17/07/2025
💔 BULLIED: SHATTERED REFLECTIONS 😘😘
Chapter 1a
The mirror was never kind.
Madi stood in front of it again, arms folded, eyes red, staring at the reflection that felt more like punishment than truth. She tilted her head slightly, trying to find something—anything—she could like. A curve, a softness, a smile. But all she saw was fat, tired eyes, and a face she couldn’t stand.
Her lips trembled.
“God,” she whispered, voice cracking, “why did you make me this way? Why am I so fat and so... ugly?”
The tears came like always—silently at first, then heavy. She pressed her palms against the edge of the sink, looking down, ashamed of crying again. Ashamed of existing.
She looked back up. The mirror didn’t lie. But it didn’t help either.
She sighed and wiped her face, even though she knew it wouldn’t change anything.
“Oh,” she sniffled softly, forcing a small smile, “I haven’t even introduced myself.”
She took a deep breath, as if bracing to speak to a stranger.
“Hi. My name is Madi. Madi Peterson. Ever since I was born, I’ve been fat. And ever since I can remember, I’ve been bullied for it.”
She paused, her voice dipping lower.
“It started in junior high school. The stares, the comments, the jokes behind my back. I pretended not to care. I told myself it would stop. But it didn’t. When I got to senior high school…” Her voice cracked. “It got worse.”
She looked at herself again, softer now, but still hurting.
“Sometimes, I think I hate girls. Not all of them. But most of them. The way they look. The way they walk. The way people adore them. I don’t look like them. I never will.”
Her fingers traced the side of the mirror, as if she could erase her own reflection.
“But thank God for Caroline,” she said, her voice breaking into a little warmth. “She’s my best friend. My only friend, really. She’s been there for me all this while. Even when I pushed her away. Even when I didn’t want to keep going.”
