[center][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjE0Mi40ODZkZDUuUVdGc2FYbGhhQ0JMYVc1bi4wAAAA/mf-queen-leela.regular.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/1P8CvnI.png[/img]
[img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/399752369283268636/521495289245466624/image0.jpg?width=469&height=585[/img]

[i][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWA2pjMjpBs]So shine bright
Tonight,
You and I
We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky
Eye to eye,
So alive
We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky[/url][/i]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/1P8CvnI.png[/img][/center]

[indent][color=gray][i]Scribble scribble scribble[/i]

All sorts of creatures cohort on the whites of Aaliyah’s notebook. The margins filled with pointless scribbles, maybe she could make her own burn book. Who was she kidding? Aaliyah could never be as savage as Regina George nor as pretty. That thought lingered in her mind as her physics class droned on in the background as white noise. Attendance was being called and the teacher finally got to King. 

[i]“King, King, King” [/i]

The scene was straight out of Ferris Bueller’s day off. The teacher spoke in the same monotonous monotone voice as his celebrity counterpart. A black hole swirled in the middle of her paper with no signs of stopping, consuming everything surrounding it. Suddenly an asteroid collided with Aliyah’s head, grounding her back to earth. Except it wasn’t an asteroid and more so a crumpled piece of paper. Aaliyah’s cheeks went flush as her words started to spew out in word vomit. Why was it so difficult just to say [color=6593f5]“here”[/color]? 

As the day went on, things hadn’t gotten any better for the young wallflower. Homecoming was right around the corner and it seemed like it was more of a mating season than a formal courtship. Aaliyah hadn’t planned on going and finding academic excuse to not, but she was out of luck. With the pairings out Aaliyah looked to see her partner. Sweat started to accumulate on her forehead as her glasses became uneven. Her eyes would avert themselves from the list every time she approached her name. 

[color=6593f5][i]“Please not a jock, please not a jock”[/i][/color] she chanted. 

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and traced her finger to her name before slowly opening them to reveal J.J. Reyes as her match. 

[color=6593f5][i]“Of course, I get the jock”[/i][/color] she said dejected, her back turning to the wall before she slid down to take a seat. Her worries didn’t concern the jock so much as what she was going to wear and how she was supposed achieve a [color=6593f5][i]“glow up”[/i][/color] in such a short window. Aaliyah was really wishing she had her own fairy godmother that could help her go to the ball. The closest thing she had to that was her mother and maybe Chanel, but she was barely even a blip on the fashionistas radar. With some more existential sighs, Aaliyah was finally ready to collect herself and head home on her favorite bicycle. Her mom was going to have a blast. 

It was finally the day of homecoming and Aaliyah had spent every waking hour prior to homecoming with her mom in search of the perfect dress. At this point most of the shopping was for her mom rather than her. A slave to her mother’s idea of a makeover, Aaliyah began to feel like a stranger in her own skin. After finding a dress she was comfortable in, her mom decided to take her to a salon and makeup artist to get her glow up professionally done. First was the salon, where they thoroughly washed and brushed her hair. Knot after knot was finally broken down into long lush waves of hair. It was the first time Aaliyah had ever gotten her eyebrows waxed as well. You know when you get hit by a rubber ball in dodge ball? Yeah it felt like that but directly on the eyebrow. With some tears and hair follicles lost, Aaliyah was ready for makeup. Bright lights and mirrors had surrounded her as if she was in a mental hospital, but to think that all of this wasn’t crazy would be a stretch. Aaliyah could feel like extra layer of skin covering her body like an alien symbiote. Once she looked at the mirror, much to her dismay she quite liked how she looked. 

All those years spent surfing Pinterest and Tumblr look at other girls and wishing she was just as flawless, and fashionable were now coming full circle. The ugly duckling was finally feeling pretty for once and with it a blossoming sense of self confidence, which once trapped under the soil of her self-doubt. If only Jew boy Elijah could see her now. Now it was time for wardrobe; black dress slipped on, accessories coming shortly after, Aaliyah was ready to dazzle her peers with her new look. Tonight, would be the start of a new life, a better life. And with that Aaliyah had made her way to the party after being taken by her big brother. 

“Since when did you start looking grown?” Josiah asked, confused as to what happened to his sister. 

[color=6593f5]“This is always who I was meant to be. I can’t let you and sis show me up”[/color] Aaliyah setting up her brother to be put in check. 

“I see you sis, just make sure none of these dusty niggas holla at you now. If they do let them know they can get the smoke” 

Aaliyah couldn’t help but chuckle as her cheeks turned red from embarrassment, [color=6593f5]“Don’t worry, I’ll call you if I need you.”[/color]

The two had arrived at the venue, as more students and faculty poured in. [color=6593f5]“Thanks for everything Josiah, I’ll see you later”[/color] she said to her brother giving him a hug and kiss before getting out. 

[color=6593f5][i]“Just breath and don’t trip over anything”[/i][/color] giving herself a quick pep talk before she entered the event. The first thing she needed was a drink, so the chess queen made her move to the punch bowl in anticipation of her big night.[/color][/indent]