My Period Ruined My Permit Test | Sketchy day
Welcome to storybooth Sketchy Saturdays! We couldn't just sit around over the weekends with all of your amazing true stories to sift through and animate, with all of you just tapping around on social media - so - we thought we'd try something new, something fun and light and funny, and well, sketchy!
Lizzie had been looking forward to the final step of moving from her learners permit to her actual drivers license for what felt like forever, and she was all studied up and ready, but still nervous for the dmv written test, and excited and anxious about the road test, and all the night before she had been repeating over and over in her head - I'm Taking My Drivers License Test, I'm Taking My Drivers License Test - and she was up all night, too excited to sleep.
And so, after a long sleepless night, she woke up - and - got her period, and, it was a bad one, terrible premenstrual cramps, bad stomach ache, nauseous, dizzy, and just overall yucky feeling. It was a sketchy situation, at best, and taking the dmv written test feeling so sick was not her first choice.
Her Dad drove her to the DMV, kept asking her what was wrong, and finally she told him Dad, I don't need counselling or anything, I got my period, I feel really sick, like I'm going to puke my guts out! As if that wasn't bad enough, the DMV was totally crowded, hot, uncomfortable, and there were long lines everywhere.
They got in line to get the paperwork done and all the approvals for her to take the drivers license test, and suddenly her stomach just started churning and she felt so queasy, she knew this wasn't leading anywhere good and told her dad again, I'm sick, I got my period, I have to go to the bathroom.
He tried to stop her, didn't want them to lose their place in line, but she told him, I'm about to puke my guts out, so if I don't go to the bathroom now, it's going to happen right here. Of course, he told her, go, go, hurry.
She ran to the bathroom and the minute she got to a stall she got tot
I Was On The Voice Blind Auditions
Jordan has always been a huge music fan. When he was a baby his Mom would play music and he was always surrounded by instruments, and even back then, he had a voice. As he got older, music stuck with him, and he fell in love with the guitar. He can clearly remember the day his father bought him his first guitar.
That guitar and love of music led to a huge love for Elvis Presley - in fact - Jordan became obsessed with Elvis. He listened to Elvis, played Elvis, covered his walls with Elvis posters. He was just a huge fan, through and through.
One night Jordan and his parents were watching their favorite show, The Voice, and just after the blind auditions, they made an announcement that now younger people could try out for a spot on The Voice.
This was the Canadian edition of the NBC hit show, and they were holding pre-auditions right near where Jordan lived. Jordan got pumped up and excited and they went for it, he tried out. There were two rounds of pre-auditions that you had to make it through to get into the blinds, with all the judges - the Canadian counterparts to Adam Levine and Blake Shelton and whoever might be sitting in the third judge's chair.
Jordan waited for his turn and then nailed the first audition. He got to move on to the second set, and if he made it through that round he would then go on to the televised blind auditions, on tv, in front of millions of viewers! The second auditions also went really well, and they sent everyone home and told them that they would be reaching out to the winners to tell them who was going to get a chance to move on to the Voice Blind Auditions.
They didn't have to wait too long. One day they received an email saying CONGRATULATIONS! You're going to be on the show! He couldn't believe it, was so excited and only had a couple of months to get last minute practice, instruction, and counselling so he had the best possible chance of making it through the blind auditions, having a judge turn their chair, and then get t
I Don't Look My Age But I'm In High School
Ashley is in high school, and, as you may or may not know, it can get pretty hectic. For Ashley it was, always worrying about her grades and studying for AP Exams and other tests, out looking for a job, getting her license, it was all pretty stressful, But it can cause even more anxiety when you're in highschool, trying to do all of that, and you don't look your age. And Ashley can very confidently state, I Don't Look My Age. People called her shorty, told her she was physically challenged, then laugh and say vertically challenged. It was just wrong, and it hurt.
She's a very small person - 4 feet 11 inches tall, or short rather - not quite stunted growth, but short, and if that wasn't "I Don't Look My Age" enough, she also has a total baby face. Like babyface Ashley. So, as you can guess, to go along with her smaller than average height, and her very cute but somewhat babyish face, her body type is, well, not quite womanly - skinny, small, and at least to her, at that time, she was pretty sure people thought she was just plain unattractive.
