I’ve written a story about two crosseyed girls - I hope you enjoy it! Sorry for mistakes as English is not my mother tongue. Please feel free to comment!
+++The New Girl+++
Sophie had spent a long and lazy day in the garden when her mum called her in the evening. “Sophie, don’t forget that school starts again tomorrow! You have to pack your bag and go to bed a bit earlier today – “ “Sure, mum”, Sophie cut her off. “I am not a baby anymore!” She had been thinking about it enough. And Alyssa had been running around all day, driving her crazy with her back-to-school jabbering. Sophie could understand her little sister. Alyssa would be starting Junior High tomorrow. A new school, new friends, new teachers – yes, it was very exciting. Sophie thought about her first days at Junior High. It was only three years ago but it seemed like an eternity. So many things had happened in the last three years. But Sophie had never been one of those typical High School girls, and she had never really caught the “High School Spirit” that everybody was talking about. She was not a member of the cheerleader team, she did not play in the school band, she never joined a theater group or sports team or debating club. She just wanted to do her courses and get decent marks – and that was exactly what she did. Although she was not involved with any of those community things, she was a good student, and everybody liked her – well, at least nobody disliked her. There was nothing conspicuous about her. She was medium tall, not fat but not too skinny, she had medium long brown hair that she mostly wore in a ponytail, she had blue plastic rimmed glasses. A very normal girl. And that’s all she wanted to be.
Alyssa was a normal girl, too. But she was one of those girls you think of when you hear the word “High School girl”. She was skinny, tall for her age, always smiling, she had long blonde hair which she wore in a different style every day, she loved wearing fancy clothes, the latest fashion. All she thought about was fashion and hairstyles, she wanted to become a model, and Sophie was annoyed by that quite often. “There’s more to life than fashion”, that’s what she told her little sister again and again. And the answer was always the same: “I don’t want to be caught running around looking like a walking four-eyed garbage bag!” A walking garbage bag. Sophie had to smile by the thought of her sister saying that. Wearing blue jeans and a simple top or shirt was her definition of looking like a garbage bag. Young miss, you should concentrate a bit more on other things, she thought. Maybe on doing your homework. Or learning for your exams. Walking garbage bag, that sounded like something a little girl had invented to tease her older sister, and Sophie did not care about it. But the little word “four-eyed” hit her, especially in this context. Sophie would be starting her sophomore year tomorrow. That meant she had already spent one year at Coldwater High. She had made some friends there, even two very close friends she liked to hang out with – and they seemed to like hanging out with her, which was even more important. Sophie always felt that she did not really belong into any group. And when she finally had found a group or clique, she felt accepted in the best case. Not less, but not more. Again, this time she was not sure about her friendship with Jennifer and Catherine. Did they really like her as a friend, or was it just comfortable to copy the homework from her? But hey, the three girls had had great times together – was that nothing? Sophie sighed. She thought about the two girls. She had just met Catherine the day before, spending some time in the city, then lazing in her garden, talking about anything that was on their minds. Talking about the new school year. About the future, about plans. About boys. Was this only being accepted, or was it real friendship? Sophie hated herself for feeling so insecure. It’s my eyes, she thought. If I only had straight eyes, I would fit perfectly into any group. Was this the reason why she felt hurt by the little word “four-eyed”? Because her perfect, stylish sister had teased her with this word? She was sure that Alyssa did not mean it in a cruel way. The little sister just wanted to tease the big sister, and his time she knew how to beat her – normally the stylish little doll was inferior to her older, smarter, well-educated sister. Maybe she just wanted to have this one small triumph? Whatever – Sophie was hurt. Because Alyssa had hit her weak spot unerringly.
