The Phoenix

The day that Mira came was the spark that set off a whirlwind of change. Within the excitement of getting a new student, Holly sat squirming in her seat, almost tasting the possibility of a new acquaintance or friend. Her circle of companions were surrounding her, eagerly discussing the latest childish news or gossip. The potential of adding one more person to that strong circle excited Holly, or perhaps, they would finally receive a boy much more mature than the frivolous and silly choices that they had to deal with at the time. But no, the teacher told them as the class settled down into their seats, it was a girl named Mira Nolan.

The immediate hatred that filled Holly when she first laid eyes on the girl infiltrated her with stereotypes of selfishness and arrogance. The class seemed paralyzed by her presence, for they had never before seen a girl such as her. The plainness of the school and the entire town, for that matter, had been disrupted by the new arrival walking with a modest magnificence surrounding her.

Mira was a strikingly beautiful girl. The people who knew her well felt as though no words, as flattering as they might be, could ever do her looks justice. Her step was light and happy, and her aura was comforting and cheery. Waves of strawberry blonde locks caressed and cascaded down her back framing her delicate pale face with splendor. Her splash of freckles was almost unnoticeable, yet it accented her beauty all the more. Dazzling green eyes sparkled in the light, her smile helping to brighten the warm expression they created, and her cheeks were vibrant with the radiant effervescence of innocent childhood.

Holly was alarmed by the reaction of her classmates and friends. They appeared keen and extremely willing to attach onto Mira and follow in her majesty. No one seemed to feel or relate to the hatred that Holly felt. It was as though Mira had cast a spell on the children from the moment she had set foot in the room.

As Mira began to introduce herself, her voice as mellifluous as her appearance, Holly could only begin to dislike the girl even more. She did not care to know the cause of the feeling, but she only identified it as hate. She felt as though she was ready to punch Mira right in the face.

But, she thought to herself, why wouldn’t anyone want to be with her? Just look at her! It was almost as though she had walked out of a fairy tale! And there Holly was, as plain and as ugly as an old, unpainted canvas leading her clique with mere mousy brown hair and hollow gray eyes. Her expression was sullen and colorless, not glowing with warmth like Mira’s. Still, she would not let Mira steal the glory and recognition that she had worked so hard to gain.

From that moment on, Holly Rogers planned to cast her own spell; however, it was of hatred.

Holly was like a puppeteer; she pulled and controlled the strings of her marionettes. In other words, the children that had grown to be her followers obeyed her every action and agreed with her every opinion. The fear that flowed through their veins was what allowed Holly to control their strings. It was the fear of rejection, the fear of loneliness, and the fear of being pushed down the social ladder to the very bottom rung. So they clung to Holly’s sense of superiority, supporting the growing idea in her mind that she was becoming the queen of the class.

The immediate liking and friendliness that the children displayed to Mira only agitated Holly more. It was merely human nature to be so attentive to one so good-looking, yet Holly was determined to recapture their attention and prove that owning good looks could not save one from being ostracized and disliked.

So the news about the new girl traveled around the school with the speed of the usual elementary chatter. Mira was looked upon as a saint by her peers and an absolute delight by the teachers. Matching her outstanding appearance was a strong intellect her teacher, Ms. Carver, came to find. When Ms. Carver would praise Mira in class, the boiling pit of loathing that was becoming all-too-familiar within Holly would bubble to the surface, often resulting in a whisper of “teacher’s pet” or “suck-up” to her neighbor. She had planned to bring Mira down slowly, yet surely, even if the smallest downgrading comments had to incite it.

Approximately two weeks after Mira’s arrival, Holly felt that it was time for the detonation of her plan. The fringes of her circle of followers had begun to surround Mira instead of her, and the red-head seemed to have not tried a thing!

“She’s just so nice,” Katie, one of Holly’s less-closer friends, was saying to her. “She even helped me pick up my books when I dropped them this morning. Plus, she’s smart, and she’s just such a good person!”

“And I am not?” Holly retorted bitterly.

Katie’s smile faded away. “I didn’t say that, Holly. You’re a really good person, too.”

Holly knew how pathetic of a lie it was, but the reassurance that another follower still flattered her made her feel slightly better. “Okay,” she replied, “but I guess you don’t realize that she is tricking you.”

The group of girls exchanged glances. “What do you mean?” Katie’s best friend, Tara, asked.

“I’ve heard that the reason she seems to be so smart is because she cheats,” Holly explained with a touch of slyness in her voice. “I wouldn’t sit next to her, unless you want her to get credit for what you did.”

There were a few raised eyebrows among the surprised girls. One named Jenna asked, “How do you know this, Holly?”

“I told you, it’s been around. I even saw her do it once,” Holly snapped, “Why would I lie? Are you calling me a liar?”

