Matilda

Matilda was a very smart girl, but not as physically graceful compared to her classmates. Although that caused envy in her class the other girls were to minimize her achievements, telling her it was useless to have great grades if her physique was not relevant, and by repeating it so much, poor Matilda was believing it.

Matilda's big problem was nothing more than superficial problems. She had never fixed herself up because she wasn't interested in such things, but she was a beautiful girl. The problem was that she never realized it, and the older the girls got, the more they became concerned about their appearance, except for Matilda.

At an age of constant change, Matilda was growing up, and when she reached 15, she watched closely as her classmates wore makeup, fix their hair, and wear the clothes that were on-trend. After mulling it over for a couple of days, she asked her mother for a makeover that would make her fit in.

The weekend arrived, and Matilda achieved the long-awaited change, from her hair to her clothes, on Monday she would be a renewed teenager ready to conquer the world. The change was noticeable and significant, Matilda looked like someone else, but she was the same girl with high grades, but this time, with a totally new appearance.

Monday had arrived, and everything seemed normal until Matilda walked through the door, and everyone was stunned. For a moment they thought it was a new girl who had entered the classroom, but no, it was Matilda. Before the incredulous gaze of Rita, her biggest bully, Matilda felt unprecedented confidence, but, teenagers can be cruel sometimes.

Rita could not allow Matilda, aside from being an excellent student was also considered attractive, so her immediate reaction was to mock Matilda for trying to enter her world. He humiliated her in such a way that her classmates played along, and Matilda felt just as insignificant, even more so, because not even that much effort could change anything at all.

The only one who did not let himself be carried away by Rita's slander was Ramiro, a shy young man who was considered strange. When he saw Matilda he fell in love at once, but his shyness got the better of him and he was never able to tell her in person. Matilda lost her glow, and after that unfortunate event, she never lit up again.

Years went by, she finished high school, started college, graduated, and finally, Matilda had grown up to become successful, but a non-conformist woman. The great architect, with whom everyone wanted to work, felt empty, she was alone, with the same traumas she had as a child, but this time, away from those toxic people, she thought of something that could change her situation.

With the resources to do so, Matilda understood that her physique had always been her big problem, and although it was a lie since she was attractive, that was instilled in her out of mere adolescent malice was such that she never fixed herself again, even as an adult for fear of another version of her adolescent trauma.

Matilda decided she wanted to have surgery, and not just a boob job, Matilda wanted to go big. She wanted a nose job, lip injections, and even a butt augmentation. Yes, that was the change she needed in her life, so without a doubt, everything would be better.

She planned an appointment with the best clinic in town. Money was no problem, so she wanted to hurry things along as soon as possible. Matilda was finally going to succeed. A month went by when she underwent preliminary studies, and after that, she had to make an appointment with the surgeon who would change her life.

Surprises of life, Matilda was so busy but obsessed with a change, that she never paid attention to the person who would perform the surgery. When she entered the office, she finally noticed. The surgeon in charge was Ramiro, that shy boy who fell in love with Matilda once, that boy would be in charge of changing the life of her former classmate, and for whom she had very strong feelings.

Ramiro did not count on the fact that those feelings had not disappeared at all, when he saw Matilda again, his heart sped up strongly, but he restrained himself, after all, he was already an adult.

Ramiro did not hesitate for a second to tell Matilda who he was, and to Ramiro's surprise, Matilda recognized him, but with some misgivings, because her high school years were difficult. Matilda felt a little uncomfortable because she wanted to close that chapter of her life, and the surgeon who was going to change her life was there during those hard moments.

Ramiro was honest with Matilda and confessed his feelings. It was a little uncomfortable because his job was to change aspects of a person, but he saw nothing wrong with Matilda, only her confidence.

Matilda was surprised, she never in her life imagined that someone would feel something for her, she thought it would not happen because of her physique, but Ramiro was always there, from anonymity.

There was an uncomfortable silence for 10 minutes until Ramiro spoke.

"Matilda, the truth is that I make a living with this and I'm not doing badly, really, and it would be silly to say what I'm going to say but, for me you're perfect, and you shouldn't change anything. But I don't decide about you, I understand that for years they made you feel less, but you are beautiful just the way you are. I tell you what, I will organize everything for tomorrow, but I will not be the one doing the surgeries, but Dr. Bronson is just as good as me. I will rest for a couple of days.

Your surgery will be in the afternoon, you can go if you wish, but I will also tell you that tomorrow I will book a dinner at the restaurant around the corner, I will wait for you in case you decide to change your mind, if you don't attend, I will understand perfectly, but if you do, I will be thrilled to see you again."

Matilda was speechless, for the first time, someone spoke to her from the heart, and this time it was serious, she realized that there was something special in her, and it was up to her to decide what to do now that she knew how Ramiro felt about her.

The day came, and Matilda left the house, went to the clinic, and canceled her whole operation, she was already decided that she didn't need that, but she didn't go to the dinner either, but she left a message for Ramiro.

"I need to know who I am, and I need to see myself as your eyes saw me after so many years, thank you for showing the beauty that hides your being, see you soon."

And there Ramiro was, dining alone, but happy.

Lead image by Garon Piceli on Pexels