Just Another High-school Story!

It had first began in grade 7th, she had found comfort in food, an escape from all the bullying, a way out to heaven which would become hell instantly. Stuffing herself to the point of satiety was painful but in the moment she just could not control herself, and things changed after that, she had reverted back to the 'nevera', as her Spanish teacher called a fridge whenever she felt depressed. Things had gotten out of hand, and she had started putting on a little weight. She noticed her stomach bulging a bit and that is when the purging had started. Then came the exercising, starving, diet pills, diuretics, binging and crying, being a mess and eventually, she started hating herself, the exterior that she was given, the world was a mess because of this inner storm too, she wanted relief, and in high school, becoming a perfect girl was her goal.

She wanted to talk to her mother about it but she'd felt ashamed of herself. Her mother was a well put together woman but she seemed to be broken. She could not even look in the mirror without crying a little every time. She hated herself, completely.

Leah wanted to, as she put it, 'fix myself'. This was supposed to be a new beginning. "Wilson's high is my new beginning and I am not gonna let anything get to me.", she had said to herself while picking out school supplies. She loved her dad more than anything but she had always put Linda number one on her list. She had never thought that anyone else would occupy the first spot other than her beloved sister. But she was wrong.

Something big was coming. An overwhelming change, would it turn her life around? If so, in which direction, a bad one or a long, over-due good one?

She splashed water onto her face and shimmied into her dress. She wore an orange dress which seemed perfect for the lights that emitted a scarlet glow.

She got onto the stage and weaselled her way by walking backwards and twisting her hip, directing it with her hand; the stage was on fire and everyone seemed to be having fun. She had always loved Korean bands, and Korean everything, seriously though, she was always trying to learn new dances and could dance well enough, she had not had the confidence to do it before, and, right now, while she was dancing to the beats that she knew by heart, she was still nervous, trapped and not having fun with the choreography, worried about the reactions and the aftermath, but she had mastered faking emotions by now, she danced like she owned the stage there. She danced around and even blew Shawn a kiss; Shawn was a boy whom she had crushed on since last summer when they had met through Mia, another one of Leah's classmates and the barista at Leah's go-to cafe.

Shawn liked her and flirted with her all the time too. Leah did not have enough confidence to ask him out and she was waiting for him to say something first. They basically looked like a couple. He grabbed her hand all the time, and knew a lot about her, there was just one thing she was hiding from him, afraid of his judgement, if he found out that she had an eating disorder, what would he say? She was easily swayed by words, they had ruined her life once before, she was not going to ruin this for herself by being real, and hence, the vicious cycle of denial and refusal began. Anyway, she did like someone, but being self-conscious to a nauseating degree does not help you when the boy you like is being a jock and a pussy at the same time. She had vowed not to make a move on him. Shawn was waiting for the right moment to ask her out, when she was happy, he was very meticulous and realised after hanging out with Leah for a couple of weeks that she was the 'romantic type'. The girls that valued memories and relationships. Leah talked about kissing as if it was a secret act being performed in a temple. He was worried he would let her down since he was the 'cool' type, the 'cold' type.

Leah was exorbitantly happy. She could not put into words how much she liked dancing and singing. After her performance, she bowed to everyone and as she was exiting the stage, Matt, another classmate was the stage director for this talent show, and the manager of clubs, any club you wanted to join, you could find him, the guy was a literal machine, handling everything. Linda smiled at Matt before, she had always been interested in him, but he made it too obvious that he liked her sister, Leah, she did not say anything to Leah, but that burned, Leah was oblivious to all the attention he gave her. Just as she was about to get off stage, Matt grabbed her wrist and said, "You were... daebak!" Daebak means 'amazing' in Korean. He was the guy-next-door. The kind who observed forever and unless cupid descended from heaven to help him, he would remain tight-lipped, hoping she would just know. He was a little touchy though and that made Leah uncomfortable. She peeked at Shawn who had tightened his jaw a bit. She giggled to herself and went rest before the results would be announced.

"There!", she said as she looked in the mirror. "Finally, I got my perfect start." They chatted backstage for a bit before they were called for the announcements. Everyone lined up and put their heads down. This was a big deal, first competition of Wilson's High, she wanted to win more than anything.

Their first show of the year and kickstarter for high school. Was anything more important? Maybe watching, "Pretty Little Liars" before their first class, but other than that, nothing. She squeezed Linda's hand and nervously whispered to her, "I am so damn nervous." Linda could tell just by looking at her absurdly meticulous sister who had read and re-read the play that she had written to make it 'perfect', to Linda, this was just a play, but to Leah, it was her 'beginning', something she had waited for a very long time. Leah's hands were shaking, she felt like Cinderella, dancing with the "Prince", unaware how long this could go on and begging for the clock to delay the hour of her return, her midnight.

The principle went up the stage and glanced around at familiar faces proudly. He wanted to improve the reputation of their school by doing this show and his students had not let him down, how amazing!?

Wilson's High was an extension. A newly opened school. Leah had just graduated from "Wilson's Junior-High", when asked why he called that school, "Junior-High", instead of Middle School, simply, he replied that kids wanted to grow up early nowadays, it made the kids feel older and they were less childish. Anyhow, Leah felt that, somehow, Wilson's High sounded more ethereal, vintage and authoritative.

"Of course, the fourth prize goes to Cindy Parela for blessing our ears with the sound of her harp. I am surprised people still play this instrument. He handed her a trophy and her cash prize."

Leah's heart skipped a beat, "Three more to go!", she said to herself, and tried quiet the storm that was twisting her insides, to no avail.

The third prize went to a boy who had danced to, "Butter", amazing, and of course, now there were only two contestants left, even though a lot of people had participated, only four got prizes and the rest got certificates, pretty fair, if you could actually see all the performances, Leah was waiting, and it was painful, God, she just wanted to know.

The people left were Mindy Allen, her only rival in Wilson's High, the girl whom she had crossed paths with, when registering, just from her first impression, Leah knew that this girl was not a joke, at all, she was amazing, she had everything Leah wanted, good looks, confidence, she seemed to love herself too, and on top of all this, the perfect body, but after meeting her a couple times in "Le Bistro", the cafe, she had realised that this girl had dangerous confidence and she was evil, mean, just like the guy who had bullied her, relentlessly. She thought to herself, They would be perfect for each other. She was worried, what if Leah lost to Mindy, she would become a joke.

"And the second prize goes to...", the principal said with a dramatic pause, her heart beat was around 180 bpm or something, Leah could not keep this in, Just say it, please!