🌟She's Special🌟

Weight Lifted

Albany, New York  (Bella's Perspective)
"Okay, you're up sweetheart." I held my paper to my chest and the crowd clapped as I walked to the microphone. My two new friends, Evelyn and Ruthie waved. I took a deep breath.
"First I wanna start off by saying thank you, all of you for listening. I'm going to try my hardest not to ramble. I do that quite a lot." The crowd laughed and so did I. I was pretty nervous. I'm on stage a lot, whether it be for a dance, or collecting some award, but for some reason, every time I get on stage I feel nervous.
"When I was five years old, my biological mother traded me for drugs. It was confusing to me. All of these big men around, it was scary. Things were okay at first, but then, they began to rape me. I didn't understand what was happening to me. All I knew was that I was scared and that I was being hurt. This is what jumpstarted my fear of other people as a little girl." I took a short pause and glanced at my Mom. She gave me a thumbs up.
"I was in the warehouse for what seemed like forever. I was constantly living in fear. Worried about who would come in and have their turn with me next. I would get so scared sometimes, that I'd hyperventilate and try to run away. Several times. Which lead to me getting in trouble."
"And by trouble, I mean being beaten and verbally abused." I continued to read. I tried not to focus on the flashbacks that so desperately wanted to take over me. I'm better than them.
"And then eventually, I became so scared and so weak. That I refused to talk or fight back. Fighting felt useless. Pointless. Then one day, something extraordinary happened. I found myself being rescued by cops and in the back of an ambulance. I was completely ridden with fear! Were these people going to hurt me?!" I asked with such emphasis.
"I was completely scared out of my mind, lemme tell you. It was very difficult to wrap my head around people being nice to me. That fear from the warehouse was still there, lingering. I was so scared of the people from SVU. I didn't know who to trust because it seemed like I was being abandoned and neglected by everyone I had ever known." Some people in the audience looked really sad. Was this really that touching?
"But then suddenly, it clicked. Not everyone was bad. And, once I started trusting Olivia and the rest of the squad life got so much better. I found companionship in Fin. Someone who I was once afraid of. Olivia and I began to bond, and before I knew it she was my foster Mom. But not only that, once I trusted Liv, I saw a whole different part of life that I didn't know would exist for me. I had friends, my own room, toys, and most importantly a family." I smiled to myself.
"I'll admit, life after my assault wasn't easy. I had to do tons of therapy, (I still am), had to learn to adjust, and many other things. But the important thing here is the growth that I made as an individual. I, with the help of friends and family, was able to change from being a scared, reluctant girl, to being confident, and outgoing, learning how to live with my problems. And, I wish the same for any of you in the audience that is still struggling with these issues. It's okay to be scared, it's okay to be nervous. It's okay to have bad days. But, what isn't okay is not attempting to break out of that cycle of negative emotions, because there is a whole life filled with amazing experiences waiting for you! I want to thank my family and countless friends who have helped me. I couldn't say that you enough. Your support means so much to me. And to everyone, I wish you the best of luck of trying to break the cycle of negative emotions and learning to grow and change. Thank you."
I bowed and I looked into the audience. My mom was recording and in tears. Alex was smiling at me, and giving me a thumbs-up, and everyone was being so supportive. I walked off the stage quietly. Something felt different. Like a humongous weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, I felt free. It was an amazing feeling, lemme tell you that.
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Sunday, November 18th (Olivia's Perspective)
"How was your outing with Anna?"
"It was amazing! We had so much fun together and really got the chance to get all caught up." At the moment we were at PINK picking up a gift for Bella's friend Hannah for her birthday tomorrow.
"Mom, Hannah loves this shade of pink. I think I'll buy her this sweater."
"Okay, why don't you get her a perfume as well sweetheart?"
"Ouu, you're right! Something that smells like coconut will do!" I laughed.
"I can't believe you kids are turning 13 you're getting way too old."
"No, you are!"
"Very funny, young lady."
"Sorry, Mom!" She said jokingly.
"Hannah's birthday party this weekend is going to be epic, I can't wait!"
"Give me one-second babe, Elliot is texting me."
Elliot: I had to beg Leia to let me take this picture of her.