Page 57 - HEF Pen & Ink 2022

She sat down in front of the mirror, just like she did every night. Her makeup came off, as did her clothes. And then the words. Some of them she could take off ea- sily. They melted off, just like her makeup. Others took some scrubbing, but they too came off. And some didn’t. Some were stuck there, virtually tattooed onto her skin, lea- ving a mark on her forever.
They weren’t hurtful. They just made her uncomfort-
able. They were
vile and repulsi-
ve and made her
skin crawl, the
words morphing
into bugs that
would creep across
her skin. No mat-
ter how hard she
tried to get them
off, no matter
how many times she’d scrubbed at her skin to the point of it being raw and her being so utterly fatigued that she couldn’t, they wouldn’t come off.
It pained her. Seeing those words eve- ry day, ugly markings on her skin that were reminders of how the world saw her. She knew she was beautiful. People had told her that her whole life. But as she got older and started dressing differently and wearing makeup, the comments got more and more lewd and uncomfortable, and it became less validating to hear it and more violating.
She was more than a pretty face. She was more than a skinny and fit body. She was more than the makeup and clothes she wore. She was not an object to be admired and commented upon. She had worth and substance and she was kind and friendly and she snorted when she laughed and cried when she saw sad movies. She liked rocky road ice cream and Oreos dipped in peanut butter. Her favorite movies were rom coms,
but her favorite books were thrillers. She liked to look at the sunset from the rooftop and read books in the shade under trees.
All these things and so much more made her the person she was. All the things on the inside mat- tered the most, but most didn’t care to look at the inside. They looked at her
and saw a gorgeous girl and didn’t think twice about commenting on her looks. They didn’t think twice about getting to know her. They didn’t think. No one ever does. It’s all lust at first sight and nothing else. They see her on the street and think she’s sexy and gorgeous, but she’s more. She’s so much more.
Pretty Girl By Cassandra Hawks 55
More than This
By Lauren MacDonald