i was crazy nervous as i tried to hold

my balance

someone from the crowd cheered come on

scarlett you can do it

okay here goes nothing i took a deep

breath

even though these were only tryouts

practically half the school was there to

see me perform

they were all cheering for me i closed

my eyes and started to roll

and your girl did not disappoint oh my

god i did it

everyone applauded when i landed the

perfect split just then

the gym door flew open and my mom rushed

in screaming

be careful with my baby i groaned

momentarily forgetting where i was and

losing my balance the next second

i was on the floor half the audience ran

to help me up

thankfully mom couldn't push past my

adoring fans but i could hear her yell

is she okay

you won't know let me pass but her

screams were drowned out by all the boys

asking me if i was okay

i'm fine guys no biggie the football

captain laughed and said

darn that was a nasty fall but you

didn't even flinch

you really are perfect why thank you

everyone laughed kindly as i brushed off

my dress and took a bow

time to go home young lady hi i'm

scarlett i've just been make captain of

the cheerleading squad

and to everyone else my life was perfect

but i have this rare condition called

c-i-p-a

which means i can't feel pain or hot and

cold my condition helped me make my

crush fall in love with me

but shh it's a secret as soon as we got

home mom started my daily body check

i rolled my eyes seriously mom i'm 16

now

i can do it myself but mom wasn't

listening she was staring in horror at

something on my elbow

just look at this you'll end up killing

yourself and you won't even know

it's just a scratch mom a scratch any

more squishies like this and i'll have

you homeschooled again

i groaned jeez mom was always

overreacting

i hurt my leg that one time mom i was

eight

i'm sorry that one time need i remind

you of the state of your perfect leg

ugh fine she had a point when i was

eight i fell off a swing and injured my

leg but because i couldn't feel pain

i didn't know how bad it was when the

doctor realized the week after

i ended up with a prosthetic leg but

that was ancient history now

mom just wouldn't get over it suddenly

the door slammed open and my younger

sister brooke barged in

mom you said you'd take me shopping

today i'm still waiting

oh yes i forgot i'm busy now we'll go

another day

what oh my god no mom you've been

stalling for like two weeks i need a new

outfit for the spring dance

by this point mom wasn't even listening

mom lit but brooke looked at me with

anger and stormed out of the room

yelling i don't need your stupid

sympathy i need you to get out of my

life

a few weeks later as i was putting my

books in my locker before practice

someone said so you want to be my date

for the spring dance tonight doll face

doll face ew where was i in some tacky

noir movie

i looked up to see who it was and saw

the captain of the football team

oh of course ever since i've been

promoted to captain of the cheer squad

every jock in school was on a mission to

claim me

but this guy was the most persistent one

day i found my locker full of gifts and

hundreds of love letters

it took me an hour to find my chemistry

notes another day i was in the cafeteria

when i said

i love pizza suddenly he jumped up and

announced

free pizza for everyone i gasped in

horror

he didn't even wait for me to finish i

told him i really wasn't planning on

going with anyone tonight i couldn't

imagine how mom would react

half the time she acted like breathing

was an extreme sport but thankfully

at that moment a crowd of people started

rushing to the parking lot someone

yelled the new kid has an audi

within minutes the entire school was

gathered around the car breathless to

see the owner

i rolled my eyes like waving candy in

front of a baby's face

but just as i was about to leave the

owner of the car stepped out for a

minute i was

starstruck this was the most handsome

guy

i'd ever seen and clearly i wasn't the

only one who thought so

all the girls began to ooh and ah the

most interesting thing was that he

seemed to not even notice

anyone he walked away from the crowd and

headed straight over to me

i froze why was he coming over here he

looked at me and her eyes met

he hesitated and i felt my knees getting

weak then his eyes filled with anger and

said

move out of my way i jumped away like

i'd been electrocuted as soon as he went

past me

it was like everything returned to

normal and immediately the captain

appeared and said

so about that date that evening when i

got home

brooke practically skipped over to me

she looked really happy

you know that new guy connor he's coming

to the spring dance tonight

he won't say no to me if i wear your

black outfit mom didn't take me shopping

because of you

with that she grabbed the dress and was

gone before i could say a word i slumped

onto the bed and decided to watch videos

on my favorite youtube channel my story

animated

i just put on my favorite one my psycho

mom is obsessed with healthy food at

