Disclaimer: I do not own Zombies, nor the characters and I do not make money from it.
What hurt Addison the most about being albino was that her parents made it seem like she was cursed. Missy and Dale did not have to say that Addison was not the daughter they wanted but the way their eyes lingered or the way their mouths dropped whenever she did not wear her wig said enough. Yesterday morning, for example, when Addison groggily stumbled into the kitchen in her pajamas with her glasses on and wig off, her mother shooed her out the room and told her to get dressed. The way Missy clenched her teeth as she said, "Someone might see you" made the cheerleader's eyes water. It was hard knowing that her parents felt that she was un-beautiful as her natural self.
When Addison woke up this morning, she laid on her bed waiting until her vision was clear enough to get up. The moment she opened her eyes in the morning, her already poor vision was so blurry that even her ceiling fan looked like a white blob. Some days she stared at the fan, squinting her eyes to see the outline of the blades. Maybe if the ceiling fan had a splash of pink, she would be able to see it better. Her parents probably seen her as the ceiling fan - just a blob of paleness, a blurry white mass. On days like today, her eyes lingered on the fan a little too long, never adjusting properly to see the elegant swirls on the fans blades or the intricate design on the base.
She sat up on her bed, letting the sun from her front facing window shine onto her. The rays never left a mark of her porcelain skin as if the sun decided to ignore her, leaving her Casper white while everyone else was tan. Her eyes traveled over to the tanning bed that her mom bought her years ago. She hated laying under rays, cooking her skin and burning her flesh to no avail since her complexion remained unchanged. The cheerleader told her mom how much she disdained artificial tanning but her mom refused to listen to her, forcing her to spend hours inside the tanning bed. It was not until a doctor explained to Missy about the risk of skin cancer until she stopped making Addison use the dreadful machine. The girl had hoped that her mom would finally love Addison's beautiful cream colored skin but the matriarch started investing in spray tans for her daughter.
The last time Addison had a sprayed tan was a few weeks ago before the family took a trip to the tropics. Addison was actually sitting in the food court with Missy and Bucky, just sipping her diet coke (Missy would not allow Addison to have a rootbeer float) when the ambush happened. All of a sudden Bucky came over to her side of the table, pulled her to her feet and picked her up. He held her in his arms as he followed behind Missy. Her mother led the way to the tanning salon. It happened so fast that Addison was quickly stripped to her undergarments, her face became colored with redness as her cousin helped his aunt push the half-naked girl into a booth. Her wig was pulled off with such quickness that she gasped. Tears stung her eyes as the spray got behind her contact lenses. The pressure of the spray made her skin redden. Her white hair was coated with a light orange spray.
The embarrassment did not end there. When she finally came out, she was blinded by a flash. She rubbed her eyes, wishing she could remove her lenses to clean the spray out of them. Once she opened her one good eye, she saw Bucky shaking a Polaroid picture.
"And that's how you need to look if you want to join my team in the Fall," he said as he handed her the photo.
The memory of that event coated her blurry eyes with tears as she got out of bed. Her family thought they were helping her by making her look like everyone else. It only made the poor girl feel ashamed of herself to the point that she refused to leave her bedroom without being fully dressed in her contact lenses and a wig.
As she took a step onto her furry white rug, she wondered what would happen if she took the chance and showed everyone the real her. She walked over to her vanity to grab her contact lens case as she envisioned the scenario. Maybe there would be a boy that took one glance at her and thought her paler than normal hair, the gorgeous white locks that adorned her head were beautiful. The thought of a guy telling her how pretty she was as herself made her heart trembled. That was unlikely because everyone in Seabrook had one idea of beauty and Addison did not fit the mode.
As she put her contact lenses on and blinked them into place, she hoped that one day her mom would come in and tell her only daughter that she was sorry. That Addison's skin was the same color as a dove, a beautiful creature that graced nature with its presence. That her hair was as soft as cotton and the color was as magnificent as the clouds that contrasted the blue sky. Her mother would smile as she called her daughter the one thing she never said to her. And the two women would embrace each other, crying into the hug as the world faded away.
Now since the cheerleader could see the world clearly, the reflection she saw in her mirror made her doubt that fantasy. What was simply a lack of melatonin and the exaggeration of a recessive gene, made her an outcast to her whole family. How could she show the world who she was if she had to hide her true self from the ones she loved? She ran her hands through her short white hair, reminding herself that the hair that God gave her was beautiful, that nothing about her was a mistake. She was meticulously crafted in white, a color so genuine that no one else's hair was worthy of the appearance.
