Always there for you

Erika

The twintailed girl was looking at herself in the mirror, making sure everything was right at its place. She was wearing a pair of small navy blue jean shorts, black boots that covered around her ankles, and a black  gothic like blouse that showed some cleavage, sure she didn't have as much as certain purple haired girl but she was proud it was more than what certain pink haired shorty had.

As she was approaching the bookstore she was already able to see the tall figure of a purple haired beauty wearing tight black jeans and a gray long sleeved blouse that bulged greatly on the chest area. "God even with discreet clothes like those she's so hot", Erika thought to herself as she bit her lip.

The two girls met shortly after and agreed to go to a nearby restaurant to talk while they had lunch. They sat and talked about Yuri's favorite book while they waited for their meal. Erika managed to get some giggles out of Yuri which made her heart shrink at the adorable sounds she made.

After their meal, Erika convinced Yuri of going to the bookstore and she listened to her passionate talk about books which she could follow thanks to her now not so secret hobby. At some point she earned Yuri's praise when she said "Natsuki just listened to me talk but didn't really know much about this", which made Erika feel the world was too small for her.

Time passed and Yuri was now feeling like going home, however Erika convinced her to take a last stroll near the riverside as she told the taller girl she had one more thing to talk about.
"I know I have said this already but I really am sorry about how I treated you in the past", Erika said while she looked at the water run as she walked. "And I told you it is fine, no hard feelings honestly", Yuri replied with a sweet smile that made Erika blush lightly. "I know but there's more to that than it looks, you see I'm not from a wealthy family like my other friends, guess your girl hit the spot there. My parents jobs earn them just enough to for a very modest style of life. That's the reason I transferred to our school last year. My dad tried to have me in what he called 'a better school', but the fee he was paying and the fact that it was quite far from our house and I had to spend money on transportation made it too impossible for him to continue, he was even eating less times a day to keep on going with that, my mom was the same", Erika paused for a moment. "Sounds like you had your own problems to deal with", Yuri said kindly. "Yeah, so I convinced my dad to transfer me to our school eventually, I told him wherever school I were I would be able to apply and enter a good college anyway. One day a few weeks later after I transferred, I was having lunch alone and 3 rich and good looking girls approached me and tried to mess with me about being new, however I don't know if it was my good looks or simply luck but they ended up accepting me in their group, later I'd learn they thought I was rich too for some reason. That Christmas I convinced my parents to buy me one of those expensive iPhones since my friends kept bugging me about it, I always told them I was waiting for the latest version to come out so I could buy it to make them drop the topic. My dad really did a great effort to get me that stupid thing just for me to keep a fake appearance. So that should explain why I got so mad when your girl took it from me that time, it was my best way to keep faking, if it got broken I couldn't just get another like my friends did every time they lost it at some of their parties. And since those dumb boys always gave us a ride I managed to evade the "why don't you have a car?" Question as well", Erika paused again as she sighed. "Why would you keep a fake appearance though?", Yuri asked. "That's where you enter in this story. I was scared. As you know, my friends were the type of people who would pick on anyone they considered different from them. Nerdy guys, people with some physical deformity, like the kid with a leporine lip in our class, but the ones they hated the most where those who stood out even more than them. People like you", Erika looked at Yuri briefly. "What do you mean?", Yuri asked curiously. "You're pretty", Erika said glancing at the taller girls sweetly. "W-What does t-that even mean?", Yuri asked nervously. "They hated when someone with looks as good or better than them stood out. You're smart, you have good grades, you have more unique hobbies, you're as wealthy as them apparently and like I said, you're pretty. But you had a weakness they took advantage of. You're shy. Shyness can be your doom many times. Take your girls friend for example, the guy with the funny mustache. That boy is awfully different from everyone in school you'd think he'd be easy pray for wolves like them, but as you saw he's by no means shy. He won't hesitate to put you in your place if you mess with him, believe me we tried once. Same with your girl, she bit back immediately when we tried to scare her away that time, I even have the scar to prove it haha", Erika paused a pointed at her eye. "Anyway, shyness was your doom, you had no friends in class and whenever we messed with you you never even tried to strike back. You became their favorite prey because they were jealous of you", Erika paused and sighed. "I-I guess it is good to know that, b-but what is the point of all of this, I-I really did forgive you b-but it is still an awful reason f-for what you did", Yuri said. "That's were I'm getting at now. I always hated what we did to you, what we did to everyone in general. I always felt horrible about everything. I couldn't look my dad in the eye anymore, he always bragged about me being such a nice and dedicated girl, if he knew how horrible I really was... Anyway, like I said before, I was scared, seeing everyday what they did to you and others, imagining the way they'd treat me if they knew the truth that I was of a low social status, that I fooled them and I even had a hobby of reading like you, that's why I kept a fake appearance. You don't have to believe me of course and don't even have to feel sympathy for me but I just wanted you to know", Erika finally finished as she let Yuri process everything in her mind while they kept walking. "Umm, what changed though? You joined the literature club and even read in class sometimes in front of them", Yuri finally asked. "You did", Erika said smiling warmly at the shy girl. "I-I did?", Yuri asked embarrassed and confused. "Well, more like you changed us haha. Just like we said when we apologised to you, you're a good person and you showed it to us when you decided not to get your revenge when you had the chance. It was the first time for us that someone showed us kindness out of nothing, or to them at least. It was the first time someone truly made us feel like shit. I was the first to apologise to you because you inspired me, even more than you already did in the past", Erika said looking away. "W-What do you mean?", Yuri asked even more confused. "I always admired you. Even if you were harassed and teased everyday, you never changed. You always were who you are, you had the courage to do what a coward like me couldn't. And that is stick to your ideals. So to make it short when you showed us the Ultimate proof of kindness, I realised what I had to do. Then I started by apologizing to you and the next thing I did was tell the truth about me to my friends, I didn't care if I became their new victim anymore. But that didn't happen, the only thing they did was laugh and call me nerd jokingly. They told me after what happened, they would never mess with a bookworm again, guess you softened them. So then I joined the literature club. Also I came out of the closet haha", Erika laughed. "Y-You what?", Yuri asked stunned. "I also told them I like girls. They just laughed and joked about me staring at their butts this whole time. They always thought I was straight like them because I always went to party with them and those boys, Fortunately I'm not stupid and I always evaded any kind of contact with them, also I'm lucky they were always so drunk they wouldn't notice if I switched myself with a plant hah!, So yeah, eww boys", Erika said playfully. "After that I convince them to apologise to you even if they were trying to hold onto their pride and just not mess with you anymore. So they did, everyone felt better, things are good for everyone and here we are", the twintailed girl finally finished talking and simply smiled to herself. Yuri was still trying to process everything in her mind as both silently walked for a few more minutes.

"Guess we should get going, I had fun today and thanks for listening to me, Yuri-Yuri", Erika said as they were about to part ways. "D-Do not worry about it, I-I guess it was good t-to know about that", Yuri replied. "Yeah, and I'll tell you a little secret before I go... I have a crush in the literature club. Nope, it's not your girl, so don't stab me yet! Haha, anyway bye!", Erika made a peace sign a began to walk away.

Erika knew everything she said today was true, although she still had one last thing to reveal to the purple haired girl, but that would be some other time, she walked away satisfied as she knew her plans were going just right, there was no rush.

Yuri walked home confused, wondering if Erika's crush was Monika or Sayori.