hmm
I am going to tell you about a girl I once knew back in 5th grade. Everyone thought she was a complete nerd and avoided her for the most part. Every day, she arrived at least fifteen minutes late to class, carting her red rolley-backpack with a collection of jingly key chains attached (which sounded far and wide across the campus.) She wore an oversized maroon-colored pea coat whose pockets were often stuffed with orange peels and colored pencil shavings, and because she was often sick and devoid of tissue, the sleeves lined with snot (much to the disgust of her few friends, who weren’t very normal either.) Under the coat, she would wear dresses her mother made her, with prints of dolls and fish and rainforests. Not to mention her red boots and headbands.
It was an accepted truth that she was some kind of genius. She had very strong opinions about things for a 5th grader (intimidating at times), and lived in her own little world. She had an obsession for hedgehogs, penguins, bees, ladybugs, key chains, rocks, dolls, coins, pens, and classical music, but mainly, the welfare of animals and insects. Every time she saw a dead spider on the playground, she gave it a formal funeral while weeping quietly. She befriended bees when her human friends ran away screaming, and even named one Seymour. Many taunted her about these things, but she thought nothing of it. She had the world to inspire. Animals to save. Books to read and bees to breed. She swore she would never change. Never succumb to popular trend and never listen to pop music.
Summer came and passed. Middle school beckoned us, and I lost contact with this girl. On the first day of 6th grade, she came in jeans and a brand-name jacket where a pea-coat should’ve been. Her rolley-backpack was abandoned.
Her name was Sharmeen, and she’s been trying to resurrect her character ever since.
It was an accepted truth that she was some kind of genius. She had very strong opinions about things for a 5th grader (intimidating at times), and lived in her own little world. She had an obsession for hedgehogs, penguins, bees, ladybugs, key chains, rocks, dolls, coins, pens, and classical music, but mainly, the welfare of animals and insects. Every time she saw a dead spider on the playground, she gave it a formal funeral while weeping quietly. She befriended bees when her human friends ran away screaming, and even named one Seymour. Many taunted her about these things, but she thought nothing of it. She had the world to inspire. Animals to save. Books to read and bees to breed. She swore she would never change. Never succumb to popular trend and never listen to pop music.
Summer came and passed. Middle school beckoned us, and I lost contact with this girl. On the first day of 6th grade, she came in jeans and a brand-name jacket where a pea-coat should’ve been. Her rolley-backpack was abandoned.
Her name was Sharmeen, and she’s been trying to resurrect her character ever since.