Sophie got up from her deck chair and walked inside. She needed to talk to her sister right now. She wanted to get things straight before school started. “Alyssa?” she called when she entered the house. “What do you want?” said Alyssa in a funny way, as if her mouth was open. “Need to talk to you”. Sophie jumped upstairs to her sister’s room. Alyssa was sitting in front of a vanity mirror that she had obviously taken from mum’s bedroom, trying to put on eyeshadow, her mouth wide open. “Don’t tell mum”, Alyssa pleaded when Sophie came in. She knew that she was not allowed to wear makeup at her age. And she was not allowed to take her mum’s mirror without asking. “I won’t”, said Sophie. “If you do something for me too.” “What do you want from me?” Alyssa asked again. Sophie took a deep breath. She did not really know how to start but she had to get things straight right now. “Do you remember what you called me, considering my clothing style?” Sophie asked. “What style?” Alyssa sneered. “Come on, Alyssa, I’m trying to talk to you”, Sophie said firmly. She tapped with her fingers on the rim of the vanity mirror and grinned. Then she stopped grinning and looked at her sister again. “You know that you called me four-eyed walking garbage bag.” Alyssa’s face turned a bit pink. “You can call me whatever you want”, Sophie went on. “But please don’t ever call me four-eyed again!” “What’s bad about that?” Alyssa asked innocently. “I think garbage bag is even worse than four-eyed!” “To me, four-eyed is the worst ever”, Sophie stated. “It doesn’t matter what you consider worst. I just want to let you know that this little word really hurt me, and I want you not to call me like that anymore.” Alyssa looked at her older sister. “Ooookay”, she said. “If it’s soooo important to you I will stop calling you four-eyed. But I don’t understand what’s so bad about that. Hey, everyone at school and anywhere else wears glasses! And your eyes are finally straight, so no reason to get mad at me, sis!” Sophie smiled. Did the little brat really say that her eyes were straight? “I know you had a hard time concerning your eyes”, Alyssa said. “I promise I won’t call you anything that has to do with your eyes or glasses. Okay?” Sophie hugged her little sister. “You are not as bad as I thought”, she smiled. “Thank you, Alyssa. I promise I won’t tell mum what you are doing here. By the way, where did you get this makeup?” “Shhh”, Alyssa whispered. “I took it from mum’s drawer. But don’t tell her.” “I won’t.” Sophie got up, went into her room and pulled out her own drawers. She found some old makeup boxes that she got from another girl when she was even younger than Alyssa was now. She never used it, but it somehow felt good to own it back then. She never was interested in using it, and she knew she wouldn’t be in the future. So she took out the little boxes and cases, the eye liners and lipsticks, threw them into a small plastic bag and went to her sister’s room again. “Here, you can have it. I don’t have any use for it, not now and not later.” “What’s that?!” Alyssa emptied the bag on her bad. “Where did you get all this? Ooooh Sophie, I love you!!” “It’s already some years old”, Sophie said. “I got it from Nicole before she moved to California. But to be honest, I never even thought about using it.” “But why not?” Alyssa was excited. “Gosh, I would have tried a new look every day, every hour if I had had all these things!” “Maybe it’s because I’m still a walking garbage bag”, Sophie chuckled and looked at her happy sister. “You are”, Alyssa laughed, but suddenly she went very quiet. “What’s wrong?” Sophie asked. “I’m sorry to say”, Alyssa said in a low voice. “But your eyes are not straight anymore.” “What do you mean?!” Sophie was alarmed. “I mean – “ Alyssa pointed at Sophie’s left eye and moved her finger – “this eye goes right in. To your nose. Not very much but I can see it.”
Sophie ran out of her sister’s room and threw herself onto her bed, breathing heavily. What did Alyssa say? School was starting again tomorrow, it was her sophomore year, and she would not go with crossed eyes. Not again. Definitely not! The years at elementary school with a patch on the right eye were absolutely enough. Sophie still hated the memory of every day she had to wear it at school, and of course elsewhere. And she hated the memory of other kids looking at her because her left eye was not straight. She would tell her mom that she was sick tomorrow morning. But on the other hand, it was not a good idea to miss the first school day. And staying at home would not solve the problem. She got up again and closed her left eye, then opened it again. Her hair hung over the eye, and suddenly she had an idea. Again she went into her sister’s room. “Can you help me with my hair?” she asked Alyssa who was still playing with the eyeshadow. “What do you want to do”, asked Alyssa without turning her head, still looking at her face in the mirror. “Well… I don’t want to make a fuss, but can you help me style my hair in a way that it covers my left eye? At least a bit, I mean?” Alyssa smiled. “Really? You want to have your hair styled?” “It’s not a fashion thing”, Sophie laughed. “It’s just that…” “…being crosseyed is just not fashionable”, Alyssa ended the sentence. “So it’s a fashion thing. But sit down.” Sophie let herself fall onto her sister’s bed. Alyssa sat down behind her, combed her hair, tied it into a nice high ponytail and tried to let some hair fall over her left eye. “You should think about cutting some bangs”, Alyssa suggested. “Your hair would keep in style much better then, and it would look more natural. Now it looks like some girl who wants to cover her face.” Sophie got up and handed Alyssa some scissors. “Do whatever you want”, she said. “Are you being serious?!” Alyssa wondered. “I am”, said Sophie. “You can’t do much harm to a walking garbage bag, don’t forget that!” What am I doing here, Sophie asked herself, letting my almost 13-year-old sister cut my hair?! Alyssa took a comb and the scissors and cut her sister’s hair as if she had done it a thousand times before. It only took a few minutes. Sophie looked at herself in the mirror. “Wow”, she said. “You should have done that before! It’s really good! And they fall perfectly over my eye!” Alyssa smiled. “If you don’t want the bangs, you have to place your ponytail up here”, she said and pointed at Sophie’s head. “They are long enough to tie them in.” “Thank you, little sis!” Sophie laughed and hugged her. When the two girls sat down for supper, their mum looked at Sophie. “There’s something different about you”, she said. “Yes, I asked Alyssa to cut my hair!” Sophie said before her mum might say anything about her eyes. “I thought that I might get a new haircut for the new school year.” “So you cut that?!” their mum asked Alyssa. She smiled proudly. “Yeah, I am a hairdresser now”, she giggled. “Well done, little miss!” mum said and put some bread and cheese onto the table.