Jenna hesitated and shook her head no. “No, no I’m not.”

“Alright then,” Holly stated, pleased that people were already giving second thoughts about the girl. “So no one should sit next to her. We’ll see what happens!”

Because Holly had not planned what to do after the gossip was spread, it was eventually proclaimed a rumor. Seeing that Mira was not sitting next to any smart classmates, they determined that she was receiving the good grades herself. The rumor faded, and Mira still received the same amount of kindness.

It was not until a humid, April afternoon that Mira’s destiny was set. Holly tapped impatiently on her desk as she waited for the dismissal to the long-awaited lunch period. However, Holly was not waiting to eat lunch; instead, she was waiting to begin her greatest plan designed to tarnish Mira’s reputation.

Every attempt at bringing her down had failed, and Holly had lost a few key followers to Mira along the way. Today is the day, she would always tell herself confidently. But each day only brought more jealousy as Mira quickly collected friends.

The moment the bell rang, the class filed out in bedlam as each child rushed to the cafeteria. Holly, however, unnoticeably stayed behind, stealthily sneaking a thin, pink book under the pile of schoolwork on Mira’s desk. When she casually rejoined her clique, no one had noticed her delay. She smiled deviously, eagerly awaiting her triumph when she would return to the classroom.

She began to set up her scheme when her clique was comfortably seated at the lunch table, saying, “I haven’t been able to find my diary ever since this morning! I know I walked in with it, but I looked under my desk after recess, and it was gone!”

“Are you sure you didn’t leave it somewhere else?” a girl named Linda asked.

“Positive,” Holly replied, “why would I leave my diary lying around? I’m not that stupid.”

“What does it look like? I’ll keep an eye out for it,” said another girl, Erica.

“It’s small and pink,” Holly replied, “It looks like a diary; you can’t miss it.”

“Well,” stated Erica, “if I see it around, I’ll bring it back to you.”

“Or if anyone stole it, we’ll make sure that they pay.”

Holly smirked as she turned to Janelle, the biggest follower of them all and her so-called “best friend.” “Janelle, don’t say things like that. How could any of our fine classmates do such a thing?” Holly realized how fake it sounded the moment she finished her sentence.

Janelle did not seem to have noticed. “Well, you never know. People are nosy, I guess.”

“Maybe,” Holly pretended to ponder, “Well, I hope that nobody has been snooping around in my diary. That would be so rude.”

Holly’s day had finally come.

Janelle was standing next to Mira’s desk, holding up the pink book that she had retrieved.

“Holly! Holly!” Janelle called, “Look what I found!”

Holly had been chatting with a couple of members from her clique when she heard Janelle. This could not have been more perfect, she thought to herself. She whirled around and called back, “You found it? Janelle, where?”

“Right under a pile of Mira Nolan’s papers!” Janelle stated proudly.

Holly had her performance rehearsed and perfected. She drew her hand to her mouth, half-open for effect, and replied, “No! Are you suggesting that Mira stole it?”

Mira approached the doorway when she heard Holly and asked, “What are you saying that I stole?”

“Perfect timing,” Holly began, trying to show as much anger in her voice as she could muster. “Janelle, here, just happened to find my missing diary on your desk. What do you have to say for yourself, Mira?”

Mira’s expression swiftly morphed into shock and confusion. “All I have to say is that I didn’t steal it.”

The whole class was staring at her now, just as confused as she. Most of them looked at her with disbelief, unconvinced that the girl they knew to be so nice could steal someone’s personal diary.

“Then how come my diary was on your desk?” Holly asked.

“I answer honestly: I don’t know,” Mira replied, her voice filled with bewilderment, “It wasn’t there before I left for lunch.”

“So you’re suggesting that it walked out from under my desk and under your pile of stuff?” Holly challenged.

Every pair of eyes was on Mira as she responded, “No, I didn’t say that.”

“Mira Nolan, there’s nothing else to say except that the evidence explains it all. My diary was missing since right after recess, so it’s obvious that you are lying. How could you, Mira, how could you?”

Mira was at a loss for words, her hands shaking and her green eyes filling up with tears. The situation had hit her so suddenly and unexpectedly that she did not know how to handle it. “I…I didn’t…”

“Do you see, my friends?” Holly announced to the class, “I knew she was trouble from the moment she came here! I bet that she was faking all of the nice stuff that she did for you!” Holly had never felt more proud and confident in her life. “She may have done those things, but she didn’t really mean them. I bet she was doing that just so she could become the most popular girl in the school, and this proves it!” She looked at the girl. “Bet you wanted some juicy gossip from this, didn’t you? Well, nice try.” She turned back to the class. “If you want to keep feeding into her lies, be my guest. But if I were you, I’d stay away from the little liar. She’s a liar!”

