Reflections Piece

A Pricey Lesson to Learn

Hi, I am Sandra Davies, nice to meet you.  I am not a geeky sort of girl, but I am also not one of those super popular divas either.  I like to consider myself as a soft spoken, quote-unquote “Goodie, Goodie”.  This year, I am a freshman at Worchester High School.  I did say I was soft spoken and a “Goodie, Goodie” but I also have many friends.  My best friend is Sasha Stevens who is a really sweet and loyal friend. 

This summer, Sasha was in a fire that left half of her face severely burnt.  She later got cosmetic surgery to replace the burnt flesh.  Even though it had improved her scars, it was still severely discolored and made her look like a melting candle.

I was usually the one nervous on the first day of school, but this year I was more nervous for Sasha.  Would our classmates treat her like old Sasha or would they judge Sasha by her look?  Those thoughts kept me up all night.  The next morning, I ran to Sasha’s house to help her get ready.  I found her standing in front of the bathroom mirror staring at what was once silky smooth flesh.  All was left, was a patch of droopy discolored tissue.

“Sasha, are you sure that you want to go to school?” I asked.

“Yes Sandra, when do you let fear get the better of you?” Sasha said bravely, “And besides, what’s worse about school?  I’ve encountered many stares and judging looks over the past few weeks.”

Before I knew it, we were standing in front of Worchester Academy.

“This is it, Sasha.  We’re,” I said getting interrupted.

“Sandra, what are you doing with that monster?” said Missy Martin, looking at Sasha.

Missy is one of those popular diva type of girls that have their posy traveling behind them.  They are rude and self-centered and not the type I usually hang out with.  Over the past year, Missy and Sasha have developed this hate relationship.  Ever since this started, Missy has wanted to steal me from Sasha.

“It’s Sasha,” Sasha corrected.

“What is up with your face?  Sorry I couldn’t recognize you with your face all messed up,” laughed Missy, “Maybe you should cover it up with some foundation.”

“Like what you did to that pimple,” replied Sasha, pointing at a little spot on Missy’s face.

“Ah, I don’t have pimples.  Besides, I don’t believe in cosmetics and hair products,” said Missy.

“Tell that to those hair extensions,” Sasha said.

“You are one tough cookie, eh?  Well, you may have won this round, but it’s not over,” said Missy.

Missy stormed away, with a wide grin on her face.  I knew she was plotting something mean against Sasha.  At their next showdown, Sasha would have to bring her A-game.

We stepped inside the school, and all eyes were on Sasha.  Everyone noticed the discolored and deformed face of Sasha.  No one had to say a word for me to know that Sasha wasn’t going to be treated like a normal student again.  My predictions were right.  In home room, no one would sit within a 3 chair radius of her.  No one would sit on our side of the cafeteria.  There were tons of empty tables on our half, but everyone just scrambled to the opposite side.

“I see that everyone’s scared of you because of your ugliness,” said a voice, it was Missy.

“Like you should talk.  When they gave out looks, you thought they said books, so you said, ‘Give me something funny.’” Sasha fired back.

“Rude.  Just to let you know.  You’re a monster to everyone else.  You don’t even belong here.  You should just stay at home,” said Missy angrily, “I would slap you, but I don’t want to make you look any better.”

“Let’s just go,” I whispered.

I knew that Sasha was regretting coming to school.  The rest of the day was not much better.  Sasha got many mean comments regarding her looks.  They called her “monster, freak, retard etc.” wherever she went.  The comments seemed to follow her.  Even Sasha’s old friends turned against her.  At the end of the day, I tried to find Sasha.  I saw her running down the street.  It didn’t look like she was going home, more like she was running away.  I decided just to go home by myself.  She needed some alone time.  Strolling down the long way home I thought about how today must have felt for Sasha and what it was like to start out at a new school with a deformed face.  All those mean comments and laughs kept flashing through my mind.  What a bullying reality we are living in.  An overwhelming feeling of chillness, sadness and anger gushed down my body. 

When I got home I felt really tired from the long and unpleasant day and soon fell asleep.  I must have been asleep for a really long time.  By the time I woke up, it was pitch black outside.  Suddenly I heard a soft knock on the door.

“Who is it?  Please come in,” I said.

            It was my mom.  She had a sad look on her face.  I knew that here was bad news, but about what.

            “Honey,” said my mom, her voice cracking, “Sasha’s dead.”

No.  No.  No.  No.  How could this happen?  Who Killed her?  So many questions were on my mind.

“She committed suicide,” said mom.

I felt a flood of tears welling up in my eyes.  Before I knew it, I was shedding hot tears down my cheeks.

“But how, why,” I sobbed.

“They found her under of the water tower.  She jumped to her death,” said mom.

“She ran to the water tower after school today.  She wouldn’t have died if people opened their hearts and accepted her.  Why people acted like that?  Inside of her it’s still the same sweet Sasha,” I cried.

“Yes.  The whole world would be a better place if people learned to open their hearts and look beyond the outer beauty,” mom whispered.

She was right.  A lesson learned from the loss of an innocent young life is too pricy.  But it’s not too late for us to open our hearts looking beyond the outer beauty to make this world a better place. 

The world would be a better place if we learned to open our hearts and look beyond the outer beauty.

-Vivian Yee