During hight-school, I tried to stay in the background. Because there’s not really much you can do when almost whole your face is covered by a birthmark as big as mine.
People either stared openly at me, muttered about me under their breath, or even had no scruples in calling me exactly what they were thinking about me right then.
At age 17, any expectations regarding strangers being friendly with me were long gone, let alone having any hopes of catching a guy’s attention.
Prom season made everything even harder for me.
Now the corridors were filled with garish posters everywhere I turned, all my friends talked about their dates and dresses, my news feed was flooded with countdowns to the greatest night of our lives, and yet I already knew exactly how my prom night was going to go down – either locked up in my room all night long or spending the evening alone in some dark corner of the gym.
My mother definitely did not like when I talked like that.
She was struggling with two jobs to provide a place to live for us, but still she somehow managed to make me feel good. When I told her about my decision not to attend the prom, she kindly explained that it happens once in our lives, and I at least should have one positive memory of it before we graduated from school.
But I was not expecting any miracles anyway.
The next morning everything seemed absolutely normal, until I opened my locker and noticed that Caleb stood next to me.
There is not even one person at our school who does not know who Caleb is.
He is the star of our football team, someone that all students dreamed to become friends with. Absolutely the last thing I expected to hear from him was asking me to prom!
For several seconds there, I really did believe it was some sick joke he was trying to play.
But he was dead serious. Actually, he seemed kind of worried waiting on me to say anything at all.
And when I finally managed to say “yes”, I felt a real pang of excitement. But the next thing I knew, I was already questioning what he wanted from me.
Megan was freaked out the moment told her what happened.
She told me that something about the whole prom thing seemed fishy and she reminded me that Caleb didn’t pay any attention to me before, so now asking me to prom seemed quite bizarre.
Honestly, I knew she was completely right about everything. But somehow, for the first time ever in probably forever, I allowed myself to have some hope.
However, Brittany’s sudden interest in me messed everything up. She was this girl who made my life a living hell. She was so popular, that people somehow forgave her about treating everyone like garbage.
When she learned about my date with Caleb, she didn’t seem surprised as I expected her to be.
Instead of showing any sign of concern, she gave me one of those nasty smirks and told me to make sure I would enjoy my “special night.”
I couldn’t forget those words. Nor could I shake off the feeling I was falling into a trap.
For prom, my mother has spent days remaking this dress from her closet, mending every single stitch by hand to bring the dress back to its glory. Caleb appeared right at our door with, and it surprised me to see him so nervous.
He told me I looked beautiful, and for once in my life, I honestly thought everything would be okay.
At first, everything seemed perfectly normal. Then Caleb began to dance with me and speak with me, while ignoring everyone else who gave us peculiar stares. And then the whispers began.
There were jokes and stares, and then someone shouted that Caleb deserved an actual medal for dancing with me.
People began chiming in one after another.
In a matter of moments, it seemed like every insecurity that I ever tried to hide came into a spotlight.
All I wanted at that time was to get the hell out of there.
But then Caleb saw my face full of terror and tried to guide me to the door leading out of the gym hall, when suddenly the doors opened and three policemen walked straight in the center of the dance.
It was absolute silence inside the whole place. The music stopped; people froze; teachers started exchanging puzzled looks.
And the policemen walked straight through everybody to us. My heart fell to my toes in that exact second because I thought that Caleb did something terrible. But it wasn’t that.
It turned out the cops weren’t there because Caleb was in trouble. They were there because he was the one who had blown the whistle.
Right there, in front of hundreds of kids, the real story came out. A few weeks back, Brittany and her little clique had approached Caleb with an offer. They wanted him to ask me to prom as part of this huge prank.
The plan was as simple as it was disgusting.
They were going to film my reaction the second they revealed the whole thing was a lie, and then blast the video online for the entire world to laugh at. But instead of playing along, Caleb decided to protect me.
He saved every single text message.
And on the very night of the prom, he stopped by the police station and gave everything up.
At that moment, the police arrived to question the responsible ones about the prank. When the truth came to light, there wasn’t one face that didn’t freeze out of shock.
All the nasty taunts stopped cold. Kids who were laughing at me only moments before found the ground particularly interesting. Brittany was standing by the punch bowl as if she’d seen a ghost.
For once, she couldn’t sweet talk her way out of anything. The policemen walked right up to her and some of her friends and escorted them straight out.
The girl who tormented everyone around her was finally paying for her nasty behavior.
When I looked around me and saw all those people, I realized that their opinion didn’t hold power over me and that the person who was supposed to be ashamed wasn’t me. It never should have been.
I simply marched right up to the edge of the stage and grabbed the microphone right out of the DJ’s hands.
Everyone just looked at me as though I were insane.
I discussed how it feels to be shamed for something that I did not have control over and how for my entire childhood, I spent living as a recluse because other people decided that my face was too weird.
But above all else, I compared bravery to cowardice.
One of those things brings you down. The other one lifts you up.
Finally, when I was finished speaking, nobody laughed. Nobody giggled. No jokes were made.
A few weeks later, I walked across the stage during graduation as confident as never before.
My birthmark didn’t suddenly disappear. But something inside me changed forever. The people who reached their peak during high school because of making fun of me will never have the chance to decide my worth.
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Bored Daddy
Love and Peace
