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Born This Way!

A True Story of Friendship, Love and Understanding

By Juniper MablesPublished 5 years ago 6 min read
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I met Ana when I was in the fifth grade. My family had just moved to a new neighborhood and I had started a new school. At my previous school I had lots of friends and it never appeared to me that I may have looked different. The new school I attended did have some diversity but it wasn't my ethnicity that stood out. I had a condition called precocious puberty. In the second grade I had begun to develop breasts despite being extremely petite for my age. So by the time I was in the 5th grade I was wearing a DD. People would often mistake me for a baby-faced 16-year-old.

On my first day of school kids pointed and stared but not Ana. Ana immediately reached out to me and wanted to be my friend. Although my appearance made me look older mentally I was a child. The only thing I wanted was to have someone to talk to, to have a friend. Outside of Ana I had no friends. Ana didn't look like other kids either. Ana had shoulder-length golden brown hair with blonde highlights. The clothes she wore were oversized and were often dirty. Ana never brushed her hair! When I say that it's not an exaggeration Ana literally never brushed her hair. She had knots the size of golf balls that covered her scalp. The parts of her hair that were not knotted appeared oily.

Despite Ana's appearance kids never picked on her. They wouldn't play with her or talk to her or really even acknowledge her existence but they didn't make fun of her either. I don't know what's worse; being invisible or being the most visible person in your school. If Ana wasn't around I would shy away and just keep to myself. There was a group of boys that would follow me around the playground. I am not sure how it started but they started calling me Kenny from South Park. They said that they were going to shoot off my breast so that they could see the milk come out. I would cry every day!

If it wasn't the five boys it was another group of girls. This particular group of girls had decided that I stuffed my bra and that I was a liar. They told me that I had to prove that I didn't stuff my bra. Each time I refused to show them it only made things worse. They would say if I just showed them my breast they would leave me alone. They said "we're all girls what does it matter, show us and it will prove you're not lying". If Ana was around she would run them off. She was crazy that one. She'd stretch her arms behind her and ball her fist. She'd lean forward and scream.

Ana had gone to school with these kids from the time she was in kindergarten. They knew her far better than I did. Typically the moment Ana began to scream was a signal that she was about to charge. Ana's eyes would roll in the back of her head like Pennywise the Clown just before he fed. Ana would charge into a group of kids with no fear. If you were in her way you were getting knocked down. The kids at school were terrified of Ana. She was a character they just couldn't figure out. I loved Ana and she loved me. I just didn't know how Ana loved me.

Ana and I rode bikes just about every day after school. Some days we would go fishing, some days we would hike the woods and some days we would go to Ana's favorite spot. Ana's favorite spot was a place where she kept all the things she didn't want her mother to find. Ana had stolen a stack of Playboy's from her dad. Each time she came home from his house on the weekends she would have a new Playboy. She would go out to the woods and hide it where she kept all the other ones. Ana hid a lot of stuff out there but her Playboys were her prized possessions. The minute she would open one it was like I wasn't even there. Each time she turned a page it was like Christmas morning. Her face would light up, she was the happiest I had ever seen her.

Soon after she showed me her spot where she kept the Playboys she asked me if she could see my breast. I got upset because it hurt my feelings. It was hurtful to think that my only friend didn't believe me. I started to cry and I told Ana that if she thought I was a liar and that if she thought my "boobs weren't real" then she really wasn't my friend. Keep in mind I was 10! I went home and didn't talk to Ana for several days. In the days that I didn't talk to Ana, Ana had several outbursts in class. Ana ended up being sent home from school because of all of the incidents.

After school the day Ana got sent home I rode my bike to Ana's house to see if she was okay. Ana was home alone and let me in. The outside of Ana's house looked totally normal. The inside was that of a hoarder. Ana had three dogs that freely used the restroom wherever they saw fit. If there was trash that needed to be thrown away it never made it to the trash can. At this point, I had stayed the night at Ana's house several times. So I wasn't surprised by the smell and clutter.

When I tried to talk to Ana about what happened at school she just got upset. Ana said she just wanted to be with me. She said that she didn't ask to see my "boobs" because she thought they were fake. She asked because she knew they were real. Ana was gay and at 11 years old was brave enough say it. Ana told me that she knew something was wrong with her. Ana felt bad she said that she hated herself and that God hated her too. I looked at Ana and I said "they're just boobs". I then lifted my shirt and showed her my breast. I also let her touch them. It wasn’t a firm aggressive squeeze like you would imagine from a crazed boy. It was a heartfelt caress from a girl who in the first time in her life did not feel alone. I told her if God loves me he loves you too. God made me the way he made me and he made you the way he made you.

Truly I believe that one incident changed Ana's entire outlook on life. Ana began to take better care of herself. She started caring about her appearance and altogether just seemed happier. Me and Ana stayed friends for several years after that up until we lost contact when I had to move again. The one thing I learned from that experience was that you should always treat people with kindness and understanding. The world will be a better place if we accepted one another for who we are. Ana accepted me as I accepted her! Thank you Ana!

friendship
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About the Creator

Juniper Mables

My 3 hobbies are writing, Netflix, and my kids.

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