In the evening Sophie was still awake for a long time. She was thinking about her eyes, her glasses, everything. She was almost 16 years old now and she thought it might be finally over some day. Well, she would always need glasses, that was for sure – but she was hoping that her strabismus would resolve one day, her eyes were straight and everything was okay. At least she did not need the bifocal glasses anymore, she thought. And all those eyepatches, plasters and foils were finally gone after so many years. Well, her glasses were noticeably strong, but that should be fine. They were strong plus but beyond that they were normal. Maybe her eyes were the reason that Sophie was so damn inconspicuous in every way. Maybe that was the reason why she did not want to attract any attention because someone could notice her eye playing up. She sighed. Well, she had to face school tomorrow – there was nothing she could do against her eye. But her new hairstyle was a nice thing. People would notice her hair, not her eyes. At least she hoped so.
The next morning the girls got ready and headed to the bus stop together. Sophie had cautiously combed her new bangs over her eye, but it did not look like she wanted to hide something. Alyssa had done a really good job. “Thanks again, Lyss”, Sophie smiled. “How does it look?” “Great”, Alyssa said. “And your eye is straight too, so you have no reason to worry about.” Sophie was relieved. Maybe it was only yesterday because she had been tired then? Whatever it was - school could start now! The bus came and the girls stepped in, looking for their friends. Sophie spotted Jennifer sitting in the back and moved to her hand over hand while the bus seesawed its way through the narrow and bumpy streets. She let herself fall into the empty seat next to her. “Hi, Jen”, she smiled. Jennifer looked up. “Hey, how’s things going? When did you get this new haircut?” Wow, Sophie thought, she noticed it at once. Does it make me look that different? “I got it yesterday evening”, she said, and when she saw Jennifer frowning, she added: “Special service!” “What special service?” Jennifer asked. “My sister cut it”, Sophie explained. “I thought I could get a nice new haircut, so she did it.” “You let your little sister cut your hair with some simple kitchen scissors?” Jennifer could not believe it. “But I have to admit that she did really good work!” She took a bunch of Sophie’s hair and let in run through her fingers while looking at her. What was that look, Sophie thought. Did Jennifer just look at her because of the new hairstyle or was there something about her eye? Did Jennifer even know that she had vision problems, besides her high hyperopia? She did not want anyone to know about it. It was enough that she had to bring up the topic with her sister again, but on the other hand it was good to know that her sister would tell her the truth if there was anything wrong. Sophie was mad at herself for feeling so insecure all the time. Sophie and Jennifer got out of the bus and walked into the school building, looking for their home room. It was the same room they had had last school year when they were freshmen. A lot of their classmates were already there, sitting around and chatting, telling each other about their holidays. They greeted their friends and sat down to go on talking. The door swung open now and then, and every time someone arrived with new holiday stories.