She forced herself to smile into the mirror before she grabbed her blonde wig. Her teeth were as white as her cheeks, perfect in every way without the assistance of braces. When she parted her lips, she ran her thumb over her top lip. Unlike most people, she did not have a cupid's bow. Her finger gravitated lower and she grazed her bottom lip, imagining that the guy of her dreams would cup her face, rub his thumb against her lips and say …
"You have gorgeous lips and a great smile," she said out loud.
She looked at her bright blue eyes, the one element of color that was naturally hers. Her contact lenses were clear and did not conceal the iris with some artificial color.
"I have beautiful eyes," she said to herself.
As she placed the wig over her head, she told herself that no amount of tanning or wigs or contact lenses would enhance her appearance. How could she fix something that was not broken? She was already beautiful and it did not matter if Missy or Bucky did not think so. She would call herself pretty every day, even if some days she did not feel beautiful. She would be her own cheerleader, encouraging herself until she had the courage to show the world who she really was. She stood up to peel off her top in front of the mirror. Her skin contrasted the pink bra that she was wearing. Her skin looked soft and smooth. How could her mom look at her skin and detest it so much? How could Addison look at herself and doubt her beauty? One day a boy would come along and in the heat of the moment, grab the hem of her shirt. He would look into her eyes and she would nod as she raised her arms, giving him the privilege to remove a barrier of clothing. His eyes would travel down her torso and his hands would slide down her slides. He would grab her face, kissing her with such passion before saying …
"You're beautiful," she said.
She walked over to her closet, using both hands to open the doors. She was too preoccupied with finding a blouse when her bedroom door opened and a familiar voice called her name. She turned around, her arms immediately covering her chest. She stared up at a similar pair of blue eyes, the eyes that judged her so harshly that Addison grew up feeling ashamed of her looks.
"Mom," the girl said surprised.
The cheerleader immediately pulled a random shirt off the nearest hanger and began sliding it down over her slim stomach. It wasn't until she was pulling the hem down when she noticed the shirt was white and the look that her mother shot her told Addison that she should not have owned any white items.
"Just making sure you were getting ready," Missy said. "Don't wear such a pretty bra. I scheduled you another appointment at the tanning salon. You don't want to look ghost white on you're the first day of school."
Addison's shoulders shrugged as she closed her eyes, telling herself not the cry. What was wrong with being pale? Maybe she wanted to go to school with skin the same color as the hair under her wig. This was her chance to stand up for herself and to take her life into her own hands.
Her heart began to beat faster so she lowered her eyes before she said, "I don't want a tan."
"Why?" her mom asked.
"I just want to feel beautiful as myself," Addison replied. "Please, mom. Please don't make me change who I am."
"I didn't know you felt that way," she replied. "But I think you will look more beautiful tanned and everyone else will think the same thing. People will like you better if you look more like them."
"Mom, I just want to like myself. What good does it do if everyone likes me but I am living a lie?"
"Oh, honey. Just think that you will appreciate it as you get older. People will make you feel bad."
"I know you want the best for me but please let me be who I am."
"I'm sorry honey. This is for your own good, C'mon."
"Please, mom," she begged. "Just this once. No one is going to know the truth by just seeing my skin."
Addison watched the way her mother shrugged her shoulders and signed. This was not the first time she explained it to her mother and she had a feeling that it was not going to be the last. The one time Missy told Addison she did not have to tan was the time when Missy and Bucky had tricked her into going to the tanning salon. There was a chance that if her mom decided to skip the trip that she would later find a way to force Addison to receive her usual tan. All Addison cared about right now was showing her mom how serious she was. Maybe this time she would agree with Addison and actually mean it.
"Fine," she said as widened her large blue eyes.
Addison ran up to her mother to give her a hug and Missy hesitantly placed her arms around her daughter. The cheerleader wanted to show gratitude to her mother and thanked her for allowing Addison to keep her stark white appearance. Missy ended the hug by nudging the poor girl off of her and started walking to the door without saying a word.
There was something about her mother's silence and walk that made Addison believe that Missy was going to keep her word. Her mom looked so defeated and shocked that it appeared that she realized that Addison was never going to like all the trips to the tanning salon. Once Missy closed the door, Addison went back towards her closet and began finding a new shirt and a pair of jeans to put on. She eyed her favorite pink top as she pulled the white blouse off. As she dressed, Addison could not stop smiling. This was a small victory but it was important to Addison since she stood up for something she believed in and it changed. Maybe one day she would pull off that dreaded blonde wig and show the world her pretty hair. One day she would be free to stop concealing herself and on that day, a boy would see the real her and fall in love with her beauty. Until then, Addison was happy that she would be tan free. Hopefully.
A/N: Thank you for reading my story was inspired by Meg Donnelly's Instagram post where she mentions she looks Casper White. Plus, the only way for Addison's hair to be that color is if she was Albino. I would like to think that Disney wanted to represent a marginalized portion of the population with a fantastic character.
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