And Mira could only watch as the class turned away, never wanting to speak to her again because of a pink book filled with empty pages.

As time went on, Mira was known infamously as a girl thirsty for gossip and popularity. Holly’s claims of Mira acting kind only to become popular had been verified true because of the diary mishap. The story of that fateful day in elementary school surrounded her, rumors and gossip evolved, and they wounded Mira more and more as each day passed. Mira became an outcast, seen only alone, shrouded in confusion and misery. Years passed like this, although by the time the class reached high school, they realized how ridiculous and naïve they had been in fifth grade. Still, because it had been a certain way for so long, it was hurtful to anyone’s reputation even if they were to affiliate with the girl.

Because of the taunting and insults that Mira had to endure, she had developed very low self-esteem, figuring that maybe for all of those years people had just been feeding only lies to her. Maybe she was not beautiful, and maybe she did not deserve to be smart and in the rankings of those who had many friends. Thus, her grades faltered, and she paid less attention to her looks (even so, she was still one of the best-looking girls in the school). Her lighthearted glow that had surrounded her disappeared, and as time passed, Mira could only sink lower into, what became eventually, depression.

Holly, on the other hand, was put on an even higher pedestal. She was still able to maintain her popularity and control her apprehensive followers. Triumph and glory warmed her at the sight of Mira being seen all alone in each day’s entirety. But Holly was never satisfied because Mira’s beauty would always shine through her gloom. While Holly was popular, she was still not very good-looking.

And to think that before the incident, they had never even spoken a word to each other.

On a chilly, February afternoon in their ninth year, Holly plodded down a school hallway, trying to juggle a heavy backpack, a few binders, and a designer purse all at once. She laughed with the people that trailed behind her, discussing the events of the day and moaning at the amount of homework that had been assigned. The dismissal bell had just rung, and the traffic of students filed out of the school in a stampede.

When they reached outside, most of the students waved good-bye and broke off from the group, heading towards the line of school buses. Holly and a few others stayed for their own rides, and she continued to chat about the melodrama that had occurred at the high school that day.

She reached into her purse, fumbling around for her cell phone and finding that its battery was not charged. She cursed loudly, receiving a few glances from several people, including Mira Nolan.

“Is something wrong?” she called over, her voice caring and gentle.

Holly flinched, her grip on her purse tightening. A girl from her posse shouted back acidly, “Go away, she doesn’t need your concern!”

“I’m sorry,” Mira replied, her kind tone remaining, “I was only asking in case you needed some help.” Her voice was quieter and meeker-sounding than Holly had last heard, but it was still the Mira Nolan she remembered.

“Why would she need help from you of all people?” the girl shouted back. Holly never looked at Mira once.

“Alright then, if you say so.” Mira walked over to a lamppost and leaned against it. Holly grimaced as she slowly forced herself to look at her. My goodness, she thought to herself, she has changed, yet she has not changed.

Holly watched her out of the corner of her eye as Mira daydreamed, looking down the street every so often. Even though she was wearing a gray sweatshirt, plain blue jeans and worn-out sneakers, her beauty was still too great to be blemished by her clothes. Her hair’s red color still flared from her messy ponytail, and her eyes’ green hue still glowed despite the dark circles under her eyes. Holly looked at herself and noted that she had not changed much, either. Well, she thought to herself, maybe there has been no improvement, but at least it has not gotten worse.

She came back to reality when one of the girls asked her, “Is your cell phone dead? Here, you can use mine.” She offered it to Holly.

Holly snatched the girl’s phone from her outstretched hand with a muttered “thanks” and hastily called her mother to make sure she was coming to pick her up. As she talked, she could not help but drift her gaze back to Mira. She wondered why she always felt so nervous around her when she knew how much power she had over her. Even though that was the case in the social world, Holly felt as though, in reality, it was the other way around.

As soon as Holly hung up, Mira called over again, “Did everything work out okay?”

Holly froze for a minute, digesting her words once more. The girl had been tormented and tortured by her for so long, and now she was offering her concern?

“I don’t understand you!” Holly shouted at her, finally looking straight into her eye. “Do you have no sense of hatred? No sense of apathy? You have to be so nice to every person you meet, no matter how mean they are to you?” The outside world seemed to disappear. To Holly, it was only her and Mira.

Calmly, Mira replied, “I don’t understand why you would be angry about that.”

“Because it’s not normal!” Holly screamed. Every inch of her was bursting with fury. “Mira Nolan, you may be beautiful and nice, but you’re not normal. You should’ve never come to this town, you should’ve never taken my diary, and you should’ve never tried to steal my glory.”

