Trapped

7

I hear a knock at my front door. I looked out my living room window to see who it was. It was Erik. It wasn't a surprise that he showed up. He comes over a lot which I like. He keeps me active other than my chores. I was about to open the door, but I remembered I don't have makeup covering my mark. I begin to freak out, racing to the bathroom. I manage to cover up to the best of my ability to not make him wait any longer.

I open the door out of breath. "Hey... What's up!"

He chuckles, walking in. "Did you run? Because we all know Ellie May Garica does not run even if her life depended on it."

I laugh, shitting the door behind him. "No... Uh, I was just cleaning." I reply, covering up with a white lie.

He scoffs. "You are always cleaning."

I welcome him in. "That's me."

He takes off his shoes, walking with me to my room. I sit on my bed, folding my laundry. He sits on the ground, helping me.

"What do you want to do today?"

I reach for my dad's shorts. "Not sure. I was going to go read."

"At that weird cemetery near your house?"

I silently laugh. "Yes, at that weird cemetery."

"I don't read like you as you already know, but you can read to me."

I smile, folding my socks. "I would love to."

All the clothes get folded.

He pushes himself up off my carpet. "Gonna go pee, and then we can leave?"

I nod.

He comes back from the bathroom, leaning against my door frame. "You know you don't always have to wear makeup."

"Shit," I say to myself.

"That also means if you are around me. Are you insecure about something?" He says, sitting beside me.

I look down at my feet, thinking I wish I could be confident and fearless with myself.

He grabs my small hands. "Come with me."

He leads me to the bathroom, grabbing a clean washcloth from the counter that I folded earlier.

I backed away. "I only have one thing of makeup on."

"Let me see the real you."

I turn to look at myself in the mirror. "I don't know if I can. There is something behind this makeup."

"Something beautiful." He turns my head with his hand.

I watch him get the corner of the cloth wet. I look at him, fearful.

He chuckles. "There's nothing to worry about."

I bite my lip, having my eyes stare at the wall, trying to not tear up. A tear falls, and he wipes it.

He sets the wet rag down. "I am sorry. I don't mean to push you."

I smile, picking up the rag. "Continue. I will show you the real me."

He smiles, wiping the makeup that covers my secret of who I am. It's not really a secret to those who already knew about my birthmark. I see the redness and purpleness appear in the mirror.

Erik smiles, staring at my birthmark. "Is this what you were hiding all this time?" He says, getting the rag wet again.

"Y-yeah..."

He finishes up. "This birthmark makes you more beautiful and more special."

I blush, and then my dark memories fill my head, thinking back to when people had a different mindset about it. I begin to get sad, so I sit myself on the toilet.

"My birthmark is a target for me... A target of bullying."

"Why would someone bully you for something you can't control?" He thinks. "I suppose they are jealous of the beauty you hold."

"You sound like my mom," I state. I walk up to the mirror, looking at it like I do every day and night. "I think you're wrong."

He stands behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "I am never wrong when it comes to your beauty. Embrace your differences. I can assure you that out in the world people will not care."

"They are going to look, and people at school will see, and the bullying will start again."

"Let them look. Let them see how lovely you are. Your thoughts are getting to you. People at school are just insecure assholes. Confidence is more attractive, and once you own it and you owe it to yourself, you will love and appreciate yourself more than you ever did, and you will be happier than you were before. You will feel free and not trapped in your own skin because someone doesn't like what makes you better. Don't believe what you always think."

I turn around and hug him. "Thank you."

I feel his hands around me. "Let's go out in the world and show everybody how GORGEOUS MISS GARCIA IS!" He shouts, hyping me up.

I went to school the next day without makeup, and people stared a lot but did not say anything. I think with Erik by my side, the girls who teased me last year did not say anything. He reassured me so often on how awesome I was doing and that I looked beautiful. I felt good and more myself. Erik revived some confidence in me that was missing, and I would have never thought a single person could do that, but we are talking about Erik Menendez here.