Little Miss Imperfect

Old friends

Tw: mention of Ed

                              ~Alissa~

I pulled up to the massive brick building. "Here we go again." I mumbled; straightening my posture as I left my car and walking into school. Automatically I put on my best smile and greeted classmates and students. I know mostly everybody in the school and the majority know me. But...popularity is a joke if I'm completely honest. It didn't matter how many names I'd memorised. Or how many people waved at me as I passed by.

I was an outcast.

Everybody had their own friend groups; composed of people who understood each other and knew almost everything about their friends. But me? Well, luckily at some point I met two people that I could share at least part of me with. It was certainly not easy to fit in and I worked hard to do so. Of course, nobody knew that. My acting was too good, just the way that it needed to be.

I walked casually through the halls until I reached the cafeteria. Warily I stood and looked around for a second trying my best not to look awkward before spotting Solar and Will in the cafeteria. My shoulders gave a little at the sight of them. Will and Solar, the only people I can actually call my friends. "Hey guys!" I sprung towards them before we engulfed each other in a tight hug.

Once we finally released the embrace, Will studied my expression."Hey, Alissa...are you okay? You look a little rough." The question caught me off guard. "I-Um, yeah I'm fine. Just exhausted." He quirked a brow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you sure?" I forced a wider smile and nodded."Of course. Everything is just perfect." I put an emphasis on the gosh awful word.

Will took the response and didn't push any further, probably deciding that it isn't worth it. We sat around the table and engaged in morning gossip to make the mood just a bit brighter in a dump like this. "So yeah, I think it was such a bitch move to spread the roomer of me giving Will a blowjob in the drama closet," Solar rolled her eyes as she squeezed Will's hand. He let out a squeal from the sudden pain. Solar let go of his hand with a slight look of concern washing over her face, she soon turned to me with a new expression of seriousness. "Oh hey is that Flora? Didn't you wanna talk to her Will?" Solar smiled but it looked forced.
"Oh yeah I did.. I'll be right back guys!" Will slide out of his seat and basically sashayed over to Flora, his eco club buddy.
I was about to ask Solar why she was acting so weird when she grabbed my arm.
"Alissa I'm having a crisis! I like Will! Yup I just admitted it, and I want to tell him! But no I don't.." her voice trailed off as her grip on my hand tightened.
"What took you so long?" I attempted to pry her hand off mine as I spoke. This probably wasn't the reaction she expected judging by the expression she pulled. "You haven't been as good as you think when it comes to hiding it."
"Ugh! Do you think he likes me back?" She tilted her head to the side, the colourful beads in her hair clinking together. It took me a moment to decide on what to say but she squeezed harder on my hand so I just answered truthfully.
"I mean there's a good chance but why ruin the friendship?"
"Oh." She looked disappointed but didn't press on.

Solar seemed to brush off her disappointment, offering a small smile. "You know what let's just change the topic," she waved Will over as she spoke.

"Hey Will! You wanna get some food before we head to class?" He asked as he approached us. It's as if she was never upset. "Sure," Solar turned to me after taking a long hard look at the food display.

She reached out and tugged on my arm. "Come on, Alissa ! They're serving Chocolate muffins, your favorite!" I tensed up.
She licked her lips. Let's go before they run out." Will said, rushing towards the long line. I sat paralyzed. Crap, how do I get out of this? "I...I'm actually not hungry."

Solar scoffed. "Alissa, what's been up with you lately?" She said; a little too loud for my liking. She captured a few people's attention; their curious stares boring into my soul. "You never eat anymore, like at all." When did she notice?
Solar looked around realising that a few people where now listening in. "You know what, it's fine."

My heart continued to hammer against my chest. Her gaze trailed down to my long sleeves.
Oh, please no.
"Why do you always wear long sleeves, Alissa? It's still hot out," she asked finally lowering her voice. "I haven't seen you in anything short sleeved in a while," she came to a realisation "Are you-"
"S-shut up! You don't know anything about me, Solar!" My words take her back. Her eyes widened and she huffed as I stormed out of the cafeteria.

One good day. That's all I wanted.

                               ~Luz-

The morning went as usual. I got suffocated by one of Espina's bear hugs, chatted with Nala and bullied Kyle. While I was leaning against my locker Nala came up to me again. "Did you hear the roomers?" I shook my head, my ears pricking up. "Some girl named Solar gave some guy a blowjob in the drama closet and got caught by none other than Mrs Clement!" I looked down at my watch realising that I had two minutes to get to class. "Look I love the gossip and all but I've gotta go," I picked my bag up and started walking.

All was normal until I bumped into the one person I never thought I would.

"Ugh!" She screamed as she fell. "Sorry!" I said, rubbing my head. I looked down to see if she was hurt and in front of me laid the most well known girl in school.

Alissa.

She looked up at me as tears streamed down her face. "I'm so sorry I should have looked where I was goi-."
"It's fine but if you don't mind me asking are you ok?" I asked, offering her my hand.
"Not really if I'm honest,she sniffed." As if on cue the second bell rang and everyone filtered into class. We were now standing alone in the hallway.

I stared at her eyes as she tried to avoid my glare. I don't know what washed over me but I grabbed her hand. "Follow me," I said, leading her out of school. I have no idea where I got this confidence but I led her to a little spot in the forest behind the school. We trudged through long grass towards a clearing where we sat down on a log.

"Why'd you bring me out here?" She looked at me with genuine confusion.
"In all honesty I don't know, you just seemed like you needed it." I confessed. A blanket of silence covered us only the sound of birds filled the air.

We sat together for a long time and stared into the distance. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," I reassured her. She looked at me and smiled. "I missed you Luz" she said softly. This took me aback. "You remember my name?"
"I couldn't forget you," she nearly whispered.
I don't know what I expected but it wasn't that. It took me aback and although I would have loved to say that I missed her and wanted to start over but I didn't. Instead I said. "I'm glad you did."

We sat in the most uncomfortable, comfortable silence for a while before Alissa got up to lay on the grass. At first I just stared at her confused but soon followed suit.
Some time passed and I was about to say something however I realised she had fallen asleep. I chuckled softly at her resting face. Damn I forgot how pretty she was. I layed there listening to her soft snores for hours. Until Alissa sprung awake, then soon after realised it was after school. She quickly panicked, picked up her stuff and shoved it into her bag. "I'm so sorry but I have to cut this short. I loved seeing you again Luz, bye!" She shouted back as she ran towards the school.

"She loved seeing me," I whispered to myself.
I didn't even get to say bye.

I was about to leave until I noticed a journal on the grass. Carefully I picked it up and flipped through the pages. Who on earth brings their journal to school? I thought. Half way through she started a calorie log I payed no mind to it since she was an athlete but the further I went the less calories logged. It dawned on me that she hadn't been eating virtually anything. Then I hit something that looked more like a diary log, a title headed it with shaky writing.

It read:
Little Miss Imperfect

Notes:
Alissa was basically adopted by Will and Solar.