Janet has spent her whole entire childhood trying to hide behind the scenes. Growing up in the system, life hasn't always been so kind to her. Dealing with bullies and moving from foster home to foster home. Janet wants nothing more than to leave Ca...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I was born at the end of summer. On September 3rd at around midnight, I had been born. It was said that my mother had held me only for a mere five minutes. After that, she had succumbed to death. My father being nowhere to be seen I was sent away to the system. I grew up in a foster home ran by my foster mother.
Mrs. Doughberry was a widow who had lost her husband in the war. She had always wanted children but never got the chance. She said I was her miracle baby, despite my horrendous background. She had raised me until I turned eight.
Due to her old age, she had gotten sick. She became bed bound relying on me to take care of the chores. I went to school and afterward I'd run right back home. I fixed her meals and helped her take her medication.
She lived a matter of six months before one day I came home and she was on the brink of death. She placed a necklace in my hand and whispered "this belongs to you now. My darling Janet remember you are beautiful".
She died in my arms that afternoon. I was only eight years old. I never understood what her last words meant. After that my social worker had picked me up and taken me to another foster home.
"This is your new home, Janet. Don't be scared" Mr. Vinto told me. But I was scared and frustrated, I wanted nothing more than to leave and go back home. Back to Mrs. Doughberry... but she was gone... I had no one else.
I remember my first night in my new foster home. The Grecos were a peculiar bunch with wild dark hair and huge green eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Greco had three children the wild triplets.
Marnie, Barnie, and Mitch were their names. They weren't kind at all and would steal my food and they'd make fun of me. They'd call me horrible names and for a moment I had started to believe them.
It only became worse when I started my new school. I had decided to wear my brunette hair in a ponytail when Mrs. Greco had pulled me to the side. "Sweetheart why don't you wear your hair done". She pulled my hair out from the tight rubber band. She then pulled it forward covering half my face.
"Keep your hair like this all day. No putting it up" she scolded. So like an obedient child, I had done what she told me to do. The whole day I kept my hair down, I'd go to the bathroom and lift my hair so no one would see. That was how I spent my entire middle school year.
Until one day it was a hot day. During recess, I lifted my hair as sweat poured down my neck. Millie Anderson was the meanest girl in our grade. She'd pick on anyone because she could, a spoiled brat was what she was.
I had only lifted my hair for a second. Just a second. But it had been too late as she had already seen it. The thing that soon became the root of my problems.
My birthmark
"Eww, what are you? Some kind of beast? Gosh Janet you're so ugly! Go back to where you came from you hideous freak"! She snarled making me drop my hair down so it covered my face again. No one stood up for me, they didn't come to my defense.
Instead, everyone laughed. Called me the ugly beast and that they needed to stay away or else they'd catch whatever I had. After that very day I kept to myself, I ate lunch alone, spent recess alone.
Being alone started to become my comfort. I relished the feeling of it because I knew that if I were alone I wouldn't experience it leaving me. I had been doing fine being alone, that was until I met him
Erin Akio
He was a chubby Asian boy. New to our grade and class he soon became the next target. They'd call him all sorts of horrible names. They'd call him dumpling due to him being Asian. I felt bad for him because I had been in his situation before. I was still a target but once he arrived they lost interest in me.
I remember first talking to him. One day at lunch I found him sitting at my table. The table I sat at so I could be alone, yes he sat there poking his fork through his slice of pizza. He was quite chubby and cute that he reminded me more of a panda.
He soon noticed my presence and immediately got up. "I... I'm sorry... is ... this... your table"? He was a shivering blubbering mess and that sight saddened me. He castes his eyes to the ground not looking at me directly.
"No, it's ok. I...you... can sit here... if you want" I quipped taking a seat. He stood there for a few seconds more before sitting across from me. I smiled as best as I could so as not to frighten him. Little by little he'd soon began to open up to me.
After that very day, we stuck together like glue. I had him and he had me, we became the best of friends. I had forgotten what being alone felt like, what it looked like. Erin became my savior and when we would get bullied we'd protect one another as best as we could.
I loved going to school because I knew he would be waiting for me. Every day we spent our time together. By the time eighth grade rolled around, everyone knew we were best friends.
The beast and the dumpling. Those were the names we were given, but we never let it bother us. At least not anymore, I'd call him my chubby dumpling and he'd call me beautiful. He had yet to see my birthmark, I knew I would show him when I was ready.
