Glow stick

Chapter 1

A wise person once said "a glow stick breaks before it glows" that person was right, but what that person didn't address was the pain and suffering you have to go through before you glow. And that's why I'm here; I'm here to share my story. The highs, the lows, but most importantly how my glow stick broke.

As a young girl I was always taught to live up to other peoples expectations and that's not always easy, especially if you live in the shadow (and influence) of your popular older sister. Hi I'm Maya and this, is my story. As a 14 year old girl that gets good grades I'd say that my life is pretty sweet (most of the time). See the thing is I was always forced to portray this perfect image , oh and my mom is a total stereotype she always says: girls should always be skinny, girls shouldn't ride skateboards, girls should always be pretty. I'm not gonna lie that's pretty exhausting, especially because my older sister Mia is always perfect and she lives up to my mothers standards.

When I was younger I never abided by my mothers rules, I was the "rule breaker" of the family, but now I always listen to her since I'm older and more mature. I never understood why my mother always had such high expectations and this was a thing that kept me up most nights. It was time for me to go to school, it's a weird place school, most kids like myself get bullied by the popular mean girls while others remain in the shadows and are pretty much unseen all of the school term.

"Maya come down for breakfast" shouted my mom

"Coming" I exclaim

At this point my heart is pounding because I have no idea if my mom will accept my look for the day. I spend hours and hours getting ready in the morning to make my mother proud. Things like grades don't really matter to her, it's all about beauty. My father is very strict about grades, if I would come home with a grade lower than B+ he would beat me with a belt. He calls it "tough love" I call it abuse.

I rush down to get my breakfast with my heart in my stomach.

"Good morning mom" I say with a slightly worried tone

"Maya...What on earth do you think you're wearing" she yells in my face

"GET YOUR ASS UPSTAIRS AND CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES, WIPE THAT MAKEUP OFF YOU LOOK LIKE A CLOWN" she shouts, turning a vibrant red tone

Tears running down my face, I run up the stairs and tear my skirt, I am reminded by the words my mother said "take that makeup off you look like a clown" the only problem was I wasn't wearing any makeup, those words hurt me. But i Couldn't worry about that now because I was about to be late for my test.
I hadn't studied whatsoever, I'm praying that I at least get an B+ because getting beat with a belt is not fun.