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Derapchu always felt inferior to the others. He was considered a lost cause because he was slow at learning, he wasn't strong, he wasn't good in combat, he never understood redstone. And yet, somehow, by some miracle, made it in UU Heroics, barely.
That didn't make Derapchu feel any better, knowing that there was a chance he didn't get in. And the others made sure he would never forget it.
Derapchu was pushed to the ground, three people stared down at him.
"Oh look! It's the dumb failure."
"I heard he barely passed the entrance exam, I guess he got lucky. Privileged brat."
"Y'know, he was almost held back because he was so bad at math! Should've just kept to yourself instead of being such a loud mess."
One of them splashed him with cold water, making him shiver, all three of them laughed and walked away. He didn't dare speak up, because they were right.
He is a failure.
Derapchu walks back to his dorm in silence, he pushed the door open and sees his older sister, Jumper, she too was a student in UU Heroics and was extremely protective of her brother.
So seeing him, drenched in water and crying, she turned serious and walks to her little brother.
"Derapchu, what happened? Did those bullies corner you again?"
Derapchu gives her a nod, he was so tired, he wanted to sleep so badly.
"Derap, you know you need to tell Principal Tai soon..."
"But... they're right, everything they said, it--"
"Save it, here take my jacket, we're going to tell those bullies to back off."
"But Jumper-"
"I am not taking no for an answer." Jumper said firmly and Derapchu stayed silent, not wanting to argue with his sister.
Jumper grabs Derapchu's arm and drags him to another dorm building. They reached a floor with an ongoing party, Jumper unplugs the music and everyone turns to them.
"Hey! Who here messed with my brother?!"
"We did, why? Got a problem with that?"
The same people stood in front of Jumper, still with their smug looks.
"Actually, yes! You drenched with in water!"
"So? What are you going to do about--"
Before one of them could even say their sentence, they were met with a punch to the nose, causing it to bleed badly.
"You crazy bitch! You broke my nose!"
"Take it as a sign to stop then."
The siblings left the building and Jumper bought Derapchu ice cream to cheer him up.
"Sis, what you did back there was so badass."
"Of course it was, I'm your sister, I am a badass."
The two laugh and continued to enjoy their night in the dorms.
"Toughen up Avery. The world isn't as pure as you think it is.", that's what Avery's father always said to her.
Since she was a kid, her parents wanted two different things from her. Her mother wanted her to be rich and become a model, while her father wanted a successful career for her, it was either a lawyer, doctor or nurse for him, anything else, just don't expect to be given dinner that night.
Her mother would put her on various diets, to give her the "perfect model body".
"Avery! You gained two pounds?! How is that possible?! We need to get you to lose weight."
Her mother would try everything, from eating only vegetables to running ten miles twice per day, sometimes she never gave her food for the entire day. It was tiring, she never wanted this, but this was her parents, they know her best.
Her mother would always judge her every look, she gave small comments that pierced her heart.
"Avery, you're getting fat. Cut back on the food."
"Avery, stop eating so much, look at you, you're getting ugly with all that food consumption."
"Avery, you lost your beauty, you're acne is getting worse, why did I give birth to someone as disgusting as you."
Every comment made her feel unloved, she felt that her body wasn't skinny enough, her face wasn't pretty enough, her hair wasn't smooth and beautiful enough. It was never enough.
Her grandpa was the only person that loved her for her. He was a war veteran and would tell her stories about the war, he even taught her how to use a sniper and rifle. Though, one day, her grandpa had a heart attack and died in the hospital. She loved the rifle, she wanted to use it for her grandpa, in his honor.
One night, she told her parents that she wanted to be a professional at the rifle. Her mother screamed at her and started crying, saying that they raised a disappointment, her father slapped her so hard, it caused her cheek to turn red, it hurt so bad. She ran to her room crying, that night she packed a bag with some clothes and food, a lighter, first aid kit and her rifle and ran away from home and went to the underground.
She wandered the streets for weeks, she was a ten year old, alone in the most dangerous part of the world. She was just at the market, when a shooting started, she ran so fast out of there. She didn't know how long she was running for until she bumped into someone.
"Oh! I'm so sorry sir."
"It's okay. You don't seem like you belong here..."
"I'm from Capital City, I ran away from home."
"It's okay kid. You're safe here, I'm Rejoice."
"Avery."
"Well Avery, I know a safe space where you can stay."
"Really? How do I know to trust you?"
"Don't worry, trust is a hard thing to gain here, but you need somewhere safe to stay, I can help you."
Rejoice reached his hand out and Avery took it without hesitation.
Avery has been staying in the underground for five years already. She's fifteen and has so many friends in the Crossroads.
Two years ago, a group of people were looking for a place to stay, they had a baby girl they called Mia, looked about a year old and a young girl around seven with mismatched eyes named Kalani.
Now, they were really close, Avery wouldn't trade anything else in the world for this.
Avery has been in the mirror for nearly an hour, she wore a white an orange sports bra with orange shorts as she looked at herself, even though she was far away from her old life, her parents' words still haunt her. Everyday she studies medicine and checks herself in the mirror almost constantly.
Her body, was still not perfect.
"Hey Avery, what are you--oh! Sorry I should've knocked first." Wato looked away and apologized over and over again as she put on a large shirt.
"It's okay."
Wato hesitatently opened his eyes, a soft look of worry played on his face.
"Avery, you know they can't hurt you anymore."
Avery sobs and covers her face as she slowly lowers herself onto the floor, Wato stayed by her side until the very end of her meltdown that day.
She's glad to have friends like him.