ESSAY 1

HOW BIG CAN IT BE?

by Atina Shahida Adnan



He woke up in a cold sweat feeling afraid to go to school. He stared into the mirror again, disbelieving of what he just saw of his own reflection. This time, he bulged his eyes out to see it clearly. "Argh, it's still there!" sighed Jay. That zit on his forehead was one heck of a catastrophe to him. Having a big zit right on the middle of his forehead was a big no-no for him as he was the most popular guy in school and he did win the 'The Guy with the Most Flawless Skin' award at school three times in a row. But seriously, he didn't deserve that humongous zit, well at least that's what he thinks. It is so huge that it looked like Jay had a third eye. It had thios red color with yellow spot in the middle of the crest, telling Jay that it's going to give birth anytime soon.

'How am I going to go to school with an extra eye?' he thought to himself. Suddenly, he looked up and grinned as if he just saw a light bulb on top of his head. he knew what to do. He took out his snowcap, the one made by his grandmother, that he never wore because it looked so ridiculous. Whne he put it on his head, it was a perfect fit! He smiled proudly to himself and walked out of his room with pride. Sniffing the air outside, he walked to school without even a single anxiety holding him back. He was late for class, so when he got into his class, everyone turned towards him. Even Ms Lim."Okay, what's weird about him today?"they talked to themselves. They stared from head to toe. Jay was wearing a pair of denim jeans, with a black sweater, nothing unfamilliar about that. But wait! What's with the checkered cap?Had he lost his mind? Jay ignored the frowns and confused look that his friends gave him. He sat at his desk quietly.

Finally, when the period ended, his friends turned to him.

"What's with the weird cap?A wind of change?" asked Joe.

"Nothing. I just thought of appreciating my grandmother's gift. No big deal." Jay said with a slight feeling of anxiety.

" Oh please! You, appreciate old people?That is the dumbest excuse I've ever heard. Come on, take it off! You're going to embarrass yourself and us.

Now, Jay is really getting a cold feet. He could feel the salty taste of his sweat dripping from his head. His face turned pale blue, as blue as it can be. Joe trid to pull the cap off, but jay struggled not to but then, it came out by itself. As the cap dropped, guess what happened? Everybody witnessed the freakiest thing they have ever seen. "Oh my God!" everyone shouted. That time, Jay's world turned dark and he could hear the scorching sound of thunder and he saw a lot of zits laughing and teasing him. Even June, who was well known in the class as 'moon' laughed terribly at him. Jay couldn't stand being the laughing stock of the day. He rushed out of the class and ran as hard as he could. To where?He didn't care.

He came to a place, as quiet as the grave. He sat at a corner, hugged his knees and cried sorrowfully. He kept saying nasty words to himself until suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up with his swollen red eyes and what he saw was far worse than what he is having now. He looked up to a man with frizzy hair and skinny figure. But that's not important. It was his face. It was full of zits and pimples. Bigger than Jay's and much more  hideous. And they were all over his face! Yuck! He learned after that that the guy had a name. It was Martin. Martin claimed that the place which Jay had been mourning to himself was actually the spot for the losers in the school. Martin was one of them. As Jay broaden his view, he saw many others. The computer geek, the Book Club members, the Chess Club members and many more that he didn't recognise.

Jay felt his eyes welled up in tears as he took a glimpse at these people. He felt miserable, ashamed and worse, he felt guilty. Because these were the students that he and his friends used to pick on to. He remembered how he used to throw food at them, forced them to polish his shoes and all sorts of dreadful stuff. And today was supposed to be Martin's turn. But it turned out Martin's the one who approached him when the whole world turned their backs on him. Martin made him realised how he had been a bad, handsome boy at school.

At the end of the day, Jay sat with the students that he used to bully. He talked to them and mingled with them, trashing all the status quo that has been the tradition of the school since forever. But wait! as he was laughing along with them, he nodded his head so hard that he hit his face on the table. Splat! "What was that" his new friends said. He touched his forehead and he could feel something gel-like. It was his zit! It finally popped! Jay was relieved and he came back home, two-eyed with a slight feeling of happiness and regret. Regret for what he had done before this.

Jay was thankful to that zit. Had it not existed, Jay might still be a bully until now. And if people asked him how big can the zit be that it had changed the entire school?It was big alright. Big enough to turn over a new leaf. So, my advice, never ever judge a book by its cover, even a zit.

p/s: this essay was for my Mid Term Test 2 when I was in form 4. So i apologise for the immature ideas and grammatical + vocabulary errors.