collarbones

06 ~ PSHE(E)

Annabelle was in her least favourite class – PSHE. Although now there’s an extra E, but she still didn’t know why.

She hated today’s topic.

Insecurity.

It was pathetic.

She sat there in the back of the classroom next to Katie, who was pestering her boyfriend Jeremy about something that Anna didn’t care for. She was usually just asking him for food anyway.

She sighed once more to herself as Mr Larmon continued to flick through the PowerPoint slides about the different types of insecurity.

Click.

Intelligence.

“Many people feel like they’re not clever enough to put themselves out there and achieve what they’re capable of doing,” he began as he strolled around the classroom. “You shouldn’t be one of these people. You’re capable of doing anything you want if you put the work in, but the only thing that stops us from doing so is scepticism.”

Click.

Appearance.

“So many people worry about their facial features, but you guys really shouldn’t have to do that. You’re all beautiful children and-”

“PEDOPHILIA!”

Mr Larmon paused mid-sentence as he stared at the boy who’d shouted. He was smirking as he pushed his dark brown hair to the side, his blue eyes shining with mischievousness.

“Alex, if you make any more inappropriate comments like that again I’ll give you an after school detention,” he warned. Alex shrugged carelessly, chuckling to himself. “This Friday,” he added.

Alex stopped chuckling immediately.

Mr Larmon nodded in approval before moving on to the next slide.

Click.

Weight.

He stopped, staring at them all intently.

Anna perked up immediately which caught the attention of Katie, who instead remained silent as she watched Anna.

On the slide was a picture of a model. She was absolutely beautiful, her body consisting of everything that Anna wanted – curves, a flat stomach, slim thighs, collarbones – and Anna perused the picture intently, devouring it with her eyes.

She was jealous.

“This one is extremely controversial. It’s ridiculous for people to worry about their weight when you’re all still developing, still growing, and therefore haven’t fully achieved a stage where you need to start toning up and slimming up. Weight doesn’t matter – a balanced diet and healthy exercise do. These models have been photo-shopped to the extreme just to make them conform to twisted ideals of what a 'beautiful' woman is. The industry can ignore the fact that beauty comes in many forms. Some models are malnourished and are probably the most insecure people on the planet because their life is built on them looking attractive. Remember that,” he told them, strutting back towards the screen.

Click.

On the screen was a picture of some collarbones.

Annabelle looked away, stunned. They were all too visible to the eye, protruding from the skin hazardously as though they were going to break through the flesh.

She hated the picture, and it was only because she wished she was the girl on the screen.

“You don’t need these to be happy,” Mr Larmon told them.

Anna shook her head sadly.

“Some people do,” she whispered.