The Sea

XIV

Each of them wears a smile. They converse in what feels like a lifetime. They are a quartet, her friends. They are the ones who never left. They bump their shoulders, tease to no end, laughter enveloping them.

They arrive at the school, but to the girl they're by the shore. Their feet surrounded by soft sand and as they move forward, their feet touch the cold water. They move rather slowly, for any minute they'll go separate unto different roads. They each have their own class, much like how they each have their own forts to stand their ground. The girl waves goodbye to her friends as the bell rung. She turns to the direction of what she sometimes deems to be her second house. Not home, but a house.

Contrary to the belief of the school as a second home, she never really feels the love and the comfort. Submerged beneath the sea inside a big cave surrounded by over a thousand of different groups of fish, she feels cold. She never felt the warmth that she always looks for. Maybe it's the vibe, or maybe it's the tide. Maybe it's the feeling at the back of her mind. They were never really alike. Personality and values are different for every group, and maybe that's the problem, she never feels like one of them. She's like this pastel fish swimming with multi-colored species. She tries to keep up, but her tiny fins could not. When she's with them, she constantly looks at her appearance. It's like she's the only one mismatch.

She couldn't bring herself to give them her trust. She already made that mistake once. It's a lesson learned that not every smile is as pure as the heavens above. The sea is a paradise, but it's also a place of fight to survive. While some predators make use of their big physique, some use their toxins. Kind appearance can be a trap for the naïve, not everyone is friendly as they seem.

The girl has been stabbed two times in a row.She does not want to feel that pain anymore. She refuses to have a knife on herback. Two times is enough. Her worth is much too precious to stoop to the levelof getting discriminated for how she is. A pack is not worth it when you'relabeled as the outcast. She can smile to every person that she passes. But,that's all that she can give. They're not much more than acquaintances.