🌷🌷🌷fate 「g i r l x g i r l」

maiden.

I remembered everything vividly.

It was the week I had dyed my hair light brown to spite my overbearing parents. The day I stopped wearing my skirt a bit shorter because I wanted to start 'fit in'.

Yes, I remember it all. I was happy at that time. The weather had been especially good that day. It was nice and sunny, but it was almost fall so there was a cool breeze and a few leaves here and there.

Despite just arguing with my parents the night prior, I felt good. I felt like I was finally being myself without caring about what others thought. This was a huge step for me.

I didn't particularly have any friends, but I wasn't lonely either. I was a normal high school student. And that was more than enough for me.

That leads me to about an hour later that day, 8:00 am in my first hour class. In walks the new student. Her long dark hair was what caught my attention at first. It had looked shiny and silky. And the way it swayed as she walked left me in awe. She wore the school uniform the original way, but she had somehow made it look fashionable and cute.

She had very soft facial features, with brown doe eyes, perky pink lips, and unusual thick natural eyebrows. She was very simple, yet the epitome of the word 'cute'.

That day, I didn't hear how the teacher introduced her, so I missed her name, but I remember that for a split second she looked at me and smiled.

Later, she was seated all the way across the room from me, so we never really got to introduce ourselves.

Of course, later she became friends with the popular students. She was so beautiful I didn't know what I was thinking when I thought we could be friends. However, I did learn that her name was Alice Faye. Weeks went by and my life was still the same. I was content.

One day during lunch break, I had decided to go to the library. My school had just bought new books to be put in the library and I was too excited to wait until after school. I walked to the fiction section immediately finding the new books. I grabbed around three of them and sat at a nearby table.

This simple life made me extremely cheerful. This was a life I could live for eternity, but then, a second later fate slammed into me and Alice Faye had appeared in the seat in front of me. I looked up, shocked to see her.

She was everything now. The teachers loved her. She was an honors student with a great personality and a good attitude. The students loved her because of her good nature and friendliness. She was someone a nobody like me even looked at when passing in the hallways and yet she was sitting there right in front of me.

I guess she noticed me staring so she looked up from her book. "Oh.. were you saving this seat for someone." She asked as she started to gather her things to get up. "N-no!" I yelled. Alice looked startled, but then she laughed. "Alright. Um.. I don't think we've ever introduced ourselves even though we're in the same class... ah, I'm Alice Faye. Nice to meet you." I smiled nervously back to her. "Uh, I'm Chloe."

I sounded so dumb. I really hated myself at that moment. Alice snickered then looked at my books. "I see you've also taken interest in the new books here." I smiled. "Yes. I got so excited I couldn't wait until after school to come." Alice laughed again. "You're quite funny aren't you. To be really honest, I'm not that interested in this book... the one that interests me is you, Chloe." I cocked my head to the side slowly. "Huh?" Again sounding dumb.

Alice laughed again. "I see you everyday. You never talk unless you have to or you're spoken to. Meaning, you don't have friends. You don't seem to have any interests, except in reading, and yet you always look happy. How do you do it?" I sat there shocked. I wasn't sure if what she said was an insult or a compliment. Was she trying to pick a fight? But the longer I sat there the more she looked to be genuinely waiting for an answer. I cleared my throat then answered.

"This life... to others it may seem boring or like a waste of youth, but I find it refreshing. Everyday I wake up and look forward to a day of reading. A-although I'm not great at interacting with everyone, I still enjoy seeing them everyday as well."

Alice smiled softly. "You're such a good girl." Her hand overlapped mind as she gave me a gentle squeeze. "You're so cute." She whispered. My eyes widened. Was she playing with me?

Alice clapped her hands together. "Oh I know! Let's walk home together after school." I didn't like the idea of an awkward conversation while walking home when I could be listening to music instead so I was going to turn her down, but then the bell rang.

Alice stood up from her chair and gathered her things. "Okay, so meet me by the lockers after school! See ya!" I tried to protest but she was already zooming out of the library. I sighed and rested my head on the table.

"What am I gonna do?"