Born Different

Chapter 9

She dragged herself out of bed. Her eyes were still puffy from last night, her head hurt and fatigue was gnawing at her.

Quickly putting on her uniform, she brushed through her hair and tied up her laces. Frowning at the mess she was making as she filled her bag with her books, the door to her room opened.

"You're going to be late." Aunt Tamar stated, inviting herself into the room.

"Yeah. Kinda woke up late." She gave a forced smile.

"Well, I packed you  lunch." She handed her a bag. "You should go tell your aunt goodbye."

Tamar seemed oblivious as to what had happened the night before. Good.

Taking the bag from her, she gave a grateful smile and exited the room, Tamar following close behind. She greeted a few guards as she stepped on the porch.

Mr. Henderson gave her a questioning look as she settled in the car. His eyes scanned her face and he raised an eyebrow. She pointedly avoided his gaze in response, not wanting to talk about it.

"I'll take it you don't want to talk about it. Good morning, Victoria."

"Good morning, Mr. Hemderson." She gave a small smile.

The revelation from yesterday crawled into her head and she was beginning to doubt her place in the house. She didn't deserve any of this - the luxury, the personal driver, the fancy dinners, the trips- she always felt out of place anyway and now it just all made sense. She'd always been a disappointment, a worthless child. Even her own parents didn't want her and hadn't made any attempts to see her for the past 16 years of her life.

The small drop of tear that fell from her eyes didn't escape the attention of Mr. Henderson. He turned towards her, concern filling his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated, she most probably didn't want to talk about this. Turning away he faced the road and slid the car into the school's parking lot.

"Here we are." He said when Victoria made no move to step out.

She blinked as though she'd been snapped out of a daze and picked up her lunch bag. She gave him a small wave and walked off.

The classroom was almost filled when she walked in. The  noise stopping for a moment when she stepped in before picking up again. They were getting used to her already, good.

"Hey albino." Someone shouted.

Or not.

"Yo weirdo. Aren't you tired of always being the odd one out? You really should go crawl into a hole and die."

Her aunt's words from the other night came crawling back again, this time haunting her haughtily.

Taking a sit at her usual seat, she placed her books on the table and tried to arrange the mess that was her bag. A stray tear escaped her eyes as the words continued tormenting her.

Someone pulled the chair beside her closer, "Hello Vicks."

Hurriedly wiping the tear from her eyes with her tie, she frowned down at her book with false concentration.

"Vicks?" Tj called again,voice seeping with concern.

"Oh hi Tj. I didn't see you there."

The break in her voice didn't escape Tj.

"Are you okay, Vicks?"

"I'm fine. Why ever would you think otherwise?" She gave an innocent look.

"You don't look fine."

"Well, I am." A hint of annoyance dripping from her voice.

"You're not okay." He stated, matter of factly.