Tom Daley: Mr. Perfect

Chapter 4: You are beautiful

When I walked inside my family was waiting for me. My mom and Olivia looked especially excited. They stared at me with wide eyes and open mouths.

"What?" I said. I couldn't help but smile.

"Yes. He did it. Her face says it all!" My mom said.

"What are you talking about?" I said. My face felt hot and I knew I was blushing.

Olivia tackled me with a hug. "HE DID IT! HE DID IT! HE DID IT!!!"

"Okay, okay," I paused for effect. "Tom asked me on a date."

Everyone screamed and clapped. This was so weird!

"I'm proud of him." My dad said. "I'm glad you're going out with him. I approve!"

My mom hugged me. "This is so exciting!!!"

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That night I was looking in my mirror. I hate to say it but usually that was painful. I can't help but see all of my flaws. It's hard because I hate my appearance so much. Many times I've been crying while looking into this mirror. Telling myself to be strong. Or telling myself to change. Or telling myself to love who I am.

But this time I was looking in the mirror with just one thing going through my head: Tom's voice telling my I'm beautiful.

I've had two boyfriends in my past. None of them lasted very long. The last time I had been told I was beautiful was by my most recent boyfriend Mason about a year ago. But that was different from Tom.

With Mason it was at prom. We were slow dancing. I had a long peach colored dress on. He looked me up and down. He touched my hair like Tom did. And he said, "You look beautiful."

With Tom I was wearing jeans and my university hoodie. My hair was down. I had no makeup on. He touched my hair and said, "You are beautiful."

The last time I had been called ugly was the last day of high school. Just ordinary bully girls, they had been mean to me all year. Out of the blue on the last day they came up to me and said, "I can't believe you have friends. You're so stupid and ugly. Why are you even alive?" I was used to them saying stuff like that. But it hurt every time.

I pushed the thought of my bullies out of my head and looked at my face in the mirror.

Mason said, "You look beautiful," but Tom said, "You ARE beautiful."

The way Tom said that is what struck me so hard. He told me that I AM beautiful. That I don't need a fancy prom dress to be beautiful. I can just be in my hoodie with no makeup. He thought that I actually am beautiful. Just plain old me! He was the first person to ever tell me that I AM beautiful. And that just made me feel amazing.