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I hate it when I enter a school bathroom and find it empty. That’s never a good sign. It’s also never a good thing when I enter a school bathroom and hear weird noises coming from a stall.
Today, I entered a school bathroom and heard someone coughing loudly from a stall in the corner. Walking up to a mirror, I ran my right hand through my wavy, chestnut hair and stared at myself for a while. My almond brown eyes haven’t looked this pretty in years.
Maybe it was the mask I was wearing that made my eyes stand out. Today, I wore a purple bejeweled mask lined with a thin black ribbon. Wearing it, my face always looks pale; my lips, a soft shade of pink. I look so fragile… like a porcelain doll.
My mom says that I have a heart of steel, so tough I can bear through anything and not falter. I'm a tough cookie with a big, metal heart but I look like a doll... Looks are so deceiving. They just show the world what you want them to see.
Once I heard the stall door click open, I looked at it's reflection through the mirror. Out walked Lisa Mint, one of the "fake" girls at my school. Wiping the back of her hand across her mouth, she walked to a sink a few steps away from me. Slowly, she washed her face.
“You okay?” I asked, looking directly at her. It took her a few seconds to respond.
“No, I feel like crap.” She added groggily.
“Were you vomiting?” I asked, looking her straight in the eyes. As though ashamed with herself, she looked down at the bathroom floor.
“I don’t judge. I’m just curious.” I added.
“You pity me,” She coldly added, raising her head and giving me a cold look. “You think I’m desperate, you find me pathetic, right?” I didn’t answer her because I knew I’d feed to the flames. In all honesty, I did feel bad for her.
“What? Now you’ve got nothing to say? … Typical. You’re just like the others-” Now, she’d take it too far.
“Who do you see in the mirror?”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?!” She asked, clearly annoyed. Good, I’m getting somewhere.
“Who do you see? … Think about it. Look at yourself. Go on, I’m not here to fight.” I said, waving my hand at the mirror. For a while she just stared at me, as though trying to think of something to say to bring me down. When she finally turned and looked herself in the mirror, I noticed a tear glide down her check. Halfway down her face, she wiped the tear away with the palm of her hand and laughed.
“God, I’m hideous.” She added lightly. Inside, I felt a pang of anger ripple throughout me.
“No you’re not… No one’s hideous. People are fake and not true to themselves, but never hideous or ugly.”
“I’m ugly,” She stated blandly, quite calm. “There’s nothing about me that’s beautiful or unique.”
“Do you have any self-respect, pride?” I asked softly. I didn’t want to strike a nerve. I just wanted her to realize that the outcome of hurting herself didn’t pay for the damage she’d caused her self-esteem.
“What makes me different?”
“Everything.” Taking a few steps towards the bathroom door, I stopped, turned around and looked her straight at her.
“Beauty cannot be defined. Society thinks they have control over what’s in and what’s out, but they don’t. If this is what you consider beautiful, beauty really is a beast.” I ended with this and walked out of the bathroom. I only hoped she realized what I was trying to point out. Some people can be really hardheaded.
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The Girl Behind The Mask ~ON HOLD~
Teen FictionIn a world where looks are everything lives a girl who believes to favor beauty goes against everything she's been taught. Wearing a mask every second of every day, she lives her life hidden behind a thin piece of decorated cloth. Some say she wear...
