The person in your life whose radiance continues to shine. Eight accounts
Shelley Kay is a freelance writer and copywriter specializing in branding and web design. She lives in London.
I
was 13 years old and the finality of being kicked out of school in the middle of eighth grade made me want to implode. My close friend — a “bad influence” — was expelled at the start of the school year, and the administration assumed I was on that same trajectory and put me on probation. And then in December, a little before midwinter break, a girl told the school I had opened a social media account for her. I had nothing to do with it, but for the administration it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. No one wanted to hear my side of things; as far as they were concerned, this was a good way to get another bad influence out of their hair.
I remember sitting in the lab, waiting for my mother, sobbing uncontrollably. After what felt like an eternity, she picked me up and brought me home. Sitting, sitting, sitting, on my bed twiddling my thumbs, nowhere to go, nothing on the horizon. I couldn’t stop thinking about the unfairness of it all.
What am I supposed to do now? What will be with me? What high school — what seminary — what boy will want me?
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