People called her shorty, told her she was physically challenged, then laughed and said, well, vertically challenged. It was just wrong, and it hurt.
In high school, students work pretty hard to make themselves look good. And that was really hard for Ashely because she never felt like she looked attractive, or even good enough to go to school. She pushed through though she still felt too short, and too skinny, and too flat chested, and it was just challenging looking younger than your age.
Also, when she got to high school she realized that people were dating (kissing), and growing taller, and growing curves, and she was. Over that summer between middle school and high school every seemed to have grown a ton, but she only grew a couple of inches. But that's when Ashley started to like boys and have crushes and she really wanted a boyfriend, a first boyfriend. But the boys all told her she was just a shorty, didn't have the
I'm Scared Of Terrorism In My Country - Sri Lanka Bombings
Angel was born in Sri Lanka, but has lived in Malawi since she was four years old. Still, she loves Sri Lanka, which she thinks of as her country, with all her heart, the land and culture, and all of her relatives who live there - it was her favorite country to visit and she and her family went often. Even though she is far away, she tries to embrace her culture as much as she can. She is, after all, Sri Lankan.
On Easter Sunday she woke up to find her dad watching al jazeera, and bbc news, looking really troubled and upset, anxious and worried. Still sleepy, she asked what was wrong, and he told her - Angel, your aunt was in one of the churches where the terrorism, the bombings and explosions happened.
She had no idea what was going on, and he explained how terrorists had bombed several churches in Sri Lanka during Easter Sunday services. Sri Lanka explosions, in a Sri Lankan church?
She couldn't believe it, was so shocked and surprised. To her Sri Lanka was always one of the most peaceful places she could imagine and she never would have expected such terrible violent things to go on there. She had never been scared of terrorism in her country before, but now.... She had believed it was a place filled only with love, and with no place for hate - but she was wrong.
Still shocked, she went online, searching social media and al jazeera for any news she could find. At first the news said that 20 people had died and that there were several injured. It had her so anxious and worried, and upset, because one of the churches was right by where all of her relatives lived, was the church that she and her family would go to when they visited. It was the saddest day, Sri Lanka's saddest day, and it just seemed to get worse and worse.
Angel was worried about her relatives, and she was worried for everyone who lived in Sri Lanka, and the number of people who died or were injured kept on rising on the news. In the morning it was 52, and then just hours later it was 290.
Hide And Seek Gone Wrong | Sketchy Saturday
This all happened when Madison was about nine or ten years old, and she went to her neighbors birthday party with her brother and sister. At some point in the party, everyone decided it would be fun to play hide and seek. There was this one girl at the party, Emma, who was a friend of Madison's neighbor, who Madison really got along with well. It's not like she was her best friend, but they really liked each other.
When it got to be Emma's turn to be "it" and do the seeking, and she began counting down, everyone started running around like crazy, trying to find a good place to hide. After having played a few rounds of hide and seek, it was getting harder and harder to find a good hiding spot.
Madison looked in the bedroom, under the bed, and someone was already under there. Then she went underneath the table and someone was there too. It was the same story in the living room, someone was there. So, she had a bright idea - she'd hide in the bathroom!
She ran into the bathroom, and then jumped into the tub and pulled the shower curtain closed, and hid behind that curtain. As she's hiding there she can hear Emma out in the house searching for the other kids, and finding some of them. Madison was so scared, excited, and nervous hiding there in the bathroom - she could hear what was going on, but it was weird not to be able to see, and she was sure that any second Emma would pull the curtain back and find her!
She eventually hears footsteps walking toward the bathroom, toward her, and she was convinced that Emma was going to find her and make her it. But then, much to her surprise, the footsteps came in to the bathroom, and then the door closed. That's when she realized it wasn't Emma who had come into the bathroom, it was someone else, and they didn't know she was in there.
