Introvert-->Ambivert...

I did become a part of Fiorenza's group by mid-August. I did not just magically insert myself into the group. Well, there were quite a few incidents that led to my being a part of their clique.

Fiorenza was an extrovert while I was an introvert. I had no idea that I would become an ambivert just by being her deskmate. She couldn't turn me into a complete extrovert but she succeeded halfway. When I used to sit alone I never spoke up in classes or initiated conversations with the rest of the students. I was a loner and I had planned to keep it that way but then Fiorenza happened. Her personality rubbed off on me. She was like the most popular girl in our class and her presence or her walk demanded attention. She was also kinda the spokesperson for our class. She was so confident in whatever she did.

The boys in our class preferred being friends with Fiorenza and her clique because the other girls were too annoying. She was a friendly person(that's obvious). She started bringing me out of my shell. As time went by I could feel the layers of my shell being broken down one by one. I started talking more with her and slowly and gradually I became that one cool girl who didn't mind being teased because I always had the perfect retort to it.

The extrovert side of my personality came out. I became more comfortable with the people in my class. Fiorenza was the girl who everybody turned to when they needed someone to speak on their behalf. She was someone everybody could depend on. At first, I wanted to be just like her but after I had broken out of my shell I found myself. I liked cracking jokes. I liked helping everyone. I became the funny girl in class who could diffuse any kind of tension or awkwardness with my silly jokes. I got on well with the boys. That is because they took me as their brother. They were very respectful to the girls(that includes me as well). Most of the time they would put their hand over my shoulder and be like," Bro!! You know what happened........" They behaved like this only with me and Fiorenza. Angeliah didn't like it when somebody except for her best friends invaded her personal space but she was also on good terms with the boys.

Well, that's how I bloomed...I guess...

I was having a good time at school. Then our first JEE exams happened. There were 5 levels in the exams-E1, E2, E3, E4, E5. E1 was the basic level and E5 was the last and most advanced level. The exams were really hard. Our school decided to divide the students of each class into different sections based on their levels. I was in 9A which was the intelligent class.

A/N: (My school was being really unfair. Nobody should be categorized or compared based on studies. Not everyone is good at studies or arts. The rules of our school were demotivating the students who didn't have a passion for Science. I don't want to diss my school but they made it hard not to)

Let me get back to my story...

So, as I was saying, 9A was the intelligent class and 9B was the average class. I stayed in 9A but some of the boys in our class had to shift to 9B due to no progress in their JEE levels. Some students shifted to our class from 9B and among those students was Angeliah. Fiorenza was very happy but sad as well because the third member of their group was still in 9B.

Well, their third member turned her back on them after about one week. She stopped coming by for lunch with the other two and whenever Fiorenza and Angeliah went over she waved them off by saying she had promised to eat with someone else that day. That happened for a while but the ultimate straw was when she was caught backbiting about them to another girl. To say Fiorenza and Angeliah were sad and upset would be an understatement. They were heartbroken. Angeliah even cried which was quite a rare occurrence. Fiorenza consoled her and I comforted her by patting her back slowly. I didn't want to intrude on their friendship but I had come to regard Angeliah and Fiorenza as one of my close friends even though they thought otherwise.

I was Fiorenza's deskmate so after that fiasco I started having lunch with Angeliah and Fiorenza. We bonded over during those breaks. However close we became, I always tried to steer away from both of them because I didn't want to become just a replacement of their third member. I wanted them to be my best friends. That was just a small reason out of the many that I had for staying away from both of them. I thought that I wasn't good enough to be their friend. I thought they just pitied me for not having many friends.

It took a while for me to let go of my insecurities. They started involving me in their discussions even when I said that I was fine with just listening. They took me on their daily rounds of the school during lunchtime. They even started taking my opinions on many things except for how they looked. That was because I never said anything bad about how they looked. Both of them would ask me, " Irina, how do I look? I didn't tie my hair properly. I must look terrible" or " Ahh! My uniform is a mess. It looks so crumpled. I look horrible, don't I?" I would always tell them that they look beautiful regardless of their hair or uniform. I didn't lie to make them feel good. They looked good even if their hair or uniform was out of place. Apart from that, they would ask me to teach them if they didn't understand something in class. I was a nerd. I liked studying and I paid more attention than them (they could get distracted by anything).

Without realizing it, they became constant in my life. I also became a constant in their life. I became their third member. If any of us was absent, we would talk about her the whole day, like," Angeliah would have told off that teacher if she was present." or "Ugh! If only Fiorenza was present, she could have asked the teacher to give us a free period." I never missed school but I am sure they would be whining about why I was absent if I didn't go to school. I became the balance. I would stop their bickering or at times I would help them with their homework.

Our bond became stronger as days passed by. Soon there was a new addition to our group but it was a boy this time...

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A/N

Happy New Year!!!!!