One

In the beginning, Itai Miriro was just an ordinary girl. Several times in the morning, afternoon and evening (even the middle of the night!), she would check herself in the mirror and ask herself what was unattractive about her. Her body structure wasn't all that appealing. She had nice legs, she was lighter in complexion than most girls but she was flat. Her hips didn't stand out like the others, her chest was a no-go area and her rear was a nonstarter. Her face though, she was cute. Everyone called her cute. She had small lips which resembled a squirrel whenever she was eating. Her front teeth were big which earned her nickname Beaver. She had two pairs of canine teeth, her younger brother called them vampire teeth. She had a round button nose which scrunched up whenever she smiled, her younger brother also made fun of that. Her shoulders were broad compared to other girls in class.

Her hair, well, that was one thing that fascinated her. Her hair was long and heavy. She had the thickest, voluminous in her class if not the entire school. Her hair was naturally curly but she if combed it hard enough, it would be straight. Her hair was hard to tame though, it seemed to increase in volume by the year. As such, she always had it plaited into a hundred or so lines. It reached past her shoulders and when she bent down, her hair would fall over her face and cover her side view. It was black with a tinge of brown but black nonetheless. Most girls envied her hair, they had said so but even that wasn't enough to gain the attention of anyone.

At first, she craved the attention of boys but once she was ignored for over ten years by said gender, she wanted to have the attention of girls but none of them gave her their attention. She wasn't homosexual, no. She was perfectly straight. She was just lonely, without anyone to share her crazy ideas which seemed to work in her favour. Her best friend, Maita, was popular too but the popularity didn't shine on her. Maita was a short girl, a bit chubby but with a figure that had heads turning in her direction. This led to the headturners looking at the shapeless girl walking beside Maita (herself), comparing the two of them and how she was flat in comparison to her best friend. She wouldn't let that stop her from walking with her best friend. Itai was dark in complexion, a little bit on the light side than the chocolate-colored popular girl Anoona. She had naturally long lashes and her eyes had that natural curve at the edges, which most girls would use makeup to further enhance their eyes. But still, it didn't catch anyone's attention. She felt like if she disappeared for a lifetime, no one would notice.

Her parents would notice though, naturally. She was the first born in a family of eight, with five other children coming from a different mother. They were cool though, there was no bad blood between them and their mothers were friends. They just didn't live in the same house. Their father spent most of his time away at work and the whole family would meet together when he came back. She lived with her two younger siblings, Simba, the boy who followed after her and her father's first and oldest son then her younger sister Kundai. Her mother, Danai, worked as an accountant at GDD Bank. Her other mother, Portia, worked as an accountant at DEFF Motors, so they were both accountants. The sibling who came after was Portia's first born, Wadzanai (in short Wadza) who was also a girl. They were only a month and five days apart. After that, Simba was in line followed by a boy from Portia called Nathan. Her younger sister, Kundai came next then another girl called Chelsea, another boy called Victor and lastly a girl called Yeukai. She was barely a year old.

That was basically her life at home. Wadza understood her but they couldn't be together most times. This was majorly because her maternal grandmother, Tsitsi, had some sort of personal vendetta against Portia and her children so she was prohibited from having much contact with them. Honestly, she didn't understand the old woman's sentiments. Those children were awesome and great to have around. She was going to wait until she died, give or take two years since one of her lungs collapsed.

She was currently sixteen years old but with the body of a primary student. It was not so for Wadza, the girl had a large chest which left her envious. Not to mention, her complexion was a pretty shade of chocolate she also wished she had. The only problem about her was her hair. Her hair didn't grow much and didn't have half the volume as hers so she felt a little better. She was also brighter in school, the brightest of all her siblings. She was a Science student in 4O, the first class of Form Four students at Tsambe High School. If she really put enough effort, she might as well have been athe best student in her stream. But she lacked the energy to do so. Being good in school came naturally, she didn't need to try to pass. Her class position ranged in the top 20, it was good enough for her as her parents were always pleased by her results.

But none of them understood what she felt day by day. She wanted to be something. If she was being ignored, clearly it meant there wasn't anything intriguing about her, anything worth to watch about her. And so she desired, day by day, night by night, always searching but not finding what she wanted to be.

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"Itai! Wake up!" her mother called from the kitchen. The sixteen-year old heard her but decided to pretend that she hadn't in order to steal a couple more seconds of sweet, sweet sleep. Those few seconds of sweet sleep were cut short when Kundai came flying out of nowhere and landed on top of her. "Kundie!" she exclaimed as she shot out of her bedcovers. The ten-year old girl snickered mischievously. "You were watching Naruto the whole night, weren't you?" she teased. Itai grabbed her by her bun and yanked her forward until they were eye to eye. "You tell that to mama and you'll be watching your stupid princess movies on your wall," she threatened. "Geez, chill sis. I wasn't going to," the girl said as she raised up her hands in surrender. Itai released her hold and watched the girl fix the two buns of brown hair atop of her head. Her hair had volume but not as hers. She also had a slightly large forehead. "If you're gonna continue watching me like I'm some anime fanart then you're gonna be late to school." Kundai fled the room with a half dressed Itai hot on her tail.