So, carefully, she peeked around the curtain, and there was older red haired guy, way older, and he's about to USE the bathroom, the toilet, about to go to the bathroom! As fast as she could she
My Best Friend Kept A Huge Secret From Me
We Thought It Was Funny, But It Was Cyberbullying
One day, Scarlett was walking home with her best friend. Scarlett is usually supposed to come home right after school, but since her friend was so eager to tell her something, she decided to bend the rules.
They went to the nearest park, and her friend took out a slip of paper that had a phone number on it - the phone number of a girl she did NOT like from school. Her friend suggesting texting the number. Even though Scarlett was afraid of getting in trouble, she ultimately agreed, and they texted the girl and pretend to be her crush - a boy named Jason. They pretended that "Jason" was asking her to hang out, and they even went as far as asking the girl for nudes. The girl completely believed them, and she responded back with flirty messages and inappropriate pictures. Scarlett and her friend thought it was the funniest thing in the world!
They continued going to the park every day after school and texted the girl, still pretending to be Jason. When they went to school and watched the girl interact with the REAL Jason, they laughed so much. They thought it was a hysterical joke.
But one day, they ran into trouble when the girl asked them to FaceTime. They didn't know what to do, so they pretended that "Jason" was sick. The girl kept calling them over and over again - it seemed like she was catching on.
The next day at school, Scarlett and her friend watched as the girl approached the real Jason and commented that he did not look sick. Scarlett's friend couldn't control herself, and she started laughing hysterically in the background. However, because of her reaction, the girl knew it had to be Scarlett and her friend behind the text messages. They were busted, and the girl reported them to the school.
Scarlett and her friend were terrified of getting in trouble, and they became even more fearful when they found out that the police had to get involved. They learned that what they were doing was called cyberbullying - a serious offense. Scarlett and her frie
My Best Friend Turned On Me
When Jean-Eduard was in fifth grade - before his middle school years - he had a best friend, named Matthew, who he loved hanging out with. They hung out all the time, ate lunch together every day and had a great friendship.
However, something happened to Matthew that had a very negative impact on their friendship. Matthew's parents got a divorce, and it was really difficult for him, so he drifted away from Jean-Eduard and started isolating himself. Jean-Eduard wanted to help Matthew and save their friendship, so he decided to talk to a counselor about the situation. The social worker advised Jean-Eduard to talk to Matthew and show his support, so Jean-Eduard decided that was exactly what he was going to do.
Jean-Eduard approached Matthew and told him that everything was going to be okay and that things would get better overtime, but instead of appreciating Jean-Eduard's support and friendship, Matthew got very angry. He got defensive and told Jean-Eduard that he didn't know anything about the situation.
Then, his anger turned to violence. He threw Jean-Eduard into a tree and started hitting him. A teacher spotted the altercation and ran over to help Jean-Eduard, and she carried him right to the nurse's office. He was covered in splinters and bruises, and his mom was devastated when she had to pick him up from school.
Jean-Eduard had to miss two weeks of school due to his injuries, and when he came back, Matthew was nowhere to be found. It turned out that, because of the fight, Matthew wasn't allowed to come back to school for the rest of the year, and get counselling.
Even though Matthew had hurt him, Jean-Eduard was still very upset to hear the news. He couldn't help but think back on all his good times with Matthew, and although he regretted the way things ultimately turned out, he did not regret trying to help Matthew. Instead of looking back and saying to himself, "My best friend turned on me," Jean-Eduard was proud of himself for doing whatever he coul
My Friend And I Liked The Same Guy
Nikki and her friend, Lola, loved to play truth or dare with Oreos - a special version of the classic game that made the Oreo decide whether you had to tell the truth or complete a dare. If you pulled apart the Oreo and there was more cream on the side of the cookie in your hand, you had to answer whatever question was asked.
So, one day, Nikki and Lola were playing the game at the park, and Lola asked Nikki who her crush was. Nikki pulled apart the cookie and was horrified to see that her side of the cookie had more cream. For a second, she thought about lying and making up a fake crush. But, after deciding she could trust Lola, Nikki blurted out her crush's name - Steve. Steve was one of the most popular guys at school.
