Cosmic

Life In Riverview

Selene stared at herself in the mirror of the girl's bathroom. Her reflection stared right back at her: a teen girl with a light tan complexion, a pointy chin, large, twinkling brown eyes, cheeks flushed permanently pink, long thick waist length brown hair with a lavender streak that hung down her back with a braided crown secured by a silver tiara-like headband with a silver star with a purple jewel in the center and rosebud lips that were usually curved into a playful smile, although recently, they had been frowning a lot. She looked like a normal teen girl. Selene placed her hand on the mirror and recited a phrase that she had only dared to recite when she was absolutely sure of her privacy.

"I believe in you. Glow for it." Selene whispered under her breath. Suddenly, her reflection changed. It was still the same girl in the mirror but now her long brown hair was lavender and sparkly and her eyes were violet. Her lips had turned lavender as well and her skin had a layer of sparkle. Selene smiled her first smile in weeks. It always felt good to see her true self. She felt at peace. A feeling she hadn't felt in a long, long while. Her hands went to fiddle with her necklace; a magenta star hanging from a long lavender rope with tiny stars of its own. She let out a breath that she hadn't even realized that she had been holding, feeling completely relaxed and at ease. Her fingers toyed with the magenta star on her necklace as she stared at her own reflection. It'd be so easy to just say the words and drop her disguise. To be herself again. But she couldn't do that. Not to the other girls. So, Selene would settle for these small moments at school (and at home whenever Estella was absorbed in a book), to look at her true self. The bathroom door opened and Selene startled and ripped her hand away from the mirror as if it had burned her. Two girls walked into the bathroom, talking and laughing as they discussed all the things they'd do after-school. Selene smiled wistfully at them, glad that they were still able to hang out and have fun.

It was something Selene missed doing, spending her days carefree with her friends. Things hadn't been the same since That Day. Selene turned back to her reflection and smoothed down her outfit: a cute knee-length navy purple dress with cute little ruffled sleeves and checked her boots: brown with purple laces, before grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her back, the purple and yellow bracelets on her wrists clanking together as she did. She exited the bathroom and walked down the hall of Riverview High, passing students standing by their lockers, talking and laughing with their friends. Selene remembered how she used to envy the students a year ago. Now, she mostly felt glad that they didn't know her pain.

She arrived at her locker and put in her combination. She opened it and began gathering her things for the end of the school day. A loud locker slam next to her drew her attention. Callisto glared harshly at a group of girls that had been looking at Selene and whispering. Callisto had short black hair with a magenta streak, light skin, freckles and green eyes. She was wearing a magenta shirt with short ruffled sleeves over long sleeves and stars patterned everywhere, a grey skirt with pink ruffles at the end and dark starry socks to match her combat boots that had rows of pink star shaped buckles on them.

"Glaring at them won't solve anything." Selene said, referring to the girls. Callisto glared at her.

"Letting them talk about you isn't solving anything either." Callisto said. Selene sighed.

Since starting at Riverview High, the girls had quickly become subject to rumors. Selene didn't blame the students. Twelve girls showing up to school right in the middle of the school year, claiming to be transfer students from some far away land and speaking weirdly had to be the single strangest thing that had ever happened to anyone. Selene of course had heard the rumors, all the girls had. Some students thought that they were refugees from some war-torn country. Some thought they were just weird. Others thought that they had just never been to a public school before. There was another rumor about them that wasn't all that popular. A few students thought that the girls were aliens from a far out planet and had come to Earth to study life there.