The Social Misfit

Chapter Two

At first, staying home felt like a break.

Mina thought about all the things she could finally do without worrying about school. No waking up early. No rushing to get dressed. No sitting in a classroom for hours.

But she quickly learned that being home all day wasn’t as exciting as she imagined.

Classes moved online, but Mina didn’t have a device of her own.

There was only one laptop in the house.

Her brother used it most of the time, keeping it in his room with him. If Mina needed to attend a lesson or submit an assignment, she had to knock on his door and ask.

Sometimes he would let her use it.

Sometimes she had to wait.

And sometimes she spent hours hoping he would finish whatever he was doing.

“Please, I have class soon,” she would say.

“Just wait a little,” he would reply.

So Mina waited.

While other students chatted with their friends after class, shared funny moments, and stayed connected online, Mina was often alone.

She slowly became used to silence.

The friends she used to see every day became people she only heard from occasionally. Without a phone or a way to easily keep in touch, their conversations faded little by little.

At first, Mina didn’t think much of it.

Everyone was going through the same thing.

But as the months passed, the world outside her home continued moving forward while Mina felt stuck in the same place.

Her days became repetitive.

Wake up.

Attend class.

Wait for the laptop.

Eat.

Sleep.

Repeat.

She spent more time sitting around, moving less than before, and finding comfort in food during the long, boring days.

She wasn’t trying to become someone different.

She didn’t even realize it was happening.

But slowly, the girl who once laughed loudly with her friends began becoming quieter.

And when schools finally announced they would reopen, Mina should have been excited.

Instead, she felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

Fear.