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It wasn't like she wanted to be late, it just happened naturally. Yet again, Itai was late for class. "I swear if there isn't a law that I must always be late then I don't know what else it is," the girl grumbled to herself as she padded across the street, the navy blue roof of her school coming into view. She adjusted her maroon skirt which ended at her knees. She never had the guts to wear anything above her knees, she didn't have anything to show. Her skirt was loose on her hips, barely held together by the waistband. She was skinny, Maita had likened her to a Kpop star but at least the clothes looked on them. Nothing ever looked good on her. It was hot considering it was early in the morning. But of course, it would be hot. She was wearing a long sleeved maroon jersey with her school's logo on the breast area and it worsened the heat. She took when she was in her third year of high school that she was never, ever going to remove her jersey in order to cover her broad shoulders and flat chest.

"Itai!"

She turned her head to the sound of the voice, seeing Tarie make her way to her. "Good morning," she chirped. "Good morning, how are you?" she asked, watching the light colored girl wearily. Tariro, affectionately referred to as Tarie, was one of the popular girls in her stream sorely because of her light complexion which was yellow amidst all the brown. She wasn't attractive to be honest but welcome to Tsambe High School, where every 'yellowbone' is considered attractive. They were on friendly speaking terms but that was as far as their relationship went.

"So," she started. 'Here we go again,' Itai thought. "I heard that Maita got a boyfriend and you'll never believe who it is!" she squealed, almost trembling in excitement. She was about to shut her up but the shorter girl beat her to it. "It's Thembalami!" she exclaimed. The girl departed soon after her declaration, catching her group of friends which were walking ahead of them and leaving Itai gaping like a fish out of water. "What in the world," she breathed out as she tried to calm her erratic heartbeat. She would ask her best friend if these absurd rumors were true. There was no way that Maita and Thembalami would date, right?

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Itai was in 40, Maita was in 4M so she had to wait until break time to speak to her best friend. As soon as the bell rung, she was out of her classroom headed to the next classroom only to find the two people who had been plaguing her thoughts engaged in a conversation. She ignored the pang of betrayal and forced a smile on her face as she approached them. "Hey guys," she greeted, feeling her eyes water involuntarily. She only prayed that her tears didn't show. "Bestie," Maita squealed as she wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her tightly. Thembalami avoided her eyes as usual, though he did wave at her. "So the streets are saying you guys are dating," she started, watching each of their expressions carefully. Maita disengaged herself from her, going to stand beside the boy and grasped his free hand. "Yeah, it's true," she said, her eyes diverted to the side. "And I have to hear it from Tarie, the biggest gossip monger in our stream!" she seethed, hoping she wasn't being loud.

"I was going to tell you," the chubby girl said weakly. "When exactly? I think there's this thing called Whatsapp where we can communicate with each other. Or were you too busy with your new boyfriend to actually consider telling me?" she spat out, her voice as angry as she was. "Oh so I'm at fault for not telling you?" Maita shot back as she took a step forward. "Now now, girls. There's no need for you to-" Two pairs of brown eyes glaring at him shut him up. "You're overreacting," Maita pointed out. "I'm not overreacting, I'm hurt that I have to hear from someone," the other girl retorted. "You wanna know what I think? I think you're just being jealous," Maita sneered. "Jealous? How am I being jealous?" Itai was offended. Like seriously, how? "You're jealous that I'm the girlfriend of the only boy who ever had a crush on you," she shot. Itai gasped, feeling her eyes heavy with tears. But she was not going to cry. She never cried in front of other people, not even her parents. "Well, I'm sorry for bothering you," she spoke curtly as she brushed past them, making sure to send a glare to Thembalami who avoided her gaze as always.

She heard the whispers of the other Form 4 students, pointing fingers and secretly laughing as she walked past them. But not a single tear was in sight until she was at the abandoned place near the school grounds that a lone tear slid down her cheek as she munched on plain bread.

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It was after the lessons were over that Maita finally decided to confront her best friend. She saw the light colored girl walking down the stairs from the double storey block, her oversized backpack on her shoulders and head hung low. "Itai, wait up!" she called out as she rushed over to her as much as her stubby legs would take her. "Hey," the taller girl said weakly. "I wanted to apologize-" "There's no need. You were right, I was overreacting," she cut. "But I-" "It's okay Maita, I'm not mad or anything, honestly. I'm just surprised," Itai said as the two of them began walking home together. "Yeah, me too. I mean, I never expected him to get interested in me considering I'm your best friend and he used to have a crush on you. At first, I was freaked out but my heart eventually overrode any doubts I had," Maita spoke, her voice soft and affectionate. "Are you okay with us dating?" she asked as she looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "Of course, as long as you're happy, then so am I," she replied with a smile.

"Really? You're the best friend a girl can ever have," Maita beamed as she gave her a side hug. "Obviously, who else would keep up with an otaku like you?" she jested as she put the shorter girl in a headlock. The rest of the journey was filled with laughter and smiles as they discussed several different anime.

Unbeknownst to them, several pairs of eyes were focused on the duo.