The Heaven I Found In Hell (4 page)

I've been known to be short-tempered, but the good thing was that I was capable of controlling my anger. But unfortunately, I've already tried to control it for a good ten-minutes, and I am not intent on waiting for another ten minutes before I explode.

"I think you guys are mistaken." I said in a calm voice.

Good job Alex…you're not 
yet
 shouting…
I congratulated myself.

"And how is that?" One girl asked in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Supermodels aren't porn stars."

I heard a few of them laugh at me. Some even started to whisper things to each other. Talk about being rude…

"And would you care to explain that?"

"You guys study in this boarding school, don't you? My parents say this school has high standards, especially academically…don't tell me you guys don't know the definition of dignity? F-Y-I we, supermodels, have that too." I said to them in the same tone they had been using on me. "That…differs us from porn stars."

Before I walked away, and left them to continue laughing, whispering, and badmouthing me, I noticed someone at the back of the group. This whole time, she was silent. She didn't open her mouth, and not one single thing came out of it. I smiled at her for what she did, and she smiled back. I heard a few guys whistling and applauding for what I had just done, but sad to say, their whistling made me feel like a prostitute.

I was going to cry when I got back to my room. Unfortunately, the tears left my eyes sooner than I had wanted them to, and while I was making my way back to the dorm building, the people I passed saw my wrecked look.

Worse, I heard the sound of a camera snapping pictures.

Thank God school wasn't going to start for a week, which meant that I didn't have to leave the room. The refrigerator was fully stocked, and there were the TV, my laptop, and my iPod. I could do with only those things for seven days.

I stayed in my room for two hours just unpacking and trying to feel-at-home. My bedroom door opened, and in came Riley with a large box of pizza in her hands. She wore a very sympathetic look that made me smile at her. She put down the box of pizza on the bed before she went over to me and embraced me.

"I'm not mad." I said to her. "Don't worry." I then told her with a small laugh, as I tried to lighten up the air.

She ended the embrace and sat on the empty space on the bed nearest to me. I could see she looked really sorry, and I repeatedly told her that everything was okay.

"Here, I brought pizza…" She said. "I know, pizza isn't your number one choice of food, but it's the most soothing…well, that's next to ice cream." She said with a small laugh.

I opened the box, and my smile widened. The slices were big, and the whole pizza was oily, but the simple action of Riley bringing me something just to make me feel better was enough to erase every bad memory I had about earlier. Well, not exactly erase everything…it just made me forget in the meantime.

"Even though I don't like pizza, I'm still happy you did this…" I trailed off. "…although…"

She frowned at me. "Although what?"

"I can't eat this…" I said to her with a sad look on my face. "You know what I do and what I'm supposed to eat…"

"Aw, Alex…" She said, getting a few things from her duffel bag. She brought out her phone and her camera. She put the phone down on my bed, and held the digicam in her hand. I saw her turn on her camera, before she focused its lens on me.

"A camera…?" I asked her in an unsure way. "What's that for?"

"Oh, I want to take a picture of your red eyes." She said with a laugh. "You know, it's a remembrance of your first day here in Ridgeway."

I stole the camera from her and turned it off. "You are not taking a picture of my sore eyes." I said, as she tried to grab the digicam from me. She tried to get it back repeatedly, but every time she tried, she miserably failed. I was 5'9," and she was only 5'7."

We ended up chasing each other around our dorm room, passing the kitchen, living area, and each of our own bedrooms until we heard a knock. We stopped, but that didn't mean I returned her camera, I didn't. I had a tight hold of it, as she answered the door.

"That must be them."

Before I was able to ask her whom she might have invited, she opened the door, and in came two girls and three guys, one of whom was Nathan.

"Guys, this is Alex." She said, introducing me to the strangers that were inside my room. Well, Nathan wasn't unknown to me, but the majority was anyhow.

"Alex, this is Nathan, you already know him, and then this is Blake."

Riley pointed to a guy who stood an inch taller than Nathan. Blake, as Riley had introduced, had dirty blonde hair and crystal green eyes. He had that surfer look with his dark, but perfectly tanned skin. At the moment, he wore his jersey and his football leggings (if you call it that), and had his duffel bag over his left shoulder. Before I got more time to survey him, Riley continued with the introductions.

"…this is Anthony,"

I turned to the person in between Nathan and Blake. He had jet-black hair like me, but compared to my bright aqua blue eyes, his were a dull but beautiful color, gray. He was the smallest from the three guys, but he was nonetheless tall. He must've been 6'2" if I estimated correctly.

The next person Riley introduced to me caused me to widen my eyes. The name caught me off guard.

