Aina's Story

RED PAINT

My name is Mandy Shaw and at this point, I don’t know what to do. It all started earlier this year when every decision I made was crucial, it was the start of my first year of high school. Over the holidays, I decided that I am sick and tired of not being able to eat in the cafeteria just because I didn’t really fit in with anyone. Yes, you’d have to fit in a specific ‘group’ to be able to get a table at the cafeteria. It was as if the tables had names on them. One for the super rich and popular girls, one for the nerds and geeks, one for the dark-sided people who wear too much eyeliner and the list goes on.

It was just me and Kira. Kira and I have known each other since primary school. We both found out that we don’t really belong in any ‘group’ so we decided that we’d just stick with each other. But before the school break was over, I decided to make a major change. I changed my hair, I started wearing make-up and over-exposed and tight clothes. I wanted to be popular, I wanted to be the person everyone talked about in school, the person that everyone was jealous of, I just basically wanted to be the Emma Jamieson of my high school. Emma Jamieson was the most popular girl from my middle school. She was the talk of the town for basically forever until her family moved to Vancouver. So I decided that I’d replace her and be the next Emma Jamieson.

On the very first day of school, the second I stepped onto the school compound, heads started turning, boys were giving me smiles and the girls were nodding at me as if they were saying “Wow Mandy, you’ve really stepped up your game this year”. I have to admit it was kind of strange to have so many people looking at me. No, actually, it was strange that they even acknowledged my existence. Then at the school’s main door stood Kira Dean, patiently waiting for me. Her family went on a long vacation to Hawaii so I didn’t really have the time to talk to her.

Kira’s jaw dropped the second she looked at me then the weirdest thing happened. She took a long and good look at me from head to toe and said “Is that you Mandy?!”. I was so taken a back by this. How could she not recognize her so called best friend since primary school? But then again, I did change my appearance and I look ten times better than how I used to look. “Oh my god! You look like you belong in a nightclub” she continued. I was so speechless at her statement that I only managed to give her an offended look. After a good minute or two I finally built up the courage to talk back. “Well atleast I actually dressed up to go to school. You look like you just rolled out of bed!” I exclaimed pointing out her outfit which was a worn out hoodie and the same leggings that she has been wearing for the past year or two. She obviously did not take it well because she immediately turned around and headed straight into the hallway without looking back.

I totally regret what I said but at that time, it didn’t really matter to me because my main goal was to become popular and if that was ever going to happen I would have to be friends with known people like Jax Davidson whose dad is Harley Davidson but unlike Jax, Kira had nothing special. No special talent, no important parent, she was just like old me. A nobody. But that changed, I changed and I was about to me the most popular girl in Linkin High School. I already look like the popular girls and all I had left was to act and behave like them.

During recess, Jax and Britt (Emma Jamieson’s previous clique) came up to me and basically gave me their approval on my change of style. This was a big deal to me, I was one step closer to being popular. Days went by and I slowly became closer to Jax and Britt, I managed to get a seat at their table and they even helped me make the cheer team. At this point, I wasn’t even climbing the stairs to popularity anymore, I was taking the elevator.

Who would’ve known that being popular was so hard. You have to constantly make sure that your hair is in place, that you haven’t accidentally smudged your make-up and if you had everyone’s attention every time you enter a room. Britt and Jax taught me this; to always have a dramatic entrance. It boosts my elevator up a few floors every time until eventually I got to the floor right below the rooftop and yes I’m talking about that elevator that takes me up to my main goal (popularity). Britt told me that to get to the rooftop was to make history, to do something and have people talk about it forever.

I was so close and after everything I had to do to get this far, there was no turning back so today I told Britt and Jax that I’m up for it. I’m going all the way up to the rooftop. They were amazed at how determined I was to get to the top but the told me that they believed in me and that I could do it. The only thing that I could think of that would have people talking about forever was to pull the most epic prank of the decade. The plan was to put up an audition sheet for a school play right outside of the drama classroom and purposely only leave one empty slot. Then when this unlucky person who assumed she was auditioning for a play shows up at the auditorium, Britt and Jax and a crowd of about 30 people will be sitting in the stands pretending to get ready to audition. We would then purposely call out this unlucky person first and right when she stands at center stage, I would pour a can of red paint all over this person from the lighting deck above. This was all planned to happen this afternoon. I looked at my watch and it said 12.30a.m. “It’s happening!” I told Britt and Jax. They told me that the unlucky person had already signed the audition sheet but they didn’t give me a specific name. All they told me to do was to get ready at the lighting deck and Britt will give me the cue to pour the paint down.

I did as I was told and I had the can of red paint ready in my hands. Then the door opened and the unlucky person walked in. I couldn’t really tell who it was because all I could see was the top of her head. She wore a hoodie and leggings and she had her hair in a very messy bun. Then a few minutes later, Britt looked at me from the crowd and gave a nod. “I guess that’s my cue” I thought to myself. All I could think about was how I would finally achieve what I want and how satisfied I would feel after this prank. Then right when the red paint started pouring out of the can, the person looked up and I immediately recognized her, it was Kira Dean. I wanted to stop the paint from pouring out but as i pulled the can up it was already empty and the paint was all over Kira.

A surge of guilt went through my whole body and I felt sick and grossed out with myself and what I have become. But then the whole crowd started laughing and everyone recorded it on their phones. It was in fact the most epic prank of the decade. This is it, this is the moment where I do not know what to do, what to feel, and how to react. Should I feel guilty that I just poured red paint all over my childhood best friend who was always there for me before and who would never do anything like this to me? Or should I be proud that I will finally get what I want and everybody will be talking about me and this epic prank for the next century?

I went with my gut feeling and I laughed along with the crowd. It is what I want anyways right? Or is it?

Do you think I did the right thing? What would you have done?