Unknown Beauty | ✔️

Chapter Nine: Realisation

[Be yourself because an original is worth more than a copy]
-Unknown

All it took was one single word for Fallon to revert back to her old self, her more closed in, silent, Nobody. It was easier like this, she told herself. It meant less trouble, less attention. She refused to go back to that horrible place, and instead often found herself bundled in the corner of a shop on the cold, hard floor, left alone as the last of the lights closed and the shopkeeper left and locked the door, diagnosing her too unimportant to care about. It was easier like this. It didn't feel like it, but it must have been.

Fallon picked the broken pieces of herself up from the floor and left the shop as the shopkeeper returned, not giving her a glance. Light flooded into her eyes as she left and sat down on a nearby bench, wondering what time it was.

"Hey, Daniel, what time is it?" someone in front of her asked as the boy beside him fiddled with his watch.

Just before they walked away, Fallon heard his answer: 8:00am. Deciding to head to school slightly earlier than the 9:00 registration time, she stood up and secured her hoodie in place. She had been wearing her very first hoodie that she had grabbed on her way out the other day. It was comforting - torn at the sleeves; battered and bruised. It felt welcoming and Fallon began to wonder why she even bothered buying new ones. Painful memories entered her mind as she shooed them out, swallowing. Now was not the time to be reminiscing and regretting her actions.

A few minutes later, she arrived at school. Being blatantly ignored as usual was easier than all the attention being on her. It meant talking and she wasn't sure she was ready to do that just yet.

The entire day passed, every hour as monotonous as the last, and yet there was no sign of Asher and Calbee. Fallon pursed her lips and bit the inside of her cheek as everyone streamed out the classrooms like rushing water. As the last remains of the bell faded away, she stood up and packed her bag, peering out the classroom into the emptying corridors.

Stepping out, she bowed her head and darted through the dispersing crowd. One more step... One more... Fallon felt a sharp pain in her head and lost her footing as she collapsed backwards, eyes screwed shut, awaiting the impact.

Realising that she clearly wasn't falling, she daringly opened her eyes and swallowed. Asher stood before her, expression as unreadable as a blank sheet of paper, with his arms wrapped around her waist.

Quickly, she pried herself out of his grip and ignored the swirling concoction in her stomach, sprinting out the school gates with her hand clamped down over her hoodie. She tried to push aside the erratic thump thump of her heart, but it was an impossible task.

It was all too risky. Why had she done it? Making friends, or even acquaintances in this place was too dangerous. But Calbee and Asher had already seen her face, so what more harm could it do if she kept their friendship together?

Fallon bit her lip as she turned the corner, eyes finding an old, smooth bench. It was difficult to succumb to the truth. Before things had gone awry, mother had always said to never care what others thought of her, as long as she was happy with herself. Clearly, she cared what others thought of her too much.

The wind brought a chill down Fallon's spine as she trudged on against the battling gusts, finally taking a seat on the bench and breathing a deep, shaky sigh. Calbee had always claimed that she was beautiful, but to say something so confidently, so pointedly, when it was so unbelieveably untrue was... betraying.

Maybe if she had the one irritated spot that wasn't noticeable and Calbee had said that, she would have believed her. Or even if it was noticeable, she would have believed her. Nevertheless, when Fallon's entire face was the problem, being forgiving was near impossible.