The Other Side of the Line

**If you're looking to see who won the prize package including an ARC of Possession, scroll to the post below this one. Also, be sure to come back next Wednesday to see what I'm giving away next week. Because I'm not done giving away good stuff. Not even a little bit. Bwahahaha!**

My daughter recently told me a story about a high-school-age girl who conducted an interesting social experiment. This girl wanted to know how differently she would be treated if people believed she was pregnant and attending high school.

This was an elaborate project, since this girl wasn’t really pregnant—nor did she want to be. She enlisted the help of a boy—who may, or may not, have been her actual boyfriend—and her parents, who helped her acquire a prosthetic belly that could be adjusted as her faux pregnancy progressed through the school year.

From what I understand, the big “reveal” happened as part of an assembly, in which the nine-month-size prosthetic was removed. Can you even imagine the reaction of the people in the crowd—kids, teachers, and administration—when they discovered the whole thing was a hoax? Those who had treated this girl differently would probably feel shame, or anger at being disillusioned, or embarrassed for their words or actions. And those who had been kind, who had treated this girl as a person, with respect and friendship might have felt pride for being proven as true friends.

When I put the colored highlights in my hair, it wasn’t intended as a social experiment. To be honest, it started out as a nice change. Something to break up the monotony of winter. A fun accessory. A trend. A style.

But it’s been interesting to see the reactions of some of the people around me. I live in a very conservative area, where for some people, different = bad. And even the slightest difference has a tendency to stand out.

Some people have surprised me with their loving acceptance, while others have disappointed me in ways I never expected. In my head, I just keep thinking, “Holy crap, it’s only hair, not horns.” But as I’ve learned recently, to some people, a difference so dramatic can be seen as much, much more than what it really is.

In this way, I find myself identifying with characters from some of my favorite young adult books. Consider Vi in Possession, Cassia in Matched, Katniss in The Hunger Games, Calla in Nightshade, and Amy in Across the Universe.

So here’s the question of the day: Are you brave enough to stand on the other side of a line drawn by society, even if it means accepting unfair judgments as a consequence?

Different than I Expected

*Contrary to how the first paragraph may appear, this is not going to be a post of complaint, I promise.

Last week, I had the toothache from hell. No, really. Like, fire and brimstone heat I could feel beating like a heartbeat in one tiny spot in my mouth, and up into my head. So I went to my dentist, because I just knew he could fix this awful pain.

I mean, he’s my dentist. Teeth are his thing. And we go to him because he’s good. But within minutes of relaxing back into the chair (practically begging him to do a root canal or whatever), he shook his head, “I’m going to refer you to an endodontist who is better qualified to treat this problem.”

Wait. What? Back up the truck. You’re sending me where? And more importantly, it means I have to make it through another night of pain? Okay, so in his defense, he gave me some meds and an antibiotic, and encouraged me to tell the staff at the other office how bad it hurt so they’d rush me in. But still. I wasn’t feeling so happy just then.

That night, I actually dreamed I DIED of an infected tooth.

Two appointments (and days) later, I dragged my shaky self to the specialists office, where I was shocked and amazed. They lay me back in the cushiest dentist’s chair ever, with butter-soft leather and a neck pillow at just the right height, and offered me an iPod with sound eliminating headphones, numbed me up, and then…

I took a sort-of nap (a real one, not the drug-induced kind). Then I was done.

That was it? All it took to fix something that had felt like such a huge, daunting problem? A freaking nap? (Well, and lots of money, but we won’t go there.)

And yes, it’s fixed. I was told that I could expect to be pretty sore for the next two weeks, that my pain might get worse before it gets better and blah blah blah. Truth: it’s better. So. Much. Better. Still a little sore, but not as bad as I expected.

Because even though my dentist is good, he knew I needed to see someone else for that one particular problem, and he wanted me to have the best care possible.

How often do we do that in life? We do something expecting it to turn out one way, but then it doesn’t. We complain and moan, and whine a bit, and then are shocked and amazed when we discover that we are now much better off than we would’ve been had things happened our way in the first place. Yep. That’s me this week.

And I can’t tell you how glad I am. Is it just me, or does stuff like this happen to you often too?