"This is what she had become."
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Cleopatra Banks' last week in the small town of New Chelsea is nothing like she would have imagined it, but nothing could have prepared her for the stinging betrayal she's faced with and suddenly the prospect of...
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I was in way over my head when I thought I could do this.
I take a closer look at myself in the school bathroom mirror. They were kind enough to grace us with an off period at some random hour everyday so at least I'm assured that it could be a whole lot worse than it is right now.
Everything about this school is high intensity. Academically, everything is a challenge and at this point I'll be lucky if I even score average marks in the three tests I'll be writing next week. "It's informal, doesn't really count much," all the teachers keep telling us but I know slacking off now means getting lost in an endless pile of work later on when performing academically is an even greater challenge.
Lexi always says I'm the smarter one between the two of us and the more likely one to get university admission. I'm not so sure about that right now.
Dark circles have started appearing around my eyes, my hair has seen better days, some of my pants have started feeling a bit lose around my waist (only the older pairs of jeans) and my face is oily because I haven't been taking good care of it. This actually bothers me the most because I take a lot of pride in my smooth facial skin.
If I get acne at this point in my life it will be the end of me. My BMI is already high enough, I'm popular for all the wrong reasons and I'm probably going to flunk at school. I've made zero friends and I think I'm being picked on. My skin cannot fail me!
Just to rub it in my face, two perfect looking stick people walk into the bathroom dressed in their Phys Ed gear, black braided and blonde hair bobbing about in matching ponytails above their heads and large water bottles in their hands. I'm surprised there are no lemon and cucumber slices inside.
Perfect! We all have PE together.
Unlike me, their yellow vests and bright purple shorts actually fit them. I catch them looking at me through the mirror but they scurry away to the other end of the bathroom when I catch them.
It's Friday, I should have gotten used to this by now but it seems to be getting worse.
Like every other time, I can hear what they're saying very clearly.
I huff out in irritation and walk out, headed in the direction of the athletics field.
My stomach churns in nervous anticipation when I start approaching the field. I haven't had PE since the ninth grade when it was compulsory. It only became mandatory for everyone doing sport. I'm not exactly a group activities type of person nor am I a fitness freak so I naturally opted out.
But obviously things at St. McLeod Learning Institute are different. PE is compulsory and actually contributes to our final grade...another point to add to my growing list of reasons why I won't make it into any university. There's no questioning that I'll fail at all this physical, exercisey stuff.
