STORY STARTER

"Everybody wants to judge, but nobody wants to listen."

Write about a character who is going through a typically stigmatised situation. As an added challenge, try to write from the perspective of the opposite gender to yourself.

Hidden Tears

“I don’t understand.” “How is it any of your business that I like your best friend’s boyfriend?” “Yes, I know he has a girlfriend.” “No, I’m not going to get in between them!” “Why do you care?!” These were all things I should’ve said when one of the cheerleaders started interrogating me. Somehow, and I had my suspicions, the entire school had found out who I liked. Which shouldn’t be a huge deal, because this was freaking HIGH SCHOOL! I would understand if we were in kindergarten or something, but this was Junior year. Come on, you people. I mean, yes the guy was the star football player. And happened to be dating the cheer captain/model/class president. She was really nice too, which was rare for a blonde cheerleader. But of course, if I like the extremely attractive quarterback, I must be some evil witch who hates happiness. Or something like that. I walked down hallways that whispered rumors and gossip with a cloud of bitterness around me. My anger was a wall around me, letting no shame or embarrassment enter. I made a beeline for the one person I had thought I could trust. She pretended not to see me coming until the very last moment. I was boiling with anger by now, but I was determined to stay in control. I stood there and stared at her until she met my gaze. Ellie was a good six inches taller than me, but at this moment she seemed no larger than an ant. She glanced back down at her feet. “I, I mean, I didnt mean to, I didn’t think,” she tried to explain, backing away every so slightly. Tears were welling up in the depths of her blue eyes. “I’m sorry,” she finally mumbled. “No, no you aren’t.” I said. She didn’t argue, just sniffed and walked away. We both knew she wasn’t sorry about what happened, she was just sorry I found out. I dragged myself through the rest of my classes, exhausted from keeping my walls up so high all day. People I didn’t even know were sneering at me, laughing behind their hands. I still didn’t see how it was any of their business. Yes, I liked a guy! Yes, he was taken! But I wasn’t gonna do anything about it. I would never do that to him, or his girlfriend. I was rooting for them just as much as everyone else. I couldn’t help that he was exactly my type, and I had tried everything short of dating someone else to get over him. I got home that afternoon and lay on my bed with my dog. We stared at the ceiling for a while. I just dreamed about the day before when I was still invisible to the world. I sighed and buried my face in my dog’s soft side, and let out the tears that I had hidden all day.

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