Sacrificed

18 Tasks

I stood in front of the school, just about to take my first step into senior year at a new school.

"Look, if I'm not here in person, I'll always be in your heart. I'll always be with you no matter what. That'll never change" Fay exclaimed.

Her wavy dark hair and blue ocean eyes were simply a symbol
of calmness and truth.

As I took my first step, I tilted my head back and saw how angelic Fay's smile was. It was truly a ray of sunshine. I headed into the school and felt like a fish out of water. I was simply out of place with my outfit that was no where near the other students' glamorous outfits. I could feel so many judgemental eyes laid on me as I walked through the hallways. I stopped for a while as I remembered Fay's encouraging words:-

"Don't say 'Don't'. You're stronger than that and you know it"

Those words echoed in my mind. I let out a deep breath and continued my way to my first class, Physics.

"Ah, good morning. Miss Hadwin, I presume? Why don't you introduce yourself?" said the teacher.

I took a deep breath and quickly gave a brief introduction about myself.

"Good morning, I'm Florencia Hadwin. Its nice to meet you all"

"Its nice to meet you, Miss Hadwin. I'm Mrs George. Please, take a seat" said Mrs George.

I took a seat at the very last row. As I was walking to my seat, I suddenly tripped over something that almost felt like a leg, causing everyone to start laughing and snickering.

"God, bless your clumsiness!" said Mrs George.

I realised that a girl, who seemed to be the most popular and most meanest girl in school purposely put her leg out just so I could stumble and humiliate myself. I continued the class by ignoring everyone and not making eye contact with anyone.

The bell rang and I let out a sigh of relief. I quickly scurried out the door and tripped over something. Again.

I heard laughing and noticed the same girl who embarrassed me in class was also the one who made me trip again.

"Haha, listen Florencia or whatever your name is, if you can't even walk on your own two feet, you'll never survive this school. EVER. Might as well you pack up your bags. See you never, loser" she said.

"Good one, Christina. Gotta be your best one yet" said one of her friends or 'worshippers'.

Christina. One of those typical mean girls. There will always be one in every single school. They're the type of people who thinks they own the place. I did feel humiliated in front of my new classmates. So much for a first impression.

After school, I walked home thinking how badly this day turned out. It was the exact definition of 'the worst day of my life'. I entered my apartment complex thinking about our old home. Uncle Chester's home. He was filthy rich and owned two real estate agencies. Yet, he never looked down on poor and unfortunate orphans like my sister and I. When he was still alive, he treated us like princesses. We were so fortunate to have him in our lives. When he passed, we had to sell his house as we couldn't afford to pay the bills. Now, Fay is working till her bones are weary. I insisted that I stop school and help her but she still insisted that I continued my studies so that I could go to a prestige University.

I walked in and immediately locked myself in my room.

That night, Fay returned home and was calling out my name. I didn't respond since I wasn't in a good mood.

"Flo, how was school? Did you make any new friends? Flo? Flo!" she called.

"I don't want to talk about it. I'm fine, just go to bed!" I yelled.

"Flo, open the door. NOW!" Fay ordered.

I remained silent and didn't move from my bed. But, as foolish as I was, nothing that small can get in Fay's way. She used her bobby pin to pick the lock and slammed the door open.

"I'm tired. Just go to bed, Fay" I told her.

"Flo, there's no use hiding anything from me. Literally. If I can open a locked door with an accessory, I can get you to spill. NOW TALK" she said.

We both snickered at her hilarious sentiment. I had no choice but to relate the ordeal. There was no stopping her when she wants something right there and then.

"I just don't think I fit in, what's the point anyway? I'll always be in someone's shadow. Might as well I quit" I exclaimed sadly.

"Flo, you'll never survive life without any challenges to face. The things that bring you down are the ones that makes you more stronger. The things that make you quit are the things that'll help you succeed. You're stronger than that and you know it. You're to strong to let anything make you quit" she said.

"I just can't do it, I can't last this whole semester" I said.

Fay took my hand and looked me in the eyes and said:-

"I'll give you 18 reasons. 18 reasons why you should stay in school. Once this semester ends, you can decide whether you want to quit."

"Deal"