"Ahhh!" Rachel screamed as she looked into the mirror in front of her. Her mom rushed into the room to see what was wrong.
"Oh my God, what happened to your face?" Rachel's mom said in shock.
"I don't know, I just woke up and looked like this," Rachel said, bursting into tears.
"Oh baby, don't worry. It's not that bad," her mother tried to comfort her.
"No, my face is ruined!" Rachel pushed her mom away. "This can't be happening to me. I can't—I can't breathe," Rachel began to have a panic attack.
Her mom quickly grabbed a paper bag. Rachel stuffed her face into the bag and started breathing slowly and evenly until the panic attack stopped.
"It could be an allergy," her mom suggested.
"I have a list of everything I'm allergic to. How could it possibly be an allergy?" Rachel said with a shaky voice.
"We need to see your doctor to find out. Get ready so we can go now," her mom said as she grabbed the car keys.
They arrived at the hospital, and the doctor confirmed it was indeed an allergy—specifically, a peanut allergy. He explained that Rachel was lucky she didn't ingest any peanuts and that the reaction occurred just from contact with her face. He gave her a prescription and assured her that if she avoided the allergen, the rashes would be gone in four days at most.
It was a Sunday morning, and the rash had appeared just after Rachel and her friends had a girls' night on Saturday.
That night, Rachel and her mom were at the dining table having dinner when Rachel nervously cleared her throat. "Mom, I want to miss school for a whole week until the rash is gone," she said, her voice trembling slightly.
Her mom looked up, laughing sarcastically. "No way I am letting you miss school. You can't just skip because of a little rash."
"Mom, I can't go to school looking like this!" Rachel begged, her eyes welling up with tears. "Everyone will stare and make fun of me."
"It isn't as bad as you think," her mom replied dismissively, taking another bite of her food.
"No, it is!" Rachel yelled, her frustration boiling over. "You don't understand how humiliating this is for me!"
Her mom's eyes narrowed as she put down her fork. "Don't you dare yell at me," she shouted back, her voice cold and firm. "You think you can just hide from every problem? That's not how life works."
Rachel's face turned red with anger and embarrassment. "You don't care about how I feel at all!" she screamed, pushing her chair back so hard it nearly toppled over. "You never listen to me!"
Her mom stood up abruptly, her chair scraping loudly against the floor. "I listen to you more than you realize, Rachel. But this is not negotiable."
Rachel clenched her fists, her whole body shaking with a mix of anger and despair. "Fine! Then I'll just go and be the laughingstock of the whole school!" she shouted, storming out of the dining room.
Her mom stood there, breathing heavily, watching her daughter disappear up the stairs. The house fell silent, the tension hanging thick in the air, unresolved and simmering just below the surface.
The next morning, the tension between Rachel and her mom was palpable. They didn't speak to each other, not even a hello or good morning. Rachel's mom dropped her off at school and drove away to work without a word.
Rachel entered the school like a spy, wearing sunglasses and a scarf on her head. During lunchtime, she sneaked into the restroom with her lunch to eat in solitude.
She was munching on her sandwich when there was a knock on the stall door she was hiding in.
"Sorry, this toilet is in use. Go find another one," Rachel answered with a hostile voice.
"Rachel, it's me. I know you're in there," a familiar voice called out.
"Oh no," Rachel whispered to herself. It was one of her friends, Brittany.
"Go away," Rachel said, frustration evident in her tone.
"No, I won't. I'll wait here until you come out," Brittany insisted.
"Ugh, fine," Rachel sighed as she emerged from the toilet.
"What happened?" Brittany gasped, her mouth wide open in awe.
Everyone knew Rachel hated scarves and was strict about her dress code. She had even made fun of her three closest friends for their fashion choices.
"It's nothing," Rachel said, holding down the scarf that covered her face.
"Let me see," Brittany urged.
Rachel hesitated, then removed the scarf, revealing her face.
"Oh my God, how did this happen?" Brittany exclaimed, shocked.
"I don't know. I just woke up the next morning and it was like this," Rachel said, breaking down in tears.
"Hey, don't cry. It isn't permanent," Brittany said, hugging Rachel to comfort her.
Just then, Keke and Annie walked in.
"Finally, we found you! Where have you been?" Keke asked Brittany, not noticing Rachel yet.
"Oh my gosh, Keke, look at Rachel!" Annie said, tapping Keke to alert her.
"Rachel, Jesus Christ, what happened to your face? You look horrible," Keke blurted out.
"It's a long story, and she doesn't look horrible," Brittany defended Rachel.
"At least you should have worn something better," Keke remarked mockingly.
Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunchtime.
"Lunch is over. We need to get back to our classes," Brittany said as they all dispersed to their respective rooms.
During one of the classes, Rachel received a notification and was mortified when she saw what it was. Keke had posted a picture of her in the toilet without her disguise. It was terrifying because even her classmates began to look at her.
Rachel stormed out of the class and went straight to Keke's place, where they started a heated argument. The confrontation escalated into a fight when Rachel couldn't take it anymore and slapped Keke. Both of them were suspended by the end of the day.
At home, Rachel cried all night, not because she was suspended, but because she had broken up with Keke and Annie, and it was her fault. She had never been nice to anyone, not even her friends, and now she understood what it felt like to be on the receiving end. She always thought being mean to people was cool until she experienced it herself.
Later that night, Brittany came over and told Rachel what she had overheard Keke and Annie saying. They had been responsible for Rachel's allergy attack. They had put some drops of peanut oil into Rachel's face oil that Saturday night as revenge for Rachel always body-shaming Annie.
"I am very sorry for the way I have treated you," Rachel said to Brittany through her tears. They hugged and agreed that Rachel would apologize to everyone she had wronged, starting with her mom.
The next day at school, she apologized to Keke and Annie. They both apologized too, admitting they had gone too far in their quest for revenge. From that day on, Rachel became a totally different person, and the bond between her and her friends grew stronger.
