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One: Encounter.

“Annabel, Mrs. Kraft won’t be happy if you’re late for volunteering at the hospital!” Mom called from downstairs. After I had finished slipping on my khaki pants, white camisole, and red polo shirt with “Mary’s Hospital” stitched on the left chest side, I slung my navy blue purse over my shoulder and hurried down the stairs. As I slid my feet into my sneakers, I twisted my wavy dark brown hair into a neat bun and placed my sunglasses over my neon blue eyes.

Mom and I decided to settle in Boston when I started high school, my dad was recently deployed to Kuwait for six months, and each summer on Monday and Thursday mornings I’d volunteer at Mary’s Hospital to help take care of patients, transfer patients’ calls to their nurses, and restock the cabinets. It wasn’t too bad. While every night before and morning of volunteering I’d curse the whole idea of having to wake up early during my summer vacation just to sit in a chair, take calls, and fill the cabinets with linen and isolation coats, I didn’t mind it all that much.

Despite all that, I knew, deep down, the employees, nurses, and doctors didn’t really like me. Since middle school, my bubbly eccentric personality regressed to that of a quiet loner. I did my job properly and professionally as a volunteer. I always did what I was told and nothing more with nothing to say. I was too quiet for them to handle, meaning that I just wasn’t suitable for helping improve the orthopedic unit’s customer service. They wanted someone who’s sociable, humorous, “refreshing,” and goes above and beyond what is expected.

There was one boy who fit all the criteria, and all the patients and employees loved him. He provided excellent customer service for having only started volunteering for two days. I wasn’t one to be jealous, but no doubt hearing his name come out of everyone’s mouth whenever I turned my back annoyed the hell out of me. Sure I couldn’t blame them for preferring him over me, but it was really insulting.

While sitting at the main desk of the orthopedics center, waiting for calls from patients to transfer to their respective nurses, I overheard one patient speaking with the nurse manager and volunteer coordinator. “That boy just brightens my day!”

That again…it’s always about him. What’s so great about him? I bet inside he’s a total a-hole. I wouldn’t be surprised if his happy-go-lucky exterior is just a mask to hide his true character. They’ve got to be exaggerating. I played along with the coils of the telephone cord to keep myself distracted from their words.

“I know,” whispered the nurse manager, “our other volunteer is just too quiet, and she has this unapproachable aura… Not something clients want from a future doctor. She does her job, sure, and she’s very diligent, but she makes everyone uncomfortable.”

I sighed helplessly. It’s not like I could help it; I just happened to get this way. When I was in middle school, guys would flock around me because of my bubbly, weird, and eccentric attitude. The other girls despised me for “stealing” them away. I was a total tomboy though, and yet every month or so I’d get a confession out of them (I turned them all down though because I had no interest in a relationship).

“It’s so comfortable being around her, and she’s so cute!” I’d hear the boys say.

Then behind my back, the girls would whisper amongst themselves, “She’s nothing special. Just hearing her voice irks me. She’s so weird and too loud! Someone’s gotta shut that tramp up!”

Don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t want to give in to what they were saying, but I hated be talked about and ostracized. Sure I had guy friends, but we couldn’t hang out unless there was some girl around to bitch me out. I stood up to them a few times, but it never mattered to them.

My mom always told me, “Well if they can’t accept you for who you are then screw ‘em!” Her words were a little crude, but I knew that I should take her advice to heart. After all, she dealt with so much bullying her sophomore and junior year in high school because she got pregnant with me—her boyfriend’s child.