IMPORTANT NOTICE TO THE READER: Before I begin, I've got to clarify something. This is not a fanfiction of a movie, book, show or play. The main character, Drew, is her own sort of fanfiction. I'm a huge fan of the quote, "That's the thing about being different. It gives you a thicker skin, makes you stronger, but how strong should one person really have to be?", and Drew's entire character was based off of that quote, then I built the story around her. This story is also about the wrongness of prejudice and what it can do to people. Drew is not only based off of the afore-mentioned quote, but a real person that I know very well who has been discriminated against for the stupidest of reasons and that prejudice and discrimination completely changed who she was. Discrimination is just WRONG and there's no excuse for it. Ever.
"Nyssa's so short, Nyssa's a dwarf! Nyssa's so short, Nyssa's a dwarf! Nyssa's so short, Nyssa's a dwarf! Nyssa's so short, Nyssa's a dwarf!" The children chanted in their evil circle around the poor little girl. The girl prayed for them to go away and leave her alone. She couldn't understand why they were so cruel to her! After a long minute of watching them chant, and fearing the delighted expressions they bore on their faces from torturing her so, the little girl collapsed into a ball on the ground and began to sob.
From two stories up in a window of the old brick schoolhouse, a much older girl watched this happen. Though her heart was breaking, she did nothing. The older girl in the window was named Drew. The cruel children and young girl below were very young, most of them only 7 years old. Though Drew was 15, eight years older than them, she was the same height- or shorter- than most of them with the exception of the girl being taunted. The girl crying on the dirty cement sidewalk was named Nyssa Fayiri. Nyssa was Drew's baby sister, and still Drew did nothing to protect her. Drew knew exactly what her sister was going through, but worse. Nyssa was just unusually short, but Drew truly was a dwarf. She suffered from Dwarfism, and had stopped growing a long time ago. She would never gain another inch, and she'd suffered for it. Through that suffering, Drew had grown strong. Her skin had become so thick that she was no longer bothered by the everyday insults and taunts of her peers. The reason she didn't stop the other children from teasing her little sister below was because Drew was sure that if she protected Nyssa, the little girl would never be strong enough to take on the world alone.
Suddenly, another little girl came over to the circle, shoved Nyssa's tormenters aside and crouched down in front of Nyssa.
"What is she doing?" Drew muttered, peering down at the quickly changing scene. She recognized the new girl, it was Paige, a friend of Nyssa's. Paige hugged Nyssa and helped her friend to her feet then the two walked away together holding hands like nothing had ever happened.
"No!" Drew exclaimed, slamming her fist down on the windowsill.
"What's your deal, dwarf? Did you lose another inch?" The girl at the desk next to her asked.
"Flat." Drew said, entirely unphased. The girl self-conciously crossed her arms across her chest and slumped in her chair. Drew knew exactly how to get to people, but nobody ever got to her. She was like a stone except if someone kicked her, she kicked back.
That night at home, Drew listened as Nyssa cried to her parents about the mean kids from school, and as her mother phoned the schools to make sure the children were punished. When Nyssa finally wandered into the little room she shared with her big sister, Drew shot daggers with her eyes.
"Are you mad at me?" Nyssa asked, crawling up onto Drew's bed and looking up at her with big blue eyes.
Drew didn't say anything. She picked Nyssa up, set the girl on her own bed then left the room.
I never had a friend to help me, and I never ran whining to Mom and Dad. My sister is weak, she won't make it if people keep helping her. Drew thought. The way she saw it, being alone was the best way to live life. You couldn't get hurt. Having no real connections with anyone made Drew invincible. She thought that living the way she did kept her from feeling the pains and sorrows that other people did.
Drew was wrong. In order to be true to what she believed in, Drew had even distanced herself from her own family. She'd broken off the relationships she had with her few friends and left everyone in the dust. At dinner each night, Nyssa and her parents would happily chat about their lives while Drew sat in silence. When she finished her food, she would clean her plates and go to her room to do homework and go to bed. Drew didn't know it, but she was living like a robot. She thought she was making herself invincible by not caring, but really she was destroying whatever happiness she'd once had. She'd destroyed her life and her own ability to trust, or even remotely like anyone. Eventually, even Drew's parents stopped trying to get through to her.
There was only one person who still stuck her neck out for Drew, and her name was Sofia. Sofia had been Drew's best friend before the short girl had begun to distance herself. When everyone else had given up on Drew, Sofia still showed up at her door every so often to ask if she was free. Drew always said no, but Sofia kept coming. Every Monday, Sofia would slip a note with an inspirational quote about life or friendship on it into Drew's locker. Drew always threw them out, but Sofia kept doing it. Sofia invited Drew to all of her parties, no matter what. Drew never came, but Sofia kept inviting her.
After nearly a year and a half of this, Sofia hadn't given up. She still hasn't, and even though Sofia doesn't believe in god she'd prayed to him to help her miserable friend. Drew used to be one of Sofia's best friends, but now it was like she'd disappeared. So today Sofia is still slipping notes into Drew's locker, stopping by her house and inviting her to parties.
Because Drew-bear, Sofia loves you, and she knows that if you would just trust her you could be happy again. She remembers the all-nighters you used to pull, and ding dong ditching your neighbors and four in the morning. She remembers biking down to 7-11 in the middle of the night for slurpees and that one time you almost got caught. Yes, it is good to be strong, but nobody is invincible and you can't make yourself invincible by just being lonely. There are so many people who are still waiting for you to wake up and be yourself again. They miss you, and I miss you. We love you, and we want you back. I just hope you can wake up and see what you're doing to yourself before it's too late.
Now if you don't mind, I have to go find a quote to put in your locker tomorrow.