The Next Year

This is my last year in high school (I hope). My senior year has come upon me quicker than expected and I just knew this year would be a game-changer. At the beginning of my story, I mentioned that I was very scrawny for my age. I didn’t really describe my physique so I am going to describe what I looked like a year ago and what I look like today.

Last year I weighed in at around 125 pounds. I stood around 5’ 11”. Yes, people could throw me around like a rag doll and it made them feel like they had all the power to do so. I basically cowered down and ran away (when I could) with my tail between my legs. All of the cowering down though was going to change. I walked into the school doors with a new attitude and confidence. I didn’t really grow much taller from last year, but for the sake of this story let’s say I stood tall(er) at 6 feet. I know, 1 inch taller but I am at that 6-foot barrier so that’s a happy place. I weighed in at 185 pounds. Yes, you heard me correctly. I was 185 pounds and it was not all fat either. I was tired of being a punching bag and a rag doll for everyone to toss around so I put a plan in place to work out over the summer. I woke up early in the morning and ran 1-2 miles. After my run, I did exercises. I stayed away from junk food and tried not to snack on “stuff”. Then before I went to bed I worked out with weights. I did this every day and that means the weekends as well.

I was a little nervous to walk into the school but with my new look and more confidence to walk the hallways I knew good things were to come. I met up with some of my friends from last year and they absolutely could not believe the change I had made. In some instances, I had to introduce myself to people that knew me last year and years before. I was beaming with excitement to finally, possibly feel like I actually belonged and not just a punching bag for someone’s ego. Now I just want to iterate and not contradict myself from earlier on in my story. I did not do this transformation to be part of the “cool” click in the school and there was absolutely no way that I would even consider that. Those people are stuck-up jerks and I didn’t want to associate myself with them unless it was Jackie and no that is not a contradiction. I really didn’t see Jackie as the stuck-up kind of person. She treated people with sincerity even though she was part of the “cool” click.

As I am standing in the hallway of the school talking to my friends, I happened to glance down the hallway and saw that Jackie had arrived at school. She was surrounded by her female friends smiling and talking up a storm. She immediately went to her new locker for the school year to put her bookbag in. She looked, may I say, just immaculate. She was wearing black spandex and a white top. Her hair was down today and it absolutely looked divine. I wondered if I walked by her if she would even recognize me. Of course, she wouldn’t, she didn’t really know me last year other than me fixing her device. It’s not like we could say hi to each other in the hallway and it would even mean anything to her. I didn’t care because I was going to walk in that direction anyway. As I’m walking and looking at her, I’m thinking “what am I going to say”? “Do I say hi”? “Is that weird”? As I get closer, I can feel hot and sweaty. My heart is just racing because, at this point, I’m about 15 feet from her. She is still laughing and talking to her friends that are by her locker. I am now about 5 feet from where she is standing and at this point, some of her female friends stop talking to look at me or in my direction. At this point, I have made a decision to……………