Love Within

Prologue

She was always alone.

I noticed her, the girl that most people overlooked. I couldn't blame them. On her best day, she could barely say a word or bring herself to look someone else in the face. She was always either engrossed in a book or scribbling in a notebook like her life depended on it. She wasn't pretty in the way most people would depict it--the meaner girls would whisper about her behind her back, calling her ugly or plain. I wondered if she heard, or if she cared. Seeing as her earbuds were always in, it seemed doubtful that she knew of the rumours about her that were constantly circulating around the school.

At this moment in time, she was sitting in her assigned seat, her finished booklet resting perfectly in front of her. Clearly, she was a genius. She always got good grades, and in math class--the only class I had with her--she always finished her work before I could even get halfway through a page of mine. When she finished, she would read. This cycle continued every day. Around her, our classmates would neglect their work, chatting about their weekends or gossiping about the latest dramas. I had no interest in them, but then again, my few friends were not in this class with me. I was not popular either, but I wasn't kicked out of the school hierarchy like she was. She was, apparently, on a level so low that she didn't even register on the hierarchy.

I stared at her, noting details. Her wrists were fairly small, her hands tiny and thin-fingered. She was not particularly thin, but was of a modest build. Her hair hung in front of her face like a black curtain, the ends sticking out in every which way in erratic curls and waves, some locks perfectly straight. It hung to her waist. Her ears were small and delicate, her nose snub and round, her chin roundish, her brown eyes hooded and perpetually-sleepy-looking. She was wearing a baggy grey sweatshirt and sweatpants with ratty, beaten-up old sneakers. Yet she looked content.

Should I?

Before I knew it, I was standing up and walking to her desk.