Then the door was opened with caution and a girl sneaked in shyly. She did not look at anyone, went to an empty desk, pulled out the chair and sat down quietly. She even tried not to make any noise when she pulled out the chair. It was clear that she wanted not to be seen. She pretended she was not even there. She looked down to the floor, her long hair hanging over her face like a curtain. Now and then, when she felt that nobody was paying attention to her, she looked around for some seconds until she kept on staring at the floor. Nobody seemed to know this girl. Obviously she was new here. Maybe she had moved to this town during the holidays? Sophie had never seen her before. She looked at her curiously. Why was the girl so shy? Did she try to hide something? Was she sad maybe? When the girl felt unobserved again and moved her head up, Sophie saw the reason. This girl was wearing quite strong glasses. No reason to look down all the time, Sophie thought when she realized that she was in exactly the same situation. She had just one big advantage: She already knew all the people in this room and did not have to introduce herself again. So maybe it would be nice to talk to the girl a little bit? Maybe she would feel less alone then? “Hi”, Sophie said and smiled at the new girl, but the moment she said it, the girl looked already to the floor again, pretending nobody was there. Then a teacher came in and everybody got a seat, preferably in the back – Sophie and Jennifer put their bags on some desk in the middle of the room. Not in the nerd section but not too far in the back to draw the teacher’s attention to them. The new girl sneaked to the middle of the front row and sat down there, no neighbors to the left or right. Jennifer frowned. “Weird girl, huh?” Sophie shrugged. “Maybe she’s just shy”, she said. “Don’t judge a book by its cover. She will come out of her shell. What do you expect? She’s been here for some minutes only!” “She decided to sit in the middle of the front row”, Jennifer sneered. “This disqualifies her!” “Oh, shut up”, Sophie said. “She will have her reasons. Nobody does this voluntarily.” The girls stopped talking when the teacher started speaking. “I see we have a new girl here”, he said, looking at the shy person in the first row. “What’s your name?” “Dawn”, the girl said quietly, looking at her desk. “Nice to have you with us, Dawn”, the teacher smiled politely. “Would you like to introduce yourself? Tell us two or three things about you?” Dawn turned pale but nobody could see that. “I moved here from Salt Lake City. Four weeks ago.” She nearly whispered. The teacher looked at her and said: “Can you please turn to the class and repeat that for everybody?” Dawn’s face went from pale to red in one second. She turned halfway to the class and repeated her words. Sophie and Jennifer looked at each other. “The poor girl”, Sophie whispered. “She is so shy and this cruel guy tortures her in her first minutes! Is this an oral exam?” Jennifer put her hand up. When the teacher nodded at her, she said: “I think we all will get to know her soon. We should let her arrive first.” Dawn seemed to be relieved and turned back to her normal position, while Sophie thought that Jennifer would be elected again as class representative.
While the teacher went through all his organizational matters, Sophie watched Dawn. Now and then some notes were handed out by the teacher, followed by the selection sheets for the elective courses. All other students at least had a short read of the handouts before putting them into their folders or bags - Dawn never seemed to even look at them. When the sheets were passed around, Dawn took one and held it very close in front of her nose. Damn, Sophie thought. This girl has really some issues. Maybe I should talk to her? The elective courses seemed to be a good idea to start with. Suddenly Sophie felt strong. This feeling was completely new to her. Well, she had some problems with a crossed eye but this new girl had severe problems and Sophie wanted to help her. And maybe her own vision problems would get a bit smaller then. “Now you will have some time to get information about the elective courses”, the teacher said. “All descriptions are hung out on the bulletin boards, like they did last year. I want you to have a look at them and then make your choices. I will collect your selection forms at ten o’clock before you start your” – he looked at his timetable – “maths course.” All students got up at once to have a look at the courses. Only Dawn hesitated, then she finally got up from her chair. Sophie turned to her. “Hi, I’m Sophie”, she introduced herself. “You are new here, so I thought maybe I can help you with the courses?” Dawn did not look at Sophie, but she smiled a little smile and nodded. “Thanks”, she said quietly. “That would be very nice.” “I think it is the first day here for you, so you don’t know about all the wheres and whats. So - about the elective courses, look where the other people are just going, all courses are hanging on the board next to the cafeteria. But you can’t know that when you’ve never been here before.” Sophie walked on, followed by Dawn who walked a bit slower.
“Creative Writing would be fun!” “Look, here’s a new course – law for internet users! Or should I choose Web Design?” “Maybe we should take the additional history course!” “School choir is offered – hey Tricia, have you seen? School choir!”
When the girls finally arrived at the bulletin boards all other kids were already bustling about, trying to get a look at every course offered. Sophie waited patiently for the first classmates to make their choices. She tried to read some of the offers from where she was standing but she thought it was printed way too small, so she kept waiting for the next one to be finished. While she was watching the others she noticed that Dawn took notes. She held a notepad in one hand and whenever she heard somebody mentioning a course, she wrote the name down. She had a very neat and really big handwriting so Sophie could read what she wrote. What is that, Sophie thought. She writes so big that I can read it with my bad eyes! From here! Then she started wondering why Dawn wrote all the names down. She could just go to the bulletin board and read them… no, she could not read them! Suddenly Sophie understood what was going on. Dawn’s eyes were so bad that she could not read the course descriptions on the board.
…to be continued!