I Hid in The Basement for Weeks After I Googled Myself

[Applause] the final bell rang and we all simultaneously closed our books and started clearing our desks as raucous laughter echoed through the halls our teacher was still talking explaining about the paper he had assigned to us no one was listening though except for samantha the smartest kid in our class also my best friend i smiled at her enthusiasm and followed the crowd outside towards our lockers i stopped by my locker and was taking out books when i caught sight of the boy three lockers down from mine it was lucas and i happened to have the biggest crush on him in fact i had been crushing on him since middle school but i hadn't told anyone about it he was single at the moment but all his ex-girlfriends had been cheerleaders i was so not his type linda are you staring at lucas samantha came out of nowhere and startled me no not knowing what else to say you were oh my god do you like him of course she does she's always sneaking glances at him my twin sister confirmed as she walked up to us even though we are twins we look nothing alike she and samantha had an athletic build and both are cheerleaders it's through them that i get all the hot gossip in the school about who's dating who i on the other hand don't have a single athletic bone in my body i spend all of my time reading and making sure our school newspaper rocked i realized that i was blushing so i started walking towards the school gates knowing well enough that they can't follow me since they had to rush to their practice my sister arrived home late from practice and she was acting a little weird i asked how was practice and she replied fine this was so not normal usually she'd go on and on about it for hours i just shrugged it off to tiredness the next day in school after the second class i saw samantha and my sister talking but as soon as they saw me they changed the subject alright what's up with you two you're acting shady well promise you won't be mad samantha said looking sheepish oh my god what did you two do i asked listen we know you have been crushing on lucas for a while now and we know you'd never ever do anything about it so we sort of wrote a note and passed it to him anonymously of course my sister finally blurted out you did what i asked shocked what did you write in the note don't overreact okay we might have mentioned that you like him my sister answered waiting for my reaction as if on cue someone shouted lucas's name and we all turned around to see him standing at his locker and staring straight at me at that moment i felt like my heart was gonna jump out of my chest i wanted to murder my sister and my best friend i was just contemplating all the ways i can kill them when luca smiled at me and turned towards his friend see i told you it was gonna be okay oh my god linda he likes you too my sister and best friend shrieked excitedly hush shut up you guys stop embarrassing me so what's the next move samantha asked there's no next move okay i'm getting late for class come on don't be a coward it's obvious he likes you too uh-huh right i said not convinced at all i refuse to believe that a guy like him would like a girl like me i wasn't pretty like his cheerleader girlfriend i wasn't tall or blonde or skinny like them i was a regular girl and had yet to learn how to do proper makeup the next day i avoided him when the last bell rang i hurried to the locker to dump my stuff and headed to the journalism room for our next meeting i had almost reached the door when i heard him hey linda right yeah i turned around and almost choked on air he was standing there looking at me with a faint smile and i suddenly didn't know what to do with my hands or my eyes or even myself i'm lucas i know i blurted out and then instantly cringed why on earth am i so awkward in front of him so i was wondering since prom is just around the corner would you like to go with me he asked me to prom lucas asked me to prom yes i screamed then cleared my throat and looked at him i mean sure that would be cool perfect lucas said and whipped out his phone and snapped my picture surprising me he handed me his phone and asked for my number i couldn't believe this was happening never in a million years did i think that i would go to prom with lucas the next morning lucas greeted me at my locker there you go a pretty flower for a pretty girl he smiled at me and left for his first class after lunch i heard him call my name come on i'll walk you to your next class the next couple of days were some of the best of my life lucas would meet me at my locker every morning and give me a flower he would walk me to classes and even sit with me during lunch he was the sweetest the day it rained i was left without a ride i was waiting in the parking lot when lucas honked on his car come on linda i'll give you a ride home we ended up getting coffee together before he drove me home our friendship was growing each day and the closer we got to prom the more excited i got about it however no matter how good he was to me i couldn't shake off this nagging doubt that he wasn't really interested in me i was so not his type but then it could be my insecurities my mom's always telling me to be proud of myself and to never undermine my skills and talents she always said i was beautiful then again she was my mom she wasn't exactly unbiased the days leading up to the prom were like a whirlwind my sister samantha went shopping for our dresses we bought accessories for it and planned to get ready all together it was exciting and exhilarating and i was so looking forward to it even at school all anyone would ever think about is prom we're all meeting up at my house and getting ready together samantha announced excitedly okay i agreed just as excitedly is that lucas i asked when i saw lucas entering the cafeteria with the head cheerleader who was also his ex-girlfriend queen bee of our school no matter what she wore she looked like a model lucas was laughing at something she said and she too was smiling pleased with herself samantha and i were still looking up at them when she caught us staring she started walking our way and samantha suddenly stood up hey linda i just remembered that the school counselor asked me to visit her during lunch samantha said suddenly standing up uh okay i replied i watched samantha leave and just as i turned around i felt something slick and wet on the front of my top i looked down in horror as the red spaghetti meatballs plastered itself on my clothes whoops the head cheerleader said as she delicately set the tray back on the lunch table and walked away what on earth i said in shock this is the first time queen bee even looked in my direction why on earth would she bully me like this trying to calm down i stood up and went to the bathroom ugh i had sauce all over me a moment later someone knocked on the door i went outside to see it was our school principal oh my linda she said looking at my clothes go ahead and take a shower i'll write you a pass who did this i asked around but no one would say excellent a last thing i wanted was to be a tattletail it was an accident i said and slipped away quickly before she could interrogate me further after i left the showers i continued with the rest of my classes