Fitting in

Chatper 4

   In the car, and at dinner, all Brett heard about was her new nose. Both her father and sister were updated on the plans for her. And neither one of them knew what to think. Sure her nose was the only thing that differentiated her from her surroagte family, but wasn’t that what made her special? Brett couldn’t help but touch her nose throughout the whole night. She’d tap it at random times, pinch it while working on her homework, she even picked it once, while wondering whether she could have boogers with a fake nose.

   That night she had nightmares about her new sniffer. It would float around her and call her names, or make fun of her never fitting in. The giant fake nose even took her perfect little one, and Brett had to walk around school with a massive whole in her face. Brett woke up hating the idea of a rhinoplasty more than ever.

   Upon her arrival at school Jesse sprinted to her worried about the condition of her best friend. In fear of actually losing her nose while taking a shower or getting ready, Brett hadn’t taken her eye off of her nose once, not even while she put on her mascara or drove her car.

            “Brett you look like a hot mess!” Jesse squealed running up to her friend.

            “I do? Why?” Brett squeaked with alarm. She threw her hands over her nose and looked down to see if it was still there.

            “Your eyes! You lipstick! Your hair! Did you even try this morning?” Jesse said while dragging her into the girls restroom. She began to take out paper towels and wet them so she could clean up her distressed friend.

            Brett looked around the bathroom and glared at all the remaining girls until they left. Then she took a deep breath and said, “My mom wants me to get nose surgery!” Jesse paused, stared at Brett’s nose then cocked an eyebrow.

            “Your nose is perfect.”

            “I know! But she wants me to look like the rest of the family. Oh gosh, and look at how ugly the new nose is.”  Brett unfurled the crumpled picture that her mom had put in her car, so she could think about the procedure and its benefits. Jesse gasped then shook her head furiously.  She herself even began to hyperventilate, and both girls stood in the bathroom thinking about the social suicide that nose would cause.

            “You can’t get that nose.”

            “I know! But how can I not!”

            “I don’t know Brett, but whatever you do, do not get that nose.”

   And as Jesse finished her sentence, the bell rang sending them to class. Brett walked to her math class and from a distance; she could see the top of Simon’s curly mop of hair. She could feel her cheeks reddening, and slapped the palms of her hands to her face in surprise. Brett Witte was blushing at the sight of an art freaks hair? She wanted to die.

   Moaning she did something she hadn’t done in a long time, Brett ducked her head and looked towards the floor of the school the whole way to class. And when she saw Simon’s ratty shoes, she knew he was looking at her, and she tried her best to pretend the floor was the most interesting thing in the world.

            She arrived in class on time and opened her notebook to the first page. Brett needed to set her priorities straight and fast. Taking out her pen she began to scribble Jason + Brett = Love in her notebook. She did it till she filled up the page, and after the first page was filled she filled the second. But it was when she started the third page that something weird happened. Brett’s hand must have had a mind of its own, because suddenly Brett + Simon = Love appeared on the paper. Involuntarily she began to write more and more of it, and little did she know, but everyone could see the huge grin growing on her face.