Alyssa's story | Tina Coleman

The young girl took one last glance in the mirror before she nervously shut her bedroom door and left her house for school. She made one last check on her way to her car to make sure that her “Abercrombie” logo was not being hidden by her belt. As she got into her car she put in her latest C.D. that she had bought the night before, after she had heard some girls the day before talking about how cool it was. She spent the whole night memorizing all of the words, as well as the names of each of the band members. She turned up the music and cracked the windows, so the melodies could be heard from her car as she pulled into school. As she walked into the front doors of the school she started to sweat heavily and went straight to the restroom—just to make sure she looked okay. She waited until the bell rang before she pulled out her TommyGirl perfume and misted herself. As she walked into her homeroom class, she made sure to cross from one side of the classroom to the other, so that her smell was noticed. As she sat in class reviewing all her morning details in her head she still wondered if she looked cool enough. Just as she checked her “Abercrombie” tag one more time, her thoughts were interrupted by the instructors voice. He was asking for her opinion. She panicked. She had talked with him in the beginning of the semester and made sure he understood that she did not like to be called on. As she tried to think of an answer that would make the class laugh her mind froze. Her body began shaking. Her hands became clammy and the room started spinning in circles. In her head she heard the children’s taunts from Elementary school. She was scared. She felt worthless. She tried so desperately to focus on her current surroundings, but everything quickly turned black.