Waking up isn't a big deal. It's waking up at 6:30 in the morning that's the problem, but that was every 13 year olds problem. The only things that make me different is the fact that I'm an orphan, and I have fire like red hair. It's the bane of my existence, but my adoptive parents Marilla and Matthew have told me repeatedly it looks beautiful. The other girls at my public school said otherwise.
Being that Brooklyn is a place of many people of color, a pale red-head was a sight to see. Normal girls in my school had beautiful colored skin and brown curls for days. I admired them, but that hasn't stopped the comments. "Carrots" would be called out it the most random times. I was also decently lanky and frail-looking, so it made it easy for boys to push me around.I needed a way out, so I applied to a private school in Manhattan for high school, at the beginning of the year. They give scholarships to outstanding students, which was a selling point for Marilla.
I've been looking forward to hearing back all year, but now it's June and nothing. Time to prepare for the worst and hope that next school year the bullying would lessen. I know it was silly to hope for such ridiculous things, but it makes me more at ease abo-
"Anne Shirley-Cuthbert are you paying attention!" Ms. Jones yelled from across the classroom . "Or are you exercising your imagination." That caused an eruption of laughter from all the students. Not only did students take pride in mocking me, but the teachers did too. I wasn't the only one daydreaming, but I'm always the one called out. All the reason why public schools were not for me.
I began to jot down the notes on the board, trying to keep her thoughts focused on the math. "y=mx+b, y=mx+b" I told myself repeatedly. A girl across from me, Zanylah, said "Hey, ADHD wanna keep it down." Zanylah has known me since kindergarten, as did everyone else, but Zanylah was the worst. She's constantly bullied me, from when we were 5. I've had enough of her, "I DON'T HAVE ADHD." I yelled. Everyone looked at me. It even felt like the pencils and papers where looking at her. I hated it.
"ANNE! PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE NOW!" Ms. Jones yelled even louder now. I got up, not really surprised by the outcome. This was a normal math class for me. As I walked past all the classrooms to the principal's office, I looked in and saw friends laughing with each other. I wanted that, I wanted friends other than Matthew and Marilla. I entered the principals office, not needing to knock, I knew he was expecting me. It should've been a class on my schedule since I was in there so much. Unlike everyone else in the school, Principal Smith was nice to Anne."I'm back." I said as I sat down. Normally Principal Smith would slightly frown because it meant another student did something to me, but today he smiled.
"What?" I asked. "So, Anne I received a letter this morning. It was very interesting to say the least." It was obvious Principal Smith was trying not to be a dead giveaway. "Do you have any idea who the letter was from?" I shook my head and at that somehow Principal Smith's smile got even bigger. "The Chapin School accepted you with a scholarship."
I couldn't believe it and couldn't do anything but smile. "No way. No way. No way!" Was all I could say. Principal Smith smiled even more, "I called Matthew and Marilla to come pick you up early. They seemed worried, but this will be a good surprise." Principal Smith laughed and got up.
Him and I hugged, I was leaving the one person at school who made me feel safe. When the hug ended I turned to leave the office. I ran to my locker. "I can't believe it." I whispered to myself. At that moment, I needed to pinch herself to see if it was real. "Ow. It's real."
Matthew and Marilla took the surprise greatly and got take out for dinner to celebrate. They even called the school to see if I could come in for a day to experience it, they agreed. Matthew sat on the couch smiling, "Anne I want you to always remember one thing, no matter what school you're at. You are you." I nodded, not fully knowing what he meant. I was too focused on my Instagram post.
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137 likes anne.shirley.cuthbert you all gave me hell and to that I say goodbye and goodnight ✨ 😴 ✌🏻@thechapinschool
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zanylah_capalot and to that i say gtf asap 🤣 diana•barry omg you tagged our school 💗💗 btw your soo pretty😍 @ruby.g @tillieee @gilly_blythe @josie_the_realist @janeandrews @charlie. @moo.dy @billyandrews zanylah_capalot lol @diana•barry girl pretty? ruby.g omg yayy hii 💓 💖 💗 💕 tillieee your eyes are so 😍 gilly_blythe who are you?
