GIRLFRIEND?

PARIS

When I was done for the day, I got on my bicycle and began my journey back home. I did my best to avoid Brad because I was afraid of the attention he was giving to me and the way he made me feel.

No one had given me that much attention since I was born. My life had always been that way. My mom had me out of wedlock and I never knew my dad. She believed I ruined her life so she always took out her anger on me.

She did not fail to remind me of how ugly I looked and how much she hated me. Nevertheless, I loved her because she was the only family I knew. Her elder sister, who visited us once in a while hated my face as well and always told my mum I was an embarrassment to their family since they were all good-looking.

"She took after her chubby and ugly father," my mom would always say.

One day, I came back from school and she was gone. There was no sign of my mom because she had moved out and she left me behind. I was fourteen, and afraid of ending up in foster care because I beli