Dedicated to @vampirepenguins for reaching that damn 500 in like ten minutes. 

The mid-exams were all finished well and through, and everyone seemed to be confident about their scores. The days started passing by quickly after that, and everyone was busy doing something.

Violet, for instant, got a call for a temporary leave in regard of an emergency on Friday night, and she hadn't come back since then.

On Monday, school students were excited about picture day. Each homeroom teacher passed out the tickets for the photos and they all waited for their class to be called to the room where the photoshoot was taking place. 

Rihanna began to worry for Violet. Where was she? What happened? Why wasn't she back in school yet?

When the F.A.I.T.H. members were called, everyone was starting to worry for her again. Unfortunately, they all knew what happened last year, and they were wondering if it was going to happen again this year too.

They also questioned what the reason behind it was. Rihanna didn't dare say a word of knowledge. 

When it was their turn, they lined up outside the door, while each one of them entered after the other for their photos to be taken.

"Hey guys, miss me much?"

They glanced at the girl who said this, then realizing it was Violet, they fully turned around and stared at her with jaws on the floor.

There, in front of them, stood Violet. Her long black hair now blonde, tied back into a snowfall of beautiful golden curls. Her usual heavy makeup was also gone, and now her dark blue eyes were caressed with just enough eyeliner and mascara. Her lips, for the first time, wore shiny lip gloss, and best of all, her ears, both held beautiful dark blue shimmering earrings.

She was beautiful. The loveliest one of all. It was a Cinderella story happening right in front of everyone's eyes. Rihanna couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Is this really Violet?

Everyone stared at her with the same kind of disbelief. Katerina, who had been inside the room having her picture taken, came out and was stunned to silence too.

It took two seconds.

She ran with excitement toward Violet and hugged her. "Oh my! Is this Violet?"

"Wow." Taylor said, literally his first time being affected by a girl.

Violet, to Rihanna's surprise, didn't push Katerina away, but instead hugged her back, laughing sweetly instead. Rihanna was torn apart between just standing there and watching, and running to her like Katerina did.

"Thanks." She said, her malicious tone long gone. She stared at everyone and blushed. "Why look so stunned?" She glanced at Alvin. "No smart remark?"

Alvin was turning beet red. He was probably recalling all the evil things he did to this beautiful lady in front of him and regretting them one by one. 

She looked at Jessie. "Even you. Can't you at least pretend like I'm the same person so I don't feel hurt?"

Jessie laughed nervously and scratched his head. Rihanna suddenly felt threatened by her. "Sorry, you just caught us off guard. Welcome back."

Devon stared her up and down. The chick was hiding behind all of that? "Damn."

Violet smiled and walked over to Rihanna. She stood in front of her, the smile on her face disappearing slowly and deep gratitude appearing instead. Before anyone saw it coming, Violet was pulling Rihanna into a tight hug.

"Thank you. I really can't thank you enough."

Rihanna blushed as everyone stared at them in curiosity. This was making her more uncomfortable than words can say. "Violet," Rihanna said, laughing nervously. "Why me? I barely did anything."

She pulled away and looked Rihanna straight in the eye, serious as one could be, she solemnly repeated. "Thank you."

***

Back in F.A.I.T.H. Mandy cried her eyes out at Violet's massive change. "Oh my goodness. You are so pretty. I can't believe you came back like this."

It was Rihanna's first time seeing a girl who was as pretty as Mandy. In fact, Violet's beauty might as well have topped most of the Dawn's Angels.

Katerina sighed. "I'm not the prettiest girl in this class anymore. Such a shame."

"I was wondering if we can have a class discussion." Violet said to Mandy. "If you don't mind." 

"Of course not." She looked around for Lexis, and wondered where he disappeared off to after the photoshoot. Sighing, she looked her students over and said. "Class, to the mats."

After everyone sat on the green yoga mats around the tree, Violet, though nervous and scared, decided to share her experience with everyone.

"You're probably wondering what happened. And you were probably thinking today I might not come to picture day just like last year. And maybe if not for recent events, I probably wouldn't have. I want you to all forgive me for something.

"I know Mandy had already said that it was our decision if we wanted to share our reason that brought us here into F.A.I.T.H. But you all thought I had already shared my reason. Because I was disrespectful, I caused problems with the teachers, I had bad grades and didn't care about school work. It's all true. But that's only a part of it. I actually had a secret I hid."

Rihanna was probably more mortified than violet. She's... going to tell everyone?

"I hated to be touched, it's true. But there was a reason. I was afraid that you would find out about an imperfection that I had. An ugly one that I despised very much about myself. So that's why I acted so cold towards all of you. I'm sorry for it. I didn't want you to find out. I was afraid... afraid that I will lose your friendship.

"But then something amazing happened. One of you found out about it. Rihanna. I was so frightened that she might tell the world, that I actually considered running away from this school the second she found out. You see..." She pointed at her ear. "I didn't have this one part of my body my whole life up until Friday."

The fact that everyone kept a composed expression to not hurt her was something Rihanna deeply appreciated on behalf of Violet and wished she had the strength to have done so herself.

"Rihanna treated me so well after the shock of finding out. She had become a best friend. And even though she kept her promise to not tell anyone, she still didn't have to. I had always treated her with ignorance. Why would she be so kind to help me?

"Then something even bigger happened. The surgery to fix my imperfection would cost money more than what I could afford. On Friday that changed. A cosmetic hospital contacted me saying that they received a call from someone to try out their new ear transplant free trial, and thanks to Rihanna who got in touch with them and conveniently convinced them that I would be a great candidate to get the surgery and eventually be thankful for it, I was able to get it done and become whole again.

"You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all this now though I clearly hid it from you before. It's because right before the operation was done on me, I lay there asking one thing to myself: If Rihanna who had just joined F.A.I.T.H. accepted my secret and still kept me as a friend, wouldn't the rest of you have done the same? And I felt momentarily stupid for not sharing it with you, because at least I would have felt better about myself despite my imperfection. But even then, I want to thank all of you for accepting the past me with all of her imperfections, and I really do mean all of them. And I hope you'll forgive the new me and still accept me as I am."

Rihanna was touched, its not like she wasn't. She was very touched.

But something else was there. Something that was slowly changing her.

While everybody whooped and hooted for Violet, tears fell down Rihanna's face. To the point where she couldn't bear sitting there anymore.

She sprang to her feet, her face covered with her hands to hide what she was feeling, and she turned around and quickly made her way to the door. 

As soon as she exited the classroom, she began running, running out to anywhere she could feel like breathing again. She suddenly wanted Vincent to be there. So she could hug him and so he could tell her that everything will be alright. But he wasn't there to do that.

Someone else was.

Someone grabbed her hand and halted her to a stop. A breathless Charles stood behind her, and right after seeing her expression, he broke out of his frozen state and pulled her into his arms.

"You're back."

Behind them, Lexis stood in the middle of the intersecting hall, where he was talking to Anthony's doctor. As he watched the two from under his fallen bangs, watched the affection that was undeniable, he realized what he was looking at wasn't property and owner. 

But a man in love and a woman who was provoking the very essence of it. 

His jaw tightening, he turned around and walked away.

What a strange feeling this is...