achieved. I was now looking at the curves I never new I had until that moment.

After applying a thin layer of mascara and lipgloss, I was on my way downstairs.

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"Ally!" Eleanor squealed. She had seen me over the summer, but I had missed her the past month because she had been away in France and we hadn't met up when she returned.

"Ellie!" I grinned at her as she pulled me in for a hug. When she pulled away, her eyes widened.

"Gosh, you look...different," she said thoughtfully.

"In a good way I hope," I chuckled.

"Wow, you got your braces off, and I knew you were working out but I didn't think you'd look like this! I mean you have curves, girl! You look amazing!" She linked her arm through mine and we made our way to her locker. Our lockers were in different hallways.

"How was France?" I asked Eleanor. Her whole face had been glowing from her time away and she looked happy.

"It was amazing! You have no idea how cool Paris was. I mean the Eiffel tower was simply breathtaking! And we went to Disneyland..." I let her tell me all about her vacation, but I couldn't help feeling a little jealous. Her family would always be able to afford extravagant vacations and she would always have a story to tell about one of her trips.

We got to her locker and I waited patiently while she sorted out her books. I was just about to ask her to hurry up when I felt someone walk up behind us.

"Did you get that bag from Macey's?" I knew that voice. I turned to see Ashley Brenton standing there, her blue eyes perfectly made up and her blonde hair fanning out behind her.

"Yeah," I said uneasily. Ashley was one of the people who tended to stay away from me and threw not-so-nice comments my way from time to time. She had always teased me about my braces all through eighth grade.

"It's really pretty."

"Thanks." I was trying to think of a reason for her talking to me, but I could think of nothing. Maybe since I was no longer chubby or had braces, she thought she could talk to me. But I didn't think about that too much.

"I've got Math too," she said, glancing over at my timetable. "Wanna go together?"

I don't know what happened to me then. All I know is that moment led to a choice I would regret later on. But at the time, I had been so caught up in my new and improved self that I had thought maybe now I could increase my options of friends. I had thought that Ashley was actually nice under all that coldness. I had wanted to prove to myself that Eleanor was not the only friend I had: that I could be with someone with Ashley too. That turned out to be true: but I hadn't known it would mean choosing between Eleanor and Ashley because I could not be with both of them.

I made the wrong choice.