The gymnasium of my tiny private school had always looked large to me. But somehow, on that day, it seemed so much bigger than I'd ever remembered it being. Maybe it had been the summer's absence— I'd just forgotten the size. Or, maybe, it was the fact that having one less significant person there made the room feel emptier, and yet so full of people all the same.

Without my former best friend beside me, everyone seemed like a stranger.

The students, both new and familiar, travelled in packs and crowds. Everyone looked almost exactly the same, as we were all required to wear the itchy, unflattering school uniforms. But everyone still looked better in theirs than I did. They had pretty faces and big eyes and trim figures, and they managed to liven up the monotony of their uniforms with expensive-looking sweaters or gaudy necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Meanwhile, I stood alone in the one corner of the gym where the overhead light wasn't working, underneath the basketball hoop. They still hadn't fixed that light, even though they'd had the whole summer to do it.

There are pretty girls everywhere. I've always been plain-looking no matter how much makeup I wear, and no matter what kinds of clothes I hide my figure behind. It didn't surprise me that no one really bothered to greet me. No one even seemed to spare a second glance in my direction. It could have been the lighting that kept them from seeing me. Or, maybe, it was just me.

I sighed heavily. Even if she was gone, I thought that I would at least have some other friends... but, no. It had always been just me and her. And without her, I was nothing. No one cared about who I was, what I lived for, what my dreams were. Nothing like that. Even the nice ones would maybe wave or offer me a fleeting and familiar smile, but nothing more. No eager greeting or warm embraces.

"Hi there~!"

The voice was cheery and high-pitched, and I didn't recognize it. Even if I was lonely, I didn't exactly want to be bothered by the empty formalities of people who were only greeting me out of habitual friendliness, so I very slightly turned my head to face her with the hollow glare that I usually wear. My eyes must have widened. She was tall— very tall, especially for a girl. It didn't occur to me until just then that I was relatively short, but now, it was a bit hard to hide from. She towered at least a head and a half above me. It annoyed me. Because she was looking down on me. Literally.

She was blonde-haired and had big, friendly caramel eyes that glistened despite the corner's poor lighting. She had a pink sweater on over her crisp white blouse, and her cream-colored knee-high socks had little bits of ribbon and lace at the top. She really did have a pretty face, but her awkward thick-rimmed pink glasses stole away from it, and her hair was tied back a little too tightly with a thick green ribbon.

I ignored her completely and continued to watch the people walking around the room. I could feel her still looking at me, perhaps wondering why I hadn't responded. I wasn't sure how to explain that, and besides, it would defeat the purpose of having not answered her in the first place.

"...You don't talk much, do you?" she said softly.

Somehow, those words affected me. I turned, finally, to look properly at her face, and she must have noticed my eyes, which were a dull greyish color and had none of the shine of life left in them. She could obviously read between the lines, because her blonde brows furrowed and she looked at me as if she pitied me. But I was tired of empty pity, and so I turned back around again, inching closer to the basketball hoop as if it would shield me.

This time, I saw another figure approaching. She had a rather... cute sort of appearance, but for once, it didn't make me feel awkward or inferior. She was scurrying along, trying to dodge the people around her. They didn't seem to notice her and constantly knocked her around without once bothering to apologize or even glance her way.

This particular girl had really big, murky brown eyes (some of the darkest I'd ever seen) that reminded me of a deer caught in the headlights somehow, and she bit her lip nervously and looked around in every possible direction. Her brown hair was also pulled back tightly, in a ponytail that was longer than the blonde girl's. She looked like she'd arrived in a hurry. Her blouse was wrinkled and the sleeve's buttons were undone, as were those pointless and impossible-to clasp-little buttons to hold the collar of the dress shirt down. One of her socks was pulled up to her knee while the other had slid down her thin leg, revealing a bandage over her bony kneecap. She had on a pair of glossy high heels that looked out of place compared to everything else.

She ran right up to us both, but more or less ignored me and looked at the other girl by directing her gaze upwards and right over my head. It appeared that she had to do so, really, because I noticed just then that she was small— very small. Maybe four or five inches shorter than me. The difference in height was still obvious even with the heels.

"Hannaaaaaahhh— I told you nobody would talk to me! People just keep walking right past me and bumping into me without saying sorry, and now I know I'm not going to make any friends and it'll be just you and me the entire year with everybody else making fun of us!"

She sounded really upset. I raised an eyebrow, but neither of them could tell. The blonde girl, who I now knew was named Hannah, was behind me, and the little deer-girl couldn't see my eyebrows anyway. They were hidden by my thick fringe of bangs. I looked down at the floor to avoid their intrusive stares. The brunette, in front of me, fidgeted as if waiting for me to leave. I didn't intend to go anywhere. This was my spot.

"Don't worry, Jayne..." Hannah began to say something, slowly and in a reassuring voice. I thought that she was going to say something serious. I turned to look at her. And then, to my utter shock, she slapped me playfully on the shoulder. "We have this creepy girl to keep us company!"

A big grin spread across Hannah's face. My eyes went wide with wonder.

I probably could have taken that comment as an insult, but for whatever reason, I didn't. I almost liked that she'd said something like that so honestly— she took me for what I appeared to be. She didn't let me make excuses, and she didn't bug me about what was wrong. She just stated the facts, proving that she didn't fear me, that she wasn't intimidated by me, and that she didn't think of me as a freak, or a lower life form that wasn't worth her valuable time. If she thought those things, she wouldn't have bothered coming over in the first place. Hannah thought that I was creepy, but she didn't necessarily think that was a bad thing. And I liked that.

"...What?" was all I managed to say. But I thought, and still think, that Hannah could tell I wasn't really annoyed, because she smiled at me and didn't try to cover up what she'd said. She was impulsive, but in the good kind of way, I guess.

"Well, you are kind of back here in a dark corner all by yourself. And glaring at everybody. It sends a creepy kind of message, don't you think?" The other one, Jayne, added. She didn't seem so nervous anymore. In fact, she seemed at ease, and she eyed me as if she knew something I didn't. Maybe she had some kind of sixth sense that I lacked.

"Since it doesn't really look like you're busy, could you be our tour buddy today? You know— give us the inside scoop on the teachers. Tell us who to stay away from. That kind of thing?" Hannah asked without hesitation. She looked like she expected a yes from me.

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled— small and faint, but a smile nonetheless.

"Sure, why not? It's not as if I have someplace else to go or any companions to go talk to... it's just me here, I suppose."

Jayne whistled.

"Got a vocabulary on ya, don't you?"

I actually laughed at that as we walked away together, the three of us lined up tallest to shortest. At that moment, I didn't feel alone anymore, and this sort of friendliness was the kind that I could get used to.

— ◦ ✧ ◦ —

A/N: had to do quite a few fixes in terms of grammar and pacing. reading this did make me smile, as it's a fond memory (jayne's comments are still under the original posting elsewhere), but god if i wasn't a typical pretentious emo teenager. exactly the sort of protagonist i see all over wattpad these days and HATE. maybe that's why i hate it so much— it awakens painful memories of my former cringe!
for those curious, the references to the missing student and former friend are about my best friend throughout elementary school and early middle school. we were always together and i was always sort of second best compared to her. the pressure and some other things eventually killed our friendship, and she transferred schools. and then it suddenly felt like i didn't know anybody at the tiny school i had attended my whole life.