least this would cheer me up mom

suddenly barged in through the door and

snapped

you're not going to this dance are you i

rolled my eyes and said i might go for a

bit

and mom quickly forbade me she says says

she wouldn't be able to come with me to

keep an eye on me

i couldn't go kids do all sorts of crazy

things at these parties

you might hit your head or injure your

other leg you wouldn't even know

so you're not going but mom she just

slammed the door

ugh it was so annoying how she was

always in my face
i could hear brooke dancing around as

she got ready now that mom had said i

wasn't allowed

i really wanted to go so i waited for

brooke to leave and mom to go to her

room

then i put on my turquoise evening dress

grabbed my heels and tiptoed down the

stairs

the minute i was at the door i broke

into a run suddenly

a car came racing towards me i screamed

and in my panic froze on the spot a loud

horn blared and the car stopped just

inches from me are you out of your mind

what happened are you okay

when i finally realized what was

happening i immediately pretended to be

hurt and cried

ow it hurts

it hurts i didn't even touch you i

wasn't sure if he was lying or not

so i just shouted are you calling me a

liar after you almost

ran me over he helped me onto the hood

of his car

and looked for any injuries i blushed i

couldn't believe conor was helping me

out so tenderly

as i got off the hood i pretended to

limp but to my utter embarrassment

i lost my balance and ended up on top of

him i'm sorry

but then i heard connor mutter under his

breath you're breathtaking

i'm sorry what did i hear him right then

he abruptly pushed me off

i'm sorry i was confused till i saw what

he meant he accidentally stepped on my

foot i begin to jump up and down again

oh my foot my poor poor foot he quickly

opened the door of his car and helped me

get in when he pulled up at the dance

everyone looked at us in shock someone

whispered makes sense for them to come

together

they look perfect i blushed wondering if

he'd heard it too

but of course mr connor had just

disappeared the captain of the football

team

rushed over to my side and grabbed my

hand dance with me you're my date for

the night

ugh him again i pointed to my foot and

said oh no

i hurt my foot i couldn't possibly but

to my utter shock

he just pulled me to the dance floor one

dance never killed anyone

i was getting really annoyed now do you

not get consent i turned to see connor

glaring down at the guy

my heart fluttered was connor rescuing

me my hero

immediately everyone gathered around us

the captain took one look around him

then dropped my hand somehow conor had

that impact on everyone

no one wanted to mess with him i stepped

towards conor to thank him but before i

could say a word

my eyes landed on brook she glared at me

before rushing over dragging me aside

away from conor

i thought mom said you couldn't come and

now you've hurt yourself in front of

conor to get his sympathy

you're disgusting what no brookie that's

not what happened

but before i could explain something

even worse than brooke happened

mom came in yelling my name scarlett

scarlett as soon as she saw me she

rushed over and started shouting for an

ambulance

my baby is hurt someone call 9-1-1 my

baby

i tried to tell her that i was fine but

she dragged me away saying we had to go

to the hospital as soon as possible

on my way out i tried to catch conor's

eye but he suddenly seemed determined to

avoid me the doctor said i was all good

but mom didn't seem convinced when we

got home brooke was already back and she

was

fuming before she could yell at me i

turned to mom and said mom

i'm tired of you following me around

everywhere if you ever try to embarrass

me like that again

i promise you i'll just move out she

looked shocked and said i'm doing this

for your own good

just don't please there's gotta be

another way i can't have you showing up

at school every day like that

for a minute she looks stunned and then

she slumped onto the sofa looking

heartbroken

i almost felt bad for her almost the

next words out of her mouth

made me want to jump out the window you

know what you're right you don't need me

all the time

thank you thank you so much mom when

you've got your sister

we both yelled what i tried to tell mom

that's not what i meant

but she didn't listen and said i chose

cheerleading against her will and that

it's a dangerous sport brooke looked

furious

and then she stormed out saying you'll

regret this big time

and regret it i did the next day i tried

to talk to conor alone

but as if it weren't bad enough that he

was avoiding me for god knows what

reason

brook kept following me around the

school i finally found connor alone the

library

i tiptoed up to him hi i was wondering

where i could find a copy of

pride and prejudice i'm not the

librarian he immediately turned his back

on me

how mean i know but i just thought

maybe i tried my luck again but whenever

i tried to face him he turned away

leave me alone he tried to rush past me

