ugly duckling

festival START! :D

"You're going to perform with Duke?" you ask Daniel on the way home one day. The J High Fest was one of the more significant events to happen during the semester, during the occasion scouts and other schools were able to visit, watch, and decide which students were worth keeping an eye on for future jobs and current internships.

and it seemed for this super important and fun day Daniel, king of the fashion department, was going to dip his toes into music with his new bud Duke.

you've seen the boy around more often recently, this explained that but still, it was strange when Daniel was so... meek? no, that wasn't the word but still, his only real attention-grabbing trait was his looks! and while he naturally drew people in, he definitely wasn't doing it on purpose, something you learned about him fairly recently.

"yup!" the boy nods sheepishly, rubbing his nape

you look at him in awe, unsure what to say to such a decision "Wow, that's incredible," you say unwisely, however, it does the job and makes Daniel burst into flames, he happily trots next to you now, excitement in his eyes

"though, that makes me wonder then, will you also be up for bid than?" you ask suddenly shaking daniel from his stupor

"bid?" he asks softly before snapping "oh, right... I've heard a few people talk about that but I still don't know what it means"

you shake your head with a sigh "Figures, geez you're pretty clueless huh?" you ask teasingly making the boy stammer out an apology

"It's whatever, though you should work on paying more attention." you remind him, hiding your worry for the ditzy boy between jabs "The bid is pretty much where each class puts their choice of the guy up on auction, and then every girl at the event can pay for a date with him. the point of the event is to raise money for some charity, I don't know. I think people just like it so much since it's a pretty dependable cause of drama"

you remember hearing about a couple splitting because the boyfriend went up for Bid without consulting with his girlfriend which put a wedge between them. the whole fiasco was so dramatic people still spoke of the couple to this day.

"d-date..." Daniel says breathlessly, looking about ready to kneel over

"Don't look so shocked, I'd be amazed if you somehow got out of the situation you've walked into" you snicker playfully "Besides if the money is going to a good cause who cares it's just a date?" you say ignoring the fact you, yourself have never gone on one ever in your life.

the boy looks down at you with a soft pout "But... a date it kind of..." he sighs, fidgeting with his fingers bashfully "I've never been on one before so it'll be my first..."

'his... first' you think over his words, arrogance bleeding into dread as the words echo in your hollow mind 'My first...'. you slap his shoulder, squeezing the boy's strong arm with a frown

"maybe don't tell anyone else that..." you mutter dryly, daniel only looks at you strangely before nodding.

the days fly by with ease after that, school becoming less of a chore as the days go by. zack wasn't much of a jerk anymore and now that you had real friends the fear of getting picked on lessened since those friends happened to be some of the most attractive people in class.

it didn't stop the rude comments though, since you still stuck out like a sore thumb compared to your buddies and acquaintances, but you can't win them all, right?

you sigh, slipping on your new glasses that had recently come in. Slowly you were becoming unrecognizable to yourself. your hair stayed styled as it usually was, but with just the care for your eyebrows, skin, and new glasses, your face looked more presentable than you had been in years. you were still very geeky looking but it was, dare I say, attractive.