Once Nikki had confessed her crush, it was Lola's turn to play the Oreo game and reveal who she liked. Lola pulled apart the Oreo and saw more cream on her side of the cookie. She told Nikki that she had already said her own crush's name, and in that moment, Nikki realized exactly what she was saying - Lola also liked Steve. Without knowing how to handle the news, they both walked home in an awkward silence.
Later that day, Nikki started to text Steve and they began playing the classic version of truth or dare. When Steve picked truth, Nikki anxiously asked him who his crush was in hopes of him saying her name. However, Steve's answer was not what she hoped for - he responded saying he liked Lola. Nikki was crushed.
After that, Nikki checked her social media and instagram accounts and was devastated to see pictures of Lola and Steve kissing online. They had practically become a couple overnight.
Lola and Steve are still dating to this day. When she looks back, it must feel weird for Nikki to say to herself, "My friend and I liked the same guy." However, Nikki's story has a happy ending, too. She is now with a new boy named Sam, and she couldn't be happier.
Left Home Alone In A Tornado
I Was Hurt By Someone I Thought I Could Trust
Rosavella wants to share her story to spread awareness about a horrible, traumatizing experience she had as a young girl - an experience she hopes no one ever has to go through.
When she was about five years old, her mother started to have a relationship with a man - a man she refers to as "Dan" in this story. Rosavella enjoyed spending time with Dan. He would play with her and her sister, buy them gifts and join them on vacations. At first, Dan treated Rosavella and her sister as if they were his own children, and Rosavella's mother was so happy to have found a father figure for them - a perfect family.
Overtime, Rosavella's relationship with Dan dramatically changed. He would come into her room late at night, and he would do inappropriate things to her. He would stare at her, touch her arms and waist, and make her feel incredibly uncomfortable. But because Rosavella was so young, she believed Dan when he told her he was just tucking her in and saying goodnight.
One specific time, Dan took Rosavella into his room. He put her on the bed and began touching her inappropriately. She screamed out and squealed so loudly that her sister ran in, but by the time she entered the room, Dan began tickling her to cover up his horrendous actions.
Eventually, Rosavella's sister found out what Dan was really doing. Her mom was completely devastated and took Rosavella to the police station, and they soon realized that what Dan was doing was illegal. They went to trial, but because there wasn't enough evidence, Dan was able to go free.
Rosavella's experience with abuse deeply affected her. She received counselling, but it caused her to have panic attacks and nightmares. She wishes that she had been more aware of what Dan was doing to her when she was younger. When she looks back on the past, she could say to herself, "I was hurt by someone I thought I could trust." However, she is taking a positive approach by vowing to help other people who may be going through a similar si
It Wasn't Easy Growing Up As An Immigrant
Corrie was born in The Philippines and lived there with her mom and dad. Her parents grew up in the Philippines, and many of their relatives lived there for most of their lives. Corrie's sister was also born in the Philippines, and they were always surrounded by family.
When Corrie's parents were first married, they always dreamed of moving to America. The United States was known as the land of opportunity and freedom, and, over time, many of Corrie's relatives began to move to America for a chance at a better life. Corrie's parents wanted the same opportunities and lifestyle for their family, too.
The Immigration process was very difficult, and it took years for Corrie's parents to be able to immigrate to The United States. They had to take tests, prove that they weren't dangerous and receive approval from doctors. After lots of hard work and dedication, Corrie's parents were able to move their family to California.
As excited as she was to finally be in America, Corrie faced many challenges when she started school. She didn't speak English as well as the other kids, and she had a hard time connecting with her classmates and making friends. She eventually got used to her new environment, and she began speaking English fluently.
When Corrie went to middle school, she was reminded of the things that made her and her family different. Whenever she brought her lunch to school, kids would make fun of the food her dad packed her. She pronounced words differently than her classmates, and when she would go out in public with her parents, there were times that she had to translate and help them communicate with other people.
Although there were times that Corrie felt different than everyone else, and though it wasn't easy growing up as an immigrant, she is forever grateful for her parents and the sacrifices they made for her family.
My Dad Was A War Hero
Growing up, Daniel was the only son in his family, so he always had a special bond with his dad. They did everything together - from fun activities to chores - and they were best friends.
