Smile

• Aaya Hamada, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2021

She walks through the hallway with her head down and her hoodie up. Ashamed of who she is. Ashamed of who she has become. The whispers around drown and suffocate her. The people she thought she could trust, stole her heart, and sold it out to her enemies. Her eyes are like glass. If anyone asks her if she is okay, she will shatter into a million pieces. Everyone she thought loved her has vanished. Her family, her friends. She feels disgusted by the person she sees every time she sets eyes on a mirror. She looks at other girls on social media, envious by who they are, and she bullies herself to become someone she isn’t. Other people look down on her, laugh and slander her in front of her own face. Then they wonder why she is the way she is. However, even when she is on the brink of tears, she wears a smile. Her smile indulges her into this fake reality that sees much simpler. Its only a matter of time before she wakes up from this illusion. And has to face her demons…