An unexpected setback

The late afternoon, September sun blazed through the windows as I walked along the corridor. Even with autumn colors beginning to grace the leaves of the trees outside, at this time of day the touch of summer could still very much be felt. I found my footsteps slowing, as I stopped beside one of the windows, basking in the warm sunlight. I could see the perfectly manicured lawn outside through the glass, before my eyes refocused, and my own reflection appeared.

The face of a pretty and pure looking eighteen year old Asian girl, her button nose and flawless skin, and that unmistakable youthful radiance. Her lips curled into a smile as my gaze dipped down lower, seeing the school blazer and cardigan, the short skirt and the thigh high socks that terminated in cute girl’s loafers.

My breasts were small, as my adorable little hands grasped them with a satisfying sensation, but even having boobs of any kind filled me with a strange, pervy energy that felt rather euphoric.

I wonder… if this is how I feel in Annie’s skin, how will it feel when I’m inside Victoria?

Thoughts of that blonde rich bitch with the perfect body and a life that’d been enhanced in every way by unlimited wealth spurred me to hurry to the detention classroom, a twisted enthusiasm spurring my legs to move faster.

Or at least, they did until I ran into Victoria and two of her posse, walking in the other direction. I slowed down, confusion crossing my face as they breezed past me, laughing and chatting amongst themselves as though I wasn’t even there.

“Victoria? Aren’t you going to detention?”

The silence that followed seemed absolute and deafening, as Victoria stopped and her sycophants tried to stop faster.

“Uhmm, I’m sorry, did either of you two hear something?”

“No, nothing Victoria.”

“Just the wind, really.”

“Hmpf, well it seemed to be like I heard the buzz of an ugly, little, mosquito. Isn’t that right…”

She turned on her hell now to face me, seemingly savoring the pause in her sentence.

“… Annie?”

“You… you know my name?”

I could feel the genuine surprise from Annie’s personality, as I merely said the first thing that came to her mind.

“Don’t think it makes you more than a pest. Really, I only found it out today. And before I just thought they gave you people numbers.”

She laughed, a loud, yet melodious taunt, as her minions joined in. I could see a self-satisfied look of confidence radiate from her, not even like a predator playing with food; rather more like a sadist, tormenting their victim for personal enjoyment and nothing else.

“You’re meant to go to detention. You were told in class.”

Now she just laughed even harder, the sounds of mirth from her and her cronies echoing down the corridor.

“Oh. Oh, that’s too funny. You mean all that ‘No one is above the rules’ crap? Give me a break!”

She was almost struggling to speak between her laughter now, only just managing to get it under control.

“Mr. Laithwaite must be more of a stupid himbo than I thought if that’s what he really thinks. Doesn’t he know the whole deal with this school? Doesn’t he know who its students are?”

I just raised an eyebrow as I took in her little speech, letting her continue.

“We’re all above the rules. Especially me, obvi. I think it’s known that I’m the queen around here for a reason. Well…”

And now her laughs tapered down, incredulous cheer becoming more predatory and twisted.

“… I suppose nearly all of us are above the rules. After all, there are some students here, who really don’t quite belong. Some sad, pathetic little students, who really should be back in the swamps and the ghettos and the ugly little places that were custom made for them. Wouldn’t that be the case, Annie? Really now, what are you still doing here?”

“Hu-huh…?”

I wasn’t even sure how to react, the casual, almost effortless brutality of her words stinging Annie and stinging me inside her.

“Well, I suppose there’s no harm in you heading off to detention, is there? If you have to be somewhere in this school, a simulated jail makes the most sense. Try not to steal something off the walls to pay your rent or whatever. And, oh wait, one last thing. Detention is a place for thinking about what you’ve done wrong, right? Well, why don’t you take some time to think what gave you the right to rake your dirty little eyeballs across me. How arrogant you had to be to even look at me.

I’m better than you Annie, in every single little way. And it really doesn’t matter how hard you try to work, or struggle, or whatever you want to put each hour of your insignificant little life into. I’ll always, always, always be more successful and rich than you. Think about it, why don’t you?”

She turned on her heel with a laugh, the snickering of the three of them turning to full laughs as they walked away, leaving me stunned.

I… I can’t believe her…

I knew from Annie’s memories that this was how Victoria could carry on. Everytime I thought about her, through the lens of those stolen memories, I could see her character. But experiencing it firsthand, now that was something different.

Negative emotions burst forth, the static freeze imposed by shock bursting as the damn of unrestricted feeling tore through them. Anger, at being so effortlessly disrespected. Shame, from Annie and myself, at being eternally deemed an undeserving lesser in a system that gave an awful girl like Victoria status and praises. Self-loathing, over not being able to say the right thing in the moment, not being able to stand up for myself.

A million ideas of snappy comebacks flew through my mind, the cruel mockery of hindsight bringing forth so many other worlds where I’d looked cool, or brave, or smart, or had otherwise come out a winner from that conversation. Why did they always arrive too late to be of any help? Why did they just leave me with a feeling of self-loathing, eternally kicking myself inside for not being better?

The bitter sting of my pride hurt even worse because of something else; another facet of that conversation that elevated the suffering I felt. Victoria wasn’t bullying Annie. Not all the way. Their relationship lacked that twisted, awful intimacy, the knowledge that Victoria had deemed Annie her personal, special target. No, what made it all the worse was knowing that Victoria truly meant it when she said Annie was nothing more than a pest to her. Within a day or two Victoria wouldn’t remember Annie’s name, and those cruel words had all just been the earnest and easy expression of how Victoria viewed all those lower than her, and especially those who lacked wealth.

The injustice of it all mingled with the sting of my hurt pride, a bitter, vengeful fire starting in my heart, a hateful heat radiating from my core.

Oh, I’ll get you Victoria. Just you wait…