𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏.

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐯
Jorja Marie wasn't exactly the needle in a haystack. What I mean by that is, she doesn't blend in with the people that surrounded her. Most people would see it as uniqueness, but for Jorja, it felt quite the opposite. She didn't quite embrace her uniqueness like others might.

She didn't have a mother figure, or any family in that matter to help her embrace her uniqueness. Jorja grew up in the system for as long as she could remember. There was never a day when Jorja wouldn't question why her parents had given her up.

On her days off, she would tirelessly search the internet, hoping to somehow find a connection to her birth parents. Jorja didn't have a clear plan in mind if she were to ever find them, and that uncertainty can be quite daunting.

She felt like she would never be ready to meet her birth parents, and she wasn't even sure if they would want to meet her. Growing up in the system might have made her question if they would accept her.

Jorja has a skin condition called Vitiligo.

Vitiligo is caused by the lack of a pigment called melanin in the skin. Melanin is produced by skin cells called melanocytes, and it gives your skin its colour. In vitiligo, there are not enough working melanocytes to produce enough melanin in your skin. This causes white patches to develop on your skin or hair.

She has Vitiligo around her eyes, fingers, and other parts of her body. It started spreading during middle school, and the kids would harass her about it every day. The bullying left her to be extremely insecure about her condition. Going to a predominantly white school didn't help either. To "cope", she would wear a face mask and gloves to class, even in hot weather.

Jorja is 19 now.

Now, Jorja had found a new way to "cope" with it by using makeup to conceal her Vitiligo. She was cautious not to use it too frequently as she didn't want to harm her skin, but on days when she felt particularly insecure, she would apply it.

Jorja has a cat named Penelope. Even though Penelope wasn't exactly the friendliest cat, always scratching and hissing at Jorja, she still loved her a lot. Honestly, she found the hissing adorable. Penelope was basically Jorja's therapist, but in cat form.

She was all Jorja had.

The 19-year-old girl was currently living in a small studio apartment in New York. It wasn't exactly the ideal studio apartment, but it was what she could afford at the time. She made the most of it by decorating it in a way that made it feel like home. Jorja wanted to create a cozy and comfortable space just for herself.

Jorja's stomach growled loudly, causing her to groan in frustration. She could feel the vibrations of hunger rumbling within her. Determined to satisfy her hunger, she dragged herself out of her beanbag chair and made her way to the kitchen.

But when she opened the fridge, disappointment washed over her. There was nothing there to make a sandwich with. She slammed the fridge door and rolled her eyes at the sad sight of her empty fridge.