“Not so Perfect After all”
...nied, her embarrassment caused an unpleasant phone call to her father. It was then that she found out that the company her father had invested his entire fortune in had failed, leaving them penniless. “No big deal” Tina told herself. “We’ve got plenty to fall back on.” She let herself believe this until the house, the cars, the cool clothes, and her perfect reputation were gone. She became melodramatically depressed and refused to go to school if she was forced to wear the same shoes two days in a row. She thought that without the money, her friends, boyfriend, and adoring schoolmates would no longer worship her. The thought of being normal made her cringe. She blamed her “ruined” life on everyone else, not noticing that she was the one letting her lack of material wealth destroy her. Her parents tried to help her by hiring numerous psychologists, but they all told her the same things that she didn’t want to hear, thus she shut them out. Sulking around the house, rotting in her own misery, Tina decided she needed to clear her mind. She set out for a long walk outside, grimacing at the sight of the “Public Beach” sign. Eventually throwing aside her pride, she let her feet sink into the common people’s sand. She took a deep breath, and stared into space, absorbing its beauty. Noticing that the moon and the stars looked so close, she wo...