Inferior [completed]

The story of Jane Miller

"I just don't feel good enough," Becca Winters says in a shaky voice, her eyes watching her fidgety fingers in a daze.

I observe her silently. Watching her every moves and seeing the way her lips tremble slightly reminded me of those days when I was in her shoes.

"What makes you think that you aren't good enough?" I ask softly.

She looks up at me with her teary eyes. So much emotion was trapped behind those beautiful crystal blue eyes. Becca is a teenager aged 17, looking so carefree and full of life on the outside. But all of that was just a disguise for the raging storm of emotions in her heart.

"Everything...everyone around me," she trails off, catching her voice again. "I try my best to please them and I try my best to do things right, the way they expect me to."

She drops her head into her open palms and starts sobbing. "But it's never...never good enough," she says in between sobs.

I place my notebook on the table beside me and go to crouch in front of her. She was still sobbing when I lift her head and cup her cheeks in my hand. Her eyes were still closed, tears streaming down her cheeks in abundance.

I wipe away her tears with my thumbs softly. "Calm down Becca. Calm down," I say soothingly and hand her a tissue paper. She takes a deep breath and takes the tissue from me and blows her nose.

"Now listen to me," I start, catching her full attention. "I understand completely what you must be feeling. You feel pressured and forced to be the perfect girl, am I right?" She nods her head.

"But you don't have to be that way. Being a perfect person does not mean the world. What truly count is being who you are really at heart. That's what makes you beautiful and different from others," I explain. She listens silently, her eyes wide with appreciation.

"Do you know what Coco Chanel always say?" I ask and she shakes her head. "Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself," I say with a smile.

Her eyes widen slightly and her lips spread into a small smile.

"Ignore the people who are trying to influence you. It's not being rude. Sometimes you just have to keep your distance from those who don't know your worth. And sometimes these people just don't want to acknowledge your worth, you know why?" I ask. She shakes her head again.

I hold her hands in mine and give them a reassuring squeeze. "It's because you are better than them and they know it very well. And it scares them that's why they try to bring you down so as to feel better," I say confidently.

She looks at me with shock as she absorbs what I just said. Finally, she lifts her eyes to look into mine and a genuine smile forms on her rosy plump lips.

"Thank you, Ms. Miller," she whispers and engulfs me in a hug. I hug her back and pat her back soothingly.

"Just be yourself and you'll see how your life is going to change for the better," I say and we pull apart.

A knock resonates on the door of my office before Olivia peeks inside. "Jane, there's a call for you," she informs and close the door.

Becca and I stand up and I bide her goodbye as she turns and leaves my office.

Shortly after her departure, I walk out of my office, towards the reception desk behind where Olivia was seated. As she sees me approaching, she hands me the receiver of the phone.

"Jane Miller speaking," I say.

"Good evening, Ms. Miller. I'm Mrs. Doleres, the principal of Trinity College. I know that you have a busy schedule Ms. Miller but I wanted to invite you to our institution to talk to the students. We organise a special event annually just before the final exams where we usually invite inspiring people to give words of encouragement to the students," she explains while I listen attentively.