Iris & Ariana
Wake up. Get dressed. Your outfit has to match. And show skin. But not too much, you’re not a sl**. It doesn’t matter if you like what you’re wearing as long as everyone else does. Get downstairs faster or you’ll miss the bus.
Do your hair. Straighten it. Or curl it, or braid -- your choice, but make the right one. Something that looks natural. And nice. Not too much, or too little. Make it seem like you’re pretty. Actually pretty. Do your makeup. Foundation, concealer, highlighter, contour, blush, mascara. Hide your imperfections. Change your whole face. Make your eyeliner symmetrical and long. But not too long, you don’t want to stick out. Rule #1: Never look like your ugly self, anything but that, that would be social suicide.
Don’t eat breakfast. Move your food around on the plate so it looks like you're eating or just ‘forget’ to eat in the first place. You want to be skinny, right? Little bit of hunger never hurt anyone. It’s going to make you pretty. That's what you want.
Pack your lunch. The cafeteria is disgusting. It doesn’t matter that you think the spring rolls are good, they’re full of carbs and taste disgusting, that's what everyone says. And everyone’s always right. Have a ‘cute’ lunchbox. And no packing nuts. Or bananas, lollipops, candy canes, or anything in the shape of a ball. Everyone will laugh at you. They’ll call you “innocent” if you don’t understand and dirty minded if you do. Nothing with too many carbs either. Or too oily. Put in some salad. But no dressing, haven't you heard what they say? Everyone talks about how many calories it has.
Get on the bus. Find some ‘friend’ to sit next to. Otherwise you’re friendless, alone, and have committed social suicide. Does it matter if your ‘friend’ constantly ignores you and makes fun of you? No. Everyone doesn’t know that. What everyone knows is that you’re not a loner. And that's what you want. All you want. Ignore your stomach's loud growls, everyone skips breakfast anyway,
Talk to your ‘friends’ until first block. Then go to class. Convince yourself that you don’t think that the periodic table is interesting. The elements are just random things that school forces you to memorize for no reason. They’ll never help you in life. Sit at your assigned seat, and don’t raise your hand. That makes you a nerd. And who wants to be a nerd? Not you.. Talk to the person next to you, but don’t seem desperate. Don’t wear headphones unless most of the class is. Otherwise you’re emo. You don’t want to be emo. And no, you don’t like math either or reading, or anything you actually find interesting.
Lunch. Don’t go to a club. That makes you a teacher’s pet. You don’t want to be a teacher’s pet. Eat at a table with lots of people, including your friends. Nod along to what other people are saying. Only talk if someone asks you a question. Never be too loud. Don’t eat too much, if anything. Drink lots of water. Eat in the cafeteria.
Crushes. Don’t tell anyone your crush. Ever. You don’t want any rumors about you. Plus, he’s not cool, or popular. He’s that smart kid who’s really fast. He is what you actually are. What you actually want to be. If only you were just brave enough to be yourself for once. But then everyone would notice you. In a bad way. And would you rather date that guy you’ve had one conversation with and probably doesn’t even like you, than be an outcast. You’d rather be normal.
PE. You don’t like PE. If you like to run, you don’t. At least don’t tell anyone. Try to get out of doing anything. And if you have to do anything, stay with and talk to your ‘friends’. Laugh along with them at that one girl who actually tries in this class. What? It's not like she can hear you.
Art. You like art. Everyone likes art. Art is a safe space because the teacher loves everyone. Except for that kid in your class who has always bullied you. He doesn’t try to ever get anything done. But art is only an hour and ten minutes of an eight hour day. 7/48ths taken out of torture. Nevermind, don't say that. That's nerdy.
Rock Band. Turn the volume down on your instrument so no one can hear you play. You’d rather fail than be noticed. No one’s going to see your grades. Rule of thumb still applies, no raising your hand. Ever, got it? Good, you have a ‘friend’ in this class. Talk. Make fun of that annoying girl who always asks questions. She can’t lip read what you’re whispering. Even if she can, what's she going to do? You're better than her anyway. And prettier. If you make a mistake, admit it. Scratch that. Only admit it if someone brings it up. You’re not a pick me who’s gonna stop the whole class over one chord, right?
Basketball. Walk to the gym with your ‘friends’. Pretend you're forced to be there, Complain along with them but let that chatterbox do most of the talking. Change with your stomach sucked in. You don’t want them to know how fat you really are, do you? Hide your huge thighs under your workout shirt. You shouldn’t have eaten that sandwich.
Same rules as PE. Don’t get noticed by the coaches, half-do all the drills. Run in the middle of the pack. You don’t want to be stuck in the back with all the fat kids, or in the front with all the teacher’s pets. It’s safe in the middle.
Go home. Unpack your bag. Sit quietly at dinner, and play with your food. Say you’re not hungry, it was someone’s birthday at school and they handed out cupcakes. Or you ate a snack after sports. Make up anything, your parents will fall for that, they always do.
Do your homework, you don’t want your teacher to email home. And plus, if you do it you can let someone else copy from it tomorrow. Popularity booster. Watch netflix, but only the shows everyone else is watching. Everyone doesn’t need to know that you think they’re boring, but everyone does need to know that you actually know all of the characters' names. But don’t get too interested in the ideas behind it, that's nerdy. Make a tiktok, check your whatsapp. No leaving anyone on read, it doesn’t matter if it takes you an hour to respond to all your texts. Check instagram, ‘like’ the model's picture. Why can’t you look like her? Check snapchat, reply to all those streaks. You’ve never talked to these people, half of them hate you. But everyone doesn’t know that.
Shower. Look at yourself in the mirror, are you really that fat? Suck your stomach in. You need to eat less tomorrow.
Go to sleep. Late enough that you’re not a baby, early enough that you won’t fall asleep in class tomorrow. That would make everyone notice you. Remember, that's the last thing you want.
Repeat 2,190 times.