just as i decided to step in his way

again

and suddenly our foreheads bumped oh oh

my god scarlett what a smooth

move hit the hottie in the head why

don't you i'm so sorry

impulsively i reached up and pushed his

hair out of his eyes to check his head

he stared at me and i suddenly realized

what i was doing for a second we looked

into each other's eyes and instinctively

we both leaned in excuse me we both

jumped back as brooke appeared

immediately conor left the library while

my body tingled all over

had i just almost kissed conor i um i'm

going to the cafe yes i can see you're

starving

in the cafeteria as soon as i sat down

all the jocks started flocking around me

immediately brooke danced up to me

smiling and said i almost forgot

i got you a bar of chocolate then she

stuffed it into my mouth

thanks the boys around me started

panicking i grabbed my phone and was

shocked to see my swollen face

i literally looked like a puffer fish

were there peanuts in the bar brook

i'm allergic to peanuts oh no i forgot

someone immediately rushed me home for a

few days after that i couldn't go to

school

but i didn't miss much it was like the

whole school was sending me flowers and

gifts and whatnot

a few guys even came to my house but

there was one gift that really caught my

eye

it was a small package i opened it up

and gasped it was a copy of pride and

prejudice

how connor said this my heart fluttered

at the very thought

apparently brook thought so too because

as soon as she saw it she tried to throw

it away i had to fish it out of the

trash

i was thrilled my life really truly

was perfect but perfection was an

illusion and the next day

my illusion shattered as soon as i

walked to my locker i noticed papers

scattered on the floor and everywhere

they look like pages from a book or a

diary

and a very familiar one at that a

horrible thought entered my head

and i snatched up one of the sheets

almost passing out my gut feeling was

right it was a page from my diary

i rushed to my locker and saw something

that totally crushed me

across the front someone had painted

frankenstein

from a corner of the room the football

captain yelled thank god i broke up with

her what was he talking about

i yelled back we were never together can

we be now i don't care about your

condition

so what i ignored him and rushed to find

brook she was in the cafeteria

surrounded by a huge crowd do you know

who could have done this

it could be anyone you keep your diary

in your bag i think my life is over

oh come on you're super pretty and

popular why don't you relax

here drink this iced coffee just as i

was about to drink it someone snatched

the cup away from me i looked up and

surprised to see connor is boy only hot

she's trying to trick you

look at your hands they're blistering

already i glared at brooke and she

looked terrified but before i could even

touch her she returned to everyone and

said that she regretted being related to

someone like me

and that they should know the truth you

guys never wondered why she's good at

doing splits
it's her lit i jumped at her and was

about to punch her you little witch

but connor dragged me away we sat in the

backyard and connor said

so it's true huh i told him about my

rare condition

so yes it's true i'm a freak just

because you're different doesn't mean

you're a freak

in fact you're like wonder woman and

that's pretty cool scarlett

it's not that easy you know he quietly

said yeah

it is as he said that conor shyly put

his hand

on mine i gasped oh no i pulled my hand

away what is wrong with you

why do you keep doing that do what i

told him i was really confused with the

way he was hot one moment and called the

next

your mood sweets are kind of giving me

whiplash connor he tensed for a minute

and then he said

i'm that way scarlett i'm weird and i

love strongly but then

i can't always show it and it's

difficult for me to

i could see that conor was struggling

and my heart melted for him

i reached for his hand and said i don't

think you're weird conor

not for a second i suddenly he pulled me

in for a kiss

fireworks exploded around me as we

headed back inside

i was stunned to see mom marching over

to me she was dragging brook by the ear

scarlet my baby are you all right the

principal called me

mom relax relax how can i when my own

child

my own flesh and blood is doing such

terrible things i'm going to ground her

till college

no mom it's not brookie's fault you're

always so focused and worried about me

you're always leaving poor brook alone

mom froze what what are you talking

about it's true mom

if you were fair to her she wouldn't be

so mad at me so if you really want to

change someone it's gotta be you

both brooke and mom looked shocked and

then suddenly brooke burst into tears

i rushed over to her and hugged her i'm

sorry

i'm so sorry it's okay brookie i'm here

i forgive you we're all here for you mom

started to cry too

and she hugged us apologizing for all

the time she was unfair behind mom

i saw conor and pulled him into the hug

they were all my family now