“The girl standing in front of me was ugly. So very ugly. She had a large round face, scarred with acne. Her protruding nose dotted with blackheads and grease. Her brow fixed with a single wrinkle that made her look tense. Her eyes small and drooped painted not blue, green, or grey but brown, a common dark brown. Fine wispy hair sprouted from her soft jaw, barely noticeable from afar yet you could tell just being a few feet apart from her. And Two yellowed teeth were visible from her parted lips that were so shrivelled they looked like dried prunes. I hated everything about her face,everything, I couldn’t stand to face it for longer. So I broke eye-contact and walked away from my bathroom mirror in disgust.”

A hand flew to my mouth

“Oh Elizabeth..” I whispered.

I closed my sisters notebook with a thud.

The ink was fresh, is this how she really saw herself?

I trail my way to her room, the notebook clutched in my arms.

“Elizabeth, it’s Kaitlyn. Can I come in?”

A few seconds of hesitation pass but eventually she replies

“Sure, do you need anything?”

I enter the room and her face falls into shock.

“You.. found the notebook?” She murmurs to the floor as if she couldn’t bring herself to look up at me.

“Hey, hey look it’s alright”

I perch myself on the end of her bed

“Seriously Lizzie, I won’t tell mum about it.”

Elizabeth still fixated on the floor, tears beginning to prick the corners of her eyes.

“S-she would agree with me” She howls

Now sobbing over my shoulder, I feel my shirt getting soaked with tears and snot.

“Elizabeth..”

“You are beautiful.”

I say, comforting my wailing sister

“That’s easy for *sniff* you *sniff* to say”

“You are so *sniff* much prettier than me.”

She replies, her eyes red and swollen.

“Your spots are normal, I had more than you when I was your age you know.”

“R-*sniff* really?” She looks up at me once more

“Yes! You know mum said I looked like a pepperoni pizza” I reply, we both break out into a chuckle

“And your eyes, I’m jealous. I always Wanted brown eyes and I still do. They really suit you”

“Oh and your nose! It really brings out your ethnicity. You should be proud of it and don’t think for a second that it makes you any less beautiful than you are! There are many models out there with a nose just like yours.

Your face, it carries the faces of the thousands that came before you. Every feature tells the story of a different ancestor. You should never let society tell you what’s beautiful or not. There’s no one in the world with a face like yours so Elizabeth, show it with pride. Make the people who came before you proud that they have someone as beautiful as you in their family”

“Because Elizabeth, you are.”