Oasis

3

Thursday was always the worst day at school. It seemed as if someone had flicked a switch from bad to awful. Diana was even more evil, which was practically impossible. We also had P.E. on Thursdays. Day of the body shaming and the bra pinging.
Usually I'd go in early and throw my clothes on before any of the girls got in, but it was period six. No escape.
Diana burst into the changing room just as I'd taken my shirt off. She looked at me scornfully.
"That all you got?" she sneered, before cackling and sauntering off to her usual spot by the air vent. Her goons were laughing at me now, Sindy and Ellie. Jesus.
"Get a life," I snapped at them before shoving on my awful baggy P.E. top. I blinked away the tears in my eyes. I was not going to be insulted by a bunch of slutbags.

Mrs Phillips gave me a hateful glance as I walked in, silently and alone. A circle of girls followed her, with perfect, slender bodies. I looked at my own pudgy mess of a stomach. They looked at me pitifully and trotted on to do about a thousand extra curricular crunches. The sports freaks were never mean to me, but I couldn't hang with them unless I wanted to hit the gym every day and eat only lettuce.

"Nice of you to join us," Mrs Phillips said crisply as Diana and her friends sidled in. All of us girls were secretly enjoying this. We admired Diana because she knew how to be popular, but we all loathed her for being so perfect.
"Sorry, miss," Diana smirked. "I was putting on my new designer makeup."
Diana is super rich since her Dad moved back. Mine isn't, but I wish he would hurry up and move back.
Mrs Phillips' lips disappeared into a thin line.
"You can play beauty salons some other time, Diana. See me after school, please. Now, gymnastics!"
I smiled sweetly at Diana and flipped her the middle finger.
I'd love to say that it turns out that although I'm a pathetic geek, I'm perfect at sports. In PE, it went a bit like this: I overbalanced on the beam; I tumbled on the turnstile; I failed on the pummel horse.
Alyson McKeaves executed each one perfectly, and Mrs Phillips smiled warmly at her.
"Brilliant, Alyson! Just wonderful!"
When I twiseled over each piece of equipment, she walked up to me and led me to the benches, trying to hide her grimace.
"I think you'll learn more just watching for now. Look at Barb's posture - and Jemma's finishing pose. I want you to watch silently and take this all down. You're good enough to be the best, it's that your confidence isn't letting you."
she said quietly to me, before running off to correct Jasmine's posture.
I mulled this over. I didn't have any confidence, not really, so how could it be holding me back? Mrs Phillips was probably talking some typical teacher 'inspirational' rubbish anyway.
She could've been young once, from her facial features. She seemed about thirty five, maybe forty. Her blonde hair was severed at the neck, as if it had never recovered from a bad haircut. She never wore makeup, so you could see all of her freckles.
"Still tired?" a voice rang tauntingly in my ear. I recognised it immediately and shifted along the bench away from it. Diana perched next to me, nibbling anxiously at her lower lip. She'd cut the top off the PE shirt so it looked low cut, and I'm sure the skirts aren't meant to be thigh length. I hated the way she gawped at me. I wanted it to stop. Now was the time to grow some confidence.
"Well, actually, yes. Diana." I said, comically raising my eyebrows as I moved further along the bench towards her.
"I'm tired of your crap. You pick on me for no reason. You try to eliminate every bit of self confidence I have left, just because I'm not like you. You don't even know what I could be going through! I'm not in the fricking mood, so push off."
It turns out I'd got a bit heated and the entire class stared at me. I was red like a lobster, anger burning in my eyes, not tears. My fist was raised, but it froze in the air. Diana had shuffled right to the end of the bench. I took a deep breath and lowered my arm. I swallowed my emotion.
I stood up. Diana stood up too.
"No." I said loudly at her.
"I just want to say sorry..."