As she stood before him, she felt silly, dumb, fumbling with her thin, long hands. Her inane acts had made him stare at her in awe probably. He was sitting amidst his three friends as usual, Joseph, Peter and Henry. One of them was reading a written letter to Isma'il while Isma'il looked on.

"God! Isma'il, I can't believe what I'm hearing." Peter chuckled.

Isma'il grinned revealing his perfect dentation. This happen all the time but what can he really do about it? Being the best athlete, most handsome boy in school, what more did he seek? He was attractive in an exquisite kind of way, his humid skin shone like an Egyptian Lord. He had been receiving letters from girls who had a crush on him. But this letter was different, it was a date letter.

"What's your name?" Isma'il asked the girl before him.

She fidgeted for awhile. "Meryl."

"You want me to go out with you on a date?" He turned round to cast his friends a meanful glare as they laughed in unison which he wasn't finding funny.

"No!..... I mean yes, it's something my friends and I had a bet on. I wanted to prove them wrong." She said calmly.

Isma'il's eyes nearly spooked out of his sockets. It was her boldness that alarmed him. Where did she come from? He could hear his friends slapping their stomachs in amusement.

Joseph gave Isma'il back the letter. "It's yours love, please accept it." He mickmicked Meryl's voice, dropping the letter into Isma'il's hands.

"Oh, shut up. All of you! It's not funny." Isma'il flared at them but that made them roar harder.

Meryl swallowed as she watched them mock her. She really wish that the ground would give way to her hiding.

"Do you actually think that he will go out with you? You?" asked Joseph.
"I don't know.......I ....." Meryl began to shutter.

"So you want me to go out with you?" Isma'il repeated the question quite struck at her audacity.Meryl slowly nodded.

"Will you look at that?" Joseph roared. "You will be the talk in the school's magazine. She is not even pretty."

Meryl swallowed again as she clasped her hands tightly.

"Stop. Do you think I will go out with her? Stop laughing." Isma'il had to stand on his feet. He was quite tall for a basketball player, although he wasn't planning on going the school team soon.

He reached for her hand which was soft and replaced the letter in it. "I'm not interested. You are not my type."
Her hands burned as his fingers brushed hers, her eyes became watering as his words hit her. His friends watched on, mocking in mumbled tones.

Joseph stood up, took the paper from her hand and tore it to shreds then sprayed them on her head. Meryl bit her lower lip to fight back the troubling tears.

"Know your place." Said Joseph as he followed his friends out.

*****

Meryl couldn't hold it anymore, she bursted into tears. It was just too painful. She must have looked so stupid. She heard footsteps running towards her, she was darn sure they were both Gladys and Joyce, her fake friends. Quickly, she wiped her face with the back of her hand, dusted the shreds from her body as they flew around her.

"How was it?" Meryl could hear sarcasm in Joyce's voice.

"It went fine." Meryl tried a smile.

"Hmmm, what's this on your head?"

Gladys picked up a shred from Meryl's head.

"Haa, what is this? He must have tore the letter." gasped Joyce recognising Meryl's handwriting then she glanced at Meryl.

"It wasn't him, it was one of his friends."

Gladys hissed. "What's the difference?"

Joyce was curious. "Who among them?" She wanted to know.

Meryl slowly turned to watch their faces, they were both alike. Were they really her friends? Why will they push her to this mockery? Both Joyce and Gladys were each from a wealthy family, both were fair and wore jewelries in their hairs. Poor Meryl lived with her mom who had recently lost her job. Luckily for Meryl, she was on a scholarship.

Meryl turned to go but Gladys grabbed her arm. "Where are you going? You should at least answer our questions." the corner of her mouth went up in a cunning smile.

"I don't think I need to." Meryl said to them.

Gladys cocked a brow, blew off an exhausted sigh then rolled her eyes.
"I just realized how stupid you guys make me feel. You guys knew this would happen, still, you persuaded me to do this."

"What are you talking about? We only told you the way out of your frustration. Aren't you glad that at least....."

"Frustration?" Meryl interrupted Joyce hardly believing her ears. "Really?"
"Of course! What are friends for?" Joyce smirked.

Meryl pulled her hand away bitterly , she hated them. She hated them. Then with one last look, she started to walk away. Joyce wanted to follow but Gladys stopped her.

"Leave her be." She said to Joyce.

"When she needs us, she will be back."

Leaving them, she found herself in the restroom, ignoring the bell that rang. She didn't feel like returning to her classroom. How would she face the rest of her classmates? She was sure her fake friends would have told the class about what had transpired. During her junior secondary school, she had a crush on Isma'il; that was how it started. Although she had kept it to herself, that was at least better. Then, she had no friends to call her own but it was far better. She graduated into senior class, met Gladys and Joyce and her life began a new change.

She told them about her feelings for Isma'il who was in his last year in senior school. She knew that she wasn't his spec but her friends had pushed her into confessing her feelings for him. She was tall, slender with a fine fair skin. Her face was finely structured but she had a mouth like that of a rabbit. Her lips found it hard to cover up her mouth. Sometimes, her teeth hung out on top of her lower lip which almost made her looking plain.
She stared at the school's year's book in her hand. On the front cover was Belinda Isaac, Isma'il's girlfriend. She was completely stunning, her skin tone was out of this world, it was true that she might be an outcast. When she walked, she catwalked like a model, her long legs was definitely sculptured by a sculptor. Belinda was the same age as Isma'il who was eighteen.

Meryl stared back at her horrid reflection. She hated herself. If only she could be like like Belinda Isaac who was famous for her beauty, or Joyce who had natural golden hair, or Gladys who had the perfect mouth. She glanced back at Belinda's profile as a tear fell down her eyes. She heaved heavily and covered her face in her hands as the tears rushed down in torrents. Thoughts of how she was humiliated by Isma'il rushed back that she suddenly felt like she wasn't God's creation, there must have been a mistake while she was being created.
The toilet's door opened and a girl who had on red ribbons in her hair walked in. One would think she was in kindergarten. Meryl quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as she noticed the girl's prying eyes on her.

"You're far too gorgeous for all of this. Do not condemn yourself for this anymore." Meryl said to her reflection as soon as the other girl left the toilet. She nodded at herself, congratulating herself for her perfect smile. When she was done, she made for the door.