Left Alone - by Ivy

Chapter 1 - Beginning

   Welcome to the story of my past, present and possibly future. We've all had bad days but it's hard for some people to say that they've had a bad life. I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Ebony. I'm 15 years old. As for what I look like, I'm not going to tell you because I don't think I can start without getting all negative Nelly. Plus, I think you might be able to develop your own idea of me through my tough times. As you may already be able to tell, I'm a little unsure of myself. Some may say I'm a little unstable but, who wouldn't be after what I've gone through. You may also think I'm seeking attention which I definitely am not. I just want to write this down before it gets too late.

My story starts at birth. I was born premature and I had to be birthed by a C-Section. I bet even the surgeons made an ugly face when they first saw me. At least that's what my classmates said. I have two facial deformities. A cleft palate and some weird super pigmented birth mark on my cheek. I was so small and frail in kindergarten and throughout elementary school. I was bullied until my second year of middle school when I stopped going and got put in home-schooling. The bullying unfortunately continued. The person from school that I thought actually liked me turned against me a couple days after I left. She told everyone I was anorexic and made a fake Facebook page titled "Ebony The B!#$*" and posted and cropped the photos that we took together and made me as skinny as the Photoshop program would let her. The captions and the comments are what got to me though. Everyone thought that I was anorexic. She had won. She got everyone to hate me more than they did before even if I didn't think it was possible. Now, my only real friend is my Mom and that's not what you would expect from a 15 year old girl.

I have no siblings but I guess that's a good thing. I wouldn't want my bullying legacy to be passed onto someone else. I couldn't do that to another human being. Other than the Facebook thing, my home-schooling life was pretty good. I was fortunate to be able to forget about the internet and my stress every now and then with my parents and their friends. But, I still felt lonely. I wanted friends of my own. I needed to set goals and ambitions. I had given up on all of mine after a couple years at home. I still had one dream though. I wanted to be happy again. I wanted to be able to go outside and not have everyone judge me for what I looked like. I wanted friends that didn't care about popularity or being seen with me but instead friends that cared about my feelings and could protect me and be loyal. After a while, my mother realized I was lonely and decided to get me a pet. That was the best Christmas I'd ever had.

When I saw the giant box labelled "To Ebony,Love Mom", I shrieked. I immediately noticed holes on the lid and thought of what it could be. When my Mom told me not to shake it I knew exactly what it was. As I opened it, I heard a high pitched bark. I looked inside to find the cutest puppy I had ever seen. His name is Koda. He is a Pomski or a husky crossed with a pomeranian. He grew up as my child, my best friend, my boyfriend, and my support system. Koda and I share more secrets than my mother and I. Oh how I'll miss him.

It all started one Friday morning in October. My Mom came into my room and woke up Koda and I. She was about to leave the room when suddenly, she turned around with an excited look on her face and said "Guess what?" So, naturally I said "What?" "We're going to Paris." I gasped. "Are you kidding?!" I said excitedly which scared Koda. "Nope. We board the plane today at 4." She said smiling. Then, I screamed. I jumped up and started looking for a suitcase. "Slow down," said my Mom "Come and have breakfast first!" I picked up Koda and skipped into the kitchen to have my last meal here in Minnesota.

I packed everything I needed for a week in Paris into 2 suitcases, a carry-on and a dog crate for Koda. I was so excited to start making some good memories for once instead of bad ones. I was determined to let nothing stand in my way of my one and only dream right now. Around 12 o'clock, I got in the shower and started getting ready. When I had finished, I looked in the mirror at my pistol black hair and ocean blue eyes. All of the sudden, I started to get anxious about what people would think of my cleft palate and birth mark or if they had seen the Facebook page... I was being paranoid. We got in the car to drive to the airport at 1:30. We sat in seats C22 and C23 right beside each other. I sat in the window seat and looked out at the countryside. Little did I know...