Created this story from a Rarity bully thread. It's not all edited together and the story is written in a way that has several jumps in the timeline, so just be aware of that. >You looked up from your book, startled by the sound of the door swinging open, then closed. >She hadn't noticed you yet, sitting in the dark corner of the janitor's closet. >But you noticed her >She had tear stains carving a path down her white cheeks, darkened with her mascara. >Her lower lip was trembling, and her eyes were misty >If it were anymore obvious that the girl, whose name you did not know, had been upset, there would've been a sign hanging above her head. "H-hello" >she jumped, turning towards you with wide, glistening eyes and a shocked look. >Through the tears and a choked, thick voice she managed to return your greeting. >You were about to say something, though perhaps not, you wanted to say something >anything. Maybe to get her to stay >so you wouldn't be alone >again >It was too late, she was already out the door by the time you opened your mouth >of course >what would a girl want with you? >You were ugly, short, unappealing >she was tall and beautiful >So you shuffle back into your corner, shoulders hunched forward >Back to your book >Back to a life of pretending in the make believe worlds that every story offered >trying to feel at least a little better >Because you were alone >And not even a girl, bullied and teased, would spend more than mere seconds in your presence >You sigh >Best get back to reading. >It's the only thing you're good at. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >She was laughing, now >Sitting at the table across the lunch room, surrounded by friends >It seemed only moments ago that she had run into your closet >but months had passed >She had been accepted, much like a fish to water, into those like her >Popular, beautiful... Socialites. >You didn't speak to her, and she didn't even noticed you >Which was to be expected >Despite that, despite meeting for only a moment, it hurt that she would abandon you >You turn away, stalking away from her table and towards the one that you always occupied >it was the farthest one away and the most isolated >Perfect for you >Perhaps it was your lack of attention, but a blonde boy whose name you couldn't recall, managed to trip you >Your shirt was covered in food, the milk carton that had fallen under you exploded against your stomach >It was silent for a moment >Before they started laughing >Laughing, Laughing. >Even her >You turned back, getting a glimpse of the girl >She was laughing at you >You stand up, ignoring the tears that threatened to spill down your face >She should know how this feels, but she continues to laugh >You hear a joke from across the lunch room, yelled out by a boy at least in junior year "Try not to come back and shoot the place up! Crybaby!" >his friends laughed >You run, straight out of the lunchroom >After a few turns, you stumble into the closet you had long since claimed as yours >A small library, carefully gathered over time, was sitting on the shelf that it always was >You pull out a book at random, and begin reading >Trying to forget >Forget the tears streaming down your cheeks >Forget her face... >Laughing at you >Laughing at the clown. The fool. The circus freak. >You ignore this, trying to stifle the sobs that tried to escape >You ignore it, and continue reading >Her smile on your mind >It was beautiful. Even if it was directed at you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >She passed by the closet, falling silent amidst a raucous tail of fun and frivolity. >She remembered clearly the man inside, and knew that he would be there >He was always there >She felt remorse, for laughing at him like she had, just days ago >The image of the man looking up from his book, a shocked look on his face replayed in her mind >She was terrified of him >Not because he was ugly, or short, or fat >No, because he was a different sort of person >She looked in his eyes, managed to catch a glimpse of someone who could empathize with her. >It had started her >It was not fake, much like the ever-precarious friends she was walking with >The genuine look of longing for any kind of contact seemed to scream at her from him >But it was not to be >Too shocked to react as she should, she fled >She was a coward in that way. More than happy to pretend, yet being unable to face reality >The "friends" who had once been her bullies beside her were this way, yet they didn't have the self realization that she did >Despite the self realization, she was still a coward >She would and could not give up her position in this group of friends, for one who would need her most >Quantity, it seemed, ruled her life over quality >She thought about the man everytime she walked past his closet >Was he nice? Mean? Angry? >It didn't matter >He seemed real, like an ordinary man in a fairy tale >The odd one out, who was alone in his endeavors >It hurt her to think that he was alone >Yet she was a coward >She was pulled back away from the closet by the girls who were walking next to her >Perhaps one day she would approach him >But until then, she hoped he was okay ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Her damned smile! >It kept you up at night >Everything about her could captivate you >Even when she laughed at you, along side the others. >Yet