Strawberry Milk Candy

Chapter 1 - Anxious

        Dim sunlight showered through the window curtains, signifying the forthcoming of the morning in the cold winter. The frost on the leaves melted, and a cold breeze wafted through the area, entering through a small opening of a window into the room where a young girl lay dormant. She hurried her head into the bed sheets in response to the sudden chill. A long silence fell upon the room as the girl continued sleeping, only to be broken by the sudden loud wail of the alarm clock. She groaned, flipping to her side and pressing the snooze button on her phone. Silence bestowed upon the room once again as the girl snoozed for ten minutes, only to be broken once again by the alarm's loud wail.

She slowly climbed up from her bed, stretching and groaning as she slowly put her clothes on, half asleep. Wednesday, another painful and boring day that she'd have to spend at school. She signed, displeased by the thought that she would be seeing some of her classmates. She shook her head, dispelling those thoughts, and swiftly got up from bed and started preparing herself for the day. She descended down the stairs after she was finished, and greeted her mother, who had prepared breakfast for her. She rapidly finished it and left for school.

The bell rang as she entered the school gate, she glanced at her phone, it was 7:57, three minutes before the first class started. She swiftly paced through the school gate and headed for the building, halting and turning back when she heard the voice of a person calling her.

"Arystia! Hey! Wait up!" said the person, he was sprinting to her direction, panting and slightly out of breath once he had reached her. It was her best friend, Aiden.

"Oh uh, hey Aiden." She awkwardly replied, looking around and seeing the eyes of people looking at her, attracted by Aiden's loud call. She lowered her head, trying to stay low in order to not attract any attention. Were they judging her? Did Aiden do it on purpose? Was he trying to make fun of her as well? She stormed off, leaving Aiden behind. Numerous thoughts were wandering around her head as anxiety started to rise up in her stomach. She knew Aiden would never do that, but she couldn't help but feel paranoid; it wouldn't be the first time a friend tried to make fun of her. What if he had teamed up with those girls to act like a friend to her, only to let her make a fool of herself, just like half a year ago with her 'friend'?

No, no, no! Stop thinking about it, he's your best friend! Arystia, you have to be more logical! She thought, scolding herself as she walked towards the classroom, Aiden following close behind. She drove the thoughts away and held a short conversation with him, making sure it wouldn't be too loud as to attract unwanted attention. They walked until they arrived in the classroom just in time and said hi to the professor upon entering. She sat down beside her classmate Laura, who cheerfully greeted her. As class started, the professor announced that the class would be doing a project, and demanded that everyone found a partner. Arystia shuddered at the thought of working in a group, she hated groupwork, as she was always the leftover girl that was forced to join into a group with the leftover boy, Aiden. She didn't want things to be this way; she hated being so superficial. Even though she felt guilty for it, she felt that Aiden wasn't 'cool' enough, as even though he was very sociable, he only hung out with her and rarely others. She wanted to be with the popular kids, like Laura or Maria, who always got the attention, who always were so carefree and happy.

She was once one of them, a member of the 'popular' kids. Every day was once filled with so much joy around her friends and other classmates, until a girl named Jessica stepped in. Arystia closed her eyes for a second, changing the subject in her mind to something else. She straightened herself up and putting up a smile, she turned to Laura.

"Hey, so uh Laura, have you found a partner?"

"Oh, no. Not yet." She said, flashing her a smile.