One Shots

Nowadays, I can think back on the time when I thought looks were everything, and laugh at my stupidity. High-school was a time when everyone felt as thought they had to fit in to certain cliques and scenes, if you will. No one wanted to be the outcast. And yet, I went from 'Miss Popularity', to 'Social Outcast' in just one day. And it was all because I met him.
Let's go back to the day I met the one who changed my life shall we?

***

"Matilda, get your butt downstairs now." My sister called out to me.

"Why?" I asked.

"I want you to meet a friend of mine." She stated; I could almost picture her rolling her bright blue eyes at me.

"Why exactly do I want to meet this friend?" I asked, zipping up my denim miniskirt and fixing the thin layer of eyeliner going around my green eyes.

"Ugh, just come meet him." she sighed.

"Fine," I started the walk down the stairs and stopped when I reached the bottom.

"Hi, my name's Alex." He smiled, flashing his white teeth.

"I'm Matilda." I stated, flicking my long blonde hair and walking into the kitchen.

I searched through all the cupboards before sighing in realization that there were no lucky charms left. That is one of the things people don't know about me - I am practically in love with lucky charms. It may seem childish, but they are sort of a 'safety blanket' if you will. I know that no matter what, I can always rely on my lucky charms to comfort me in my time of need.

"What are you looking for?" Alex asked, frowning.

"Lu- nothing," I sighed.

I walked back up the stairs to my room and took out my iPod.
Another thing people didn't know about me is I love rock music. I only listened to that hip-hop crap because I felt I had to if I wanted to keep my reputation. I turned on one of my favourite songs - Unholy Confessions - Avenged Sevenfold.
I whispered the words to the song and closed my eyes, admiring the amazing solo's by Synyster Gates, the rhythm guitar mixing harmoniously with the solo's thanks to Zacky Vengeance, the drums by The Reverend Tholomew Plague keeping the beat, the catchy bass riffs by Johnny Christ, and to top it all off, the amazing, eargasmic voice of the one and only M.Shadows.
I looked up quickly, as I noticed a shadow looming over me, I took out the headphones after pausing the song and sighed.

"Can I help you?" I asked, agitated.

"Sorry, but I love that song." Alex smiled. "I didn't think you'd be the type to listen to Avenged Sevenfold."

I sighed, realising this boy knew one of my darkest secrets. He could ruin my reputation in the blink of an eye. I just sincerely hoped he wouldn't.

"I'm not. Well, I shouldn't be anyway." I sighed. "Please don't tell anyone." I pushed a loose strand of my blonde hair behind my ear. "I don't want my reputation ruined."

"Your reputation wont matter once you leave school, Matilda. It won't matter if you were the outcast or prom queen. Status isn't everything. Just remember that." He gave a small wave as he walked out of my room, shutting the door gently behind him.

I sighed, and placed the white earphones back in my ears and closed my eyes as the familiar sounds of Avenged Sevenfold washed over me, and Alex's words ran through my mind, over and over again.

***

So, there you have it. The day I met the guy who would later come to change my life.
After that day, I kept thinking back to what he said to me. 'Status isn't everything'.
And, little did I know, he was right. For weeks and months after I met him, those words haunted me. All I could think of was the fact that when I left high school, it wouldn't matter if I was the nerd, the popular girl, the normal girl, the outcast or anything. Almost 3 months after I met Alex, I noticed changes in myself.
I found myself starting to hate being the 'perfect' girl.

***

"Why aren't you wearing pink for our pink day?" a clone asked me, after looking my outfit up and down, a disapproving look in her eyes - I was wearing a grey denim miniskirt and a plain red tank top.

"Because I don't feel like it," I retorted.

She stared at me with a shocked expression and a fake gasp.

"You're kidding right?" she stared at me.

"Does it look like I'm kidding?" I stared right back.

"Well, I" she started and trailed off, tucking a piece of her bleach blonde hair behind her ear and blinking her bright blue eyes before walking off with a high pitched 'humph' And a flick of her hair.

After walking to my locker, I walked into the girls' bathroom and stared at my reflection. After a couple of minutes, I looked away, having the urge to smash the mirror and my reflection along with it. I decided to turn back though, and pulled out my eyeliner pencil. I applied a thicker line around my eye and smudged it ever so slightly. I smiled in satisfaction. I then looked to my perfect blonde hair and snared at it. I undid the neat little bun it was in and let it hang around my shoulders, a little ruffled up. Looking in the mirror, I was happier with my reflection; and more importantly I was a little happier with who I was. I took off my white flip-flops and put on my red converse instead, then left the confines of the girls' bathroom. Even though when I left the bathroom, I was faced with stares and whispers; I held my head up high and ignored them, finally realising that Alex's words were true; and decided that I wanted to be ME, not who THEY wanted me to be.

***

It wasn't easy at first, putting up with the teasing and all that, but it was easier than being something I wasn't. Being the popular girl meant I had to be perfect everyday. I wasn't allowed to have a bad hair day; I wasn't even allowed to have one hair out of place. My make-up had to be perfect, my outfit had to be perfect and include at least one pink thing. But as soon as I realised Alex was right, I changed for the better. Though, the other popular girls probably think it was for the worst.
Alex and I have become very good friends and I've made more true friends. I'm over the fake friends I used to have; but even more importantly than that, I'm over the fake ME.