How did you become you?

You were going to be the school’s prom queen. Everyone knew there was no competition. Why would there be? You had teachers in the palm of your hands, students worshiped you. Even with your immerse popularity in high school, everyone knew it wasn’t going to stop there. You would go to the best college, an ivy league. You would win fans in college as well. You will be as popular as you were here, maybe even more. It was inevitable. If you were pretty but dumb, it will be easier to beat you. But guess what? You’re not. Some say it’s impossible to be both pretty and smart. Well to those “some”, you haven’t invaded their world yet. You weren’t just pretty, you were stunning. You weren’t just smart, you were intelligent. You didn’t rule the school with just your looks or smarts, but with both. Before you came, Meadows Academy had no hope. It was tattered, shattered, ruined, and destroyed. The school’s exterior was beautifully constructed, but the inside was appalling. Extracurricular activities weren’t even heard of before you. Students were bullied and mistreated. The social hierarchy was dominated by sons of diplomats and daughters of CEO’s of companies. You came and changed everything. Everyone was on the sidelines while you took over everything. It shouldn’t come as a surprise you had everyone in the whole school falling for you. 

How did you do it? What is your secret? How did you manage to do something that seemed like a feat? A feat that seemed so impossible to accomplish. What made you stand out more? Was it your looks? Your stance? Your confidence? Questions like these are something you encounter every day, isn’t it? It doesn’t even surprise you how you fixed everything in a year. The way you walk and talk fascinates everyone. The way you nod your head when you're listening to someone and the way you throw your head back and laugh when talking to your friends makes all eyes turn to you, infatuating all the faculty members and students in our school. Maybe everyone in the whole world. Who knows what you can do. Who knows the power you hold. 

Fascinating isn’t even the word to describe you. Thinking of words to describe is easy. You are breathtaking. You are enthralling. You are spectacular. You are extraordinarily amazingly you. Nothing and no one can come to your level and beat you. So it came to a shock when everything happened. Everything you built came down. The empire you built in a year vanished. You became invisible. For once in your life, you blent in the crowd. How was it possible for you to be invisible?

No one knew per se what occurred. There were different speculations about what happened. Even without knowing the real story, it easily became the biggest story that the small town ever faced. There were stories of you being poor. Your mother worked as a cleaner for Kate, the daughter of the owner of the biggest company in the town. Your father was a thief.  No one knew anything about you. Maybe that’s what made you more interesting. In a small town where everyone knows each other, you coming, and invading our little community made you mysterious. No one knew who you were, what your family does, where you were previously and you never dared to let people know who you are. It just added to the mystery that was already surrounding. But now, everyone is turning against you. Your “friends” are distancing themselves, not wanting to associate themselves with the “poor”, as if it was a disease they could catch. You went from being the queen of the world, well at least of school, to being the school's nobody. The people that worshiped you, admired you, adored you now barely look at you. It’s amazing how the Academy is constructed. People can love you one day and then began to consider that you never existed in the first place because of one slip up. Some people still see you and recognize you, but it’s not the same. Your hair that layed flawlessly on your shoulders is now tied in a messy bun. The clothes we wore that seem like they were tailored for you were now replaced with baggy shirts and pants. Your heels were now Nike sneakers. You gave up. You didn’t even try to fight it. You didn’t do anything to help your case. It was as if you didn’t care anymore. Soon, a new you came along. The new you was just as beautiful and just as intelligent. Even though most of the students have fallen for the new girl, some secretly hoped you would make a comeback. You will come and take your place as the real and only ruler of our school. And it did happen, it just took longer than expected. 

The day finally came. The day you stood up yourself. As expected, it was unexpected. It was the day that would go into the history books of Meadows Academy. The day was fairly quiet. It was the day of midterms, so naturally, everything had to be quiet. The hallways were not allowed to be used unless someone had to use the bathroom or drink water. Midterms went on until the afternoon. Lunchtime came around. Everyone expected it to be a normal day. Expect it wasn’t. Well, the beginning of the lunch was. The lunch was a selection of salad, fruit, ham and cheese sandwiches with a side of beverages. Even though the lunch was normal and ordinary, it was nothing compared to what transpired next. You came inside the lunchroom with your old attire. Your hair flawlessly hung on your shoulders. Your shirts and sweatpants were swapped with a red drawstring top and a maroon contrast panel wide-leg pants. Your purse draped on your shoulders, and you walked confidently to the front of the cafeteria. Some wondered when you had time to change since everyone saw you in your sweatpants and a sweater. Questions were swirling in heads everywhere. When did you gain your confidence back? What is your plan? What are you going to do? Even though you strutted confidently to the front of the cafe, now that all eyes were on you, you were starting to get nervous. It was obvious for others as well, seeing that you hadn’t talked in 2 minutes. Looking into the crowd, your face changed. It was as if you were telling yourself to just say whatever you wanted to say because if you didn’t, you might have regretted it your entire life. “Attention, students of Meadows Academy.” With that statement, you already locked us in. All eyes were on you and nothing else. Your power was already beginning to come back. Hopeful glances went towards your way, while others had curiously and disdain behind their eyes. “It has come to my attention that may accusations have been thrown my way and I will like to address them.” Fear no longer consumed you as you made sure to clear your name. “One, my mother is a cleaning lady and I am not ashamed of it. I will be the first to admit that I was ashamed of what my mother is. But knowing that you all come from rich, successful families yet you are all the rudest people I will ever meet gave me the confidence to say that I am proud of my mother. Second, my father is not a thief. My father was a great man who suffered to make my family live comfortably and I will be damned if I let anyone tarnish his name. And last but not least, I want you all to be the first to know that I will become successful. I have my aspirations ahead of me and I will make the most of my life. Never talk bad about me or my family in a disrespectful way. These past couple of weeks have been hard on me. For once, my foot was in another shoe. The experiences ingrained in my head should not happen to anybody. Hopefully, those who are insecure should know that there is nothing to be insecure about. Admitting faults about yourself is the first step to recovery. Take it from me. “ Much more was said, but those specific words were certainly moving. People didn’t see you as the one who had everything. You were vulnerable, so people began to trust you. One by one, others started admitting their faults about themselves, but not forgetting to give you the biggest standing ovation anyone in Meadows Academy had ever seen. The new girl was completely forgotten. And why wouldn’t she be? The queen was back. You transitioned back into your position as if the last weeks had been nothing. You were back to being the stunning, intelligent girl with half the school’s population as friends and half the school envious of you. And to others, I guess it seemed like nothing. But the sideliners knew that everything that happened will go down in history. And with the smile at the end of your speech, maybe you knew as well.