Behind Every Smile

Teach Me

That night was one I'd never forget. It's not common where someone you hardly know speaks the truth about themselves. The ones you least expected to even speak to you from the beginning. Then again, even the shyest people have a story, and even the ones who are most broken down are the wisest, and smile the brightest.

Danielle was watching me exhaustedly lie on the carpet of her living room floor. We'd been outside for no less then two hours, in scorching heat.

"You know there's dog hair on the floor right?" Danielle chuckled.

I lifted my head to see her give me a wide smirk.

"I'm well aware," I stretched my arms above my head with a heavy exhale.

"Speaking of dogs.." My eyes moved to the old golden retriever maneuver her way towards me then sit on my stomach. Immediately, I felt my stomach ache from the weight but I kept still.

Danielle chuckled again, but louder. "She likes to sit on whatever is left on the floor."

My hand slid down the dog's back, feeling the soft golden hairs slip between my fingers. "Guess I'll have to get use to being sat on from now on." I joked, laughing at the thought of being sat on in the future.

"Guess so. And bring a tape roller while you're at it." She scoffed before flipping out her phone, both of us hearing it buzz as she spoke.

Daisy lifted herself off me before resting her muzzle on my hand, digging her moist nose inside my palm. Apparently she was around eight years old, almost the same age as my own dog.

"Oh no," I heard Danielle whisper, covering her mouth.

Judging by her aghast looks, I knew the news wasn't good. "Everything okay?" I turned away from Daisy before pushing myself off the ground, ignoring the dog hair on my back.

Danielle kept still as I sat next to her, watching her silently glare at a photo posted on Instagram.

I'd seen the girl in the photo before, briefly. Jenna was her name. Jenna was one of Danielle's oldest friends, who has, to Danielle's surprise, diabetes.

"That's terrible," I mutter, reading the description below the photo about the sudden news.

I stopped, hearing Danielle's breath quaver.

"Hey, it'll be okay. She'll be alright. She's a strong girl as far as I've heard." I wrapped my arm around her gently, only to see her glare at me.

"What have you heard about her exactly?" Her tone hardened, but still quivered every other pause.

"Only the good things, trust me. It's all I want to know about her anyway." I watched her sigh in relief before letting her shoulders slump down relentlessly.

"What about me? Have you heard anything about me?" I shrugged as her ice blue eyes stared straight through mine in concern. "Bella..tell me, have you?" She urged on, sitting up this time.

"I've heard things about you, sure. I'm not certain if what I heard is true though. They could be just rumors." I sat up straighter, letting my arm move away from her gradually.

"What. Have. You. Heard. Bella." Her voice hardened to the point where I felt shivers running through me, goosebumps forming on my arms.

"It's not important Danielle. Why does it matter?" I began. Danielle closed her palms into fists. "Because I want to know what people think of me, and how I can change whatever is bothering them so I can fit in!" Danielle finally explained with a loud groan in frustration.

I froze, unsure of how to respond to her theory of 'fitting in'. I never understood why people worried about fitting into the world more than tolerating it. To me that was more of a challenge at least.