Daniel's father was also in the Air Force, and he specialized in EOD - Explosive Ordinance Disposal. It was his father's job to disarm bombs and handle any potential threats or danger. Because of the nature of his job, he often was deployed and had to leave home. Even though it was sad to see him go, Daniel and his family were always so proud of his dad and his military career.
In the summer of 2011, Daniel's parents were chatting on the phone - which they did every single day - but were interrupted by a knock on Daniel's father's door. His father told his mother that he would call her back, and he headed out on a mission where he had to disarm a bomb.The military team typically used robots for these kinds of missions, but when the robot failed, Daniel's father volunteered to retrieve the robot. Tragically, as Daniel's father attempted to complete the task, a device exploded.
The following night, a group of military officers came to Daniel's house to deliver the horrific news. After the military troops left, Daniel's mother sat him and his sisters down and explained what had happened and how their dad wasn't going to be coming home. Daniel and his family were completely devastated.
Four years later, Daniel's mother created an event called "Women of Warriors" to help their community and support families impacted by military service - people who dealt with such issues as PTSD, amputation, and more.
The event and organization became so popular and influential that Daniel's mother was even nominated for "Mother of the Year" by The Steve Harvey Show. Daniel, his sisters and his mother traveled all the way to Chicago for the show, and they even got to meet Steve Harvey himself. It was an awesome experience for Daniel and his entire family.
Daniel is incredibly proud of his mot
My Mom Had To Go Get Help
When Holly was younger, she noticed that her mom drank a lot. The drinking usually led to anger. They lived in a small town - more like a village - and all of their friends and neighbors knew about Holly's mom and her problem.
One night, there was a power outage at their house. Holly's dad was out of the country for work, so it was just Holly, her mom and her sister in the house. As they were hanging out in their living room, they heard a knock on the door. Holly went to go see who it was, and she was confused when she saw the police. They asked to speak with her mother, so Holly and her sister walked into another room. They heard screaming and shouting on the other side of the house - their mother was refusing counselling and denied having a problem. Holly and her sister were so afraid. That was the first time that they realized what drinking did to their mom.
Shortly after that, Holly and her family moved to America. One night, Holly's mom completely disappeared. No one knew where she was, and Holly, her sister and her father all started to panic. They drove around all night looking for her and called all her friends. Later that night, they found her lying in the closet - passed out from drinking. They were all devastated, and they knew she needed help with her mental health.
The next day, they went to a hospital and checked her mom into a program. Holly's mom had to stay at the hospital for six months and, as much as it pained them to be without her, her family supported her mom's recovery. They had no choice really, their mom had to go away to get help. It was one of those scary stories that you never thought would happen to you. They missed her very much and they couldn't wait for her to come home.
Finally, Holly's mom was able the leave hospital and come home. She made so many amazing changes, and it was like she was a completely new person. Holly couldn't be more proud of the person she became, and she completely looked up to her mom for making such a dr
My Biggest Regret Of The School Year
When Abigail first started seventh grade - her middle school years just before high school- she was so excited. She considered herself a really good student, and she couldn't wait to take honors classes with her friends and new teachers. Because she was so on top of her schoolwork, she would always do her homework before she even got home - she was totally efficient and organized!
In her honors classes, she was surrounded by a lot of intelligent, smart and ambitious people. However, she was also in class with irresponsible kids - students that would cheat to get into honors, avoid doing their homework and text on their phones during class. Even though Abigail was different than those kids, she never spoke out about it because she liked being friends with everyone.
One day, one of Abigail's oldest friends approached her at school. Her friend asked her if she could do her math homework for her, and because Abigail cared so much about saying friends with her, she agreed. She went home and started to work on her friend's homework.
When she got to school the next day, she handed her friend the assignment. Her friend introduced her to a new group of seventh and eighth graders from other schools who all seemed pretty nice. Before she could even introduce herself, they asked Abigail if she could also do their homework. If she did, they would all pay her money in exchange for the goods. Abigail didn't think much of it, and she agreed.
