Shells

Chapter 1

I can still remember the day Samantha Trent became my friend. It was grade three, and the bell had just rung for the children to get out for recess. They stampeded out of the doors, rushing to get outside and into the fresh, clean air. As Samantha ran, her long white-blond hair trailed behind her as her short legs raced to get to the swings, where she and her friends would often stay. I walked to my usual spot, the benches close to the doors, underneath a large oak tree where I could sit and read my book in peace. People usually stayed away from me, some said it was because I was able to read people too much and it made the other students uncomfortable, but I was never really sure. Samantha looked over at me from where she was sitting with her gaggle of friends, smiled and sauntered over to me.

                “Hi Alice,” She said, standing over me, casting a beautiful shadow across my book, “Come play with us.”

                “Really? Me?” I asked. It was unusual for Samantha Trent to come and talk to me, Alice Taylor. After a while, people started to act like I was invisible. It was hard not to see Samantha though, she was perfect, but I never really thought that she knew I even existed.

                “Of course you, silly,” She said laughing, “Now come on.” She took my hand and led me to her friends. I sat on one of the swings after Samantha shooed one of her impersonators away, everyone wanted to be Samantha. I felt all of her friend’s eyes on me, glaring at me for taking a spot in their tight circle so quickly.

That was when our friendship started. We did everything together, since she was beautiful and smart, everyone liked her, which meant that people started being nicer to me. What I didn’t tell anyone was that Samantha wouldn’t let me go to anyone else’s house after school, or be in a group project with anyone else. If I did, she would change, become mean.

“God, why do you keep eating? You’re so fat now.” She said once when I was at her house after school. Her house was beautiful, big and filled with white walls and beautiful furniture. When we were up in her room, she lay down on her big fluffy bed and told me to turn around. “You should really go on a diet; I can see your rolls.” I blushed and tried to cover myself up as much as I could. I said I had to go to the bathroom and left, feeling her icy blue eyes piercing into my back.

Once I got into the washroom, which was glistening with white ceramics, tears started to form in my eyes. I took off my shirt, my stomach protruded out past my chest; I grabbed my stomach and pinched until my hands left white marks. Disgusting, I thought. I didn’t deserve to be Samantha’s friend, she was so beautiful, with legs that flex instead of jiggle, a completely flat stomach and a perfect tan. Samantha was beautiful and I wasn’t, so why was she still my friend?

Samantha graduated from grade six with the highest grades in the class and went to the graduation dance with Ethan Wilkins, the cutest boy in the school. I went alone, leaning against a wall and watching all the people I knew dance, having fun. Of course no one asked me to the dance, I was only Samantha’s weird, quiet friend, no one really made an effort to be friends with me after Samantha became so close to me. I watched as Samantha moved her body around to the beat of the music, her light blue dress flowed around her and that was when I realized, if Samantha Trent hadn’t come up to me that day, I probably wouldn’t have any friends.

The next year, we went to the same middle school. That summer, she grew a few inches and lost the rest of her baby fat, so she was even more beautiful than before. Samantha became friends with some of the other students instantly, while I stuck to her side. The year was packed with boys surrounding Samantha, telling her how beautiful she was. I didn’t get much attention from the opposite sex, but I was sort of used to that by then. One day when I was standing in front of my locker, Matthew Franklin approached me.

“Hey, I like your shirt.” He said, sounding a little bit nervous.

I looked down at my shirt, it was a plain black t-shirt with a butterfly in the top left corner, by my shoulder. “Thanks,” I said, looking up at him, “I like it too.”

He chuckled, “So have you heard about that new action movie?” He asked, and started to tell me about the plot. “Would you like to go with me?”

My heart stopped. It was really unusual for a guy to be talking to me; I was so used to them asking out Samantha that I thought it was reserved for the really beautiful people. After I told him that I would check if I could, while trying not to sound too excited, I found Samantha and told her what happened.

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Should I continue it??? Please leave a comment to tell me what you think.