tbh

1. Social Climber

so·cial climb·er

noun (derogatory)

— a person who is eager to gain a higher social status.

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Do. Not. Look. Away.

Natalie, better known as Nat, gritted her teeth and met the curious stare of the female student as she passed down the hallway. Holding down the urge to lower her eyes to the ground, she only breathed again when the student rounded off the corner and disappeared from her view.

The tightness inside her chest relaxed, and her fists unclenched.

Damn it, Natalie! she chided herself. You're suppose to be more confident this year. If you can't handle a single stare, how else could you perform everything you had planned?

Natalie knew why the female student had stared. With her lustrous red hair, clear green eyes and perfectly slender body, she was the kind of girl everybody would stare at.

Problem is, Natalie hadn't always been that kind of girl.

She shuddered as she remembered the way her pudgy hands had looked as it grabbed something to eat from the fridge before stuffing it into her already bulging cheeks. The way her belly flopped every time she walked, the way the fat clinging to her thighs slapped against each other.

No wonder she was so invisible back then.

But now, Natalie had a plan. It took her all summer to perfect it, from the minor details to the major ones. Her first mission had already been accomplished.

She was accepted at Beverly Hills High.

It wasn't such a major feat, she knew. BHHS isn't exactly Yale, Harvard, or Princeton.

But one step at a time.

"Hi, is this the Asner Wing?"

Natalie tried to look confident as she asked the girl, flashing her 'I'm cool' smile. Deep inside her, butterflies had sprouted more butterfly-babies on her stomach and were dancing to death metal.

"Yeah." The girl nodded, her blue eyes looking curious underneath her choppy bangs.

"Okay, thanks."

Natalie kept her spine straight as she walked away, her mind flashing through the body language book she had bought during the summer.

'A straight back makes you look confident' it had said. 'Stare straight ahead, tilt your chin up, and flash an easy smile.'

Easier read than done, Natalie thought ruefully. At this point, I'm just hoping no one would notice that my legs are trembling.

She had already done her research about Beverly, and had long since memorized all its wings and buildings so she wouldn't get lost. Natalie knew she couldn't be half-assed about this.

Once she dived in, she could never come back.

A blur of blonde hair and sour expression passed by Natalie, and she stopped as she glanced over her shoulder. The blonde had a Louis Vuitton handbag slung over one shoulder, and Natalie was pretty sure she was wearing Gucci.

"A!" a breathless brunette soon came rushing over, following the blonde. "A, wait!"

The blonde just went on walking.

Due to the brunette's rush, she didn't notice Natalie until she collided with her. A shock of navy blue eyes glared up at Natalie, framed with thick, long and black eyelashes.

"Fuck off," the brunette snapped before pushing Natalie away and stomping after the blonde.

Natalie sighed.

Welcome to her new life in BHHS.