Over time, the group of kids kept asking Abigail to do their homework for her. When Abigail's mom noticed that she had more work than usual, she just made up an excuse and continued to do it for them. She kept getting more and more stressed out and the whole thing filled her with anxiety. Because she was spending so much time doing other peoples' work, she barely had any time for herself. Things got so out of hand that they even created a group chat JUST to ask Abigail to do their homework. She didn't know what to do, she couldn't go to
I've Never Told Anyone This Story
When she was younger, Kim used to go to a rugby competition with her parents every single year. She loved going to the game with her parents, and it was something she looked forward to.
As she got older, she started to hang out with her friends more at the competition. She would walk off with her friends and enjoy the snack bar, but because she knew the area and arena so well, it was never a problem. Her parents trusted that she would find her way back to their seats, and they trusted her.
Because her family had VIP seats, Kim never walked back with her friends. She had to go down a special hallway for the VIP section, and her friends would go a different way, so she was usually walking back alone.
As she was walking back to the stands by herself, she noticed that the hallway was particularly empty. Because it was an England rugby match, she assumed that no one wanted to risk missing a second of the action - that was probably why the halls were so empty. She didn't think anything of it and continued walking to her seats.
As she was on her way, a security guard approached her and asked to see her VIP tickets. She often had to prove that she was a VIP ticket holder, so his request wasn't unusual. She showed him her ticket and started to make her way back to her parents. But before she could leave, he told her to stop so he could ask her a few more questions. He began asking generic questions - where she was from, how old she was, etc; nothing out of the ordinary. She answered him politely and started to walk off again.
All of a sudden, the security grabbed her arm and insisted that she stayed. He pulled her closer to him. In that moment, Kim felt complete confusion and fear. She was only ten years old. She had no idea that she was in a potentially dangerous situation. She didn't know that this security guard could be a threat to her.
And before she could even wrap her head around what was happening, he did the unthinkable. He removed her pants and took advan
A Bird Pooped On Me At School - NOT Good Luck
In the sixth grade, Dubai experienced one of the most embarrassing moments of her life.
At her middle school, there was a section of trees, surrounded by birds, that was notoriously known as the "poop zone." If you happened to walk through the poop zone on your way to class, there was almost NO chance that you wouldn't get pooped on. As a result, everyone at school knew to avoid it.
One day, as Dubai was outside and walking to class, it immediately started raining. Just as the first droplets came down from the sky, the bell rang and, inevitably, chaos ensued. She started running to class as fast as she could - desperately trying to keep her head dry so that her perfectly straightened hair wouldn't get ruined. She began to imagine how angry her teacher would be if she showed up to class soaking wet and the embarrassment she would have to face.
But because all of her thoughts were distracting her, Dubai didn't even pay attention to the route she was taking to class. Suddenly, without warning, she felt a large droplet on her face. She wiped her eye, looked down at her palm and instantly realized what had happened - she had run through the poop zone, and she got BIRD POOP in her eye! It was so gross!
She continued running and, since it was still raining outside, all of the other students were staying dry under the school's handball court. As she ran and started to approach the handball court - still distracted and panicked from the bird poop incident - she didn't notice the giant, muddy puddle in front of her. She slipped and fell in front of everyone, and she landed right on her butt! As if things couldn't get any worse, she look into the crowd and saw her CRUSH laughing with the group!
Covered in mud and bird poop, she ran to the bathroom to clean herself up - but not before she slipped ONCE AGAIN as she walked through the door!
Without a doubt, this was one of Dubai's most humiliating moments. She looks back and says to herself, "A bird pooped on me, but i
A Playground Fight Changed My Life - Austin Evans - storybooth Stars
Growing up, Austin loved anything that had to do with tech. He was passionate about computers and technology, and he loved playing Pokémon on his Gameboy - talk about a throwback! He also loved telling stories, and he would spend time after school writing everything down and creating.
However, because Austin was shorter and smaller than the other kids, he was picked on by one of his classmates - Mike. Even though they were the same exact age and in the same grade, Mike was a full foot taller than him. One day, during recess, Mike approached Austin and started teasing him. Austin responded by calling him names, too, so Mike started chasing after Austin. With nowhere left to run, Austin climbed on top of the jungle gym - leaving him completely trapped! Mike pulled him off and threw him right onto the ground. Their teacher happened to watch the entire fight, so even when Austin and Mike tried to act like nothing had happened, there was no use - they were busted.
