Armani

I am the kind of girl who everyone feared, the kid with the most cash in their hand, the one who people would kill to be,

the mean girl,

the prom queen,

the one who was worshipped by most,

the pretty girl and,

the bully.

Now I could go on talking about myself, but right now I was nothing but a nobody.

Most people my age struggled with finding their identity, I always pitied them. I always knew who I was, and what I was gonna do in this world, I knew that to succeed, I would have to be on top, no matter the cost. 

That was until my mother lost her job. 

The cash which I used to flaunt so proudly around disappeared within a blink of an eye, and before you know it, I was packing to leave my boarding school.

Quinton boarding school had been my home ever since I was packed off from Seabridge Junior high. 

When my mom got a job as an executive manager at a prestigious company in another country, she felt the need for her two children to be in a reputed school. This led my sister and me to an over the top boarding school in Switzerland.

Quinton was unlike anything I ever experienced, they used to actually promote being competitive and aggressive with your competition. I remember what principal Margret told us in an assembly during my first days;

"This school is reputed for the great scholars it produces, many of the finest minds have been in the exact same position you are in right now, they decided to aim for the best. Now you either be the greatest or nothing at all."

My mind came back to reality as I folded my clothes and kept them in my suitcase. I continued packing when I heard a knock on the door.

Strange. 

I decided to ignore it since I was pretty sure that it was my mom trying to help me pack. "Not now, mom," I shouted. 

The knocking abruptly stopped and, I heard footsteps walking away, confirming that it was my mom. I looked around and realized that I was sweating like crazy. I went and lowered the thermostat and returned. 

My camera was still not packed yet, so I decided that until my water heats up, I would go through my pictures. In most of the photos, it was just my friends, and I. No-one here was actually my friend. Sure they used to celebrate my victories and birthday's with me, but deep down inside, they were all jealous of me. Well, nobody got on top making friends. 

I would have to leave Quinton in 3 hours, so I decided to take a long shower before my flight. I went to my washroom and looked around to see scented candles and face masks all around. 

No, I am not the fool who actually bought them. My irritable roommate thinks matching her aesthetics to her bathroom supplies is an actual trend. Since she was filthy rich, it wouldn't bother her if one of the packets of her bubble salts goes missing.

 I threw in the purple color salts into the almost boiling tub of water and decided to enter the bathtub. The water was sympathetic and comforted my overbearing mind and helped relax my body.

 I heard a loud noise outside my door that disrupted my thoughts. A knock. Knowing who it was, I yelled from the bathtub: "Not right now, mom." My mother is the most inconsiderate person in the world. She didn't even care that I would have to shift my whole life across the globe. The only thing she cares about is money. She could easily afford Quinton's fees if she sold one of her many expensive beach houses but, no. She feels tanning in the Bahamas is more important than quality education, just like any thoughtful mother would. 

Finishing up the bath, I dried myself with the soft towel and put on my pink, fluffy bathrobe. I opened my bathroom door and went to my room. After quickly dressing, I proceeded to pack my suitcase in and felt the heat on my skin. I could feel myself getting hotter and hotter. I rushed to the thermostat and found the temperature to be at 39-degree Celcius.Jesus. I changed it to a cooler temperature and walked away baffled. Just before bathing, I had lowered the temperature on the thermostat, how did it get so high?. 

Leaving it to be a manufacturing default, I returned to my bedroom when I noticed a pink envelope on my bed. I grabbed the letter and opened the cheap envelope. The paper had a different scent like it had been sprayed with cologne, Armani. I remember my dad used to always wear Armani because he felt that was the best cologne in the business.  

No, he is not dead, I just haven't seen him in a long time. After my parents got divorced, My mother took full custody of us only because she wanted the money for child support from my father. Since then, he has been so fed up with our family. He never comes to visit us and is too busy making memories with his new family. Once I tried calling him from Quinton, and his wife picked up his phone. All my emotions had built up to such an extent that I started shouting foul words at her. 

She didn't shout back. She listened to every word I said, and from then onward, she would call me every week to see if I was doing alright. She was the only person in my life who I considered my friend. I have a stronger bond with my father's wife: Sarah than my own blood mother.

I snapped back to my senses and decided to read the letter, I was pretty sure that my stepmom was playing a prank on me. But what piqued my curiosity was the symbol stuck to seal the envelope. It was the logo of my previous school: Seabridge, which I was returning back to. I opened the letter, and a puzzle piece fell from it. I scoffed and threw it in the dustbin. My eyes immediately caught the attention of the back of the puzzle when I threw it. I looked closer, and there was a word written on it. "Cupcake." My whole mind went blank.

 The main reason I loved Quinton school so much was that it guarded me against Seabridge. Seabridge was a school where I was bullied every day because of my body. I was body shamed and called a cupcake since I was full of fat. The words were too much for a sensitive younger me, and the Quinton school seemed like a ray of hope.

Although I felt myself getting angrier, I decided to keep the puzzle piece. I looked back at the letter. It said 2 simple words:

"Miss me?"

My mind started panicking, thinking about my old school. For some reason, I felt unsafe at that moment like, I was gonna be attacked. I looked around, thinking someone was in my room and felt a buzz from my phone. A text. I opened my phone quickly to see if my mother was outside or to check if my stepmom was pranking me. But instead, I got a text from an unknown number.

"Cute room, But I prefer blue."