Big White and Plastic

The McDonalds sign, huge and clear, had a sort of halo 3D effect that I hadn’t noticed before. “How do they feel?” the optician asked me. I didn’t say anything, but I felt sure my face gave it away. I scanned the food court from the Eye Care Place in Sheridan Mall. I could finally see.
My dad stood behind me and beamed. “They look great.” On the way home, I stared out the window. My dad asked, “What’s wrong?” I shifted uncomfortably.
“Kara better not laugh at me. They make me look different.” My dad told me they looked fine. At home I looked at my twin sister fearfully. My white plastic glasses suddenly seemed enormous. She stared at me.

“What?” I said, annoyed.
She coughed and glanced at my dad. “They look nice.”
“Thanks,” I said gruffly.

“Everything looks so clean and new,” I said to Kara as we stepped off the bus into the school playground.
“Yeah well, it’s a good thing you can finally see it all. See you later.” I watched her leave and walked towards Portable 4. Someone called my name behind me. I turned to face a few of my classmates and Anisah, my best friend in the fifth grade.
“Hi Anisah! How was your weekend?”
She blurted, “Why are they so big?”
I gulped.
She turned and giggled to the other girls.
“Whoa, where’d her face go?” I heard a boy’s voice. I flushed. Somehow I scrambled through the crowd and pushed my way into the school to the bathroom and locked myself in the farthest stall. I trembled. I could never go back there again. I would have to quit school and do home schooling. I removed my glasses and examined them. Why hadn’t I seen how ugly they were? They were big, white and plastic.
I heard footsteps. Miss Hardy, my grade five teacher, called my name and asked me to come out. I stepped out to face her. Miss Hardy displayed my art projects, made me captain of fun-day and let me lead O Canada every morning. I thought of Miss Hardy as the most beautiful person I had ever seen. She looked at my tear-strained face.
“I heard you have a new pair of glasses.” Suddenly, I hated her. I hated her cool crisp green suit and her matching earrings and her matching pumps. I hated the way her brown hair did a little flip thing at the end and her pink lips which always seemed so glossy from morning to afternoon. She didn’t know what it felt like to be a freak.
Miss Hardy lowered, wrapped her arms around my shoulders and swept me up in a small hug. I felt surprised. Teachers weren’t supposed to hug students. She released me, stood back and looked me straight in the eye. “I’m going to give you a few minutes and then I hope you will join us. Remember, it’s current events day.”
A small warmth flooded my body. I didn’t want to open my mouth, I thought I would cry again. I nodded and she left. I washed my face in the sink then I marched back outside to Portable 4. I took a deep breath before I opened the door. Miss Hardy wrote the day’s agenda on the blackboard for the class to copy down. I slid quickly into my chair. Miss Hardy turned and smiled at me. I took out my glasses and slipped them on. I pretended to study an invisible ink stain on my desk.
Nalini, my reading buddy, leaned over and whispered, “Your glasses look good on you.” I smiled. I glanced at Miss Hardy. She looked even prettier now that I could see her.