Surprise, double update!!!

E shock, abi e no shock?

Anyways, here's another one of the beautiful covers made by Iyanuoluwa-Temi.

Ain't it pretty, though?🤩🤩🤩.

Oya o, we mooovvee.

"She just wants to be beautiful,"
-Alessia Cara
(Scars To Your Beautiful)

Noelle

After-school shopping on Thursdays is one of the things my friends and I do to relax.

The girls; Lekki, Abena, Ginika and Janice, browsed through endless racks of clothes, each carrying a pile to try on.

I sat on a comfy chair with my own shopping bags, scrolling through Instagram.

"Noey?!" Lekki screeched at me for attention.

"Yeah?"

"Is this 'fit a vibe or not?" she asked, holding up a white coloured two-piece outfit against herself while striking a pose.

A/N: The outfit Lekki was holding

"A vibe!" I said and she smiled."Where's you get it?"

She pointed to at the other end of the boutique. "Over there, where all the other two-pieces are arranged."

I got up and walked towards the racks.

There were so many cute outfits, but as I browsed, I noticed one big problem.

Each outfit size read Small.

I even checked the ones on the skinny mannequins on display.

They were all Small.

I walked back to the two-pieces and stared in anger.

Janice came over and stood beside me.

She picked up a purple version of Lekki's outfit.

"Ginika! Abena! I found them!"she said.

Lekki must have shown them the outfit too.

The girls all came, squealing over the outfits.

I watched as Abena picked a red one and picked the light-blue, the same old feeling settling in my stomach.

Abena is Ghanaian, with skin like dark chocolate and cute, slightly down-turned eyes.

Ginika is a little lighter complexioned, with faux locs for hair and a face that could sell ice-cubes to Eskimos.

Janice has these gorgeous, slim, fox eyes and an overall exotic kind of beauty.

To top it off, they all have bodies like Victoria's Secret models.

And as much as I love my friends, I hate them for it.

"Noelle, we're all getting matching outfits!" Abena said, nudging me excitedly.

"Ooh, girl! The black would be deadly on you!" Ginika said, thrusting the black version of the outfit into my hands.

"Let's go try them on," Janice said.

We moved to the dressing rooms.

There were only four stalls, so I suggested waiting while they tried on their outfits.

You would think a big ass boutique like this one would have more dressing rooms, though.

I sat on a shell-like seat and continued my Insta-scrolling.

Ginika came out first, in the blue outfit that fit her perfectly.

"You look amazing, 'Nika," I complemented.

"As in!" she said, posing in the full length mirror.

I gave similar compliments to Janice and Abena when they came out.

Lekki was the last to come out.

The others had already heard out to pay for their stuff.

"Go try yours on, Noey," she said.

Sighing, I stepped into a stall and closed the door.

I stared at the black outfit in my hands.

Please fit me.

Puh-lease fit me.

I pulled on the crop-top first and it fits me nicely.

Okay....next one.

The skirt, on the other hand, proved difficult.

It wouldn't pass my hips, despite my tugging and pulling.

I took it off, scared that it would tear.

"Are you done?" Lekki chirped. "I wanna see!"

"Um, Lekki.....the skirt won't fit," I said with a laugh that was more fake than those designer clothes sold on the street. "I guess I'm just too fat for it."

"Pfft! Gurl, you better mean p-h-a-t! You're curvy like one of the Kardashians. I'd kill for an ass like yours."

I blinked."Thank you?"

"Wait there, I'll be right back "

I heard her quick footsteps as she moved away from the dressing room area.

Minutes later, she returned and knocked on the door of my stall.

I opened it and she handed me the same black skirt.

"I may or may not have bribed one of the athletes to get me that in a couple sizes larger," she said.

I pulled it on and it fits perfectly.

I stepped out of the stall and Lekki beamed at me.

"Trés magnifique!" she said in a sloppy French accent. "Now go take it off so you can pay for it."

I nodded and went back in, changing back to my own clothes.

.......

We sat in a SUBWAY restaurant at the food court.

Lekki, Abena and Janice had sandwiches, while I had a tiny salad.

Ginika didn't order anything and sat there, sipping water.

"I'm on a fast," she said.

"Like a church fast?" Abena asked.

"No, it's an intermittent fast, like, for weight loss."

I nearly dropped my fork.

Weight loss?

Did she just say weight loss?

I stared at Ginika.

She's skinny in an attractive way, like the rest of my friends.

Any more 'weight loss' and she'd freaking disappear!

"Ugh!" Janice groaned, eyes fixed on her phone.

"What?" we all chorused.

"Am I the only one who's utterly sick and tired of Rhianne in D class?"she said.

"I know, right!"Ginika concurred.

"Bitch is always like, 'Don't forget to recycle today!' or ' I'm vegan because I strongly believe against animal cruelty!'" Janice continued, imitating Rhianne's voice.

"Leave her, let her be doing hash-tag 'save the earth' there," Lekki said with a laugh.

In many ways, Rhianne's pro-earth and nature lifestyle was annoying.

