School life

Life at the top of the social food chain was anything but easy. To maintain her spot Ami had to constantly be at her best. Both appearance-wise and socially. She could never have a bad day, or at least let it show. Today was fortunately one of her better days despite the little mishap yesterday.

Like everyday she entered the classroom a good twenty minutes before the first class. She enjoyed coming in a little early and when the season demanded it, the sun wasn't too bright during the commute. Her routine of leaving for school early had initially been so that she could get some time alone before the day began. When more and more of her leeches came to know about it that quickly went to shit.

The classroom was unlit. There was a certain stigma around turning the lights on before class began. The lights couldn't be dimmed and were excessively bright and annoying in the morning. Today was a rather bright day though, so the room was well lit by natural lighting that seeped in through the windows. Some students even liked to rest their heads on their desk and sleep up until the teacher entered. Others, like Ami, liked to sit on the desks. The chairs weren't super comfy, not to mention the symbolic meaning of Ami sitting slightly elevated compared to her peers.

Upon sitting down on her desk Ami felt the sting from yesterday flare up. The pain was back for only a brief moment, but it caused her to flinch ever so slightly. At first she thought it might've been a splinter, but after shuffling across the desk a little it was apparent that the desk's surface was flush and void of any imperfections. Strange.

Five minutes before class was supposed to start one of Ami's classmates walked in. Fumiko Miyazaki is by many accounts the biggest rival to Ami in terms of looks. Immediately upon entering the room her refined face and standout black hair demanded attention. The way the rays of light shone upon her perfectly silky mane was a sight to behold in and off itself.

Seeing Fumiko enter the room and how it attracted the attention of most of her followers really annoyed Ami. Sometimes her western genes really bothered her. She was already self-conscious about her tame brown hair already, it didn't help having someone in her class that could've been in shampoo commercials.

Ami made her best efforts to put on a fake smile and tell Fumiko good morning. All just a way to keep up appearances and regain the attention she'd just lost for a moment. It didn't take long for her to become the center of attention once more, Miss Miyazaki wasn't very social to begin with anyways. She preferred to keep to herself and stick with her own little group of friends.

Had Ami not been a social black hole that had everything orbit around herself, perhaps Fumiko could've been next in line.

Speaking of next in line, in came Haruto Okamoto. One of Fumiko's closer friends. It really was a tale like beauty and the beasts in this scenario. While Fumiko was fit and attractive, Haruto was obese with a face riddled with acne.

It never made sense to Ami how someone as pretty as Fumiko would ever associate with a dweeb like him. To make matters worse, only only real conversation he seemed to be able to hold was one about anime, manga or games. Weirdly enough that seemed to be enough for his friend who also seemed to have an interest for such things. Maybe if Ami hadn't been so judgemental she'd see Haruto for who he really was and not just his interests. No matter, one didn't get to the top by being understanding and kind, only by pretending. Not long after Haruto arrived so did the teacher. The students all quickly scattered and returned to their seats.

When lunchtime rolled around Ami headed for the cantina along with Asuna. The pair managed to sneak away from the crowd of people under the excuse of helping the teacher.

Sitting near the entrance was a group of exchange students one year younger. One of the girls was an Irish lass with striking ginger hair and near emerald green eyes. Ami's gaze met the Irish girl's and as her eyes pierced Ami she felt a sting in her thigh. Ami got lost in her eyes, not breaking free before Asuna gave her a slight shove. She stuttered and got on with it, finding an open table towards the middle of the cantina.

"Is something bothering you" Asuna asked seemingly out of the blue.

It wasn't out of the blue though. Ami had simply spaced out for some time now. She often caught herself thinking about her insecurities and flaws. Or at least what she considered to be flaws. First it'd been her tame brown hair that bothered her, now her equally tame brown eyes. Regardless of having a foreign parent none of the standout western traits had carried over. Sure, brown hair wasn't common in Japan but she'd much rather have blonde hair or red like the Irish girl. She'd even be content with traditional jet black, like Fumiko. The color was far from the only thing that bothered her though. It was quite ..unruly. Even with her best efforts, she just couldn't tame it. It'd always be wavy or curled. She considered it to be messy and had decided it was best kept short. If it hadn't been for her above average academics and looks, Ami would've been just another face in the crowd. She's popular enough, but seeing how her classmates flocked around Fumiko still made her jealous.

In an attempt to stand out, Ami had decided to wear the vest-type uniform top instead of the more common jacket. It was not very popular amongst the seniors at her school and thus made her stand out a little bit.

In many ways, Asuna was actually the one who got the most looks of the pair. This of course bothered Ami who was putting in a lot of effort, perhaps too much. Despite often finding herself bitter about the contrast in her own beauty and Asuna's, Ami still considered Asuna to be her best friend. Their friendship was that of mutual respect and trust. Incidentally, that trust really came in handy for their activities in the photography club. Ami wasn't very confident in front of a camera, but Asuna always seemed to capture her good side. It was the only reason she was in the club to begin with. Without her friend's photography skills Ami would probably forego club activities in her senior year all together.

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This is a commissioned story and will follow a very strict prompt. I'll gladly take any feedback you might have, but suggestions may be ignored if they conflict with the established concepts and ideas from the commissioner.

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