Now My Smile Is Fake?

A Story by Jenni Bailey

My Fourth with Grade Class picture was, already, not in my stepmother’s vocabulary. What’s wrong with my this one? It was my fifth grade school picture. My Dad told me: ”Your smile is fake!” This time, it was my Dad that said something about my school pictures! What was going on? My smile wasn’t ”fake”. My Dad believed this so much, that he took that picture of me, down from the wall. Nothing of mine belonged on that wall, unless it was approved by my Dad and Stepmother. I already felt like an outcast, but my picture being bashed twice, just confirmed what I already felt. I was a child, what did my Dad, and my stepmother want from me? I gave them ME, in a picture! That had to be enough, right? Nope!