#code: virus

A good long look in the mirror was all it took. My eyes traced my freshly brushed hair, swept over my shoulder in a wavy fashion. They finished following my hair and began to examine my face. The shape of my mouth, the curve of my nose, the outline of my jaw and the cheeks that rested on it. Finally, my eyes found themselves, like a creature who had seen its own reflection for the first time. My irises studied every marking, every long lash, every vein just barely visible in the whites. I took a deep breath, and grabbed my make-up bag. Today was almost the day I accepted my own natural face, when I could finally be comfortable in my own skin. Almost. I dabbed on the make-up carefully, watching my face in my mirror the entire time. Will Ulrich notice me today, I ask myself the routine question, before a voice in my head returned the routine answer, no. I imagined in my head, my hair cut short to my chin, and my eyes a bit thinner, my clothes darker. I saw her face and shut my eyes rapidly to push those thoughts out of my head. Then came the knock on the door. The dreaded morning welcome committee of two boys with nothing better to do with their lives but to cling to me. I regained my composure and the facade I could barely even tell was a facade anymore put up its shield in front of me, creating my face for the public as I opened the door. "What do you losers want?" I asked the acne-ridden one impatiently, tapping my foot in hopes they would understand the cue to leave. They didn't. The one I addressed started, stammering, but the neanderthal took over and stated simply, "We're here to walk you to school, Sissi!" His helplessly oafish grin caused a shudder up my spine, and while it was rather nice that someone in this village wanted to spend time with me, I wasn't going to school today. No excuse popped up in my head fast enough, and a migraine was already starting as I pondered having to spend all day dealing with any excuse I made. So I slammed the door on my two friends after telling them, "Walk yourselves today!" I paused and turned to lean my back against the door, arms crossed but ears perked. I caught the idiot asking the nerd what that was all about, and his companion responding that he had no clue, and that they should let me be. At least they knew when to let go. A ping in my chest told me that I had done something hurtful to them, but I had become so practiced in ignoring that feeling that it soon became suppressed. As their footsteps left my driveway, I journeyed back up the stairs to my room, picking up where I had left off in front of the mirror. Always in front of the mirror. Always judging the reflection. The glass shattered as my fist made impact on the likeness of my face. Red liquid dripped down the remaining bits and onto the pieces on the table, drip, drip, drop. There was no pain; there was no sting, no remorse for the destruction of what could be considered my most precious object. I tried my best to control my breathing, but I kept huffing, and puffing, like an angry wolf ready to slaughter the pigs. My eyes no longer saw themselves in the cracked reflection; they stared deep into the eyes of another, of a demon that lurked deep behind those sullen sockets. I silently thanked that my father was not home to hear the ruckus, and I retrieved some bandages he kept in the medicine cabinet across the hall, wrapping my knuckles. I'd have to hide my hand from view today. Flash Forward I spied him across the room, sitting by himself with no one to occupy the desk beside him. This opportunity doesn't come often, I reminded myself, and smiled a bit at the thought of him maybe acting pleasant with me today. I decided pleasantry was only earned, and I wandered across the room to talk to him, stopping in front of his desk. "Good morning, Ulrich," I cooed as politely as I could, adding a bit of a flirty tone to it. I kept my smile and watched him writing very studiously. Writing. Writing away. Not even an acknowledgment of my presence. I tried to greet him again, hoping to capture his attention. "Whatchya writin'?" He put down his pencil in such an aggravated way, it made me jump back a little in fear. But I regained my composure and matched my glare with his as he looked up at me. "Sissi, I don't have time for you, Go bother Nicholas or Herve, I'm sure they're dying to hear about your new earrings or whatever." He glanced out of the corner of his eye and I followed his gaze. The two boys who had come to my door earlier waved as I looked in their direction, and my face scrunched a bit as the realization that my only friends were those two dimwits. I turned back to Ulrich, who was writing again, and with more fury at that. "Hey," I protested, "All I did was say good morning and ask you a question!" What gave him the right to be so rude? I had to keep his attention, at the very least, before she arrived to class. But he cut me off before I could argue anymore. "Sissi, if you don't mind, I've actually got important things to pay attention to." What a thing to say. What a comment to make to someone who only wished for you to love them. I stood there, gawking at the smirked expression that he directed at his paper, but I knew was for me. "Haha! Good one Ulrich!" Oh no. I knew that voice anywhere. It came to claim the spot I walked over here for, and it sat in the chair beside Ulrich before I even had a chance to close my mouth. Della Robbia. The sick, childish, thorn in my side giggled his stupid little laugh and put his scrawny little arm around my Ulrich. Honestly, if Yumi weren't around, I would consider Odd to be my rival in love. As if his congratulating Ulrich for being snarky to me wasn't enough, he tried his hand at it too. "Hey, Elizabeth," oh, how I hated being called that! And he knew it, too, it was apparent in his little grin, a grin that was waiting for my response. My teeth gritted tight and my fists clenched, but I tried to keep mostly calm so he wouldn't experience the satisfaction of pushing my temper. He used his free hand to gesture to the empty desks in the back of the classroom, "Better take your seat before class starts, wouldn't wanna get detention! It might cut into your shopping time!" Of course he would say something like that loud enough for the whole class to hear. Such was the way of Odd. My peers erupted into one giant laughing fit, Odd's shrill voice ringing in my ears, and Ulrich's hearty chuckle sticking into my mind. No one wanted to stand up for me, so, as usual, I took it upon myself to try and take this spiky-haired demon down a notch. "You think you're so funny, Odd," I spat back in his face as the laughter died down, "but one day, one day you'll look back on all the times you've been rude to me, and you'll regret it! You'll wish you were never born!" The class rang dead silent as I flipped my hair in victory and gracefully strolled to an empty seat in the rear of the class. Legends of demons and mad scientists were the topic of whispers I could hear, and gazes in my direction told me I was included in the discussion. I didn't care, though. The thoughts in my head formed a voice, telling me that they were nothing but scum, and that they would get theirs, in the end. I ignored the lesson and listened to the plans it laid out to her, the ideas it gave her, the revenge it reminded her she longed to exact on those who'd wronged her.