THIS IS FOR YOU.

(just a story guys... )

I stood in front of my peers, palms sweaty with painstaking nervousness. But I knew. They had to know the truth...

When the principal introduced me to the stage, I only heard halfhearted claps. I didn't expect any more. My school was the picture of comformity, one I refused to participate in. So obviously, probably 10 people in the room actually knew my name.

"Hello. I'm J" I starterd. "Not many... well actually probably all you don't really know who I am. Only one person knew that. And that was K. She was run over by a car 3 months ago."

There was absolute silence. Everyone looked at their feet, afraid to look a girl who they had tormented's best friend. They all thought it was there their fault.

"While I was looking through her belongings afterwards... I found this." With that I presented K's, and now my, treasure - her diary.

"Many of you may of not known this, but K helped out at the elderly home. She also played the piano. But how would you have known? None of you gave her a chance."

I took a deep breath.

"Another thing you didn't know about K: Her brother died of cancer last year. Her dad is an alcoholic. Her mother worked 2 jobs to pay the bills. But somehow, she stayed happy, even when she couldn't even come to school without facing ridicule."

"This... is is the last entry of her diary." I opened the book carefully.

"'THIS IS FOR YOU.'" I pointed into the crowd, reading the diary.

"' All of you... All of you! All of you want to be someone else. You all dress the same, act the same, everything is the same! Don't you get tired of being something your not? Do you even notice people different... Like J? Like me? You tease me because I happen to wear clothes from a thrift store. You tease J because she just happens to have grey hair, and she just doesn't want to dye it.

"' Everyone wants to see everything. But you can't even see yourself. Your lost in what you think is beauty - what they tell you it is. Did you know, that once upon a time, if you were plump, you were pretty. But even back then, they were all obsessed with the perfect body.

"'I hate to break it to you, but if you were meant to be perfect, you would be born perfect. What's good about perfection? It doesn't mean you don't feel sad. or angry. Faults. We all have them. But few actually embrace them. What's so wrong with being human?

"' Get out a mirror. Do you like what you've become? Look into your eyes and think if maybe you shouldn't have picked on that girl because it was wrong. And you shouldn't of lied to your parents because it's wrong.

"' If you can look in the mirror without flinching, Congrats! You've accepted yourself faults and all. Or your vain and believe you have no faults. But we're all teenagers. We're not perfect - we yell at our parents, we lie to people, we do things we shouldn't. But if you can do something good too - instead of just bad, maybe then...

"... Maybe then, that suicidal kid who gets teased in school can throw away his razor forever. And that perp can hang out with that nerd. Open your eyes. We're all human, we're just people. We shouldn't judge by the outside. You don't become happy by sitting there & looking pretty. You become happy when you feel loved. For whatever the faults are.'"

I looked up, and when I saw tears in their eyes, and their eyes staring right me, as if to understand my words, I added.

"K was in the hospital until today, in critical condition. She passed away 5 minutes before I came to meet you all. Please don't forget what she's trying to tell you."

And with that, I left them to contemplate the rest of their lives.