I Can Do This

The Sweatshirts

She tugged at her oversized grey sweatshirt attempting to pull it down more. It was the physical version of how she felt about herself, hidden. She believed it covered her bigger stomach and her not so toned arms, but unknowingly, the fabric consumed her pearly white smile, her lively personality, and the confidence she once had before she moved to this school a month before. "I can do this", Neveah said under her breath for the hundredth time as she pushed open the door to her English class. Immediately, she felt the stares aimed at her like daggers ready to puncture her already open emotional wounds. She hurriedly moved to her seat in the back of the room as she spoke down to herself, "Why am I so stupid? I could've tried to smile to everyone instead of rushing to my desk as if I really wanted to be here". Neveah closed her eyes and let out a loud sigh to calm down her nerves, "I can do this."

Christine looked up from her phone when the door opened and saw the quiet girl. She quickly looked at her with pity in her eyes because she was pretty but confidence was non-existent. "Oh well! Been there done that, not going back," she thought. Christine used to be her, but her sweatshirt was navy blue. Not dark enough to be black but not light enough for people to see the tears that dropped when the pressure was too much. She knew she was pretty, but it was the little things that she blew out of proportion like how she had a gap in her two front teeth, her thighs were bigger than average, and she was taller than the majority of the boys in her graduating class. Although it took time, the day she started to accept her flaws, Christine felt like a butterfly after weeks in a cocoon. The new her was free of emotional baggage and the infamous sweatshirt was retired only for chilly days.