Different//z.m.

Chapter 1

Sapphire's P.O.V.

Have you ever felt different?

To answer that question I always felt that way. I never even fit in with my family. I don't even think that they are my family. They all have long, silky and straight raven colored hair that goes all the way to their backs. They all have unique, foreign names like Waliyha, Safaa and Doniya whereas my name is just Sapphire. All of them speak Urdu whereas I just speak English. All of then have brown eyes besides Safaa but that must be because of some recessive trait that she inherited. Having blue eyes is the only thing that I have similar to somebody in this family.

I always thought that this wasn't my real family but they always treated me like I was apart of this family. But I could see in my parents eyes that they didn't share the same love for me like they did with their daughters.

I tried so hard to fit in but it just seemed impossible. I always asked questions about why I wasn't like everyone else in this family but they always said "It's because you're unique."

I stopped asking them a long time ago knowing that they weren't telling me the truth. I just wish they would stop lying to me but unfortunately they always will. My questions will never be answered no matter how hard I try to get them to be answered.

A tear went down my cheek and I wiped it away quickly not in the mood for crying. I already cried all week because of the bullying I get at my school that no one knows about. To add to the bullying I sometimes get bullied by Doniya at home. I always felt like she hated me for some unknown reason but I have no idea why. I've been nothing but kind to her so why would she resent me so much.

"Time for dinner!" I heard my mom shout loudly and I crawled out of bed heading downstairs and into the dining room where we always ate at.

The girls and my parents took their usual seat and I sat at my seat next to Safaa.

There was always a seat missing at the table and I always wondered why. There was even a chair placed there which just added to my curiosity.

I asked everyone in this house but no one ever gave me an answer. They just shrugged me off and there was always a slight frown on their faces whenever I brung it up so I stopped asking just like I stopped asking about a lot of things.

I felt like this family hid a lot of secrets from me and I hated it. Everyone knew all the answers to my questions but no one ever answered them. It annoyed me so much to see how I wasn't even involved in the secrets of my family. That just made me feel like I didn't even belong in the Malik family and I hated that feeling.

The food was placed in front of us and we all said our prayers. I ate my food silently while they all sat around the table chattering about whatever.

I sighed and noticed how they all started talking secretively while taking glances at me every so often. I didn't care anymore because they seemed to always do this so I shrugged it off. If they didn't want me to know anything then what's the point of even trying to know?

I finished my food while they were still whispering to each-other and I held back the tears that were threatening to spill.

I'm never invited into any of their conversations and I hated it. They seem to hate me as well even-though they provide me with a warm place to stay and hot food every day I still feel like they hate me for a reason that I will never know.

I put my plate in the sink and headed upstairs putting my earbuds in my ears and listened to the voice of Christina Aguilera's song "The Voice Within" fill my ears. I drifted off to sleep a couple minutes later and I dreamt about a family that actually loved me. I dreamt about how I fit in and how I wasn't different.