When Austin's mom found out about everything, she was furious. She decided the best thing for Austin would be to pull him out of school and begin homeschooling him. Austin was so bummed that he had to leave his friends and school.
With so much extra time at home, Austin turned to his stories. As soon as his studies were over, he rushed to his family's computer and began typing away. A bit of a nerdy newb, he became completely invested in his stories and writing, and he dreamed about becoming an author.
Then, once his family got the internet, everything seemed to change. For the first time, Austin was able to share his stories with people all around the world through social media. He discovered YouTube and began narrating his stories and uploading videos. It was a very exciting time for him, and he felt like he was a part of an awesome community.
After chatting with friends online, he was introduced to something completely new - tech videos. He remembered how much he loved tech - like when he would pl
Finally Accepted For Being Albino
Lulu was born with a condition called albinism - a disease that causes people to be born without pigment in their bodies. The condition caused her body to have a lack of melanin, which made her hair and skin white. She also had purple eyes.
Albinism made Lulu look different than everyone else, and as she was growing up, other kids began to notice. They started picking on her and making fun of her. They would call her a witch, a ghost, and even a vampire, and their negative comments didn't make Lulu feel included. As she got older, their words turned physical, and she even ended up in the hospital.
As all of this continued, Lulu's mom thought that a melanin transfer might be the solution to the problem. They hoped that if they could make Lulu look more like the other kids around her, then she wouldn't stick out as much and be such a target. However, all it did was make her hair a little more grey. Then, they decided to dye Lulu's hair and skin color, which actually did make a difference and helped her look like a "regular" kid.
Lulu started a new school so that no one would know what she looked like, and because she looked more like everyone else, she was able to blend in with the crowd and avoid being picked on. Everything seemed to be looking up!
However, once she got to high school, one of Lulu's classmates was from her old middle school and knew that she was secretly an albino. She had a pool party for her birthday and invited Lulu. Lulu decided to go, but she had to stay out of the pool to avoid exposing her true identity. If she went swimming with the rest of the kids, her makeup, foundation and hair dye would come off in the water, and everyone would know she was an albino.
As she sat on the side of the pool, she heard giggling behind her. She turned around and confronted the group of giggling girls, and they responded in the meanest way possible - they pushed Lulu into the pool. All of her foundation started to come off of her body and, worst of all
My "Perfect" Dad Wasn't Who I Thought He Was
Zion grew up and lived in the south side of Chicago with her mom and her dad, her two sisters, and her brother. At first, they were all a happy family - walking to school together, and enjoying it, coming home to eat dinner with their parents - and everything seemed normal, like a normal family.
Her dad had always been an ideal father - the perfect dad, doing all sorts of fun things together, regular father-daughter activities, and it was perfect - until it wasn't. One day Zion came home from school and her dad was with his friends and they were drinking and smoking and acting weird. It stressed her out and made her really anxious, this wasn't the dad she knew at all. Already she was telling herself, my perfect dad wasn't who I thought he was.
A few weeks later he was playing a video game when Zion came in. He said it was for kids so she sat down with him on the couch to watch him play, but she found out right away that it wasn't appropriate for kids at all. He saw that she was upset by it and he told her not to tell mom or she'd be in a lot of trouble. So, she kept her mouth shut.
He was obsessed with that dirty video game, and he would always make Zion and her brother watch. One day, he made her and her brother take a bath together, and he tried to push them closer and closer together when they were in there - but Zion said NO - she wouldn't allow that, knew it was wrong. This was not the dad she had known and loved her whole life, this was someone mean and evil, a bad dad.
She tried to do the right thing and tell her Mom what was going on and what had happened but he got to her first and made up a bunch of stuff that ended up getting Zion into a bunch of trouble. And things went downhill from there. A few weeks later, her dad made her watch things on the internet that she knew she was not old enough to be watching. It made her so stressed, and sad, anxious and shaky inside. Mostly though, it made her scared.
He tried to hurt her when her Mom was out, and he
