The Girl Who Never Stopped Smiling - A SoTam Story

Chapter 1 (Rewrite)

Suffering isn't poetic. It's not gentle tears trickling down cheeks like raindrops. It's not scarlet blood blossoming like morbid roses on paper. It's days spent in dark rooms. It's sheets that haven't been changed in months. It's not noble. It's not romantic. It's not any of the other lies the world uses to soften the blow. It just is. You break, you're in pain, you suffer tremendously, and you either give up, or you don't. You pick yourself up, stick the broken pieces back together the best you can and soldier on. Sophie knows this all too well. She is a collage of shards of her broken self; a portrait Van Gogh would have been proud of. But his portraits are still art, and the fractured appearances of them are loved, marvelled at, hung on walls. And even though she's feebly held together by words and music and sheer desperation, Sophie still smiles and waves goodbye to her parents as they drove slowly away from the archway of Foxfire academy.

Music pounded through her headphones as she navigated through the crowds of students. Despite the music turned up so loud she could barely hear herself think, the doubt crept into the corners of her vision like static on an old television, making the whole world just a little bit duller. The woodland surrounding the school looked a little less magical, the light reflecting of the idyllic lake fractured and faded. This was not new to her. She knew how to deal with this. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. You can do this by yourself. Right foot. Left foot. Until you get to the reception. Rehearse  what you are going to say. Again. Again.  A mantra. Smile. Her mouth spits out the words like shes reading them off a script. The receptionist nods, hands her the Freshman information pack with a monotonous "Welcome to Foxfire Academy." Step 1 complete. Now she just needs to stay alive long enough to graduate.

{Well I'm back. And I'll try to stay back. I will make no promises but I will say this, I will try. Do you want me to delete the old chapters or keep them? I dont really mind. Thank you for those that have stuck around, and I'm sorry it's taken this long. -ThatIkeaShark}