1

       FELICITY

       I wasn't used to going to bars.

       When I was in high school, I had gone from time to time with my friends, but I never had any fun and inevitably ended up being a wallflower. I had always considered myself an outsider, unable to interact easily, to enter into other people's conversations, to show up or to let myself go.

       Going out in groups had always been difficult and painful, and after my sister Bethany graduated, I had closed myself off even more. I didn't have a choice because without my famous sister, prom queen and cheerleader captain, to open doors for me through her friends, I was back to being Miss Unknown in the Battalion, just like before. The girls I hung out with for three years were her friends, not mine, and I got confirmation of that after she graduated. None of them had asked for me or called to go out or study together.

       I had been alone for a whole year, forgotten by everyone and determined to make myself invisible to anyone, rather than be ridiculed or humiliated for my bland and unattractive appearance, unlike my sisters Bethany and Ava.

       Feeling accepted and appreciated was complicated when those who crossed my path and learned who my two older sisters, former prom queens, were could not help but compare me to them.

       For years, I had endured and suffered from this difference. It had taken me a long time, but I had finally come to accept myself as I was, with my curly hair, my ordinary brown eyes, my sensitive skin, my acne scars, and my extra pounds.

       The fact that I was able to look at myself in the mirror without turning my back was due to the two people I had met during my freshman year of college: Kira Yoshida and Alice Preston. The two most beautiful and amazing girls I've ever known and, crazy thing, my friends! My own, without the help of Bethany or Ava. They had welcomed me into their circle without knowing anything about me. They accepted me for who I was, and because of their friendship, I had the best school year of my life.

       I had met Kira in sociology class. She sat next to me the first day and complimented me on my hair and my double bun, telling me that she loved it but could never get it right. That was enough to make me like her immediately. Then I missed a class and she immediately left me her notes. From that day on, we often went back to study together and I discovered that she was a true genius. I had met her roommate, Alice Preston, during one of those study afternoons.

       Unlike Kira, who was always calm and gentle, Alice immediately struck me as a tornado that couldn't stop, even in the face of such great danger as Easton Carson, one of four boys in my high school who had ruled over all the students and teachers like despots, making life hell for anyone who dared to oppose them. Throughout my high school years, I had kept a low profile to avoid ending up in their cross-hairs, and thanks to my ability to make myself invisible to everyone, I had always succeeded.

       I had discovered, however, that Kira was no slouch either. Underneath her pure and innocent exterior was a strength and determination that had won her the heart of the most reserved and surly boy in my psychology class, Lucas Scott.

       I admired and envied my best friends because they were beautiful, courageous, fearless, able to fight against adversity and win over the most difficult boys to approach and tame.

       They were undefeated, and now they both had wonderful boyfriends who adored them. If I thought about Easton and Lucas, I still wondered how Alice and Kira had won hearts as rebellious and dark as those two boys.

       "Felicity, there you are! We're here!" called Kira, who was already waiting for me at a table in the bar.

       Relieved that I hadn't arrived first, I ran over to her and noticed that Lucas was there too.

      “ Hi, I greeted them.

       - Okay, I'll go and leave you to it," sighed Lucas after a glance towards Kira. It was a special girls night, to celebrate my birthday.

       - “Thank you my love. I'll call you when I get back to campus.

       - Ok, he answered while looking around him with suspicion. The bar was full of boys and Kira's beauty did not go unnoticed. But if there's any problem...

       - There won't be. Go there now and be quiet, tried to reassure him Kira who still had difficulty to control the jealousy of Lucas.

       - I don't like this place," he hissed as he noticed a few young people attracted to Kira. Those guys over there are just waiting for me to leave so they can jump on you."

       To jump on you?

       I almost burst out laughing.

       I certainly wasn't the one in danger, but my good friend.

       I looked at Lucas. He was always so caring and attached to Kira. She had told me about her boyfriend's difficult past, about her abusive father, with no one to give her any love. I felt tenderness and sadness for him, and I could understand his anguish of losing Kira. She was his world, his only source of happiness, but his past always made him see the negative side of people and so he tended to be constantly suspicious, afraid that someone might hurt his girlfriend.

       "I promise I'll protect her for you," I said, addressing him.

       Lucas gave me one of his rare smiles and I felt my heart skip a beat.

       Yes, I was in love with him, but I would never have dared to go near him. Lucas belonged to Kira and I had no intention of destroying their beautiful relationship.

       Lucas finally left, but I didn't even have time to sit down when I saw Alice coming, accompanied by Easton.

      “ Easton, go away, she ordered, sternly.

       - I'm going, but if you mess with the other boys, I'll tear you to pieces, he threatened with a fake smile.

       - That goes for you too. Try to deceive me while you have fun with your friends and I put a tarantula in your underpants she replied not intimidated.

       Can these two talk to each other without threatening each other? Kira asked me in a low voice.

       - I don't think so,” I replied, chuckling. Only Alice could stand up to a nut like Easton, and he seemed to be the only one who could date her without being overwhelmed by his girlfriend's volcanic nature.

       They greeted us as we came to the table.

      “ Hi.