"…this is Cindy."

I turned to the person who was apparently Cindy, and immediately realized why the other girls earlier had compared me to her. She had strawberry blonde hair, and china blue eyes. She wore a silk top and a micro-miniskirt, and had a thick-layer of make-up on. She looked very chic just like how models were on the runway.

"And last but not the least is Kendra."

So that was her name…

Kendra was the girl who had kept silent a while ago. She was a redhead and had light brown eyes. She too had an athletic physique like Riley's.

By the mention of her name, she turned her gaze to me, and sent me an awkward but even so a friendly smile. I returned it.

Blake, Cindy, Kendra, Nathan and Anthony greeted me with an exchange of hugs, which I returned. I only seriously hoped that they weren't there when I was humiliated, or else I'd probably end up locking myself in my room. I wasn't anti-social…never, I just by no means let anyone, not even my parents, see me in a weak state.

"I'm sorry about what happened…" Anthony started. He looked real sorry based on the way he fidgeted in his place. He was too shy to look me in the eyes, as he settled his sights on the unflattering carpeted floor on which we stood on. "I wasn't there…some of the girls just told me…"

"And what did they tell you about me…?" I asked, apparently curious. The lot of us went to the living room area. Some sat on the floor while the others took their places on the couch. I, unfortunate or not, was on the floor seated beside Nathan.

"Surprisingly they looked sorry when they told me what happened…"

"Those fake, plastic tomboys." Obviously, Cindy said that. She opened her small pouch and took out a tiny tube of lip-gloss. She opened the cover and applied a little bit on her already more-than-shiny lips.

"Cindy!" Riley and Kendra said in raised voices as they both gave Cindy stern looks.

"That's my team you're talking about!" Riley added.

"Don't worry. I wasn't talking about you two."

Kendra rolled her eyes. "Right, you weren't…."

This group was nice, but odd to me. Blake looked like your typical football captain, proud, arrogant, and cocky, but he was friends with Nathan who captained the soccer team, and Anthony who headed the track team. Both Nathan and Anthony looked like they had more serious outlooks in life, and they seemed shyer than Blake.

On the girl's side, I couldn't see Cindy being able to relate with Riley and Kendra. Riley and Kendra were athletes, but Cindy was a…. fashionista. And the attitude differences…

Riley and Kendra looked friendlier…Cindy…looked bitchy…

Oh my…that means…that I…look bitchy…shit.

Before I was able to contemplate longer, Nathan cut my train of thoughts short.

"Chow down, people." Nathan said with a wide, wide smirk. He took the first slice from the pizza box and took a big bite from it. He elbowed my arm and motioned me to 'come and get it.'

"Nah, it's okay. I'm not hungry yet." I lied.

I wanted to eat, but not…this. The pizza was greasy…what would my agency say if they saw this?

The other people, Cindy excluded, already got their own slices and were already halfway done. Cindy and I, on the other hand looked at the pizza box with looks of uncertainty. It looked good, I must admit, but I had worked so hard for this body…

I wrestled with my inner self, and I was apparently winning, sad to say on my body's part.

"Guys, don't be scared. Eat!" Anthony said to both Cindy and me.

Cindy was firm on her decision. She immediately said no, and looked at the TV screen, anywhere but at the appetizing food. Riley and Kendra laughed at Cindy and teased her for being anorexic, while Blake, Anthony, and Nathan were busy getting their second slices.

I, sadly, had no self-control, as I reached my hand out and got the tiniest slice available. The rest of the group cheered me on for such a 'huge achievement.' It made me laugh. I opened my mouth and took a small bite, before I devoured my slice.

"My agency will fire me…" I said to myself, but it was loud enough for the rest to hear. Nathan enveloped me into a one-arm hug, which I returned. I circled his waist, and then let go when Riley and Blake were starting to tease us.

"Don't worry; you're still at the top of your game." Riley's twin comforted.

"You're at the very top if I must say so." That was Blake who said with a small, but cocky smirk.

"Don't worry about it Alex, you’re not going to model for a year…" Anthony voiced out. I looked down at the floor, and thought about what he said. He was right.

He must've thought that I got offended with what he said since he started to apologize. "Oh, shit! I'm so, so sorry…"

I smiled to myself, before I let out a small laugh. "Nah, it's okay. You're right…"

"Just…" Nathan started, quite unsure of what to say.

"Don't worry." Blake finished.

"Yeah, like what they said." Anthony said unsurely. His tone of uncertainty apparently made Kendra and Riley laugh. I looked at Cindy. She was doing something with her phone, and had a sort of angry look.