it was not to be >You were the Hunchback to her Esmeralda, and the Beast to her Beauty >But this was no fairy tale >And you knew you would have no happy ending >You rubbed a hand down your face, trapped in the small space of your closet that reeked of disinfectant and chemicals >Even the abrasive stench did little to assuage your feelings >She would not leave your mind, no matter what you did >You shouldn't think of her, shouldn't even be near to her! >She was the damsel in distress, and you an ogre looking on as the Knight rescues her from the bullies >You let your imagination run wild... >Of what you would have said to her, given the chance... >Yet even your imagination ran afoul of reality, for you could only imagine rejection. >As a friend, or something more, it didn't matter >She was the definition of beauty, and you, ugliness >Both inside and out. >You had noticed her glancing at you in the halls from time to time >You refused to meet her eye, determined to not make a fool out of yourself by giving her a reason to torment you >Should she do that, though >She didn't torment you like the others >You end your thoughts, confident that perhaps one day you can erase her from your memory >Life was, and is, so much simpler the way you've always lived it. >Alone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >She stared at him from across the lunchroom >Her "friends" tittered and chattered together all around her, yet her focus was on him. >He ate alone, a sandwich in one hand, a book in the other >It seemed that's how he always was >So focused on a book, he was ignorant to everything else. >She smiled softly. >Her ruby lips, colored by her preferred brand of lipstick, stretched across her face whenever she looked at him. >It was inexplicable, they hadn't even talked >Yet... >He was so different >Perhaps it was simply the mystery of the unknown >Perhaps it was because he had never bullied her, had never even talked to her... >There was something about him that resonated within her ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >She was staring again >You noticed it out of the corner of your eye >She always stared at you, a smile on her face >She was laughing at you, of course. >You knew there could be no other explanation. >What would she smile at you for? >The both of you had yet to exchange a word >You flipped a page, and bit into your sandwich >Tuna. Gross. >You glanced up again, turning your attention away from your book for the time being >She was still smiling >The girl next to her was telling her something >Laughing at you, no doubt >The school freak >You couldn't take it anymore >Her fucking smile wouldn't go away, even if you didn't look at her >Your book snapped shut and was quickly stored away in your backpack >You threw the rest of your lunch away in a nearby trashcan, and hightailed it out of the lunchroom. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >He was leaving >She let a frown crease her forehead, though, only a small one "Is everything alright, Rarity?" >She turned her head to look at her friend, if she could actually call her that >The girl talking to her, a concerned look on her face, had been the start of her bullying >She let the frown go "Yes, yes of course, darling." >She turned away, now unconcerned. >Rarity bit her lip in thought >The girls next to her, surrounding her, had made her feel worthless. Pathetic. >Yet despite that, she was too bound by her life and personality >So she suffered in silence, surrounded by snakes >She felt like she didn't have any friends, despite being surrounded by those that claimed to be hers >She twiddled her thumbs absentmindedly. >It was true what they said >Feeling alone in a crowd was even worse than being alone >And she was >Despite her glamour, popularity, even her beauty >It was all fake >They had tormented her, true >But now they were doing something even worse >They made her feel what she was >Alone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >You were back in your sanctuary. >The closet, full of the harsh scent of chemicals >cobwebs in every corner >crowded, barely big enough for two people >Yet it was all you had >It was yours, and yours only. >That's how you liked it >At least, that's what you told yourself. >You breathed in the deeply. The familiar scent of the chemicals burning your nose and throat. >You think back to the cafeteria >She's on your mind again. >It seems she always is. >You can feel your heart race whenever you think of her >Her soft, porcelain skin, Flawless. >The smile she has, even when she was laughing at you. >You close your eyes, relaxing in the silence and stillness of your closet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >She stood outside of the closet, a hesitant look on her face. >Her hand rested on the knob >Her feet shifted nervously >This was it >She was going to do it >She was going to march in there >Apologize >And demand he come sit with her in the lunchroom >Yet... >Rarity took her hand off the knob >Who the hell was she trying to fool? >She was fake >All of her >From her smile, to her face covered in makeup >She was a clown without the big red nose. >A jester that danced to the strings of other's tunes, for that was her life. >Rarity turned away, a grief-stricken look on her face >She schooled her features >The girls were waiting for her >She couldn't keep them waiting >It would be rude. