She was unpopular, unloved, unbeautiful and there would certainly be people wondering if she was a girl. You never saw her parents and it is unclear whether she had any brothers and sisters. Those who saw her avoided her. The pranksters at school and in her class sometimes pretended she was the whistleblower of Notre Dame. Even if you didn't want to subconsciously, you also felt that when you saw her shuffling past with a bowed head.
Her build was identical, her hair slightly orange and a potty haircut. Pale skin as if she never saw the light of day. She didn't look anyone straight in the eye. It was as if she had no pride, no self-esteem. Wasn't that why she walked with her head held high and never even smiled?
Even the teachers seemed to have forgotten her. She never raised a finger and never got her turn.
She was not noticed only in a negative way when it came to her appearance, the old-fashioned haircut, and the far-from-flattering clothes. What kind of parents are those who make such a fool out of their child send it off to school shamelessly into the cruel world to be ignored, made the target of ridicule for lack of self-esteem? Isn't that the most valuable thing that parents and educators should give their children? Not everything revolves around appearance, but appearance can give a weak, anxious inner self a positive appearance.
Stupid this girl, who only a few noticed, was not. Those three were all treated as misfits because they looked, behaved differently.
The boy who didn't grow lived on medication, and always wore a body warmer. The cheerful girl from a small village nearby who was always laughed and if not smiled and curiously welcomed every newcomer without judgment. And the tall, slender, dark-eyed stranger who lived across the border and suddenly showed up in the middle of the school year radiated self-confidence.
Anyone who saw this foursome walking would wonder what they had in common, what strength they shared, or what pain they eased together.
Four intelligent students, many times more intelligent than the average American high school student, had been rejected by the class and the Catholic school community. Love your neighbor was not the order of the day. That Christian idea to love, to love one's neighbor does not find when it comes to exceptions in society. Loving your neighbor is euphoria, something that is a difficult task even within the family, just like loving yourself.
Did these four love themselves? At least three out of them did not and struggled. They saw life pass by, the loneliness gnawed at them just like not being accepted.
The worst message a parent can give to their child is that they must have a friend, not be alone, and adapt to society to participate to make a chance to be happy.
With this message, unhappiness, loneliness is guaranteed. May who else is not satisfied, happy with his own self. Do humans have to be a copy of each other to feel good?
These four teenagers did not participate. They didn't really talk to the class or the outside world, but they did talk to each other.
If a lesson did not take place, they spent that time together. They walked in silence through the hostile city, looking for a place where the ministry would be willing to take and deliver their orders.
They were discriminated against and treated rudely, but nobody cares about that. There was no woke, discrimination against those who are different was generally accepted and it still is.
Those who are expelled must save themselves. The strength of the weak comes from being together, making one front
Four teenagers who should have a future tried to. They found support in each other for a few hours a day. What was going on in their heads? All four were intelligent. Were they therefore never asked how they are doing, or whether they are okay?
The girl who isn't popular, didn't even look like a girl, didn't say anything about her feelings. She rarely spoke and it was then with a muffled voice that she muttered something.
Was she at the funeral of the boy in the body warmer who died unexpectedly? The church will be full of students who had never spoken to him and cared not for a moment.
The advantage of dying young is that the environment keeps up appearances, who dies old is forgotten, who dies then has no one who sheds a tear at the grave or even thought about the deceased.
That unpopular girl who didn't seem to count in society, I remember her, and I still think of her regularly. She and the others are in my mind and live on.
What would have become of them? Have they found a good life, and happiness, are they still alive?
They might not have made a difference to society but they did to me.
True strength and courage are needed to show oneself again and again in a cold, hostile environment where no one accepts you for who you are. A world no one cares about inner qualities, ever shares a hug, compliments are rare. A world that refuses to see and acknowledges them no matter how hard they try or how intelligent they are.
I saw them and have not forgotten them. Always happy W, silent unpopular A, caring dying L, and molested C I saw you and till today the four of you are a part of me.
You are noticed, seen, and not forgotten.
