When school started up again, I kept plugging
away.
My grades started to climb, too. Pretty soon, I was in the top ten in our class.
High school. The good students always got a
little extra attention.
I got a love letter.
Some guy said I was smart, pretty, and had
great skin.
I just stood there, speechless.
Was this for me?
Pretty? Great skin?
I turned to my bestie, “Hey, you think I’m…
く
7:52
She rolled her eyes. “Stop trying to show off.
You’re beautiful!”
Huh?
I borrowed her compact mirror and took a look
at myself for the first time in ages.
I was… actually kind of cute.
I wasn’t all dark and scrawny like I used to be.
My face seemed different, too. Softer.
Huh. Maybe I was a little cute.
Was this because I finally loved myself?
For some reason, my eyes started to water.
My friend gasped. “Did you just tear up
because you’re so damn pretty?”
48
<
14
I was getting better grades and better looking.
The change in myself wasn’t something I
thought about. The older I got, the more I
wanted to become my own person.
I had a vision of myself as a girl boss at the top
of the mountain.
What was I doing three years ago?
I was just wasting time trying to get someone
to love me.
I wanted my mom and dad to love me, and my
brother, too.
But that’s not going to happen. So I was going
to leave that life.
Eighteen years. It was going to be a turning
point in my life.
B
I know that something big was going to happen.
My phone went off. I looked at it.
It was my mom. This was the first phone call I’d gotten from them in six months. The last time they called was on Christmas, inviting me home for dinner.
I picked it up. My mom’s voice was so warm. “Honey, how have you been? We were afraid to interrupt your studies, so we didn’t want to call you.”
I gave a polite response.
My mom cut to the chase: “Well, we were
planning on sending Brittany off to school in
Switzerland, would you like to go with her?”
I froze. My mind raced.
<
7:52
48
The last time, my mom nad asked IT I wanted to
go to Switzerland.
The subtext was there. But I chose to ignore it.
I will bite her. And be the better one.
That’s what I had thought. I would never give
- up.
15
I didn’t care about anyone’s opinions. I was
going to go. I had to make it. I had to prove
something.
I just wanted to get a seat at the table, but my
parents never saw it that way.
I knew that Mom hadn’t called because she
actually wanted my opinion. She was just going
through the motions.
She had no plans to send me to Switzerland
>
She had no plans to send me to Switzerland.
But I had to force it.
I had to go there.
My mom’s voice piped up. “Honey, I need to
warn you. Studying abroad is not easy. There
are so many bad people in the world. And your
English isn’t very good. You haven’t been
studying very hard these last few years…
دو
I have to study hard. I can’t be slacking.
I tried not to react, and said that I wanted to
- go. I told her that the family had enough money,
and they could send me.
