Issues.. (Sad short stories)

'Different'

My eyes scan the room hesitantly. As usual a multitude of students are staring at me, judging me. 

Ever since my secret got out I have become an outcast. I am different. 

My so called 'friends' refuse to even acknowledge me now. I wish wasn't like this, I wish I was normal.

Any girl in our school avoids me like the plague, as if it was contagious. Yes, I am a lesbian. I know what instantly comes to your mind. I'm sorry. I don't want to be like this. 

If there was a way to fix me I would, however, apparently there is no cure for this disease. 

The dreaded bell resonates throughout the air, as it signifies the start of next period. Ever since everyone found out about my secret, I lost all sense of time, the world just seems to pass by me. Nothing seems important enough to take note of anymore. 

I trudge through the hall avoiding the daggers and amused looks being sent my way. My gaze falls to the filthy floor, shame engulfs my whole entity as I pass students I have known almost my whole life. 

"Hey." An unknown voice chirps. 

I keep my head down already aware they aren't talking to me, or if they are it's just to insult me. 

"Umm...hello?" The voice speaks again, I raise my head slightly to see a girl my age smiling warmly at me. 

I know I shouldn't interact with her but it feels like an eternity since I was last welcomed by anyone.

"Oh, hey." My voice comes out raspy from not talking for the past week or so. 

"Can you show me where the science room is?" She inquires.

I nod and lead her in the right direction.

[...]

"Thank you so much." She says as her eyes fall onto the door she has been searching for, "What's your name?" 

"Look you shouldn't talk to me if you want to make friends here." I inform her honestly.

Her eyebrows furrow, "What do you mean? Why?" 

Well, she's going to find out at some point right, "I'm gay." I mumble.

My statement is met with no reply so I weakly look up, expectant to see her fled from the scene, but to my surprise she's still standing there with one eyebrow cocked. 

"Ok, anddd..." She gestures for me to continue.

Now I'm mimicking her facial expression, "What? That's it." 

She bursts out into hysterics at my phrase, "Wait? That's it?" 

"Yeah.." I utter finding the floor particularly interesting.

"That's nothing bad. I thought you meant you killed someone or something." She replies cheerfully.

Perplexed I meet her eyes again, "Wait, you're not going to run away scared I will fall in love with you? Or just because you find me disgusting?" 

"Don't be silly! You're a lesbian not a rapist. Why would I find you disgusting. And just because you're gay doesn't mean you fall in love with every girl you see. It's the same as being straight you're just attracted to the opposite gender." Her words make their way into my soul.

She said 'the same', those two words sound so foreign to me now. She views me as equal, as the same as everyone else.

"B-but, I'm a weirdo!" I state, distrusting my ears from what I just heard, "I'm different? I'm not meant to be like this, I'm not like everyone else." I search her eyes desperately trying not to get my hopes up.

"Pfttt. What are you on about? It's nothing to be ashamed of, loads of people are gay these days." She assures me that my hearing isn't faulty.

I gulp unsure of how to react to this new view and opinion. 

"Really?!" I ask in disbelief. 

"Of course! I mean think about it, about 1/3 of the population aren't heterosexual. That's a lot of people, some probably just don't come out because it's a scaring thing to do. If being gay is weird and makes you different then having a mental health disorder should make someone weird and someone with a disability and someone with problems at home or someone who doesn't identify as the gender they were born as and labelled as." She pauses to think about something, "If that is how the world was then everyone would be different in one way or another, so no one would be different. No one is different or special because everyone has issues and goes through shit." She beams at me.

"Woah, you're right!" I say excited that I finally have some imput into my issue.

She chuckles, "Of course I am. I think you admitting you're gay was very brave and took a lot of courage. If anyone is giving you shit for that just remember they are 'different' in one way or another as well. Technically you're less different than any of them because you were courageous enough to come forward and say it, where as they are all hiding behind fake personas." 

I show off a huge grin on my face, the first real smile in ages and I feel content genuinely, something I had become unfamiliar with. 

"You have me now, so you don't have to go through this alone." She smirks.

"Thank you! I'm Lydia, what's your name?" I inquire.

"Oh, right. I'm Maya." She chimes.

We continue to talk and my instincts tell me things are going to get better with Maya around. Yeah, I am different, so what?! Everyone is...

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I hope you all embrace your differences because even if someone is 100% stereotypical and 'normal' they're still different and strange. 

I hope you could see the message I was trying to convey here. 

Thank you for reading - Bangtanxxo