𝕲𝖔𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖈[𝕬 𝕿𝖔𝖒 𝖗𝖎𝖉𝖉𝖑𝖊 𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞]

She is the Villain

Ugh, she was just so over it. Life had become this painfully predictable routine. And of course, her oh-so-wise friends insisted that finding a boyfriend was the solution to all her problems. Yeah, because love magically makes everything better, right?

So, she reluctantly gave it a try. She mustered up some enthusiasm and looked around for potential candidates. But seriously, the boys in her class? They were all cut from the same mould. So full of themselves, strutting around like peacocks, probably comparing who had the longest... ego. It was like a contest to see who could be the most insufferable jerk in the room. 

Bravo, boys, bravo.

Oh, the horror! She had the audacity to turn eighteen without a boyfriend. How unfortunate, right? Cue the pity party. Meanwhile, her roommates were all coupled up, claiming they had found true love and gushing about their daily emotional exchanges. Lucky them.

But no, no one bothered to include her in those conversations. They knew she had zero interest in that mind-numbing girl talk. No, her life was far more thrilling. It consisted of an endless loop of books, books, and more books. How exhilarating!

Sure, she had a passion for food once upon a time. But leave it to her lovely classmates to crush that too. They had the brilliant idea of labelling her a giant, forever tarnishing her self-esteem. That was years ago, yet the damage was done. Her appetite took a nosedive, and she never quite regained her normal eating habits.

 Thanks, classmates. You're the best. Insert heavy sarcasm here.

These words of sarcasm were not to make her look like the quirky main character of a typical romance novel. There were the things that she would often whisper to herself to make her feel better, to keep holding on to the last bit of confidence she had in herself.

Remember kids, when you are alone and insecure, sarcasm is your only weapon.

Leo couldn't escape the constant reminder that it was her last year. She had to repeat that fact to herself like a broken record as if her sanity depended on it. 

When she finally gathered the courage to tell her mother to leave her no-good father five years ago, she thought her life would take a turn for the better. Oh, how wrong she was.

Out of the blue, her mother dropped the bombshell. Boarding school, because apparently, her mother had to jet off and work, leaving poor Leo high and dry with no one to look after her. And what did Leo do? She agreed to this ridiculous decision, all because she couldn't bear to see her mother's exhausted face for one more second. 

Ugh, the sacrifices we make for the family.

As she settled into her new school, Leo naively believed that things would finally go smoothly for her. However, reality had other plans in store. School life turned out to be a minefield of toxic friendships and fake people. She lost count of the times she was betrayed, and even some teachers treated her with disdain based on a rumour started by one of her former best friends.

After completing her 10th grade, Leo made a firm decision never to step foot in that school again. But fate had a different idea. Her mother had already made up her mind that Leo would continue her final two years of school in the same place.

Cue the sad music.

So there she sat, lost in her little daydream bubble, inside the study room. She couldn't help but fantasize about a life where she could just be herself and not give a hoot about what anyone else thought. I mean, seriously, who needs all this pretending and faking?

She'd had enough of putting on a happy face and pretending that everything was peachy. It was like playing a never-ending game of "Let's Pretend." But guess what? She wasn't having it anymore.