however i couldn't help noticing that something was weird everyone was staring at me in a strange way i looked around and saw my sister just as i was starting to walk towards her she looked at me closed her locker and walked away i looked around for samantha but couldn't find her anywhere she wouldn't even pick up her phone on my way back home i couldn't stop thinking about everyone's strange behavior today what on earth happened that had everyone treating me so strangely i couldn't even concentrate on editing the article one of the writers had submitted even though it was an interesting write-up about how none of us can ever hide from the world because of our digital footprints with a huff i closed my laptop and picked up my phone how much of a digital footprint would i be leaving behind i wondered out loud and googled myself i typed in my name and clicked images the first few pictures were of other people named linda around the world then there were a few of my own pictures from my social media accounts then there were some articles that i had written for the school as i was scrolling down one picture caught my attention and when i looked closer i gasped in surprise and shock the picture was of me in the school's communal shower it was of my back but it was clearly me i was posted on a site i didn't know about what is this i whispered numb and shocked i clicked the link and the site opened up it was posted from an anonymous id so i couldn't tell who it was i went down to read the comments and i was horrified to read what each one of them had written all of them were about my size and how ugly i looked i hadn't realized i was crying until i saw tears on my cell phone but then it got worse there was a particularly harsh comment fat shaming me and when i saw who it was i felt myself shaking it was lucas not only was he fat shaming me but he also wrote she's delusional to think she's going to prom with me there was also a comment from the head cheerleader lucas's ex she had tagged my twin sister and written are you sure she's your sister i think your mom brought the wrong child home and my sister had replied i know right i felt the floor giving out from under me my own sister i think out of all the comments this one hurt the most i noticed something most of the comments were from students either in the school's football team or the cheerleading squad this means samantha knows of this too and she didn't tell me and she didn't stop them either i had my insecurities sure but i had never thought of myself as ugly however to see so many people not only post a picture of me in such a vulnerable state but also to state that i was ugly convinced me somehow that i must indeed be hideous how am i ever going to face them again how am i ever going to leave this house suddenly my room felt too bright too exposed i ran out of my room and climbed down the basement at first i didn't cry i was too much in shock and denial for that then came the waterworks i don't think i ever cried this much in my entire life i am not hungry i yelled every time my mom brought me food i don't want to talk i cried whenever someone would try to ask me what was wrong i hate you i shouted when my sister tried to enter the basement and then samantha visited me i'm sorry linda please hear me out i simply slammed the door on her face i'd realized that she was nothing but a coward and that she'd never stand up to them not that i'm the one to talk hiding in the basement for the past three days just the thought of lucas laughing at me with his friends makes me want to hide under a rock forever on the seventh day my mom set her foot down and asked me to explain what happened i told her everything and she listened quietly when i was done my mom hugged me tightly you are not alone honey i'm here with you and i'll support you no matter what she said as she kissed my forehead after being betrayed so blatantly by everyone else to have my mom say that gave me strength and i felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder also we are not as helpless as you think we are you know there are laws against cyberbullying and there are authorities in place to make sure the perpetrators don't get away with it but mom there are so many of them we don't even know who took the picture we don't know but your sister or samantha might it's my job to make sure they tell the truth just tell me when you're ready linda and we'll take the next step after mom left their feelings returned once again but i know i'll have to go to school sooner or later minutes after mom left the basement someone knocked on the door i knew who it was even before my twin sister entered the basement leave me alone i yelled at her linda please hear me out my sister cried her eyes were red from crying so say what you want to say and get out there's nothing you can say that will make me forgive you i know linda i made a huge mistake i was a coward and i couldn't go against her she would have kicked me out of the team but now i know that it shouldn't have mattered even though i was curious to know who was really involved in this disgusting act i was angry at my sister so i didn't reply i know you deserve all your anger but linda i can help you bring those bullies down you cannot hide in here forever really all of a sudden you've grown a spine and you have the audacity to judge me it's not your picture in the shower that everyone in the school is making fun of i screamed if we report them no one would be laughing yeah right like i have any proof of who did that i snapped at her well you might not but we have samantha and i couldn't stop our captain from posting your picture but we did record her when she was planning it she lifted her cell phone and the recording started playing i looked at my sister in surprise and she smiled let's go where to the school dummy we need to report them to the principal school was already out by the time we got there welcome back linda it's great to see you our school principal said with a big smile as soon as we entered her office my mom had already called her earlier and explained everything to her the principal looked at me kindly and asked me the same thing she asked me the last time i was in school who did it we played the recording for her and she listened carefully after it was finished she called the school security and asked to see the tape outside the showers we watched it all together as i could be seen entering the shower and a few seconds later one of the cheerleaders entered after me she was the same girl lucas's ex had been talking to in the recording the next morning the site was taken down and my picture removed we all moved into the school's gymnasium where our principal announced the suspension of all those who commented on the picture and then she announced the expulsion of lucas's ex and her friend i watched lucas look towards the principal in shock and lucas's ex crying loudly i didn't feel happy at all only sorry for them but i was glad i took a stand so that they never dare to repeat their actions

Channel: My Story Animated

Views: 2,718,506

Rating: 4.8618569 out of 5

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Id: VogGa5935hs

Length: 13min 54sec (834 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 28 2020