Sometimes, she'd come to school bare foot and with dirt on her face, and she'd say she was just gardening or making compost or something.

Her hair was natural, she wore absolutely no makeup and she was a complete vegan.

Her parents were some of the pioneers of the Going Green movement in Nigeria, but she saw took it as a lifestyle.

In many other ways, she was inspiring.

"How does Darius even cope with her, sef?" Abena asked, referring to Rhianne's boyfriend.

"Who knows?" Ginika said. "I'm sha jealous of how healthy her lifestyle is though. She has the most glowing skin in our school."

"True!" we all chorused.

Rhianne's hair and skin were goals, no cap.

"So, Janice," Lekki said, after some time," how's things with Ola?"

Out of the five of us, Janice is the only one with a stable relationship, if you could refer to it as that.

She and Ola, one of Phineas' friends, are in what they call an 'open' relationship.

Meaning they could date/hook up with other people while still together.

I think it's straight up bull shit.

"Things are fine," Janice replied," but he's getting kinda boring. I wanna try someone else."

Janice is also out school's most notorious heart breaker, known for using guys and dumping them like trash.

Her boyfriend is just as bad.

Match made in hell.

"Who are you going for?" Ginika said.

Janice gave a sly smile. "Majid."

I choked slightly and gulped my water.

"Majid?" I spluttered. "As in Majid Mustapha?"

"Yeah," she said.

I shook my head.

I knew Majid as a sort of friend through Phineas, and whatever Janice is planning will definitely not work.

"Girl, do not even bother," I said.

"Why?"

"He's too....uptight."

"Well, maybe I can make him a little less uptight."

I rolled my eyes. "He's not the type that goes for girls."

Janice's eyes went wide."Is he..."

"No!" I said, with a slight giggle."He just doesn't really date.....plus, he's Ola's friend."

"I have my ways of working with those kind of guys and my boo doesn't mind, duh!" she said, flipping her hair.

I reasoned the whole thing.

Janice getting close to Majid could also mean me being able to talk to Phineas.

"Ok o, if that's what you want," I finally said.

"Happy to have your blessing," she said.

The restaurant door opened and two giggling girls walked in.

The noise they made drew attention and most eyes went to them.

One girl was skinny, while her friend was plump.

They were both wearing crop tops and denim shorts.

"Oh my gosh! What does that whale think she's wearing?!" Janice sneered in a low voice.

Ginika shuddered and held her twig-like arms. "I'd hate to be as fat as that!"

I looked round the restaurant.

It wasn't just Janice and Ginika, almost everyone was bad-mouthing the girl.

"God forbid! Is that one even a human being sef? See size! And she still came to eat."

"She be like all those traditional Japanese wrestlers."

"Honestly, people have no shame at all these days."

My eyes went to the girl, who was ordering with her friend at the counter.

Didn't she know?

Couldn't she hear what they were saying?

"And all these girls like following thin-thin people. Like that one there wearing green," I heard another muffled voice say.

I looked down at my green top and my cheeks flames in embarrassment.

I dropped my fork and pushed away the plate.

"Noey, are you okay?" Lekki asked.

No, I need to get out of here.

"Yeah, y'all should just hurry up so we can leave."

The girls went back to their conversation while I sat back, trying to make myself as invisible as possible.

.......

"Good evening, Aunty," I greeted my aunt once I got home.

"Had a nice time with your friends?" she asked.

I nodded and climbed up the stairs.

Since both my parents are in jail, and my family on my dad's side practically hate us, I live with my material aunt, uncle and cousins.

I got to my room and kicked off my shoes.

Then, like I do every day, I pulled out my weight scale.

I closed my eyes and stepped on it.

When I opened them, the figure I saw brought angry tears to my eyes.

I took off my earrings, my jewelry, anything that could be adding extra weight, but the figure didn't change.

I stepped off the scale and kicked it away.

Sitting on my bed, I wiped the tears away and picked up my phone.

I opened Google and began typing.

Intermittent fasting.......

Well, that was kinda intense 🥺🥺🥺.

If you're someone who has bodily insecurities, you'll relate with Noelle and Ginika very much.

Just for clarity, this is how I picture Noelle:

Try and imagine her face claim with this body.

Some people( like my friend Riri) might say she has a banging body.

Others might say she's fat.

To Noelle's friends, she's thicc and curvy.

To her, she's overweight.

And while she might seem confident on the outside, as Majid pointed out in a previous chapter, it's actually killing her inside.

Anyways...there'll be more on that in the future☺.

Please ooo!

Don't body shame! It's toxic and nasty.

As a kid and even now, it's something I face almost everyday.

Type 'me too' if it happens/has happened to you.

Also, how do we see Noelle's friends?

Lekki?

Abena?

Ginika?

Janice?

What bout Rhianne?

Fill me in on your thoughts.

Forgive me for the long A/N though🤓🤓🤓🤓

Don't forget to vote and tell a friend to tell a friend about TRO.

'Kay,'kay, byeeeee💗💗💗💗💗 .