Tea is in Debate class and is giving a presentation on playground graffiti, what does being a lesbian her to do with this?
R&R
Tea stood at the front of the class and sighed as she prepared for her debate class. She had to do an essay on playground graffiti. She was so worried about telling of her passed school issues, but was ready.
Ms. Garner your turn, please explain something about playground graffiti." She nodded her head and took a deep breath before starting.
"Some of the things you see at playgrounds are sweet, like children playing. Or you see the old woman feeding birds and the man watching and looking for birds. There are dogs playing with their owners. Then there are some things that you really don't want to see at the playground. On the equipment there are vulgar things written everywhere. There are people writing about who is what, who they kissed, who they love, and who they hate. There are things about people you don't know of and don't really want to know of. The millions of comments on the playground or pictures that younger children don't need to be seeing they are just like a mark on a person's life. Growing up and going through school, people see things and assume what they mean, then that's when the rumors start.
I remember when I was young I didn't care what people thought of me. I really don't care what people think of me now either but there is a difference between now and then. I was growing up in a town called Warrenton about an hour drive away from here, and I turned out to be a huge tomboy. I grew up in overalls and t-shirts, on a huge chunk of land that my dad owned. My back yard had trees and I even had woods in my back yard. I grew up playing in the woods of my back yard and feed chickadees. I went to school and I was also still in my own style of clothing and playing. At first I did girlie stuff, such as playing dress up and tea party but then I outgrew the girl part of me and start playing the way I would if I was at home, playing with the boys. I played rough games with the boys, and I was actually pretty good at it too. I was a good bully at sometimes unless I was in a caring mood that day. I would back talk and spit like any guy. I would play in tennis shoes and pants. I loved playing on the ground and doing reckless things. I still do all those things, but people think I am weird for that. I am a girl, yet do guy things.
I was in seventh grade doing the same things and hanging out with girls, but hanging out with guys at the same time and people saw how I acted. A rumor started going around about the time I was hanging out with one of my friends, her name was Lacey and she was new to the school. I had just met her in my family and consumer science class, and I knew that she happened to be a lesbian. Everyone else knew as well and since I was hanging out with her, everyone started to assume that I was too.
This rumor spread very quickly, kind of like the graffiti on a playground, as everyone passes by it. People started to look at me weird, and started to act weird around me, even some of my friends that I had had longer even acted different around me. They knew that I wasn't, because we had been friends, but because of this rumor, their opinions changed. They almost made me feel like I should not hang out with Lacey, because of what others were saying.
I did not want to care about what others thought, but I could not help it. They made me feel uncomfortable, about who I was hanging out with, how I acted and dressed. I had always just done what felt right to me, how I played with and acted like the boys, and just did what I wanted to. Now I was beginning to feel as if what I was doing was wrong and that I shouldn't be acting the way that I was.
I know that I shouldn't change the way I am, but I felt as if I needed to so that I could get back my old friends. I also knew that rumors were going around about me. I didn't want these rumors to continue, and I knew that they were spreading like wildfire through out the school. I had to do something, but I wasn't sure what. Then it dawned on me, I was going to have to tell Lacey that we couldn't be friends anymore.
I knew that it would hurt and I knew that it would be wrong, but what else was there to do? Everything that I had known in the past was changing, changing because of one person. This one person could make my whole life different. This one person could either allow me to keep my current friends or force to me to have to make new friends that might or might not come easily. Everything was so confusing and I wasn't sure if I was ready to tell my new friend what was going on.
The next day at school I realized that it was time to tell Lacey what was happening. I know that she knew there were rumors I had obviously told her that there were rumors when I was upset, but telling her that we couldn't be friends anymore was an entirely different thing. I wasn't sure if I could even do it. She was one of the nicest people that I had ever been friends with, and I didn't really know if I wanted to ruin that friendship. I tried my hardest to think of everyway there was to keep her as a friend but to stop the rumors that was painted on me. I gained my composure and tried not to cry as I broke Lacey the news. She understood perfectly, in fact told me that she had to stop being friends with me because I wasn't her type. I had explained that I just wanted to be friends in the first place and that I was straight anyways. She understood yet again and was embarrassed because she thought I was hitting on her, when I was just being friendly and myself. She apologized after a while and asked to be friends again and only friends. I accepted her offer and we have been friends ever since, even though my old school still has a rumor going around. I know that people don't mean to hurt people all the time, but that is all that a rumor is, it is meant to hurt. The definition of a rumor is a story or a statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts. It is nothing but a story that is MADE to hurt someone's feelings, or reputation. A rumor is nothing but graffiti painted on the playground, which is not always true." Tea finished off smiling. She was proud to have shared her life with her class, everyone stood up smiling as Lacey put her thumb up. I smiled and did the same back I walked down and went over giving her a hug. I introduced her to the class before leaving with her.
"Great presentation Tea, I really liked it."
"Thanks Lacey, so what would you like for lunch?"
Well R&R That is pretty much it. Thanks for reading
