Compendium | Short Stories and More

about friends | old short story {memoir}

The gymnasium of my tiny private school had always looked large to me. But somehow, on that day, it seemed so much bigger than I'd ever remembered it being. Maybe it had been the summer's absence— I'd just forgotten the size. Or, maybe, it was the fact that having one less significant person there made the room feel emptier, and yet so full of people all the same.

Without my former best friend beside me, everyone seemed like a stranger.

The students, both new and familiar, travelled in packs and crowds. Everyone looked almost exactly the same, as we were all required to wear the itchy, unflattering school uniforms. But everyone still looked better in theirs than I did. They had pretty faces and big eyes and trim figures, and they managed to liven up the monotony of their uniforms with expensive-looking sweaters or gaudy necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Meanwhile, I stood alone in the one corner of the gym where the overhead light wasn't working, underneath the basketball hoop. They still hadn't fixed that light, even though they'd had the whole summer to do it.

There are pretty girls everywhere. I've always been plain-looking no matter how much makeup I wear, and no matter what kinds of clothes I hide my figure behind. It didn't surprise me that no one really bothered to greet me. No one even seemed to spare a second glance in my direction. It could have been the lighting that kept them from seeing me. Or, maybe, it was just me.

I sighed heavily. Even if she was gone, I thought that I would at least have some other friends... but, no. It had always been just me and her. And without her, I was nothing. No one cared about who I was, what I lived for, what my dreams were. Nothing like that. Even the nice ones would maybe wave or offer me a fleeting and familiar smile, but nothing more. No eager greeting or warm embraces.

"Hi there~!"

The voice was cheery and high-pitched, and I didn't recognize it. Even if I was lonely, I didn't exactly want to be bothered by the empty formalities of people who were only greeting me out of habitual friendliness, so I very slightly turned my head to face her with the hollow glare that I usually wear. My eyes must have widened. She was tall— very tall, especially for a girl. It didn't occur to me until just then that I was relatively short, but now, it was a bit hard to hide from. She towered at least a head and a half above me. It annoyed me. Because she was looking down on me. Literally.

She was blonde-haired and had big, friendly caramel eyes that glistened despite the corner's poor lighting. She had a pink sweater on over her crisp white blouse, and her cream-colored knee-high socks had little bits of ribbon and lace at the top. She really did have a pretty face, but her awkward thick-rimmed pink glasses stole away from it, and her hair was tied back a little too tightly with a thick green ribbon.

I ignored her completely and continued to watch the people walking around the room. I could feel her still looking at me, perhaps wondering why I hadn't responded. I wasn't sure how to explain that, and besides, it would defeat the purpose of having not answered her in the first place.

"...You don't talk much, do you?" she said softly.

Somehow, those words affected me. I turned, finally, to look properly at her face, and she must have noticed my eyes, which were a dull greyish color and had none of the shine of life left in them. She could obviously read between the lines, because her blonde brows furrowed and she looked at me as if she pitied me. But I was tired of empty pity, and so I turned back around again, inching closer to the basketball hoop as if it would shield me.

This time, I saw another figure approaching. She had a rather... cute sort of appearance, but for once, it didn't make me feel awkward or inferior. She was scurrying along, trying to dodge the people around her. They didn't seem to notice her and constantly knocked her around without once bothering to apologize or even glance her way.