The Rules of Society

Chapter 1 - Rule 1

Rule No. 1:

Once you've become a teen, you're no longer treated the same as you were when you were a child.

Mama, can I have a pink backpack for school?

Of course!

Mama, can I go play outside?

Sure, dont worry about it.

Mama, can you get me that plushie?

Alright.

Hey, mom.

Laura, are you seriously planning on taking that backpack to school? You're too old for pink.

Laura, you need to study more.

Laura, your grades aren't good enough.

Laura, you need to act more mature for your age.

Laura, you're too old for plushies.

Laura, you need to wear mature things for your age group, like black. Pink is too childish.

Stop acting like a child.

Ever since I turned 13 my mom started acting like this. Time passed so fast, I went from a 5th grader coming in the school year as a grade 6 thinking I was in the big leagues.

That I was a "big" girl.

Now I'm already entering 8th grade.

Mom, why can't you let me express myself? I was just excited, how am I acting childish for that? I am studying. I'm trying to raise my grades, okay? I'm really trying. I still like plushies, but I don't understand what's wrong with that. I like the color pink, there isn't one color that specifically belongs to children or any specific group. Can't you just let me be?

She doesn't really listen most of the time.

I ignore her hurtful comments despite the fact that they hurt like a knife to my heart. I've tried communicating to her before about this but she just calls me sensitive. A sensitive child that has a faint heart. I can't help it if i'm sensitive.

I get prepared to go to school. Looking into my closet, most of it was handpicked by my mom. I dislike the selection of most of these clothes. Tacky. I think as I scramble to find the small portion of outfits I actually picked myself. I guess it's my fault for letting my mom continue picking my clothes in grade 7. My attention is drawn to a pretty pastel pink dress paired with a hair bow. I can match them with Mary Janes. A smile creeps on my face as I get excited to wear this outfit for my first day.

It's sad that I was expecting so much more than what really became of that year.

I had prepared for my first day of grade 8 for a while, watching many makeup tutorials to get ready for school. I knew that grade 8 was different from other grades, at least that's what I was hearing from teens in the videos that I watched alongside makeup tutorials. Thoughts of my special first day pancake breakfast creeped into my mind. Yum.. Wait! I shouldn't be thinking about that.. I should be getting ready for school before I get late. I slipped on my pretty pink dress with intricate lacing and a bow on the front, all in soft colors. I put on the matching big bow high up on the back of my head with a simple hairstyle with two small strands of hair from either side of my head that were braided and met each other in the middle, tying them together near the ends.

I rushed to the bathroom mirror to look at my reflection. I loved how the outfit fitted me, the bathroom light reflected in my dark brown eyes, making them look shinier in comparison to my golden skin and natural black straight long hair. I did my makeup, making an effort to do them as professionally as possible,

I was really excited to make some new friends. Although I didn't have much luck in previous grades, I decided I would take advantage of this fresh start and try my best to be more open to others.

Mama, where is Lana and Lina?

Your cousins are outside, you can play with them if you want. Don't run off too far.

Okay!

Wow! Look at all these fuzzy flowers!

The meadow went on and on, filled with hundreds of dandelion puffs. A calming and cold breeze blew through Laura's hair as she looked in awe at all the dandelions. The blue sky was complimenting the atmosphere perfectly. All day Laura played with her cousins in the flowers, playing tag and laughing. Before they knew it, the shining sun started lowering down, a sign of the upcoming night. Together Lana, Lina and Laura watched as the sun went down and the sky filled with spontaneous purples, pinks and oranges. Breathing in a whiff of fresh air from the ongoing breeze as the dandelion puffs are scattered in their hair and all around them, giving them the same sense of joy as a child who sees the first few trickles of snow before the winter hits.