“For the last time…” At first, Mira sounded exasperated, but she quickly regained her composure. “Well, first of all, it’s not my fault that my dad was transferred here because of his job. And steal your glory? Holly, I never understood why you always believed that. I never tried to steal anything from you, including your diary. I only tried to make friends when I came here. There’s no harm in that.”

A crowd was starting to form around the girls.

“Oh, stop acting like you’re all innocent,” Holly barked, “You were trying to become the most popular girl from day one! Why else did all of those people flock to you?” She was starting to wonder why no teacher had noticed the surrounding crowd or the shouting yet.

“I didn’t try it!” Agitation finally took over Mira’s tone. “They all came to me! Just like to everywhere else that we’ve moved! I’ve moved so many times, and each time, the same thing would happen! But then I came here, and then there was that whole thing with the diary. Nobody was my friend anymore, and I was so confused and lost because it happened so suddenly. And I would beg, and beg, and beg for us to move again, but my parents are secure here, and we never have!” She looked at Holly with a pleading look. “I’ve wanted to ask this question for so long, Holly: Why don’t you really like me?”

Holly stared at her for a minute trying to decide whether or not what Mira had told her was true. Yes, she admitted, it did seem as though her friends had simply flocked to Mira through their own will. She knew what the truth was. However, she could never bring herself to say it.

Instead, she ignored Mira’s question and replied, “How can I trust you? I can I know that what you just told me is the truth? I mean, you did steal my diary after all.”

Mira looked desperate now. “Why would I make that up? And would you quit it with the diary thing? It’s like we’re back in fifth grade, seriously; why does it matter anymore? You and I both know that I didn’t steal it. You know what you did, Holly. Please admit it.”

Holly could not help but glance back at Janelle, the girl who had unknowingly executed Holly’s plan along with her. Guilt consumed the expression on her face.

Holly looked forwards again, her glare as fiery as Mira’s hair, and grumbled, “Excuse me?”

“Did you, well, set me up?”

Holly did not say anything. She simply looked away from Mira once more, caught up in her rage. The gathered crowd began to whisper to one another.

“I take that as a yes,” Mira stated. “Why are so you worried about popularity? It’s not what’s important, you know.”

“Like you’d know the first thing about popularity,” Holly mumbled.

“You were afraid, weren’t you?” Mira challenged. “You were afraid that no one would like you for very silly reasons. Holly, the key to getting real friends is through kindness, laughter, just being friendly. It’s not by being controlling and making others fear you. I mean, I’ve heard what people say about you, Holly, and most of the time, they’re not very positive things. You don’t have friends, Holly, you have followers. And there’s a big difference.”

Holly looked back at the people behind her. The looks on their faces were screaming the truth at her

“She’s right, you know,” said Katie, no longer a follower. “I tried to be your friend back in elementary school because you seemed nice, Holly. But after awhile, I realized that you weren’t. You were just a paranoid control-freak, and you still are.”

“Don’t talk to me like that! How dare you!” Holly shouted to the sky, unable to look at anybody anymore. She felt ashamed for anyone to see that she was almost on the verge of tears.

“You’re afraid of the truth, Holly. You’re in denial.” Mira was confident about herself now.

Holly was out of ammo, and her conscience was slowly rising out of the depths of her stomach and closer to her voice box.

“You’ve put me through a lot of unnecessary pain, Holly Rogers. I want you to tell me the real reason why. Tell me, is it because you’re, well...jealous?”

It was as though the word “jealous” catapulted Holly through the air and onto Mira. She tackled the girl to the ground, fists flying and feet kicking. The shouts and reactions of the crowd were blurred sounds to her. In fury, she threw punches in every direction, but, unexpectedly, Mira was able to push her away with a surprising amount of force. But Holly did not give up; she flew at Mira again, striking her eye. Mira gave a small yelp, but she recovered quickly. She flung herself off the ground, pushed Holly against the lamppost, and gave the final blow skillfully into Holly’s gut.

Holly’s howl was of no concern to the crowd. She collapsed to the ground, panting, as she held her stomach in pain. Mira silently towered above her, the crowd cheering and congratulating her. They began to try and lead Mira away and attempt to finally talk to the girl whose past four years’ treatment had not been deserved. However, she would not budge from her spot.

“Just go with them. Leave me here. I deserve it,” Holly managed to choke between tears, “Go be the perfect little girl you are.”

She looked up at Mira, surprised to see an outstretched hand. The students quieted as they anticipated Holly’s reaction. Holly looked back and forth from Mira’s hand to the crowd. Finally, she reluctantly gave a half-smile and took it.

With a calm, tender voice and a dark, bruised, black eye, Mira proclaimed, “Nobody’s perfect.”