Luna by accident

Grace POV I always thought of myself as an average girl, the one who never stands out. In a  room full of people I was never the one to capture gazes. While eyes avoided me,  whispers always followed me around. I never knew if it was my wild hair, weird things that seem to be happening around me lately, the fact that I’ve always had a book or two in my arms or  that I’ve never tried to fit in; but people always talked about me. When I say that I’ve never tried to fit in, I mean that I’ve stopped trying a long time ago. I’ve learned to live with loneliness, but somewhere deep inside of me, a small girl still cried over the fact that no one wanted to be her friend.  I remember the excitement I felt when I started to go to school. I was almost six and kindergarten was all I’ve been talking about for weeks. Since we’ve moved a year before; I haven’t had any friends - it was just my mom, dad and me. I’ve missed the playground near our house in the town we’ve lived in before, I've missed the sun, but more than anything, I’ve missed my best friend. It’s funny how I don’t even remember his name anymore but almost every night I dream of his eyes, jade green with tiniest golden freckles. It’s the only thing I remember and everytime I wake up, I feel like a piece of my soul is missing.  Anyway, the first day of school arrived and by the end of the day I didn’t have just one friend, I’ve had three - Sam and Jo, two blond twins, and their neighbour and best friend Nicola.   About the same time, my parents started to take me on roadtrips almost every weekend. Sometimes we went hiking, sometimes skiing, during the summer we would paddle and swim. It seemed they were on a mission to teach me everything nature related there was to be known.  It’s been almost two months since the beginning of the school when we’ve stayed at home for the weekend. Jo, Sam and Nicola always had playdates during the weekend and this was the first time we were supposed to have one at my house. I was excited because our house was at the outskirts of the town we’ve lived in, we’ve had a stream and woods right behind the house and I even had a treehouse. I was hoping to have the most adventurous weekend of my life but instead, I’ve got the taste of what my life will look like for the next fifteen years.  The girls never showed up and on Monday, and when we were back in school,  they pretended they didn't even know me. Few days later, other kids started to avoid me too. For the next few years, I’ve spent my time between trying at school for someone to like me, and crying at home because I couldn't understand why everyone hated me.  On my ninth birthday I’ve given up.  Third grade had actually begun great. I was out of town during the summer -  my parents decided to travel for almost ten weeks. Most of the time we’ve spent hiking and I’ve never been happier. From my earliest memories woods and mountains felt like home. There was always unexplained pull to walk deeper and deeper into their beauty and being able to do just that for weeks made me forget about the loneliness and isolation in school.  Anyway, upon the beginning of the school year, things finally started to feel normal. I didn’t start to fit in overnight, but kids would join me during the lunch break and I actually had some company.  Fast forward to November 23rd, mine ninth birthday. I’ve invited a few people I’ve spent most of the free time with, they all promised to come and they haven’t shown up. On Monday, in front of the school, there was a welcome committee.  I was walking towards the entrance when all of a sudden I was pushed from behind. I fell and while I was trying to get up I was pushed again. “Butterface thought she could have friends!” Jo said from somewhere behind me.  I was pushed again. “Fat bitches don’t have friends” Sam's voice added. I was pushed then insulted. Pushed then insulted. Other kids started to gather and nobody was trying to help. Ofcourse, Nicola was there as well, filming everything with her phone. More phones were pulled out, more insults were thrown at me. With each word anger grew within me. Weird tingling started to crawl over my skin and all of the sudden, I couldn't stand it anymore. The pushing, the insults, it was too much. I slammed my hands against the floor and screamed: “Stoooop!” The burst of energy I’ve never felt before surged from me. All of the phones the kids were filming me with flew to the wall and smashed. The School's front door slammed shut. The last thing I remember was shock on everybody's faces. I woke up in my room and saw my father holding my crying mother. She was in his arms, sobbing quietly. When they realized I was awake, they hugged me and my father whispered in a broken voice: “ You are the strongest, most special girl in the world. You gotta stay strong, don’t let them break you. They will regret one day every ugly word they’ve said. I only hope you’ll be able to find forgiveness for us, for the fact that we’ve failed to protect you.” After  that, in school, no one dared to talk to me. I had no idea what happened that day but the general opinion was that I was the cause of door slamming, breaking phones and all the other stuff that happened that day. I like i've said, I was avoided like a plague, no one talked to me unless required for certain assignments, but the whispers.. Oh, they never stopped.  I became a dreamer,  convinced that one day my life will become a complete opposite. If only I knew.