I just stood in front of him speechless.

How does he know I 'm uncomfortable in my own skin?

"I-I know I'm b-beautiful  " I chocked out.

It was very hard for that 9 letter word to come out of my mouth.

I wasn't always like that.

At least not until I met him.

I heard Sam take a deep breath before he said "look at yourself in the mirror and say you're beautiful."

I shrugged it off and looked down at the mirror.

I'm ready for this.

I'm ready for this.

I tried to convince myself that I was beautiful and that I was ready look in the mirror again but, I lied to myself.

The moment my eyes caught my reflection a tear rolled down my face and unto the clear mirror surface.

Sam pulled me into a hug and I softly cried on his shoulder. I knew I wasn't ready. I was just trying to convince myself that I was. I don't know what I was thinking when I looked into that mirror.

"Princess I'm sorry for making you cry" Sam softly said while his chin rested on top of my head.

"It's not your fault Sam." I said in between my heavy breathing. 

"Do you want to make a deal?" Sam asked me as we stood by my locker hugging.

I shook my head yes and Sam took that as a sigh to continue taking.  

"Ok princess, I will take you on adventures. I will take you places that are out of your comfort zone so I could help you get out of your shell. Every time you go through with your task I will give you a mirror to put in your room. Do you want to do it?"

I thought about it for a while. 

Am I ready for this?

Will this help me get out of my comfort zone?

Will I allow myself to get pass what happened in the past?

Nevertheless I shook my head yes.

It's about time I let go of my demons and move on. This is a once in a life time opportunity I wasn't willing to pass up.

I wanted to get passed my fears but, I never knew how to start. Now Sam is offering his help and I can't let the people that I love about down. 

I felt Sam smile above me which made me crack a smile. 

He kissed the top of my head and said "as you wish princess." 

He pulled away from me and kissed my forehead. I smiled and he gave me a boyish grin.

I put my mirror in my locker and turned to face Sam who was leaning next to my locker. We walked away with smiles on our faces and his arm around my shoulder.                        

-------------

  RING!!!!!

The bell rung signaling me that my favorite part of the day was here.

LUNCH!!!!

Lunch is the only time of the day I get to escape the annoying teachers and the annoying kids I get crammed into class with.

I ran out of my class and straight to my locker. On my way to my locker I heard little sniffles coming from the girls bathroom.

I walked into the bathroom and I saw Ruby sitting in the corner of the bathroom, sobbing. I walked towards her and sat down next to her. I didn't even care about my dress getting dirty. I was focused on helping my new friend.

When I sat down Ruby looked up and smiled at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked Ruby.

"The girls in my class called me a burnt piece of bacon. They said I was to black to be in American that I should go back to Africa." She sniffled.

How could kids be mean to her? She looks beautiful. I love everything about her from her brown eyes to her afro black hair.

"Don't listen to them Ruby, you look absolutely stunning." She smiled at my complement and I got up. I held a hand out for her and she took my hands, pulling herself up too.

"Come on, lets go to lunch". She nodded her head and we headed out of the bathroom.

We walked into the cafeteria and I looked around the crowded place looking for empty seats.

I stopped looking once I saw Sam waving at us, signaling for us to come sit with him.

Ruby and I made our way to the table and took the seats that was in front of Sam and Noah. Once our butts touch the seat Noah looked at Ruby and said "hi diamond." I laughed a little. Hearing my laughter Noah looked up from his phone and froze. He looked between Ruby and I, shocked.

"Is she your sister or twin?" He asked kind of confused.

"Neither, she's my friend."

Noah's mouth dropped open. I don't think he believed me because he kept looking back and forth from Ruby to me. He scratched his head trying to figure out if he was being tricked or not.

He pulled out his phone and took a picture of Ruby and I. He handed me his phone and said "you guys look like you're related."

I looked at the photo and he was right. We both had big brown eyes, cocoa colored skin, and light freckles across our faces.

Ruby and I looked at each other and smiled.

Even thought I didn't like the thought of my picture being taken I had to deal with it. I have to work on my fear of pictures and mirrors. And also, Sam's gave me that "look at the photo or I'll force you to do something stupid later" look.

The fact that he was taking me on adventures made me not want to push his buttons.

"We do look alike" I said after I realized that she looked like my little sister.

"Hi princess Diamond and princess Ruby" Sam said after a while.

I blushed and in the corner of my eyes I saw Ruby blush too.

I guess we are more alike than I thought.

"What would my princesses like to eat today?" Sam asked.

