Chapter 2: November 15, 2010
I wasn’t what everyone thought I was. Little did they know, it was them that made me this way. The way I dressed, the way I acted, but even more, the way I felt. It wasn’t my fault that I was like this, it was theirs. My name is Bonnie and I’m not what they call the “ordinary” kid in high school. When I walked down the hall, people gave me funny stares. Sure, I intimidated most people but it didn’t always have to be like that. Who knew that if you dyed your hair a few different colors, wore dark make-up and started wearing dark clothing, people would actually be afraid of you…
I wasn’t always like this. It actually wasn’t until I started high school that I started dressing as what everyone else called “Goth.” But me? I called it style. Before high school, I was the small girl that everyone loved… love to hate. I never really let it get to me but when high school started it just got worse and worse. I had nasty rumors spread about me, people threw food at me at lunch, and they would even steal my backpack and play keep away with me. What was even worse was that my own parents didn’t even make an effort to stop the madness. That’s when I lost it. That’s when I started to rebel.
I went to the nearest Hot Topic store, usually a place I stayed at least 50 feet away from, and I bought a bunch of different colored temporary hair dyes and went to work. By the time I was done, I’ll admit I looked like a peacock, but I was proud. I used to get bullied for all types of ridiculous things. The way I dressed, the way I wore my hair, the way I flinched when kids would pretend to punch me as I was walking through the halls. I wasn’t exactly sure what dying my hair would do for me in this situation, but honestly, it made me feel pretty good about myself. It didn’t even matter to me in that moment what the girls at school would say. Little didn’t I know, it mattered a whole lot more than I thought it would. The girls were calling me such rude names, saying I just wanted attention. Attention was probably the last thing I wanted. The only person who didn’t say anything mean to me about my hair, or really anything mean to me ever was my only good friend, Daniel.
Daniel and I have been best friends since I was really young. He was a grade above me, so I always saw him like a big brother. He always stuck up for me the best that he could when the bullies would tease me. We went to the same school since we I started school, but since he was a year ahead of me, I always had a year without him at school. Those years were the worst ones. Yes, I was even bullied when I was 6 or 7 years old. I don’t know what I did to deserve any of this but having Daniel by my side was possibly one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. Not to mention Daniel was super cute, and I had the biggest crush on him ever but I always knew he would never like a girl like me. He had a girlfriend named Jennifer. Don’t get me wrong, she was a total sweetheart, but I was so jealous of her. She was Daniel’s girlfriend, exactly what I wanted to be, but I missed my chance. He’d never want me.
Things were a lot different now than they used to be. I never did change my hair back to just a normal color. As much as my mom hated it, along with everyone else, I felt like it truly represented…me. Daniel and Jennifer broke up after a few months. He never really told me the real reason why but then again, I wasn’t really interested. I just wanted him to be single and all mine. It was Daniel’s last year in high school and I knew next year would be absolutely miserable without him there to help me with the bullies. This was the year that Daniel and I got a lot closer in several… different ways.
