I throw open the front door and bolt up stairs into my bedroom. My sister Margo is walking down them at the same time and I nearly knock her over, but I don't care. "What's wrong with Mallory?" I overhear her ask mom confused. I don't hear the response. I'm already in my room trying putting on my contact lenses for the first time. I throw my ugly, thick, large framed glasses that I've had for as long as I can remember over my shoulder, they land on Vanessa's bed, she hasn't looked up from her book since I walked in.
I struggle a bit to put them in and I blink a lot once they're in. I'm not used to the sensation. Once my vision clears I focus on my reflection in the mirror and I just can't get the smile off my face. Vanessa finally looks up, she picks up my glasses and looks at my reflection in the mirror. She gasps with surprise "You got them today? Why didn't you tell me earlier!" "I guess I wanted to surprise everyone". I reply with a smile.
This is the beginning of the whole new Mallory Pike. I just had my braces off a month ago, and now I've finally said good bye to my glasses. I just can't wait to go back to school next week. 10th Grade is going to be so much better than 9th, I just know it. No more feeling like crap, I'll look good and I'll feel good.
I couldn't wait to show them off to Jessi, but she's got dance class this afternoon, I'd have to wait until tomorrow when we're meeting up at the mall for lunch. If anyone's understood how much I hated having to wear glasses, it's Jessi. For years she has listened to my complaints and reassured me when I put myself down. It's not like I never returned the favour though, when the Ramsey family first moved here from New Jersey, the rest of the town wasn't exactly accepting and Jessi spent a lot of time wondering why she wasn't good enough. We'd always been there for each other.
Coming from a family where you're the oldest of no less than 8 children, there was always a new problem arising in this household. It's one extreme to the other, you either feel so smothered by the presence of your siblings, or so isolated from the lack of attention from your parents as there just isn't enough time in the day sometimes.
This was to be my second year at Stoneybrook High, I returned from boarding school in Massachusetts at the end of Eighth grade. I guess I was just too homesick and that made me unmotivated about my studies. I wasn't happy there so my parents and teachers agreed it was best if I just went home. There were a lot of things I also didn't miss. I had a lot of unfriendly classmates in middle school, most of them still went to SHS. Fortunately, a lot of people have matured since then. But others still had a way of making me feel inadequate. Especially the pretty girls like Maria Fazio, Mara Semple, Liz Cohen and Jamie Sperling.
Jessi is still pretty much the only friend I have in my year. I'm still friendly with a few girls who I used to babysit with when I was in 6th grade, they're all going into senior year and our friendships are no where near as close as before. Stacey still lives in the house behind ours. Sometimes she gives me a lift if she sees me walking to school. We don't have much in common anymore, in a lot of ways I envy her more than the girls in my own year. Stacey has never had a problem with boys or feeling ugly one day in her life. Nor has she ever had to compete for her mothers attention. She's an only child of divorced parents. Maybe I should just be thankful my parents have stayed together, Stacey has been through a lot even if the rest of her does appear perfect from the outside.