by
Kelli
pinning. Spinning. Spinning. Abby's arms were stretched out as she spun, faster and faster, on the pavement. She felt dizzy, almost sick, but she tried her best to feel nothing but the wonderful exhiliration of the wind whipping against her body and the speed of her spins."Abby!" she heard her mother call. "Dinner's ready!" She stopped spinning. A wave of nausea hit her. All sense of balance was gone. She fell. "Coming, Mommy!" she called. She was in fourth grade, and the only kid her age who called their mother 'Mommy!' It was just another thing for the kids at school to make fun of. Abby was gorgeous, with thick black curls and pale skin, and the biggest brown eyes anyone had ever seen. To top that off, she was smart, mature, and musical. Most people would love to be like Abby, but she hated it. Everybody seemed to be against her, simply because they envied her. After Abby ate her dinner, she decided to do something about herself. She was sick of being envied by everyone for her looks and talents, so she walked to the store, bought a pair of sharp scissors, and cut off her beautiful raven-colored tresses. After she cut off her hair, Abby looked in the mirror. True, she did not look as beautiful as before, but cutting her hair did not do as much as she thought it would. Abby opened the bathroom medicine cabinet and found a bottle of peroxide. She opened it up, and doused her ear-length hair with it. Her hair slowly changed from a deep, jet black to a strange greenish orange. Abby smiled at her reflection in the mirror with satisfaction. The next morning before going to school, Abby put on some of her mother's old makeup. She caked her cheeks with magenta rouge (which clashed horribly against her orange hair) and smeared dark green eyeshadow up to her eyebrows. She examined her reflection again, but there was still something missing. A bit of metallic gold lipstick did the trick. When she arrived at school, her classmates stared at her. A few of them snickered and whispered to each other. Her teacher turned white. "Abby," her teacher finally said to her, "I'd like to have a word with you in private." Abby felt herself blush. "Okay." 1 Abby's teacher pulled her over to the coatroom. "What happened?" "Whatever do you mean?" Abby asked. "I mean... you look... like a clown." Abby's eyes widened. "A clown?" "I'm so sorry dear," her teacher apoligized. "I didn't mean it that way." "That's all right." "Why'd you do it?" "None of the kids like me because..." Abby's teacher nodded sympethetically. "Because they're jealous, right?" "Yes. I think so." "Well, why don't you go back into the classroom," Abby's teacher suggested. "Okay." Abby stepped into the classroom to find that it was empty. Right when she was about to ask where everybody had gone, the room filled with beautiful children. Abby felt like an outsider. She tried to wipe the makeup off of her face, but she only smudged it and made herself look worse. The children began to spin around her as she tried frantically to wipe the makeup off of her face. They spun faster, and faster, and then they were spinning as fast as tops. Spinning. Spinning. Spinning. "Abby! Abby!" Abby stopped spinning at the sound of her mother's voice. "Yes, Mom?" "I've been calling you for a long time! Didn't you hear me?" Abby shook her head. "No. I must have been daydreaming." "Well, it's dinnertime. I've invited some of your friends over, too." Abby grinned. "Thanks." "You know, you shouldn't spin so much. You'll make yourself sick. You'll get daymares too, you know." "Thanks," Abby laughed. "I'll remember that."
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