It wasn't exactly war but it had the same semblance, at least to some of us. Everywhere you looked there were alliances being forged and broken, and if you didn't have anything important or belonged with someone cool, you were easy pickings. Life here was war, not for everyone, but mostly for people like me.
In most schools the brilliant students were usually at least somewhere close to the top of the social ranking. In mine, I should've been up there, but according to them I was weird. At first I didn't mind, but I couldn't fault their logic. I was the only one in class with unruly hair, extra worn out hand me down clothes and a pair of thick glasses. If there was ever a definition of uncool, I would be topping the leaderboard.
I stepped off the school bus, taking extra care not to draw attention to myself. It was Monday morning and Monday as always came with all it's baggages, anxiety, depression and most of all the jokes. You'd think jokes are funny and harmless, until you're constantly the subject of them.
The first inkling I had that it would be an unusually weird day, was when the coolest guy in school approached me.
"Morning Lara, how was the weekend?" Max asked
'Ugghhnnnmh" I managed to squeak out, absolutely dumbfounded.
'I'll believe it was a great one " he replied smiling. 'I wanted to ask if you'd like to go on a date with me this Saturday"
Another few seconds and it was clear there would be no reply coming from me. "I'll also take that as a yes. So I'll see you this weekend then" he replied as he sauntered off.
There were probably like a gazillion cells in my brain getting frozen in that moment, and I could see everyone who'd just heard the conversation look at me like I was some sort of weed that had just encroached into their space. The most handsome guy in school had just asked me out on a date.
All through class that day, I kept thinking he must've made a mistake. Maybe he got the wrong person or it was part of an elaborate joke. Max on the other hand set out to prove me wrong, as he kept checking up on me throughout the whole week, dropping notes, texts, and daily calls. In short by Friday that week, I was hopelessly in love.
Saturday I almost left five hours early to the date venue, but somehow I managed to control myself. I still arrived about thirty minutes early though, but two hours later I was confused, almost in tears and loosing my mind. Max wasn't picking up and was nowhere in sight. Just as I managed to console myself and prepared to shamefully leave for home , I was greeted with something even worse.
The sight of the whole class bursting in literally stopped me dead. They were carrying placards with all forms of writing, prominent amongst them were the words "Final Year Dummy". They all jeered and laughed, but the most hurtful part was the presence of Max. I immediately understood that I'd just been pranked.
A woman seated across from me, immediately alerted security who subsequently chased them out, but the damage had been done already. She introduced herself as Anna, as she steered me towards her table.
'It'll be fine my dear" she kept on repeating.
Anna I would later find out, was quite an interesting woman in her early forties. She worked in the fashion industry and was on vacation as she lived in my town while growing up until her family left. In about half an hour we spent talking, I almost forgot about my problems as we both shared our life stories. At first it was weird sharing my life with a stranger, but the more I talked the more I could see understanding in her eyes.
"Don't worry dear, we'll get you through this."
Somehow I doubted this, because understanding me was a different matter. I didn't believe my problems had any solutions.
It took a while for the whole prank to die down, but in that period school felt like I was walking into a minefield every morning. The only thing that kept me going were the words of Anna as I kept reminding myself, What would Anna say?.
It took about two months before I finally got payback, not the payback I wanted initially but something even better. As I walked into school that morning, I knew most of the students knew what was going on.
Students kept pointing as I walked past, but I gave none of them the tiniest bit of a acknowledgement. They'd obviously seen my interview on one of the biggest fashion shows over the weekend. It was something Anna and I had been working on for the last two months since she'd brought up the idea.
Anna had come up with the idea to work with my style of clothing. It was a bit unusual for a fashion idea, but she'd promised me that with a bit of adjustments, she could definitely make it work. Now my so called weird style was the biggest thing in the country, people especially top celebrities it seemed were willing to pay to look like me.
As I walked into class, Max was waiting at my desk.
"I'm sor....... "
"Save it Max, I'm way past that" I replied, cutting him short.
I'd just went from zero to hero, and as I had my seat, I found out I quite loved the feeling. For them everything had probably been fine until they pranked me, but for me it had been a turning point. Whoever said unusual couldn't be attractive, would have to have a rethink again.
