I am the Skeleton in the Closet

A Birthday to Remember

II complain quite a bit about the friends I was allowed to have and I've come to realize that this is very unlike how others were raised. I did have a nice handful of acquaintances in elementary school through Elmo, it was a tightly knit grouping of rejects who didn't quite fit in. Often days we would spend recess digging holes by the soccer fields in a muddy patch we found one day after it rained. The idea of excavating all the way to China was a distant dream we all shared, however unrealistic we knew it was.

I'm sure Elmo doesn't remember it quite the same, but she was my best friend. I felt comfortable around her and she would often stand up for me when others tried to poke fun.

"Ew what's wrong with her face?" Maddi, the Scouts leaders daughter, Kory, or one of the other countless bullies would prod with their nose pulled up. "Do you think you're pretty?"

"I don't know." I eventually settled on after having been asked that almost daily knowing the response they would have next if I said yes or no. That's not to say this response had a different reaction.

"Even she knows!" They would turn with a wide smile towards their laughing pose.

"Hey It!" Elmo would yell calling me by the nickname they gave me. "Don't listen to them, she's just fat and doesn't have a better way to feel good about herself." She would tell me loud enough for them to hear pulling me away from them. "Do you think you're pretty?" She would then ask whoever it was.

"Of course I am, I don't have that ugly thing on me." They would continue.

"Oh, well it's good that you think that. Someone's gotta." Elmo would retort with a smirk before running off with me. "Hey, what are the three shortest words in the english language?"

"I don't know what?"

"Is it in?" She responded with a chuckle trying to cheer me up.

I laughed even though I didn't understand the joke. She always had a way of being able to make light of any situation. When everyone else was against me, she stood by me. When everyone else was making fun, she fought back for me. I'd find myself alone sitting huddled in a corner, crying into my knees because of this or that. Everything seemed dull and pale to me, lacking the luster of happiness everyone else seemed to find so easily. Until she came up and rested a hand on my shoulder. She'd ask if I wanted to come do something with her. No matter how small or insignificant that something may have been it meant quite a bit to the lonely girl inside of me. I happily took her hand and my tears would dry, almost as if I'd found the bliss everyone else seemed to have. I enjoyed her company, so one day I decided to try to bring that company back home with me. I figured that if mom just saw the fun I was having with her she'd understand. My birthday was quickly approaching and it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Mom alway invited the friends she knew and liked to my birthday for me. Of course that included Maddi, Kory, Jo, and all the other kids that made fun of me routinely and no one that I genuinely liked. This time would be different.

"Hey can I invite some people to my party this year?" I asked readying my puppy dog eye routine.

"Like who?" She didn't glance up from her magazine.

"Well I have a few school friends that I think could make the party really fun." I dodged the question.

"How many? You know I already sent out your invitations. We can't just add people willy nilly."

"Only a few, like five others."

"Alright, I guess." Mom sighed. "I'll just have to order more pizza or something."