Laura never got to live a real life.
I know that sounds odd saying it just like that, but it's true.
She never went to proms, never went to her graduation, has never been on a real romantic date, has never done a lot of things that normal people get to. She always has to be watching over her shoulder about who might come after her next, she can never take a break or rest.
This... This is something that's not really that uncommon among nerds and geeks either.
I can't speak for others, only myself, but similar happened to me growing up. I skipped both my proms because I couldn't find a date other than some pity one by a girl who felt like she would be slumming it. The girl I wanted to go with, my ex, well obviously she turned me down. We'd been broken up for close to a year at that point. So I just didn't go. The same happened with my High School graduation. Oh, I graduated. Have the diploma and everything, but my guidance counselor told me I couldn't walk at it. That there'd be no point for me to be there. So I didn't go even though they did read my name off with my class. They in turn repeated this oversight with the ten year reunion and wouldn't let me update my information for the invite. While I have strong faith in my beloved home towns, that high school has lost all respect from me time and time again. Even when I turn to forgive them, they just do it again. So I've learned not to bother nor want to give them any credit whatsoever. I'll praise certain teachers, but that school itself I cannot in good conscience ever praise.
I've fallen in love many times in my life. Some of them attainable, some of them not. The heart just goes where the heart goes. I don't get it either. Most recently, I've re-fallen in love with someone I've long tried to stay away from, and it's bothering me for the same reasons. We have so much in common yet know so little about the other. There are so many barriers in-between and yet, they feel like they've never been there. That we were always made for the other. I've always been one to say follow your heart, but this is something that's so too good to be true... It makes me pause. My life has never been that fantastic before. I mean sure, I have a nice luck streak on the things that matter that I really don't get how or why, but on this one... Could I really have the one thing I've always ever wanted? If even briefly? Sadly I need to clarify that metaphor. By thing, I mean the affection of someone that makes a major pivotal difference in my life.
The thing is, I'm just a geek. I'm just a nerd. I'm a nobody. I understand how ripple effects work, and that every person plays a role in the whole picture, but it does get harder and harder when your heart doesn't want to cooperate anymore. At least, this is my side of that.
We all have sides to stories. It's not that uncommon. Even celebrities have sides to their stories that we often don't get to hear. They are people too. They just want normal lives not hounded by paparazzi. Child stars don't even get to do normal store errands, let alone go do normal things with friends like sporting events, or even their own proms or graduations depending on how heavy their life is. They can't even sneeze without the collective world wondering if they caught a cold or have some new mysterious STD from all the celebrity orgies they allegedly have in secret. We treat them like a simple house party of inviting friends over into something from Eyes Wide Shut or that they are perpetually living in a show like Big Brother. Many toss emphasis on the word collaborate in their stories and then turn around to push it like it means copulate.
I kid you not. Reporters spin all sorts of weird stories from the simplest of things. They'll even make up stories to suit them. Every little step is something ground shaking. It's something to gossip about. It's high school gossip mentalities turned mainstream and force-fed down the throats of fans that they then wonder why these fans treat others still like high school bullies. The fact of the matter is though, we're all people. All of us human. Every last one of us. We all love, we all have pains, we all have things we wished we'd done, we all have things we wished we hadn't. We all have unrequited lives, and we all have dreams. Things we want to be, places we want to go, people we want to meet. It's part of being human, and we should treat each other as such. No matter who they are, what they look like, or where they came from. We are all human, and deserve human dignity and respect no matter where we are on that tree of life.
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