Faith

  Her whole childhood she, Suzie, was such a bright, warming soul, who would light up the room every time she walked in. Her long black hair would get blown away in slow motion, her skin would glow, her walk was a model's strut, but everyone knew she was destined to be the main character of everyone’s movie. And that is exactly what happened, she was Hollywood’s star, she was the girl with the newest iPhone, car, bag, shoes, make-up, she was the girl who had it all, but social media.

  You’re probably wondering, “how did she not rule social media? She is perfect.” But she wasn’t, she was human and had flaws no amount of surgery could fix. Soon she was one with the color black, meaning her smile became a frown, her hair was chopped, her skin was dry, and that confident walk of hers slowly became a walk filled with tears and her head down.

“Where is she?” says the producer.

“What have they done?” says her fellow co-workers.

  Truth is nobody knows what happened, but her and her lover. Let’s just go back in time. When she became a big-time actress, Suzie thought everyone on social media were only her fans but little did she know one person behind a screen can ruin yet fulfill her life.

“She said I need to lose weight,” said Suzie.

“Who?” questioned her producer.

“This fan that commented on my post. Do you think they’re right?” Suzie told her producer.

“Honey, that is insane! They are obviously doing it for attention, although it wouldn’t hurt to lose a couple pounds for your new role … just a thought,” adulterated her producer.

  And so that’s what she did.

Suzie lost the weight, got the lip fillers, Botox, nose job, nails, lashes, and money, but none of it was enough.

“Why are they still cruel to me? I did everything they asked for” said Suzie.

“They are just jealous of Suz, don’t worry they wish they were you” responded her co-worker in an apocryphal tone.

“I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

  A few weeks passed and Suzie was nowhere to be found, no social media and a nonexistent phone number, it’s as if she was an alien and never existed. Until September 14, 2027 when she was recognized as Mrs. Peters, she got married.

  Nathaniel Peters, her husband, was a sweet man who adored animals, lived in the bookstore, would study in a coffee shop, lived in a studio apartment, but most importantly he had no social media. So how could a man like Nathaniel and a woman like Suzie meet? Simple Boston rush hour.

  One day while Suzie was in her depressed state of mind, she decided to run in the middle of rush hour, but not your typical running at a park, she decided to run on the sidewalk of the busiest shopping center in Boston with no shoes, her pajamas that have not been changed for several weeks, hair undone, and big red puffy eyes, and sure it was all good until she ran into a man and fell to the ground, but instead of apologizing she cried. Typically when people do this the other person feels bad and comforts you but not this man, he cried with her, and in that moment she knew she wasn’t alone. He held her all the way home and looked into her eyes as if he already knew her.

“Good luck stranger” Suzie said to Nathaniel as she walked into her apartment.

“Goodbye stranger” responded Nathaniel.

  A few days go by and Suzie is still locked in her apartment, after all she was still figuring her life out so what better way then to order takeout to make the night better. 

Ring, ring, rang the doorbell.

“Finally!” said Suzie as she ran to the door.

“Hi Th- wait you’re that guy, right?” mentioned Suzie as she opened the door.

“Oh my yeah! You’re the girl who gave me a concussion” replied Nathaniel.

They both shared a laugh, “Don’t be dramatic, why don’t you come in? I got enough food for two and it’s the least I can do to make up for that day” said Suzie.

“How can I say no to Sushi?” said Nathaniel as he walked into her apartment.

  After that night, Nathaniel and Suzie were inseparable. They would go out for daily walks, coffee, dinner, basically a lot of things that were out of Suzie’s comfort zone, but when she was with him none of that mattered. He changed her, her mindset, her confidence, her image and style. She was glowing now, a glow that didn’t require social media, a glow that didn’t feed off validation from others, a glow that saved her. He helped her grow instead of encouraging her to be someone she wasn’t meant to be and yes she may have gotten that glow when she met him but he never lets her forget that she has always had it in her, she just needed someone to help bring it out. 

  Shortly, she removed all her unnatural surgery, left toxic Hollywood, and became a motivational speaker. Now, Suzie Peters wasn’t just a big time actress anymore, she was a wife, mother, and friend. She was the woman who saved us all from social media and made us fall back in love with ourselves, but most importantly she was also the woman who let us know it was okay to feel lost because it has to get worse before it gets better.