The Girl Who Burned

Chapter 1.

Walking up the ramp of the school I kept my headphones in, waiting for my turn in line. My fingers fiddled in the pocket of my hoodie, I knew that Rosalina wasn't in the cafeteria yet so it was going to be a long morning. 

It wasn't quite unusual for her to be late to school, it just always sucked. "Headphones out." The tall woman in front of me said motioning her hands in an outward motion. She checked me over, making sure my uniform and school ID were all up to standard. She nodded her head when she was done allowing me to leave. 

The cafeteria was rowdy and full. I hated crowded places, I hated the noises of people talking in general but too many of them overwhelmed me. So it wasn't uncommon to either see wired headphones in my ears or around my neck. I looked around for an empty bench and sat down placing the music back in my ears to down out the noise. I made sure my hair covered them so a teacher wouldn't see them and take them away. 

I'm not sure if Rosalina noticed this but when we were here, in this school my day revolved around her. My days were about her because to put it simply I had no one else. Even on the rare occasions where someone would confront me without her near me, their questions would still be all about her. I'll admit it was frustrating but...what am I to do? 

I almost jump at the sudden weight beside me. I open my eyes to see who it is, Rosalina. I pause my music, smiling at her. And so my day begins...

"Goodmorning, Rosa." 

"I really don't wanna go to math." She lays her head on my shoulder. Her skin is pale and her face is drowsy but I ignore it. "Me neither, I didn't do the homework." I raise her head off my shoulder. "But, brighten up after school I'll go home with Lilly and we'll see each other all back here for the dance." 

Me and Lilly were more of frenemies since she did most of her daily activities for the validation of others. I would've gotten ready with Rosa but she's a cheerleader and they had a performance to give for tonight's dance. I wish I could've been more excited about tonight's dance than I really am but...it was hard. 

Rosalina smiled through her smushed cheeks as I held her face. For a moment we stared just smiling, and giggling about tonight. I hate myself for this. I'm so giving to you I'm hurting myself in the process.

That school day was a happy one for me and Rosalina. Walking to class hand in class, we gave each other motivation to keep each other through the day. So before we knew it the school day had eventually come to an end. 

"Morana!" I turned around to face Lilly. Skinny, smiley, gum popping Lilly. "Are your clothes in your backpack?" I smiled and nodded as she practically dragged me to her mom's car. "Hi girls. How was your day Lilly?" Lilly hopped in the front quickly telling her mom all about her day. I'm still not sure if my greeting was even audible to her...I quickly sunk into the car thinking all about tonight.

What if she says no? It'll all be my fault I could have ruined everything between them. She has plenty of friends though, maybe she'll hardly even notice. But if she does say yes then I'll be slightly disappointed. 

"Morana?" 

I'm snapped back into reality. "Yes?" I looked out the window noticing that we had parked in the driveway of a house. "Oh wow, I'm sorry." I quickly hopped out grabbing my backpack from the seat beside me hurrying behind the other two. "Okay, just take your shoes off and we'll be in my room." I nodded untying my vans. I followed Lilly back to her both fancy and modern room, lit up with modern technology my eyes winched a bit at the brightness. 

Lilly grabbed her expensive ass computer to play Arianna Grande. I unbuckled my jeans, "You're not going to do skincare first?" Lilly had a facial razor in her hand. "Uhm no, it's just a school dance and it'll be dark." Lilly looked at me like I was some sort of freak from space but quickly got back to shaving her face. 

I pulled on some biker shorts. "I shaved my legs last night, you know that feeling you get when you get under the covers with freshly shaved legs?" A small smile painted my face. "Not really, I shave every day." Now I was the one staring at her weirdly.

Who the fuck shaves every day...?

"Oh right..." I slid my cropped shirt on, I need to get the hell out of here. I sat down waiting for Lilly's long routine to be done, she was almost done with her makeup. Her routine was long and drawn out, not to mention very stupid for a school dance. She started to finally get dressed, and up until now, I had never truly noticed how skinny she was. 

A ribcage and hipbones poked out. I had always been conscious of my weight because well other people had made me and right now I wanted to curl up honestly. But I just stuck my head in my phone until she was done.  

Her mom drove us back to the school and Rosalina greeted us, I gave her a hug. "Your sugar skull makeup is nice." She smiled at my compliment. "Thank you, my sister did it." 

Lilly and I walked up the ramp welcomed by stupid Halloween costumes that were all either handmade or very low budget. Waiting for both the dance to fill up and the cheerleader's performance, I was anticipating what was going to happen tonight. Rico sat beside me.

"Are you ready?" I asked noticing how nervous he looked. He shoved his hands in his pockets shaking his head fast. "They put the banner in the gym." I smiled at him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, she'll say yes." 

On the outside, I was just a friend giving a helping hand, but on the inside, I was very sad. But like I said my entire life was about Rosalina, so how could anyone be shocked my crush liked her instead of me.