Gazelle in a Field
Well here goes nothing, another horrible lunch break. Most kids would say that lunch is the best part of school, but for me it’s a nightmare! No it's not the cafeteria food, I’ve never actually eaten cafeteria food. My problem is the other students. You see, I have REALLY bad social anxiety. Everytime I walk past the other kids I feel like a gazelle in a field of cheetahs. I always worry that they’re going to pounce even though nothing like that has happened in years. My anxiety has gotten so bad I haven’t eaten lunch in the cafeteria since middle school. One year I stopped eating lunch all together, and that really had a bad effect on me. Now I can’t eat lunch if other students are around. Which pretty much never happens, so I’m that weird kid that hides behind a building. “Cora?” I turn to see my teacher with a concerned look on his face. “Are you ok?” I lie, “Yeah I just spaced out.” My teacher nods and I leave the room.
Time to make my walk across the blacktop, or as I like to call it, The Field of Death. I need to make my way through to my safe place, hoping for my sanity that the cheetahs leave me alone. Making my way through the field I see different groups of cheetahs enjoying their meals and chatting. There’s multiple groups of intimidating females that I assume are looking for prey. There’s groups of active cheetahs playing sports of some sort. There’s also groups of little cubs, and even some of those look scary to me. I pull out my phone to pretend I’m texting someone in hopes that they won’t bother me if they think I’m busy. Almost there, as long as I don’t trip or mess up I should be good. Come on Cora! You can do this! I make it inside through the door and all my fear disappears. At last, I’m out of the Field of Death!
As I continue walking through the hallway I see a few of the lions we call teachers keeping an eye on the cheetahs to make sure they follow the rules. I have to say, I feel more at ease when a lion is nearby because most cheetahs won’t attack with a lion watching. Over the years, I’ve found multiple things that can help me calm down. Such as fidgeting with an item in my hands, thinking about the confident characters from the stories I write, or walking with another gazelle. Although I can’t do the last thing anymore because I don’t exactly have any friends at school. I know I’m not the only gazelle out there, and I know that we can make it past this. It won’t be easy, but if we give it our all we can make progress.
Well here goes nothing, another horrible lunch break. Most kids would say that lunch is the best part of school, but for me it’s a nightmare! No it's not the cafeteria food, I’ve never actually eaten cafeteria food. My problem is the other students. You see, I have REALLY bad social anxiety. Everytime I walk past the other kids I feel like a gazelle in a field of cheetahs. I always worry that they’re going to pounce even though nothing like that has happened in years. My anxiety has gotten so bad I haven’t eaten lunch in the cafeteria since middle school. One year I stopped eating lunch all together, and that really had a bad effect on me. Now I can’t eat lunch if other students are around. Which pretty much never happens, so I’m that weird kid that hides behind a building. “Cora?” I turn to see my teacher with a concerned look on his face. “Are you ok?” I lie, “Yeah I just spaced out.” My teacher nods and I leave the room.
Time to make my walk across the blacktop, or as I like to call it, The Field of Death. I need to make my way through to my safe place, hoping for my sanity that the cheetahs leave me alone. Making my way through the field I see different groups of cheetahs enjoying their meals and chatting. There’s multiple groups of intimidating females that I assume are looking for prey. There’s groups of active cheetahs playing sports of some sort. There’s also groups of little cubs, and even some of those look scary to me. I pull out my phone to pretend I’m texting someone in hopes that they won’t bother me if they think I’m busy. Almost there, as long as I don’t trip or mess up I should be good. Come on Cora! You can do this! I make it inside through the door and all my fear disappears. At last, I’m out of the Field of Death!
As I continue walking through the hallway I see a few of the lions we call teachers keeping an eye on the cheetahs to make sure they follow the rules. I have to say, I feel more at ease when a lion is nearby because most cheetahs won’t attack with a lion watching. Over the years, I’ve found multiple things that can help me calm down. Such as fidgeting with an item in my hands, thinking about the confident characters from the stories I write, or walking with another gazelle. Although I can’t do the last thing anymore because I don’t exactly have any friends at school. I know I’m not the only gazelle out there, and I know that we can make it past this. It won’t be easy, but if we give it our all we can make progress.
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