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >The sun shone brightly, covered partially by fluffy, white clouds >The football field was in full swing, re-purposed for the celebratory day >You take it all in, hunched over in between a pair of boys >In a neat, orderly line. Rank and file >Your eyes scan the crowd. So far no sight of your parents, but that was to be expected >Your eyes drift up to the stage in front of you, less than fifty feet away. >Graduation day >You had never felt so many emotions >Sadness >The best years of your life, or so they say, were over >what a depressing thought >Anger >At the very men and women you stood in between >Trepidation >There was no way to tell what was going to happen after >Your parents were successful, yes, but you were hardly like them. >Regret >She stood several people in front of you >She wasn't laughing with her friends, nor looking around for her loved ones >She was simply staring straight ahead. >Despite being covered in a black robe, her hair hidden mostly under her graduation cap, she was still beautiful >Yet you had not approached her >What would you say? Without sounding desperate and creepy, that is >You blew out a breath through your nose >Soon you would graduate, and leave this school >She would be gone from your life >And you would get back to the way you lived life before. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Rarity stared dispassionately at the back of the head in front of her >She couldn't believe she had actually made it >Graduation day >There could be no more special event in her life at the moment >Though that thought couldn't spare her >She had been a fool >She had squandered the chance she had been given >Rarity had never approached him >Never sought true, genuine friendship >Never been genuine in her entire life. >It made her angry, so unbearably angry with herself >She wanted to cut the strings that bound her >Yet when the opportunities came, she had never taken them >Like a fool. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >There would be no redemption for the one who did not take their chance >She bit her tongue to stop the tirade that threatened to leave her >Rarity shuffled forward with the crowd >A doll among the crowd. >There was a bitter taste in her mouth when she imagined it >Her urge to spit, to try and clear the taste, was staved off by her image >As much as she wanted to change... >She couldn't >She couldn't change >Doomed to a life of a porcelain doll >forever to sit on her shelf, and watch others play >Rarity's face screwed up into a grimace for a moment >She was pathetic ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >You had just graduated. >After hands had been shook >greetings from barely acquaintances >and a feeling of dread. >You had left the football stadium moments after receiving your diploma >The party you had hoped would be thrown was instead replaced with what you were used to >an empty house >You had never felt more alone, despite four years of ridicule, than you did at this moment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >She fixed her hair in the mirror without a thought >It was nearly robotic in it's actions now >Yet despite that, it had always brought her joy >Not this time >She couldn't get the thought of her friends out of her mind >They had bid her farewell at around two am, after a party filled with the debaucheries of youth >Even with the party Rarity had accepted that there was nothing that could be done >She was alone, now >The porcelain doll set up on the shelf >Never to be touched >Always pointed at, called pretty, and left alone once more >She pulled a strand of hair through her brush one final time, and stared at herself in the mirror >Perfect, as always. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Her scent intoxicates you >The sweet smell of lavender and lilacs drifts to your nose as you hold her close >Finally, the both of you had reconciled >She liked you back >You brush back her hair, gently so as not to disturb the carefully coiffed mane >You felt it filling your being >Happiness >It radiated from your heart, a soft, soothing burn spreading through your body >You close your eyes in contentment >You two are embraced on her couch >Nothing lewd, just a hug between friends. >Friends. >You smiled at the thought >The very idea of it made the world a little brighter >Rarity pulled away from you, her lips slightly pursed. >"Anon..." >You were trying to respond >But your breath caught in your throat >She was gorgeous >And then >You wake up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >You heart pounded in your chest as you sat up >It was dark out still >Barely past midnight, you guessed >Your mind lingers on the dream >It had felt so real >You had actually felt her in your arms >Saw her with your own eyes >You looked to the other side of the bed >A stack of pillows, vaguely in the shape of a human >The thing you sleep with at night >It didn't compare to a real, human body >But it was the best you had >You rubbed at your forehead, trying to get her image out of your mind >A growing sense of bitterness filled your mouth >Just face it, you told yourself, you're a no-name >A loser >How would a girl like that ever bother with a guy like you? >You laid back down >Though you wouldn't get much sleep >She was still on your mind