"A Nutella sandwich with water" Ruby and I said at the same time. We looked at each other and laughed.

"You guys have to be sister or twins. There is no way in hell you guys are not related." Noah said.

We laughed even harder and Sam joined shortly after.

"Your lunch will be here soon my princesses."

"Hey!! What about me?!!" Noah half asked but also screamed.

"You're coming with me so you can get your own lunch."

"Hey, not fair fucktard."

Sam slapped the back of Noah's head an said "not in front of my princesses dip wad."

Ruby and I started laughing again while Noah rubbed his head.

"Ok man, let's go." I could still hear the anger laced in his voice. I couldn't help but snicker at his bitterness.

"We'll be back my ladies." We nodded our heads in unison and Sam and Noah walked away.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Ruby asked after Sam and Noah was far away.

"No, he's just a very close friend." I said with a smile on my face.

She nodded her head even though her eyes said she didn't believe me. We started small talk until two shadows appeared in front of us.

We looked up and I saw vanilla colored sticks with blonde hair and blue eyes. I'm guessing Ruby knew them because she looked away from them.

"We'll look who it is, it's the burnt bacon." The one to the left said.

So these are the girls that were bullying Ruby.

"If you two stick figures don't move now I'll accidentally break you by blowing my breath." I said glaring at me the two. I don't know what got into me at his point but, I was furious.

I was ready to stick up for Ruby because if someone had stuck up for me when this was happening to me years ago I would have been grateful.

"Shut your fat ass up." The one to the right said.

If they weren't freshmen's I would have said and done a shit ton of things.

I stood up and walked until I was I front of the two sheets of paper.

"Just because I'm not a size two doesn't mean I'm any less of a human. Listen up and listen up good, if Ruby tells me that you so as much as glare at her I will make sure I make your life a living hell. Got it?" I said in a low and dangerous tone.

The two girls nodded their heads and quickly ran away.

I smiled and walked back to my seat.

"Are you really going to make their life a living hell?" Ruby asked. I shook my head no.

"I would never bully the lower classmens. I just said that to scare them. They won't be bothering you anymore I could tell you that."

Ruby smiled and said "thank you Diamond."

"No problem little sister." I said and Ruby and I shared a smile.

Even though I just meet Ruby today I felt like I knew her for a lifetime. Protecting her the moment those girls talked to her like they did was the only option for me. I couldn't sit there and watch them bully her because of her skin color.

"Hey, what was Britney's sister doing here?" Sam asked as he walked up to our table.

Britney's sister? No wonder why she was a bitch.

"She came here to bully Ruby." I said.

I watched Sam's face turned red and his knuckles turned white. His eyes were twitching and his breathing was very heavy. I never seen Sam look so mad before.

I got up an sat next to Sam. Noah got the memo and went to sit next to Ruby.

I rubbed his thighs under the table and he tensed a little bit under my touch. I took his hands in mine and I unclenched his fist.

He looked into my eyes and said "next time she comes here tell me." I nodded my head and turned around so I faced the table.

Noah and Ruby stared at me in awe.

What did I do?

"Woah, this is the first time Sam calmed down without punching anything or anyone" Noah said looking at me like I just turned water to wine.

I shrugged my shoulders and picked up my Nutella sandwich.

"And you guys aren't dating?" Ruby asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Sam and  Noah laugh while I slumped deeper into my seat, avoiding the topic that I feared would start from Ruby's comment.

I can't ever win with these people.
--------

"Ok fine, I'll go" I said to Sam.

He has been begging me to go to a diner with him after school with Noah and Ruby.

Noah and Ruby already said yes so, I was the only one left to give my answer.

Everyone cheered and Sam picked me up and spun me around like the idiot he was.

Once he put me down I swayed a little bit because Sam spun me around too much.

"Just let me change first." They nodded their heads and I was getting ready to leave until I turned around.

"Do you want to come with me Ruby?" I asked her. Her face lit up and she nodded her head. I hugged Sam and Noah goodbye and Ruby did the same thing.

When Ruby went to give Noah a hug he squeezed her tight and his hands dropped to her waist. He whispered something in her ears which caused her to blush when she pulled away.

I wasn't the only one that saw what happened because Sam looked at me with a smirk on his face.

Ruby walked over to my car an opened the passenger seat and sat down.

I buckled my seat belt and started my car.

"And you guys aren't dating?" I mocked her. She tuned red and looked out the window.

She's like my mini me.

I'm happy she's the new addition to my small group of friends.

She's perfect.